WOODBURY – Nonnewaug High School Ellis Clark Agriscience Program has had many new teachers over the past few years, with the newest addition of Jennifer Plasky being one of them. Students and teachers have both already started adjusting to this change of instruction, and are excited about where NHS landscaping is headed.
“There is a lot more knowledge taught in different ways. You can learn more from different people from different perspectives,” said junior landscaping student James Gwiazdoski. “With Ms. Plasky here, we are learning different skills with her other backgrounds from her past teaching experiences.”
Despite the challenges students face “replacing” the treasured former instructor Tom DiMarco, they are quickly growing a bond with Plasky. Plasky also shows a lot of excitement for her new classes this school year.
“Our students at Nonnewaug have more content based experience,” said Nonnewaug agriculture instructor, Jennifer Plasky. “[That means] that a lot of our students have landscape companies and have families that have farms and companies in agriculture then at the other schools that I taught at. They have a lot of knowledge on operating equipment and things that they have done in the industry themselves with their SAE’s and they’re family companies, that I’ve already seen in the past few weeks bringing it to the table with our projects.”
Plasky’s colleagues have already grown to appreciate all that she brings to her department.
“Ms. Plasky comes to us with not only years of teaching experience both in Horticulture and Floriculture industries, but she also owned her own landscaping company quite a few years ago,” said Nonnewaug Agricultural Director, LaLena McMillan. “She has also worked for several prominent landscaping and Horticulture companies and greenhouses in the past.”
The students at Nonnewaug High School also believe that the switch in landscaping teachers gives them an opportunity to learn even more about the trade, and Plasky coming to the school makes our agriscience program even better.
“Ms. Plasky teaches the class like it’s a full time job and allows us to get a better learning experience for the future,” said Nonnewaug senior Mac Hanecak.
Overall, the new teacher at Nonnewaug High School was a positive shift for the school, and it affected many students’ learning experiences and made our community stronger.
“Her depth and wealth of knowledge both in Floriculture and Horticulture will bring a lot of great experience not only for our program but also for our students,” said McMillan. “[This is a course] where they can learn for what she has gained both in the industry and in the classroom.”
