Minuteman Students Win Award at 2019 Boston Flower & Garden Show

In photo, the Minuteman High School exhibit at the 2019 Boston Flower & Garden Show. Photo by Peter Kelleher.

By Judy Bass

BOSTON – Students in Horticulture and Plant Science at Minuteman High School in Lexington earned an award at the 2019 Boston Flower & Garden Show at the Seaport World Trade Center. The theme of this year’s event was “The Beauty of Balance.”

The Minuteman students’ exhibit won for best use of trained plants in a landscape. Minuteman students have won awards at this event in the past, including five last year.

“The project design was collaborated on by all seniors, juniors and sophomores [in the program} over the course of the school year, starting in September,” said Minuteman Horticulture and Plant Science teacher Peter Kelleher. “Seniors Stephen Vozzella, of Winchester and Cameron Cox, of Needham, as well as sophomore Sam Cerqueira, of Watertown, helped complete the set-up at the Seaport World Trade Center on the weekend before the show.”

Mr. Kelleher summed up the value of having the students participate in a high-profile showcase like the Boston Flower & Garden Show.

“Students who participate in the setup of the display learn that their hard work and knowledge gained in school help them build a top-quality display that is respected by industry professionals. They gain respect from those industry professionals, which will help them have the same sort of respect when they enter the horticulture industry.”

Anyone interested in applying to Minuteman High School is urged to act promptly. Applications for admission are coming in quickly due to the high level of public interest in high quality career and technical education that will be operating in the new Minuteman High School currently under construction. Please visit www.minuteman.org and go to the Admissions tab on the home page.

Minuteman is five months away from moving into a $145M facility that has been designed to support a robust college and career academy model. The academy model was adopted by staff and administration to create smaller “schools within a school” thereby promoting more personalized learning founded upon close relationships between students and teachers. The Minuteman college and career academy model integrates rigorous academics with relevant technical programming in occupational areas providing individual economic opportunity. The new facility will accommodate project-based learning across disciplines, requiring students to learn how to work on a diverse team, solve problems and think critically. These are essential 21^st-century skills that students practice and apply in a variety of school-based and work-based environments.

As an accredited member of the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC), Minuteman inspires all students to attain their full potential, accelerate their learning, and become purposeful citizens in the global community.