BELFAST—A couple of years ago, an old storage shed perched next to BCOPE (Belfast Community Outreach Program in Education) in Belfast had a lot of potential. It had been sitting there for about 10 years by the time Chuck Hamm was hired as a teacher, last year, used partially as a greenhouse, but more as a storage shed. So, on a weekend, Hamm rolled up his sleeves and recruited some of his students in the alternative program to start tackling the greenhouse.

“I brought my own tools in and a nail gun and we went to work,” he said.

His father-in-law, Virgil Littlefield, donated the lumber, EBS donated insulation, Aubochon donated the topsoil and a local farm donated manure.

The students salvaged bricks that were on site and within a few weeks, the barely used greenhouse was transformed into a working greenhouse.

“It cost nothing, it was all labor,” said Hamm.

Today, it’s a fully functioning greenhouse with a water source in an old tub installed in the back that doubles as fish pond. And it’s something the BCOPE teens are pretty proud of.

Katlynn Tatro, a senior, said it’s her third and last year working in the greenhouse before she graduates. Like every one of the students who have helped in some way with the greenhouse, Tatro is in the program’s culinary track, and it’s been gratifying to be able to make food from scratch.

“We’ve all done a little bit of everything from rebuilding the greenhouse to growing seedlings to watering, transplanting and harvesting them,” she said.

Tyson Witham, 15 said: “I’ve grown a garden since I was seven.”

Every one of the students involved have grown some kind of garden since they were young, as well.

With carrots, hot peppers, onions and tomatoes as their primary crop this spring, Hamm said the kids are currently growing a “spaghetti sauce garden” and will be giving away most all of the seedlings to any family or friend of BCOPE. They also plan to sell some of the houseplants in order to roll a few bucks back into the greenhouse.

“When they come back to school in the fall, we’ll harvest everything and make it into spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce, which will be part of the meals that the culinary students serve.” said Hamm.

This past winter, the students grew a lot of lettuce, spinach and arugula in the greenhouse.

“We ate it; we sold it; we gave it away,” Hamm said. “We’d tell the kids during the day; go out and harvest some lettuce; we’ve got an order to fill and it would calm them right down. It’s kind of a decompression chamber. In the middle of winter, when certain kids were just fed up with stuff, we’d tell them to go in there, plug in their phones to the speaker, listen to their music and work away.”

Most of their first customers were the school’s staff.

Hamm and the students went a step further, working an underused fallow field in back of the school for a bigger garden to plant the seedlings. 

“Fresh produce is so important,” said Edward Tatro, 18. “I find that if actually grow the food and you work hard at it, it actually tastes better and it’s really worth it.”

This past week, they received a check for $250 from Time and Tide Resource Conservation and Development Area, which will go directly to potting soil, six pack containers, trays and everything else they need to support the seedlings.

“This year, we were just experimenting with everything, house plants, vegetables. I think next year it’s really going to take off,” said Hamm.

The fact that the students collectively invest their energy into a communal project has so many ancillary benefits.

“This my 28th year of teaching and my second year here,” said Hamm. “I think the way things are run around here are revolutionary to education. The program is so personalized. Each kid has an individualized plan tailored to them specifically.”

For more information about BCOPE visit: bcope.rsu71.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com