Among the Texas high schools that created team mums in 2023, the floral design students of Princeton Independent School District received a good amount of media attention and generated plenty of pride in their town of approximately 28,000 people. PISD also made my 2023 team mum directory.

So when I spotted a Facebook post in early September by Princeton ISD saying that the Panther Petals were at it again in 2024, I perked up. It actually hadn’t occurred to me that the same group of people might actually build team mums in consecutive years.

What really captured my attention was that this year’s PISD floral design students were also making mini-mums, about 12” in length, to sell as a fundraiser. Team mums and small mums are two of the hottest trends, and they were doing both. I just had to meet them.

It took less than 24 hours for Jean Ann Collins, PISD Communications Coordinator, to respond to my inquiry, and just days later I was making the hour-long drive from my home to Princeton. I was excited to meet Shalley Boles, PISD Agriculture Science Teacher, and watch her floral design students in action.

Due in part to their community’s strong agricultural heritage, Lovelady and Princeton High Schools have robust environmental sciences programs. During my visit, I met several students who were members of FFA (Future Farmers of America). Boles explained to me that floral design classes were relatively new to the district’s environmental sciences curriculum, an idea she brought with her from a previous teaching position in Plano ISD.

Actually, floral design is relatively new to Boles herself. She grew up in an agricultural family, and the images of Highland cows on her classroom walls hinted at her first love: large animal veterinary sciences. But like every mum maker I’ve ever met, Boles learned the art of floral and mum design from mentors. She didn’t say so, but I bet floral design not only appeals to her creative side but also to her belief in cultivating real-world skills in her students, such as goal-setting, hands-on learning, teamwork, problem-solving, and project management.

PISD 2024 Team Mum: Wonder Twins power, activated

Take a look at that 2023 PISD photo again. Front and center you’ll see Upkar and Upneet, aka “The Twins,” who were part of Boles’ first go at integrating a bigger-than-life homecoming mum project into her curriculum. The result was 18 feet of mum magic and plenty of lessons learned along the way.

This year, The Twins returned to Boles’ roster and were eager to flatten out that mum learning curve. As the uppermost upperclassmen in the floral design cohort, Upkar and Upneet double-handedly conceived and constructed this year’s team mum to exceed last year’s in every way, including size, better materials, more finesse, and greater attention to detail.

As Upkar and Upneet told me about the design, mathematics, engineering, and assembly process behind this year’s team mum, one overriding theme became abundantly clear:

The opportunity for them to learn, then learn more fully by applying what they had learned in the first go-round, was already the biggest and best result of this project.

Sorry, but it’s not for me to reveal the dimensions of the 2024 Princeton Panther team mum. You’ll just have to wait for the unveiling during their homecoming this week.

PISD 2024 Mini-Mums: GO…. ready, set!

With the 2024 team mum in good hands, Shalley Boles could have easily filled the fall semester with assignments unrelated to homecoming, but if you know Boles at all, you know she’d rather keep shaking things up. Right before the school year started, she heard about the Stanley mug mini-mum craze and immediately recognized it as a great learning opportunity.

Since Panther homecoming week fell early this year, September 16-20, Boles had no time to waste. I don’t want to get her in trouble, so let’s just say she may or may not have bought some mini-mum making supplies before the district’s fiscal year and purchase requisition process could kick in.

Boles’ floral design students immediately jumped on board. They treated the new venture like a start-up as they came together to help make decisions about product variations, design, pricing, materials, fabrication, marketing, and distribution. They became their own customers and they also took orders from friends.

During my visit, students were working on different aspects of the assembly process, relying on Boles and each other for inspiration and guidance. One student asked my opinion on a volleyball-themed mini-mum she was creating for herself. Even this early in the school year, the camaraderie being built was evident, and now that I think about it, so was the overall lack of silliness. This isn’t to say students weren’t enjoying themselves, because they certainly seemed to be, but they were also taking their work seriously.

Somehow, the students even found time to make a mini-mum for me while I was there. It looks great with my pink Stanley-esque mug.

I asked one student how many mini-mums they would be making this year, and she guessed it would be around 100. I asked another if she thought people were buying the mini-mums for themselves or for someone else, and she said it seemed to be a mix of both. I asked a third student if she thought people were buying the mini-mums to wear instead of or in addition to a “regular” mum. She declined to speak for anyone else (spoken like a true Gen Z-er), but said she planned to put hers on her backpack in addition to wearing the “big” one her boyfriend was getting for her.

The experience of visiting Boles’ classes felt like peeking inside a test kitchen. All the ingredients are there for a delicious meal, and the chefs are well on their way to figuring out the recipes. If they’re successful, team mums and mini-mums may very well be on the PISD menu again next year.

Shameless Plug for MUMENTOUS

If you enjoyed reading this, you might enjoy my book, Mumentous: Original Photos and Mostly-True Stories about Football, Glue Guns, Moms, and a Supersized High School Tradition that was Born Deep in the Heart of Texas.

You don’t have to take it from me. Look for independent reviews of Mumentous scattered throughout my website. Like this one:

“...Schultz sets out to explore—through stories and photographs—the culture of mums: how the tradition originated, how it has changed over the years, and what it means for the schools, students, parents, and communities who participate.

It’s a tale rooted in a particularly Texan love of maximalism but one that also tells a larger story of the human need for ritual and pageantry... The many eye-catching black-and-white photographs are as instrumental as the text in communicating the soul of mum culture.

Both seasoned Texas alumni and readers completely unfamiliar with the tradition will be equally charmed by this beguiling quirk of Americana. An entertaining, brilliantly shot look at a Texas high school tradition."

— Kirkus Reviews & Kirkus Magazine