During the Great Depression of the 1930s even the small tuition fee of $21.45 per month became more than most parents could afford. Some paid entrance fees with a horse or a cow or a load of beans or apples. The principal, W.S. Boynton, took steps to create more student employment opportunities. A greenhouse and truck garden was begun in 1931. The students raised vegetables to sell door-to-door and commercially. Large quantities of celery and carrots were shipped by railway freight to be sold in other areas. Much of the food for the students came from those gardens as well. In 1932, a cannery was begun in the basement of the church elementary school on the property. Fruits and vegetables were canned for use at the school, custom canning was done for area residents, and surplus corn and other vegetables were canned in large quantities and sold or bartered to local merchants. Campus wages in the early 1930s were 12 cents an hour for boys and 10 cents an hour for girls.