Students from high schools throughout the county come together each day at Marshall Technical School in Guntersville, Ala., to learn skills for the future. One class is preparing for careers in landscaping and sports turf management.
“It teaches job skills. All of those students will be able to work anywhere dealing with landscaping and sports turf management,” said Cindy Wigley, career technical director for Marshall County Schools and principal of Marshall Technical School.
“You have both ends of the spectrum. There are students who want to go into management in these fields, but there are some who just want skills to work.”
The landscaping/sports turf management class has many components, so the students learn a wide range of skills and get a better idea about what they would like to do after high school.
Wigley said there are postsecondary programs that build from coursework in the MTS landscaping/sports turf management class.
She said two-year programs are available at Gadsden State Community College and Wallace State Community College, and Alabama A&M University and Auburn University offer four-year programs.
Students in the class at MTS get regular experience in the MTS Greenhouse. Wigley said they do activities in the greenhouse, like potting plants, watering, grooming and giving general care to the plants.
Plants from the MTS Greenhouse are sold to the public Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There is also a community garden at the technical school, where students in the landscaping/sports turf management class get experience growing vegetables.
Those vegetables are given to elderly residents in need of fresh vegetables.
The students go through training in tractor safety — the program has a John Deere Gator and a small tractor — as well as archery and hunter safety.
Wigley said the students love shooting the bows when learning about archery because they’re having fun while they’re learning.
The class also maintains the MTS Golf Green, where students planted sod and installed the irrigation system.
Wigley said offering such a wide variety of skills training has done a lot toward boosting enrollment in at the technical school. MTS has served 272 students this school year in many programs in addition to the landscaping/sports turf management class.
Other course offerings include early childhood education, automotive technology, collision repair technology, cosmetology, medical prep, drafting design technology, robotics/industrial maintenance technology and cooperative education.
Students who complete a program through MTS are eligible for postsecondary scholarships.
Plus, some courses count toward college credit. Wigley said the technical school is willing to work with any student to get them the education they deserve.
Several adult career/tech programs are offered after hours at MTS. Those include CDL truck driving training/testing, computer applications, computer maintenance, residential/industrial wiring, motor controls/PLCs, precision machining (in conjunction with Wallace State and Snead State Community College) and welding.