Originally from CBS News 13 – WJZ Baltimore, by Ron Matz

“It allows our young men…to apply the things they’ve learned… in a real-life situation, and it gets dirt under their fingernails,” said Brother James Dries, FSC.

Towson, MD – There’s something new on the campus of Calvert Hall College in Towson. It’s a 600-square foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse that will provide the school’s nearly 1,200 students with hands-on opportunities in biology, chemistry, and environmental science.

“It allows our young men, in science courses particularly, to apply the things they’ve learned in the classroom in a real-life situation, and it gets dirt under their fingernails,” said Brother James, the chairman of the Calvert Hall science department.

The greenhouse is a donation from Jack Noppinger Jr. a member of the Calvert Hall class of 1964.

“We instituted a new STEM program in our science curriculum last year, and this kind of takes our science program to a new level and keeps us scholastically on top of our game,” said Noppinger.

Starting with this year’s freshman class, all Calvert Hall students will use the greenhouse during their high school years.

“You get to see hands-on how the plants grow instead of looking through a power point or in a textbook. It’s a really interesting perspective…” said senior Sam Vido.

“It’s a great experience,” said Calvert Hall senior Sam Vido. “You get to see hands-on how the plants grow instead of looking through a power point or in a textbook. It’s a really interesting perspective you gain from it.”

“I like coming in here and checking on our prior experiments. It’s like getting a little break from the classroom setting. You can relax in a calm setting and work with the plants,” said Calvert Hall senior Sebastien Nicolas.

The new greenhouse at Calvert Hall has been compared to a commercial greenhouse by experts in the field.