NGTC Horticulture Students Take Trip

Some area students get a behind-the-scenes look at horticulture work at Disney World.

A group of North Georgia Technical College horticulture students recently returned from a hands-on, behind-the-scenes horticulture field trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.

North Georgia Technical College Horticulture Instructor Craig Thurmond hosted the trip and explained that the tour of the grounds at Disneyworld demonstrated the many aspects of the horticulture industry.

He said his goal was to expose the students to some of the best, green industry jobs available and broaden their perspectives on the green industry while learning about internship and career opportunities.

Thurmond, North Georgia Tech Horticulture Lab Assistant John Mather, and students met with the world’s largest producer of trees, Cherry Lake Tree Farm, and learned about root development systems with Cherry Lake CEO Tim Salin.

They also visited Epcot’s “The Land” exhibit and went behind the scenes to learn about the inner workings of the exhibit’s hydroponics, tissue culture research and food production.

In addition, they were able to meet with a horticulturist from the Greenhouse Operations Student Program, and experience a “Behind the Seeds” tour from the Agricultural Sciences at Epcot.

Student Michal Pundt from Clarkesville said it was a wonderful learning experience he will never forget.

Meanwhile, horticulture student Christian Nelms from Toccoa said he definitely learned a lot about career options and the scale of work at Disney.

Other area students who attended included Amanda Burrell from Clayton and Johnny Payne from Toccoa.

Thurmond said he was just as thankful as the students were to be able to experience such a big-scale field trip, which was made possible by the funds the students raised at their recent North Georgia Tech horticulture plant sales on the Clarkesville Campus.