Submitted By: Butte County ROP
Student Background
The ROP Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture class has been propagating and growing willow trees and selling them to the California Department of Water Resources. The class is designed to assist in successfully transitioning students with disabilities from school to the world-of-work. All students receive instruction in core skill areas and job skills in gardening and plant nursery operations.
Program Description
The students start the trees in the greenhouse at the Las Plumas campus and grow them to approximately 3 feet in height. This process takes about a year. The DWR buys the trees and plants them at the fore bay and after bay areas of Lake Oroville. The money earned goes into a fund for future student projects.
Outcomes
According to Paul Olson, ROP teacher, the students have grown about 500 willows per year for the last five years. This year the department has asked for an additional 300 trees. Olson said, “This marks the 20th year of our partnership with DWR, it has been a very successful project.”