Fort Bend ISD agriculture students will have a new place to raise animals and learn starting in the spring, according to a news release.
The Ronnie Davis Agriculture Center adjacent to Marshall High School is nearing completion. The 2019 bond program funded the “state-of-the-art” barn which will serve students from Elkins, Hightower, Marshall, Ridge Point and Willowridge high schools.
Fifty-seven animals can be raised at the 9,968 square-foot barn during each feeding season, including steers, lambs, goats, sheep and pigs. Each year has two feeding seasons.
The Fort Bend ISD agriculture program currently has 2,660 students. Students raising animals in the barn are members of the National FFA Organization and usually show their animals at the Fort Bend County Fair or the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
The new barn is designed similarly to the Bonnie Beard Agriculture Center that is next to Travis High School. Some unique features include an emergency generator and enclosed dumpsters.
The agriculture center will replace the center currently near Hightower High School.
ort Bend ISD students can participate in FFA programs across the district by enrolling in the Career and Technical Education Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources program. In the Animal Science pathway, students will go through the following sequence of classes:
Course 1: Principles of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources.
Course 2: Small Animal Management (fall), Equine Science (spring).
Course 3: Livestock Production.
Course 4: Advanced Animal Science.
For more information about Fort Bend ISD’s agriculture program, visit www.fortbendisd.com/Page/988.