Many in Bulloch County look forward to Portal High School's poinsettias each year for the holidays. Unfortunately, this year's plants were wiped out by Hurricane Matthew.

"The crop is a total loss because of going so long without power and water this weekend," said Dr. Tom Marshall, an agriculture teacher for the school's Plant and Landscape Systems and Horticulture and Forestry Science career pathways. "We don't have time to replant, so we will not have a crop this year."

The bumper crop had been one of the showcased highlights of Portal's innovative ag education program during a recent visit by State School Superintendent Richard Woods. It would have been the 12th season Marshall and his landscaping/horticulture students have cultivated three varieties of poinsettias inside Portal Middle High School's greenhouse.

Students began cultivating more than 300 plants from seedlings in early September. Known for their high quality, the plants usually sell quickly from Thanksgiving to early December.

"Things happen, and you just take your losses and move on," Marshall said. "For the students, it's actually been a good teaching moment on dealing with loss."

Proceeds from the annual sale benefit the school's National FFA Organization chapter and other special ag education projects.

Marshall and his students also grow Boston ferns to sell in the spring.

"Our Boston ferns were burned a little from the heat, but they will recover fine," he said. 

In addition to poinsettias and Boston ferns, Marshall and his students supply two varieties of lettuce to the high school and Portal Elementary School. They grow the plants using four aquaponics towers in one of the school's two greenhouses.

The agriculture classes are part of the school system's Career Technical and Agriculture Education programs.