On April 14th Hillcrest High School held their annual plant sale and what a fantastic success it was! Hundreds of local residents poured over the vast array of garden plants and shrubbery, and at day’s end most of the plants were sold.

The year-round program is known as Hillcrest Greenhouse Industries. According to Mark Earl, Hillcrest High School AG teacher, there are over 180 students involved in the program during a typical school year. Some students are involved in activities in the summer as well. The programs success is owed to many volunteers that are essential to the operation, as well as many businesses. Mrs. Dixie Nance, Ms. Martha Snow, Mrs. Heidi Glenn, Mrs. Mary Beth Doherty, and Mrs. Ashlee Cox are by far our most involved volunteers! Martha Looney Snow added these comments. “The HHS Spring Plant Sale is my favorite shopping day of the year!  It is my privilege to get to work with Mr. Earle and his students on ‘opening day’. The excitement is contagious with everyone filling up carts and making their ‘pile’ of healthy plants. As alumni of Hillcrest, living all of my life in this community, it makes my heart happy to see old friends and acquaintances every year at the sale”.

Volunteers perform tasks such as acting as cashiers at our plant sales, publicizing our sales, printing brochures, etc. There are also many former students that return each year to help with the plant sales. Some of the businesses that support the students as well as our program are Henson’s Mulch, B.W. Burdette & Son Hardware, and BJ Seaborn Landscaping.

Ag Teacher Mark Earle forwarded these comments.

“Our program is truly a year-round effort. We start preparing for Poinsettias in late June and begin plant-ing them in early Au-gust. In early Octo-ber we begin planting ferns and preparing poinsettias for sale in November and December. In late January we begin the planting process for our Spring Plant Sale. We probably plant around 25,000 plants throughout the year. We use the proceeds from our Spring Plant Sale to finance our expenses through-out the year, such as pots, hanging bas-kets, soil, fertilizer, etc. When we are not working in the green-houses, we are build-ing picnic tables, benches, Shepard’s hooks, bird feeders, and repairing any broken equipment.” 

“The thing I am most thankful for”, continued Earle, “is the opportunity to work with these young people and being able to instill a work ethic that will hopefully endure the rest of their lives! I have had many students over the years come to me flushed with pride saying things such as ‘I can’t believe all these people came out to our plant sale’, ‘We sold all the Begonias I planted!’, ’I can’t believe we don’t have any more Spider Plants left!’, or ‘Everyone is bragging about how pretty our plants are!”

“Very special parts of this community are the people that volunteer to help make our goals come to fruition, from former students, parents, teachers, to business owners! I keep wondering when Mrs. Dixie Nance, Ms. Martha Snow and Mrs. Mary Beth Doherty will start blocking my calls? But each year they show up and work hours on end helping our customers with their purchases, publicizing our sales, printing brochures, etc. This endeavor is truly dependent on this community and the Greenville County School District. This school district has always supported me as well as my students in every way imaginable. Without your support, nothing we do would be possible.” Mr. Earle continued, “I thank all of you for your part in this program, whether it is printing brochures, giving donations, coming out to buy our plants, or just a kind word to one of my students about the hard work they have put in. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of such a fulfilling adventure! I love my job, I love this school, and I love this com-munity! Thank You.”

“In closing, I would also like to thank a few people who were instrumental in the process of building our program, Mr. Steve Chamness (for-mer Principal HHS), Bryan Skipper (former Principal HHS, GCSD Office), Mr. Leroy Hamilton (former Principal HHS, GCSD Office). These men along with The Greenville County School District have been unbelievably helpful in all aspects of this endeavor! See you all in the Fall.” For more information about the Plant Sale program contact:

Mark Earle, 
Ag. Teacher Hillcrest High School
Ag. Teacher by choice, not by chance!