High-schoolers tap into flower power

WINNIPEG — Garden City students can buy themselves flowers, but they don’t need to thanks to a growing partnership in their school division.

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” blasted from speakers inside the Collège Garden City Collegiate atrium on Wednesday as members of its adult transition program sorted and snipped stems.

The 2023 radio hit — a favourite among the amateur florists, many of whom broke out into song and dance — was a fitting soundtrack for their weekly workshop.

Sophia Ly, who is largely non-verbal, bobbed her head to the beat.

The 20-year-old plucked a yellow chrysanthemum, the largest of all the available blooms, to begin her latest bouquet.

“As they put them together, they’re learning a bit about biology, about science and art, as well, because each one of them has their own style,” said Stephan Carson, a learning support teacher at the high school.

For the better part of the last decade, Petals West Inc. has dropped off excess stock at 711 Jefferson Ave. for young adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Carson likened every Wednesday on the campus in north Winnipeg to Christmas Day.

The wholesaler’s packages change every week, but no matter what, their contents put smiles on students’ faces, he said, noting that some participants use the PlantNet app to identify species.

On Wednesday, the group sorted through bundles of multi-coloured carnations, Prairie sunflowers and filler foliage.

The Seven Oaks School Division reached out to Petals West to collaborate at the suggestion of a community member in 2017.

(The company’s manager has been keen to contribute throughout the school year, except for when his team is swamped with orders around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day).

Division employees said the initiative was started to help build confidence, independence and multi-step routines for students who were preparing to leave school. With its success, the program was expanded last spring to include all three area high schools.

Participants from Garden City, The Maples and West Kildonan are now their division’s go-to decorators. They are tapped to make arrangements for special events, such as retirement celebrations and school concerts.

The up-and-coming florists, who range in age from 18 to 21, will get the chance to show off their creations at the Seven Oaks Evening of Black Excellence later this month.

“We really want to strive to not be a specialized program in a room, closed-doors, not accessing the outside world because ultimately, we want them to be independent and that they are connected to the community,” Carson said.

His students prepare 300 hot meals on a daily basis for the school lunch program, organize community cleanups and run coffee cart and “wobbly-table fixing” businesses.

Some of them take part in work placements as they approach graduation, although none have secured an internship at a flower shop yet.

“We may need to start sending out some resumés because two girls who absolutely love (the bouquet-making) are transitioning out soon,” their teacher said.

Logan Brown said he has become a better organizer because the floral activity requires students to plan and communicate to secure everything they need, from wrapping paper to water buckets.

“I’m usually a bit tired afterwards,” the 18-year-old said. “I’m actually sweating right now.”

The students are largely self-sufficient, although educational assistants help out where needed — for instance, when it’s time to use gardening shears to safely clean up stems.

“To me, it’s about giving the kids a purpose and they take pride in it,” said Brenda Bicklmeier, who runs the adult transition program at West Kildonan Collegiate.

Bicklmeier’s students donate and sell their creations within the school community for $5 each to raise money for field trips and activities.

The program boosts morale in the school community at large, she said, noting that one student from outside of the program recently bought an arrangement to give to his mom for her birthday.

» Winnipeg Free Press