Story by Cheyann Carr/COMM 2311-601
You may not even notice it at first when you look at the front of the new
Wilburn and Helen Wheeler Science Center on the Levelland campus. If you know to where to look, you can spot the top of theroof peeking out from behind the blue mural.
Some students may not even know it’s there until they take a science class.
The 3200 square-foot SPC greenhouse is nestled behind the main science building. “So, our old greenhouse, we actually had two,” says Kristin Bingham, associate professor and chairperson of the biology department. “They were aluminum and glass structured.”
Construction on the new greenhouse was finished in 2021 as part of a major, two-phase science building renovation project. According to David Etheredge, the former biology department chairperson and the renovation project coordinator, the original science building complex dated back to 1964 with an addition built on in 1968.
The new greenhouse has a teaching space, storage area, and place where students can take care of their own plants.
“We use the greenhouse often,” says SPC student Angel Flores, “even for a beginner botany class.”
Since the old greenhouse was actually two buildings, Bingham says it was harder to use effectively as a teaching space.
“With the new one it’s big and open and now there is a classroom area in the greenhouse,” she says. “It makes it a better and easier way to teach students face to face and be in the dirt with them.”
“Dirt time” spent propagating plants is something Flores says he and his classmates have already done this semester.
“The seeds we planted have begun to sprout,” he says. “It is up to us students to water them before class to ensure survival.”
The outdoor garden space is full of plants too. Bingham says this area can serve as an outdoor classroom on pretty weather days. Earlier this semester, photography students were there capturing photos of themselves picking pears from the trees planted there.
Bingham says her department is always looking for volunteers to help take care of the plants.
“We rely heavily on student workers,” she says. “Student workers are an incredible asset to our department.”
Flores says he and his classmates get to keep the plants they planted from seeds in botany class. If the plants live, he adds. And so far, so good.
“I enjoy the time we spend out there,” he says. “It would be fun to go out more.”
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