When choosing classes outside of what’s required for your major the options are endless, but some of them can be quite fun and different. One class Elon offers, Solar Greenhouse – a class that celebrates food and goes behind the scenes to grow it.
Professor Tony Mayer is new to Elon and it’s his first time tackling a course like this- but he has some ambitious goals.
“The immediate goal is to get all the weeds up, get everything in to shape and plant a lot of cover crops. We want to keep vegetable production going,” says Mayer. “The long term goal is making this a permaculture garden, which would involve berries, flowers, and energy and water saving structures.”
Classes take place at Loy Farms where students tend to the crops and help keep up production. Senior Charlie Cheema enjoys spending time outside. In fact, most of his classes are taking place outside this semester.
“I much rather spend the hour and a half outside than in a classroom any day, so these types of classes keep me going,” says Cheema.
Other students in the class appreciate Mayer’s dedication to the classroom atmosphere. “We spend time getting to know each other and ‘break bread’ as Tony likes to call it,” says sophomore Isabel Smith. “He is so passionate about the material, and it makes it exciting to show up outside for class everyday.”
Outside of class time, students are expected to put in at least 2 hours of work on the farm. These hours help keep the farm functioning and up to date.
This class is not only a great way to get outside, but also a way to knock out your non-lab science credit towards Elon’s Core Requirements.