The FSW on-campus dual-enrollment class, Introduction to Business, takes care of Marco Island Academy’s school garden in a small business they’ve named “Island Grown.” Every student in the class presides over a section of the garden and is obligated to watch after the growth and improvement of each plant. When the plants are officially ready for picking, they are sold to parents in the last few minutes of school as they wait in line to pick up their child. The fresh produce is offered to the parents with a low starting price, typically ranging from $2-5 dollars.  

With four beds that are situated in the school garden, each contains different plant groups. Bed 1 contains new plants for future sales. Bed 2 contains herbs that are trending based on popular demand from previous sales. Bed 3 has recently added squash for the upcoming season, and bed 4 contains beautiful flowers. Each bed has been constructed with extensive thought and care, its utmost success always being first in mind.

“There is a CEO, and a technician for the garden. Cassandra Alonso is the CEO, Allan Borges is the garden technician and Tyler Chute is the Finance Manager. Their job is to watch every detail and situations occurring in the class. If any issues happen within their jobs, the blame falls onto them, instead of the rest of the class.” Professor McFarland, the professor who runs the class, explains. 

The class is a great way to learn about business and entrepreneurship, and put those new skills to the test. On one hand, the students are learning how to plant a garden, but on the other hand, the class learns about how to run and watch over a business. One practical skill picked up, for example, is communication, where they discuss an overall plan for success. This allows students to find different ways to help each other and work off each other, a skill that’ll prove to be more than useful outside of the classroom. 

Our garden will be selling regularly starting at the end of October continuing to the middle of November!