Students Explore Green Industry Options

OREGON CITY, Ore. – Mindful that the nursery business is the largest agricultural industry in Oregon, Clackamas Community College recently held its third annual Landscaping Career Development Day.

Bob Nelson, a horticulture instructor at the college, said the event exposes students to the nursery business’s many facets, including allied industries such as landscaping and hardscaping. The hope is that students will learn the tricks of the trades as they get a flavor for what the jobs entail on a daily basis.

About 100 high school students showed up this year at Clairmont Hall, where they received hands-on instruction from 20 volunteer coaches such as arborist Dave Gaugel of General Tree Service, who helped Wolfe learn the ropes of the tree-care industry.

Other skill-building exercises included landscape design, surveying, tree planting, sod laying and building irrigation systems, retaining walls and patios.

Tom Hurt and Bryan Cassagneres of United Pipe & Supply set up shop in the parking lot, where they had students measure, cut, glue and assemble scale models of irrigation systems using plastic pipe and a set of simple plans. Their Clackamas-based company is a distributor of commercial, residential and agricultural irrigation pipe.

“We’re having a blast talking to young people and hopefully getting them enthusiastic about the industry,” Hurt said. “It’s a very rewarding career because every day is different. It’s also the kind of career where you don't have to dress up. You wear jeans and play in the dirt for the rest of your life.”

Students were able to spread out around the college's horticulture center and its adjoining five-acre land lab. The setup includes two heated greenhouses, a hoop house, a shade house and display gardens, plus a variety of annuals, perennials and tree species.

Source: The Oregonian