Expanded Horticulture Curriculum At NVCC

WATERBURY — The Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) Landscaping and Horticulture Program is rapidly growing. A new 15,000 square foot laboratory has been built for students in order to allow them to gain experience in Greenhouse Management and Plant Propagation. This will enable students to take positions in the extensive greenhouse and garden center industries in the state. In addition, three new three-credit courses have been added to the horticulture program, each beginning in the spring semester of 2000.

Horticulture 208: Advanced Landscape Design will cover three-dimensional and computer-aided design techniques. Landscape construction will also be discussed. The class will meet on Mondays from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, beginning on January 24.

Horticulture 209: Arboriculture is designed to prepare landscapers for the state arborist examination. Topics include the biology, identification, selection, planting and management of trees as well as diagnosis of tree problems. Horticulture 209 will meet on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, beginning on January 19.

Horticulture 183: Floral Arranging and Design I will cover the basics of professional floral arranging. Topics such as floral identification, preservation and conditioning, and vase arrangements will also be included. The course will meet on Fridays beginning on January 21, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.

Expert faculty, Anthony C. Bleach and Eugene Wisniewski, will teach the courses. Mr Bleach, coordinator of the Landscaping and Horticulture Program at NVCC, has taught at several institutions worldwide. Before coming to Connecticut, he taught at an agricultural college in England and worked in Lesotho, Africa. Eugene Wisniewski, a new full-time faculty member, has collected and grown enough plants to fill a Victorian conservatory. He has 30 years experience as head of the horticulture department at Nonnewaug High School and 20 years experience as an adjunct faculty member at NVCC.

Registration is underway. For more information on Horticulture 208, Horticulture 209, Horticulture 183 or the new laboratory, call Anthony C. Bleach at 203/596-8633, Eugene Wisniewski at 203/596-8634 or Dr Bonnie Simon at 203/575-8191.