Mrs. Smith has her very own business making flowers. In 2015 she launched it and has been a great success. She has been doing floral design since she graduated high school in ’09. Subbing for four years, she finally became a teacher at Pasco High. As she went around each of the high schools in Tri-City’s helping students learn she met somebody who taught floral at Pasco High School.

“This person truly was inspirational,” said Mrs. Smith.

She started subbing her students and noticed how they were operating their very own floral shop almost like if it was an actual business at the school. Expanding floriculture and running it like a store is what she really wants to strive to and wants to provide students with job skills to hopefully get them hired. When Mrs. Smith arrived at the school, she was saying that it was Pasco High tradition to do huge Texas mums and wants to carry on the tradition. In 2019, the mums from the previous floral culture teacher had sold out.

In the 1950’s and ‘60s “mums” began as a Texan token of affection given to a girl by her date in honor of the high school homecoming football game. The boy would get a flower with a few ribbons and give it to his date who would wear it to the homecoming game or dance. Back then a mum would cost around $3. Mums got super popular throughout the latter half of the 20th century then the tradition spread into states like Oklahoma and Louisiana and as far as Florida, and Washington. In the 90s and 80s, real chrysanthemum blooms were replaced with artificial flowers in different shades that were worn around necks.

Mrs. Smith will be selling the Mums for only $7 this homecoming year. Her Floriculture class will only be making seventy-five mums to be sold this homecoming. This will also be first come first serve. Her class will also be making corsages which a person will be able to fill a slip out for specific colors that a person and their homecoming date may want to purchase. This being the Pasco High tradition brought all the way from Texas, staff and even students such as athletes hope to see people wearing their biggest, and brightest mums from Mrs. Smith!