Plants, teens both nurtured

Out in the greenhouse behind Lynnwood High School, students arrange sturdy tomato plants along high benches and pluck yellowed leaves from the base of larkspur and rudbeckia stalks, readying seedlings for a weekend Mother's Day sale.

Gary McLaughlin, who teaches the school's horticulture classes and supervises students in the campus flower shop, introduces his students with evident pride.

There's Cody Mason, who couldn't grow anything before signing up for the class. The junior points with satisfaction to a nearby hanging basket packed with daisies, geraniums and a wandering Jew that will trail over the basket as it grows.

"I made some great stuff," he says.

There's Ian McPherson, who scored a part-time job at Emery's Garden in the north Lynnwood area on the strength of what he had learned in class. Now he hopes to attend a horticulture college in Canada.

There are several students, and former students, who over the course of the afternoon pick up roses and a cascading fern from the flower shop. Because of their skill at floral arrangements, they've been hired to do the flowers for friends' or relatives' weddings over the weekend.

In the midst of it all — of teachers dropping by to shop early, seniors dropping off notebooks for their senior projects and flower-shop students who aren't sure how to ring up an order — McLaughlin maintains a calm, gentle manner.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that," he says to students who report back to him on their work.

The parallel seems inescapable. While the horticulture students are learning how to propagate and nurture plants, McLaughlin is growing and nurturing them.

"Seeing kids ... evolve into where they show respect for each other and can be more giving, that's one of the most rewarding experiences I've had," he says.

When McLaughlin was hired four years ago, Principal Dave Golden warned him that the fate of the horticulture program was uncertain. Enrollment had dwindled to the point where the school was offering only flower-shop classes.

To his new position, McLaughlin, 56, brought the knowledge gained from a University of Washington botany degree and a passion for the nursery business gained from almost 30 years in the field. He worked for 10 years at Wight's Home & Garden in Lynnwood and then ran his own nursery and gardening center, Evergreen Gardens in Everett, for 19 years.

"He knows what he's talking about," said Mason, the student who put together the hanging basket. "He's an encyclopedia of plant knowledge."

The horticulture class covers not just plant propagation but also genetics, photosynthesis, and plant classification, identification and diseases. There's a unit on landscape design and history, and throughout the year students learn the business side of nurseries, from analyzing expenses to displaying plants.

They learn the characteristics of a good employee, including punctuality and dependability. They learn about customer relations and the services that a nursery provides. They do it all while plunging their hands in dirt and binding cuttings to root stocks.

"It's really fun, informative, hands-on experience," said junior Anthony Marks. "It's not book work — it's doing it."

The students almost uniformly described McLaughlin as "the nicest guy."

Morgan Bucey, a sophomore, said the teacher "gives advice on plants and on life. You can talk to him easily."

McPherson, who has the part-time job at Emery's, said: "If you don't get something, he'll sit down with you 'til you do. He has a lot of patience."

Through word of mouth, from student to student, the horticulture program has grown from two flower-shop classes in 2002 to three flower-shop classes and two horticulture classes with a total of 106 students.

When plans for a new Lynnwood High School campus were developed last year, they featured a greenhouse, a flower shop and an expanded classroom.

"He's done such a great job of building the program, we had to include it," Golden said. "The buzzword in education is 'engagement.' His kids are always engaged. It's science; it's art; it's great."

Back in the greenhouse, students show early customers at the plant sale around the tables, helping them with a hanging basket or loading a box with seedling trays. At the far end, McLaughlin points to some plants that still need grooming.

"Nicotiana," he tells them. "The ornamental form of nicotine."

Watching him across the room, one of the students says: "There should be more teachers like him. He cares so much about kids."

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com