WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 31, 2019 21
BUZZ
Hydroponic lab helps Ridgewood academy students grow
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
St. Matthias Catholic Academy in
Ridgewood got a great deal of
attention for their new STEM
lab, which they showed off during a
celebration on Jan. 28 for the successful
launch of its hydroponics program.
But the real centerpiece was the
students who were happily engaged in
learning about plants and bugs while
looking through microscopes and
constructing new devices to nurture
vegetation to adulthood.
Diego Telechea, one of the student
leaders on St. Matthias’ Green Team,
knows the lab backwards and forwards
since it was introduced to the
students in September and has seen
the now 6-foot-tall tomato and cucumber
plants sprout from seeds planted
in what is known as rockwool, an
alternative to using soil.
“It’s surprising how they can grow
with no soil; I’ve never seen this method
before,” Telechea said. “Nobody
really knew what a hydroponics lab
was when it was fi rst introduced to
us at the beginning of the school year.
Eventually, as the lab became a little
bit more advanced, we learned – we
are still learning – what a hydroponics
lab is.”
The seventh-grader has become
emotionally invested in many of the
plants, as have many of the students
who take pride in the success of their
creation, he said.
A student observes a leaf grown in
St. Matthias’ hydroponics lab through
a microscope. Mark Hallum/QNS
According to St. Matthias Principal
Diego Telechea has taken a lead role in maintaining St. Matthias’ new hydroponics lab.
Barbara Wehnes, when agricultural
disasters struck the lab, such as mold,
the students were able to address the
problems and avoid them in the future
without further instruction.
The hydroponics lab not only off ers
city kids the chance to watch vegetables
go from seedling to salad, even
the students who have no interest in
science or other academics are fi nding
a place in the new lab which only cost
the school around $30,000 – not bad
for launching a new programs, said
Wehnes.
One student who Wehnes says is
enjoys cooking more than studying
even got involved with the lab when
he decided to start making cucumbers
growing in the lab into pickles. He began
studying the brining process and
is trying to make his own cookbook.
Aft er nearly four months of learning
hydroponics, the Green Team
was given the honors of cutting the
ribbon on the new lab. Photo: Mark
Hallum/QNS
The new program was brought to
the school through New York Sun
Photos: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Works’ Greenhouse Project which
helps K-12 schools establishing this
program which is considered to be a
driver in future food production.
St. Matthias also educates students
on 3-D printing, Wehnes said, and the
majority of the plants grown in the
hydroponics lab is edible such as kale,
arugula, mint and basil.
The ribbon cutting – which was
not a ribbon but a band of rosemary –
was attended by Councilman Antonio
Reynoso and Deputy Brooklyn Borough
President Diana Reyna.
“How we’re going to deal with hunger
in the future starts in this room,”
Reyna said.
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