There's a lot to be said for learning about the business world from inside a classroom.  But there are some things you can't fully comprehend unless you see them for yourself.

That's what 75 students from Lawrence High School in Fairfield did on Wednesday: they visited nine businesses in Waterville and Winslow -- as well as Waterville City Hall -- to learn about how they operate and the types of jobs offered.

The event was hosted by the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, Kennebec Valley Growth Council and Kennebec Valley Council of Governments. The chamber paid for the school buses to transport the students.

Sam Post, 17, was one of 14 teenagers who visited Barrels Community Market in downtown Waterville as part of the Business in Education Tour.

She listened to Barrels' manager, David Gulak, explain how the Waterville Main Street program started the market last year as a nonprofit venture offering local vegetables, meats, breads, and other foods, as well as locally-made crafts. The market also seeks to educate people about healthful living.

Gulak showed the students various vegetables, explained their nutritional value and how to cook them and asked them questions about their knowledge of the foods.

Post, who loves to cook, answered many of his questions. She said she was excited about experiencing the business firsthand, rather than having someone from the market come to her classroom.

"We actually can see what's going on," she said. "If you get talked at, you're not going to learn anything and you get bored to tears."

Danielle Hodgkins, also 17 and a senior, was mesmerized by Gulak's talk. She learned that there are more than 2,000 varieties of potatoes in Peru alone, a country where Gulak said potatoes originated. She also learned that kale is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. A good way to cook it, according to Gulak, is to sauté garlic and onions in olive oil, chop up the kale, saute it until it is tender and then sprinkle it with lime juice.

John Butera, executive director of the Kennebec Valley Growth Council, was coordinating the student tours Wednesday with Ken Young, executive director of Kennebec Valley Council of Governments. Six groups of students visited two sites each. Besides Barrels, they went to Flo's Flower Cart, Inland Hospital, Northeast Laboratory Services, The Last Unicorn, Lohmann Animal Health, Waterville City Hall, Central Maine Motors Auto Group, Holiday Inn and Mid-State Machine Products.

Butera said the goal is to link business and education so that they communicate and network.

"How do we grow the economy?" Butera asked. "Work force is paramount, and one of the ways to address work force is to make sure K-through-12 is integrated in the business community."

The exposure allows students to identify their interests, he said.

"We want to let kids be aware that you need a wide array of skills and attributes to be able to work in a variety of industries. This is a learning laboratory. It's hands-on. It's visual."

Business and school officials have embraced the program, he said.

"It's so important. If one kid comes away from one of these businesses and says, 'You know what? That's pretty interesting. I'm going to look into it,' then we've done our job."

Lawrence High School English teacher Vicki Packard and business teacher Tina Davis accompanied the students to Barrels.

"I think it's great for the kids because they can take what they learn in school and actually see how it works in the real world," Packard said.

Butera's goal of piquing students' interest appears to have worked Wednesday, at least for students Sam Post and Danielle Hodgkins.

Both said they may come back to volunteer at Barrels.

Hodgkins, who is interested in engineering and the environment, was taken by the whole idea of the local food market.

"I love it here," she said.