Millbrook won the Best School Garden Award at the state fair this year. Going against two other schools, they were in a tough competition. The school participated in the flower and garden show, and put their goats in the children’s barnyard. With the Agriculture Mechanics classes building the greenhouse, the Animal Science classes helping with the animals, and the Horticulture classes tending to the plants, Millbrook made an amazing display. 

  The garden show and the children’s barnyard are the two events Millbrooks does each year. For this year’s garden show, Millbrook decided to make their theme Harry Potter. They included books in their display, as well as fairy lights to help light up the greenhouse at night. In past years they have also helped work the Field of Dreams, which is an activity that helps teach children about the process of turning the plants in the ground into the food on their tables. In the past, they have also participated in a chicken coop competition. The agriculture classes have been doing the state fair for over 10 years and plan on continuing. 

  Even though the school participates in the fair as Millbrook High School, it’s the students and teachers in these agriculture classes that bring the ideas to life. It takes 12 to 15 students to set up the garden show, 4 to 5 students to help get everything ready on the start day, and 20 to 25 students are then invited to help over a two-day period. On top of all of those students, there are also the students who help build the displays and keep the plants healthy. Sophomores Bennett Fulk, Ally Gouveia, and Isabella Zanfardino are all students in Agriculture Mechanics that helped build and paint the greenhouse used in the garden show. Sophomores Zanfardino and Kathryn Hague also went to the fair to help around the barnyard by cleaning out the animal waste and water bowls as well as putting out fresh hay and shavings. The two students helped work the concession stand at the barnyard with their classmates as well. 

  “Agriculture is necessary for everyone, and the fair is a good time for everyone to see that impact across a lot of different areas,” commented Mrs. Broadwell, the Horticulture teacher. When asked if it is important for classes to be more involved in city activities like the fair she replied, “Yes! Our students in agriculture courses need to be able to see how the average Raleigh and North Carolina resident views the agriculture industry.” The fair is a good way to connect Millbrook with the city of Raleigh, and the agriculture classes did a good job of representing this connection.