NEW YORK – Food and Finance High School and Cornell University Cooperative Extension (CUCE) will host the grand opening of a state-of-the-art rooftop aquaponics greenhouse at the NYC Department of Education's Park West Educational Campus on Wednesday, October 25.

The grand opening will include tours of the greenhouse and learning labs, the ribbon cutting, and a reception with refreshments catered by FFHS students.

Cornell Extension associate Philson A. Warner designed the 1,664-square foot greenhouse, which integrates cutting edge hydroponics and aquaponics with energy efficiency technologies. Warner is founding director of CUCE's hydroponics, aquaculture and aquaculture program.

The facility will support hands-on science education for students and teachers from throughout NYC in addition to the on-site learning opportunities for students and teachers from FFHS and other high schools at the Park West Campus. Funding for the project included allocations by the city council and the Manhattan Borough President's office as well as private donations.

Food and Finance is the NYC Department of Education’s only culinary arts school, providing a rigorous and rewarding Regents Diploma and culinary curriculum for 450 students in grades 9-12. The rooftop greenhouse ribbon-cutting celebration marks the latest expansion of the hydroponics, aquaculture and aquaponics learning labs operated at the school through a long-standing partnership with Cornell University.

In the collaboration, Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides technology and teaching, enabling NYC students and teachers to learn cutting edge ways of producing vegetables and fish using state of the art hydroponics/aquaponics/aquaculture methods. The Food Education Fund, a foundation which works to enhance programs and educational opportunities for FFHS students, has been a key partner in developing and sustaining the learning labs.

To learn more about the event on Oct. 25, click this link.