Outdoor classroom pavilion added to HVRHS Land Lab

FALLS VILLAGE — The “land lab” for the Agricultural Science and Technology Education (ASTE) department at Housatonic Valley Regional High School now includes a pavilion that will serve as an outdoor classroom.

Bruce Bennett, chair of the ASTE advisory board, said Monday, July 13, that the 14-by-24-foot red cedar pavilion was purchased from Kloter Farms in Ellington.

The pavilion cost about $18,000, which was covered by a grant from the Housatonic River Commission.

The grant did not cover the $3,800 cost of erecting the structure. That expense was paid by the Housatonic Valley FFA chapter, and several students helped assemble the pavilion.

The ASTE program broke ground on the two-acre property on Warren Turnpike, about a half-mile north of the high school, in September 2025. Eversource leases the land for a nominal fee.

The land lab was first proposed to and approved by the Region One Board of Education in 2024. Students began clearing brush from the formerly wooded site on Sept. 22, 2025.

Bennett also recognized financial and in-kind support from the Northwest CT Community Foundation, the 21st Century Fund for HVRHS, Gold Farm, Falls Village Sawmill, M&M Excavating of Sheffield, Laurelbrook Materials, Crane’s Outdoor Power Equipment and the Northwest Conservation District.

During the summer, up to seven students are paid to work one day a week mowing, weeding and performing other maintenance. Bennett said ASTE department head Dave Moran insisted students be compensated for their work.

Once the garden beds are ready, they will be planted with vegetables selected to fit the curriculum and the school calendar.

“We’ll grow crops that can be harvested before school lets out in June,” Bennett said, citing asparagus, strawberries and kale as examples.

On Wednesday, July 15, HVRHS students were working on fencing around the garden beds to keep deer out.