Teacher Turns Flower Class Into Student-Run Business

Kayla Brune didn't just teach her students about flowers. She handed them the keys to run their own business.

The Willmar Senior High School agriculture teacher won the 2025 National Association of Agricultural Educators Ideas Unlimited Award for creating a floral design subscription club. Only six educators nationwide received the honor.

Here's how it works: Community members buy five-week flower subscriptions, and students handle everything. Teams create budgets, design prototypes, and develop delivery plans just like a real startup.

Each group then teaches their classmates how to recreate the arrangements before delivering fresh bouquets to subscribers. It's part business class, part art studio, part logistics challenge.

The program solves a problem many teachers face. Hands-on learning costs money, and not every student can afford extra fees for materials. Every dollar from subscriptions goes back into the classroom, keeping the program accessible to everyone.

Brune presented her model at the National Association of Agricultural Educators Convention in Nashville last December. The organization represents more than 10,000 agriculture teachers across the country who work to bring practical skills into classrooms.

The Ripple Effect

This isn't just about arranging flowers. Students learn financial planning, teamwork, customer service, and how to meet deadlines when real people are counting on them.

The community gets beautiful arrangements while supporting local education. Teachers nationwide now have a blueprint for turning any hands-on course into a self-sustaining program.

And students walk away with more than grades. They leave with actual business experience and the confidence that comes from running something real.

One creative teacher in Minnesota just showed thousands of others what's possible when you give students real responsibility.