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The unseasonably warm temperatures might not bring the festive cheer that most people hope for during this time of the year.

But, inside the greenhouses of the Career and Technical Education Center, there’s no doubt about it: the Christmas season is in full swing.

Inside the greenhouses, row upon row of more than 4,000 poinsettias await being sold at area schools, churches and businesses. The center will start selling the plants on Nov. 28.

New varieties include the shimmer poinsettia, speckled with flecks of light pink and white, and the Cortez burgundy poinsettia, colored in “Aggie” maroon, ECISD Greenhouse Instructor and Manager Nathan Pettigrew said.

Since August, 23 horticulture students from Permian and Odessa High Schools have been nurturing the plants to flourish in time for the holiday season. And for the first time, Permian special education students have helped in the process.

The special education students and their parents have been selling poinsettias grown by the horticulture class for about 10 years, but this is the first year the students have helped with the poinsettias from start to finish.

 “They’re very helpful. They’ve been really active,” Micah Pettigrew, Permian structure communication teacher, said. “They understand we have a job to do, and they jump right in and start doing it. When you give them a job they enjoy, they’re going to excel and try harder just like anybody else.”

Each day, the horticulture students monitor the progress of the poinsettias to check for any irregularities, such as diseases or dead leaves, that might affect the surrounding plants.

While the class helps the students learn how to care for the delicate plants, it also provides an additional skill set for the students’ future careers.

“They get to do hands-on things that are going to help them with the future,” Pettigrew said about the special education students. “As a high school teacher, I have to make sure these kids are ready for the real world, because it’s fixing to hit us.”

Odessa High junior, Sean Perry, 16, said the class is also a nice way to take a break from normal classroom surroundings.

“I take all AP classes, and it gets stressful sometimes,” said Sean, an aspiring conservation biologist or horticulturalist. “I love being around the plants. It’s really cool, you watch them grow and you have a sense of pride that we, as a group, can do something like that.”

Poinsettias purchased directly from the horticulture class benefit the Ector County Independent School District Horticulture Club. If you buy from Permian, however, the proceeds go toward a banquet for the special education students.
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After a year of hard work, Pettigrew said the banquet is needed for the special education students to be recognized.

“They work hard and do what’s asked of them,” Pettigrew said. “They deserve everything that every person in the school system deserves to get.”

@OAcitylife