Unique Horticulture class at A&M teaches students skills for special event planning

Every Wednesday night professor Jim Johnson and a class of students convene for Horticulture 454, Special Event Design and Planning. Johnson teaches the students the skills necessary for event planning, from the floral arrangements to the menu.

"My favorite part is interacting with the students, hearing their thoughts and ideas and watching that light bulb go off in their head," Johnson said.

The class was created four years ago, spurred by student demand. Johnson said he has had a waiting list for the class every year.

"Mr. J makes it really fun to learn and go to class," said Leslie Berry, a senior horticulture major. "No one misses because it feels like it's not even a class."

Berry said she plans to go into event coordinating when she graduates, and she enjoys the different opportunities this class gives, including the pressure of working on a deadline for an event.

The most recent project the class is working on is floating floral designs. On Sept. 30 they took their floats, with themes of Fish Camp, to Research Park to test the mechanics of their design.

The class also designs floral arrangements for outside events. This semester's project is an arrangement for the President's Endowed Scholars Reception in Reed Arena, which Johnson said is challenging due to the tall ceiling.

The class does final projects in which they create and organize their own event. Johnson said he has seen events from duck hunting with the president, incorporating decorations made from native plant materials, to feeding the hungry with biblical themes. The students are required to include information such as number of people attending, purpose, a real menu showing communication with a caterer and all other aspects of event planning to create a real world experience in the classroom.

One year the class had the opportunity to design the stage of Rudder Auditorium and attend the event as the guests. Another year they planned an event in the press box at Kyle Field. However, these were unique occasions due to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

"We focus on the organizational skill it takes to put on an event according to the type of event it is," Johnson said. "More and more career opportunities are opening up in event planning - weddings are a good example."

But weddings are not the only option for future event planners. Johnson said hotels hire event coordinators to decorate meeting rooms and banquet halls, and large corporations import people to plan events for the company. These career opportunities have different requirements, and Johnson's class has a variety of guest speakers to talk about them.

Rebekah Brown, a senior horticulture and agriculture science major, is taking the class so that she can better her students when she becomes an agricultural science teacher.

"I want to help my students learn skills that could turn into a career. I want to encourage them to be creative too," Brown said. "An event planning class would teach them to be more organized and more detail-oriented. Basically, I took this class to help equip my future students."

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