PHILADELPHIA — Nonnewaug agriscience has forever lived by the mantra that hands-on learning makes for the most impactful educational experiences. A March 7-9 trip to Philadelphia epitomized this.

Forty ag students traveled to Philadelphia for flower show trip planned by floriculture teacher Eric Birkenberger and landscaping instructor Tom DiMarco.

“The whole trip was really cool and awesome; we were there for three days,” said DiMarco. “Each day was something different between the flower show, Longwood Garden and the mushroom farm, so I think the overall experience of the trip was awesome.”

DiMarco loved that each day held a different activity, offering unique experiences for NHS students to see first-hand. The group of kids that attended the trip made it better than he expected because they were especially invested in the places they visited. 

“Watching the kids get excited about the places we went to was a really cool part. Overall, everyone was awesome,” said DiMarco. “I think we had a good group of students this year that were really interested in horticulture and found all the places we went to interesting and discovered new things.”

For senior floriculture student Hannah Searles, she was blown away by Longwood Gardens facility. 

“The whole place was so fun to walk around. We got to see the botanical gardens and also the greenhouses, which aren’t open to the public, which was cool,” said Searles. “Longwood Gardens were amazing.”

Birkenberger’s favorite part of the trip was also the Longwood Garden. 

“The amount of work that goes into creating such an area is so cool,” said Birkenberger. “It’s a beautiful place. Conservatories are awesome.”

This year, Birkenberger got a nice surprise from former NHS student Julia Nielsen, who gave the students a tour of the Longwood Gardens facility. 

“She was able to meet with the students and talk to them about her experiences,” Birkenberger said. “She also related it back to her time at Nonnewaug, which was cool.”