The colors of orange, pink, and white are blended to create a beautiful bouquet, their petals weaving together to make a piece of art. There is a soft floral scent that surrounds them, like a bubble of the best perfume. This is what people can get when they choose to sponsor a floral design student and receive various arrangements. 

The floral design class is doing a student sponsorship program, where anyone can pay the $50 fee each semester and get special arrangements delivered to them from the student they sponsor.

“Sponsorships will allow more funds for the classroom so that our students can work hands-on with live floral material, which can be quite costly, so it would give them more opportunity to gain experience,” floral design teacher Andrea Rhoden said.

When someone sponsors a student, the sponsor will be able to receive a total of six arrangements throughout the year. There are many things someone could do with them, like use them as a gift or as decorations.

“The students will get to take the arrangements to their sponsors themselves,” Rhoden said. “They go by holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we can make arrangements for other events like the Wildkats Are Going Places event that happened on Aug. 26.”

Students want to be sponsored too. Many of them are excited about getting the chance to make something for somebody, something that could brighten up someone’s day.

“I want to be sponsored so that I can have the resources I need to make lots of floral arrangements,” junior Kirsten Lemon said. “I want the chance to make different things than the ones we all make in class, and it’s an amazing opportunity.”

To sign up, people can receive the application from the students interested in it, or from the QR code supplied by the school. Payments will be accepted through School Pay or a check sent to the floral design department. 

“You can find a student, or if you are interested in sponsoring an extra student who isn’t able to get a sponsor, you can fill out the QR code and make the payment,” Rhoden said. “There are many students that are interested but can’t get a sponsor through connections, so it is always nice when someone sponsors extra students.”