Somers Middle School nutrition teacher Robin Vogler’s innovative classroom is outdoors.

Vogler, who also is the food services director at the school, has her students not only help grow vegetables but also use the produce while learning to cook.

“Kids love hands-on learning,” Vogler said. “Learning to feed yourself is a life skill.”

The newest addition to her outdoor classroom is a hydroponics system recently installed in the school greenhouse. In a hydroponics system, plants are grown without soil. Instead, a solution of essential nutrients and minerals is mixed into the water.

The 12-by-20-foot wooden frame and PVC pipes will hold up to 72 “net” pots, which have openings to allow water to flow through roots.

“The benefit is that plants grow intensively, in a small space, year-round,” Vogler said.

Initially, Vogler plans to have seventh-graders try out their green thumbs by growing lettuce.

“We hope to use that lettuce to supplement the school food program in the salad bars,” Vogler said.

She estimates 72 heads of lettuce would produce about 25 pounds — enough to supplement the salad bar for a few weeks.

“We’ll probably rotate our crops,” Vogler said.

The hydroponics system is a result of a $4,426 grant Vogler received through Plum Creek Foundation Montana Great Classroom Awards.

Vogler chose to add hydroponics because of her experience growing vegetables.

“I come from a family who grew hydroponically,” she said. Her family mainly raised tomatoes but also cucumbers, lettuce and onions.

“It was second nature to me. That’s how we made our income,” Vogler said.

Vogler’s outdoor classroom also includes a raised vegetable garden that was installed last year with help from Montana FoodCorps, an organization that helps schools build gardens and facilitate farm-to-cafeteria programs.

If everything goes well, Somers students may get to taste their first crop of lettuce in June.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.