Alpine School District highlights agricultural science, greenhouse and floral-design classes at Lehi High during CTE Month

Lehi High School showcased its agricultural science and floral-design coursework during Career and Technical Education Month in a visit that included teacher Suzanne Spencer and students demonstrating greenhouse work and arrangements.

An interviewer noted that “In Alpine School District, we have over 36 different pathways that fall into 16 different career clusters. Each year, over 1,500 students become pathway completers.” That district-level framing set the context for the classroom visit and demonstrations.

Suzanne Spencer, agricultural science teacher with more than 20 years in the classroom, described the program’s emphasis on hands-on learning. “I think the 1 thing you need to do is you need to connect with them on a level in which they understand. Hands on activities and things that they get to do and practice in class are always really helpful because they actually get to see themselves develop and be able to create in those classes,” Spencer said.

Spencer outlined typical greenhouse activities: students plant seeds, transplant them into larger containers, fertilize and tend them as they grow, and care for seasonal projects such as poinsettias — including pinching and routine watering and weeding that allow students to follow a plant from start to finished product.

Senior student Zach Lund, who has taken greenhouse, animal science and floral design, said the hands-on approach made the classes useful beyond school. “I really like the class because I feel like a lot of people in certain classes say, oh, I'm never gonna use this in my real life. It's never gonna be applicable. But everything I've learned in these classes has been something that I feel like I can go outside of high school and do something with,” Lund said.

Senior Talyn Williams, a floral-design student, described projects that include live flowers, boutonnieres and corsages. “It's been super fun because we, like, do a lot of, like, stuff with live flowers, and we make, like, boutonnieres and corsages too,” Williams said, adding that she has encouraged a younger sibling to join the class.

The visit emphasized what Spencer and the students said are low-stress, high-engagement courses that give learners practical skills and exposure to potential career paths. No formal policy changes, funding decisions or votes were discussed during the classroom segment.

Looking ahead, the program remains framed as one of many district CTE offerings; the interviewer’s statistics placed the Lehi High classes within a broader district effort of over 36 pathways and about 1,500 annual pathway completers.