Students stood near rows of poinsettias in a greenhouse next to the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA)/Catonsville Education Center, where they are learning to grow, thanks to a connection with the nearby Catonsville community.
RICA-Baltimore is a residential treatment center and special education center for emotionally at-risk adolescents ages 12 to 18.
"We really utilize the Catonsville community — we rely on them for so many outings and socialization opportunities for our kids," said Tracey Heslop, chief operating officer of RICA, who lives in Catonsville. "We really do believe that it takes a village to create a home and we are only a temporary residence for our kids."
Four students have nurtured the poinsettias since October, for sale during the holidays. This year is their 11th annual sale.
This year, they will be offered for sale for the first time through members of the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Dec. 12.
The plants have been sold at the chamber's annual holiday party for at least three years, according to Teal Cary, executive director of the chamber.
"They are absolutely gorgeous plants — they're healthy and strong," Cary said. "It's a nice benefit to our members to be able to purchase the plants."
Proceeds from the sale go to the RICA-Baltimore welfare fund, which funds items and activities for the students ranging from haircuts to school uniforms to therapeutic and educational field trips.
"We don't really do this to make a profit. It's more for the education of the students," said Heather Schaefer, a first-year agriscience teacher at the school.
The plant sale is part of an agriscience class taught at the center.
In the class, students learn the history of the plants, how to grow them and how to sell and distribute them, Schaefer said.
The school holds similar fundraiser sales throughout the year, Schaefer said. Earlier in the school year, they had a mum sale and sold out of the flowers within the first hour, said Schaefer, who grew up on a 40-acre farm.
Her agriscience class of four students is part of a completer program that helps students prepare for a future career, Schaefer said.
"We have them investigate over 300 agriculture careers that are available for them," Schaefer said. "They focus in on an area that interests them, whether it be plants or animals, or another area, and we allow them to direct their own learning."
For many of the students, who have mental, social and emotional issues, interacting with people in social situations can be difficult, Schaefer said.
"Part of our goal is to serve the community," said Bryan Mroz, acting Chief Executive Officer and director of nursing and residential services at RICA Baltimore. "[The students] get that emotional reward from watching something grow, seeing people connect with it — they feel like they're contributing something."
During the holiday season, the poinsettia sale is one of many events at the facility, meant to "allow them to connect with the community and their families and not feel isolated," Mroz said.
Approximately 45 students live in the residential mental health treatment facility, which is run by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Heslop said.
An additional 55 students receive an education during the day at a school on the campus at 605 South Chapel Gate Lane in Irvington, she said.
The school is under the Baltimore County Public School system, but students from Baltimore City, Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as Baltimore County are bussed to the facility, Heslop said.
They are referred to the state by local Departments of Social Services, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and county mental health authorities, she said.
The school seeks to teach students to become more comfortable interacting with community members through the sale, Schaefer said.
"We don't want to overwhelm them — it's baby steps to get them socially acclimated to what they're going to experience in a career setting," Schaefer. "So we try to prepare them."
Those steps include lessons on interacting with customers in a social situations.
Beyond growing the plants, the students learn to sell and promote their product to organizations like the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce.
"Each student is their own individual, like a poinsettia," Schaefer said. "They're either going to turn right away and color up, or they take a little more time — and that's OK."
For Josh Taylor, 19, a senior in the class who lives in Essex, caring for the holiday plants has been a fun and relaxing experience.
"It's calm here," Taylor said, casting a glance of admiration at the red, white and green plants. "They helped change my mood."