Two weeks ago, Saul’s horticultural majors toiled away in the Philadelphia Convention Center to create a silver award-winning display for the Philadelphia Flower Show. Every man, woman, and child who attended the Flower Show saw what W.B. Saul students had been working hard to create: a garden-centered classroom.
Throughout the week of February 24th, Saul’s students toiled in the Philadelphia Convention Center to create a display within the confines of the given prompt. This year, the prompt in question is “Gardens of the Future”, and, as Saul is in the Education section, it got an extra prompt of “Classrooms of the Future”. This year, as it was in all years past, the project was headed by horticultural extraordinaire Garth Schuler. However, his senior class, along with others who wanted to help, was responsible for the design of the building. The design they created took on a rural feel, being made out of wood and, as expected with the flower show, being surrounded by flowers and grass.
Tatom Vasinda, an 11th grader, is one of the architects behind the design of this year’s Flower Show exhibit.
“It’s mostly based off of Saul as a school,” Vasinda said. “And Saul is a very unique school.”
Along with Saul being an inspiration, modularity and reusability were a topic of interest in the creation of the exhibit, being a strong driver for the design. Every part of the design was meant to be interchangeable, a sign of future efficiency.
“A lot of the things we have are designed to be used for different things,” Vasinda said.
Given that Saul is a school for the environmental sciences, sustainability was a focus as well. Such is shown with the solar panels placed atop the roof of the shed, giving a look into how people in the future will be using more sustainable methods and practices.
This year, Saul won a silver medal. While better than last year’s bronze medal, it still leaves many students desiring more. Compared to the 2023 Flower Show, when W.B. Saul won a golden medal with a beautiful display of a blue dress. Many students, like 11th grade Horticulture major Samuel Nicotera, hope to make a return to greatness in 2026.
“I’m dissatisfied with the poor lack of time management,” Nicotera said. “We could’ve done a lot more if we had more time.”
