Jessica Torres, the agricultural science teacher at Nikki Rowe High School, saved a little patch of yellow ribbon from the grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting for McAllen ISD’s new agricultural center Wednesday.
Torres saved the patch of ribbon, she said, because the completion of the state-of-the-art 24,000-square-foot facility is a milestone worth commemorating, one that will make a significant difference in the lives of the district’s agriculture students.
A good crowd showed up for the grand opening of the new facility Wednesday, which sits next door to where the old one was on 29th Street.
Mariachis entertained the guests while FFA students walked around giddily looking at cattle and pigs and sheep. Administrators had slices of cake and chatted with parents.
There was, appropriately, a fairly strong odor of cow manure in the air.
The new center has room for about a third more animals than the old one, is better organized and ventilated, and features a classroom and offices for staff.
Superintendent J. A. Gonzalez called it a “dream come true,” a description the district’s ag students seemed to agree with.
“We’re extremely grateful,” Eva Grace Dennett, the Rowe FFA president said. “And we hope that by showing our animals and working hard that we can be leaders in our community.”
Dennett, who kept her show goat at the old facility last year, euphemistically describes it as “unique.”
“Being where we were helped us appreciate where we are today,” she said.
Torres, the ag teacher, is more candid. She showed animals out of the old site when she was a student at the district some 16 years ago. She remembers doing her best to clip lambs under a single lightbulb, practically in the dark.
“It was very difficult,” she says.
The location lacked storage; Torres used her home fridge to store animal medication. It was laid out inefficiently. She says it would flood when it rained.
Torres remembers during one recent hurricane the location flooded severely. She says the goats were squeezing together on the high ground.
“So we went over, me and my husband came out with the students — in the middle of the hurricane — digging a trench so that the water could flow away from the barn,” she said. “Now we have drainage, that way we don’t have that issue.”
The new facility, Torres says, is a bunch of small improvements that add up to a significant difference. In addition to drainage, the center is ADA compliant. It has Wi-Fi and adequate fencing. There’s an office for each of the district’s three high schools, little rooms for storage of equipment and paperwork.
Torres says the new facility will help students and staff reach their potential without so many roadblocks.
According to the district, about 375 students participate in its agricultural program. Torres says it’s a popular program and the increase will also help meet increased demand among students.
“We used to have like 60 members; now we have like 120 students in my class,” she said. “And they’re full! And everybody wants to do something.”
