Thanks to the April Citizens for School Improvement issue that voters passed with 75 percent of the vote, a tenth of that $4 million bond went to doubling the size of the agriculture building.
The 5,000-square-feet shop addition was christened with the FFA Barnwarming Dance Dec. 5. The following week, students helped move into the shop, which includes a dedicated tractor wash room and metal storage.
Since then, students have been assembling trailers, working on tractors and building fences in the space.
"This is a safer, better environment, that's for sure," said instructor Lee Longan said.
The community is invited to visit the new facility and talk with FFA members 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, as part of FFA Week. A building dedication will be held at 12:30 p.m. Other activities include hot dogs, tours and displays.
The additional shop space will allow instructors Longan and Adam Bieri to focus more on each class' projects and less on packing up at the end of each class to make room for the next.
The most exciting of the bond additions has been the 14-booth, concrete welding room. The dedicated space will allow more students to work on projects in a safe environment without make-shift locations or uncertainty of whether equipment will be available.
"I'm excited about this more than anything," Bieri said.
Each booth is 54-inches square, with dividing walls to cut down on the flash from other projects. New Arc welders have been added to the existing equipment, which will allow each booth to have its own dedicated tools, workbench and ventilation.
These physical improvements also will help the program as it delivers an overhauled curriculum in the fall. The two-year, general agriculture classes will be combined into one introduction class. A sophomore will then be able to choose animal science, plant science or agricultural mechanics for a principles class.
In addition to allowing a more focused learning path, students will have a broader offering of classes.
From student surveys, classes like veterinary science, bio-technology and floroculture already have been added. In the future, Bieri and Longan look forward to more in-depth, specialized courses. The program also will be adding woodworking and Auto CAD classes.
California's agriculture program may be "setting the trend" for other program in the future, Longan said.
"This will give kids a career pathway," he said.
But the system, to begin the 2015-2016 school year, also will allow students to try out interests, Bieri said.
"We've got a lot of work to do; we talk daily about ideas for next year," Bieri said. "I believe the new outline will give us more focus on STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math), too. The focus will help get them in that direction."
The ultimate goal of the upcoming curriculum changes are "to make sure kids are ready for the next level in life, whether that's college or the work force," Longan said.
Already, the agriculture department offers several dual-enrollment classes through State Fair Community College, helping students get ahead in their college credits. This also provides incentive for their courses to have more "rigor and relevance," Longan noted.
The new shop will help advance the curriculum options especially in the agricultural mechanics path.
Chapter President Madelyn Jobe said she is grateful for the community support shown to the ag program, not only through the bond issue but other projects like the annual barbecue.
Jobe said she is proud to see the program's growth, reaching more than half of the student body this year. In addition to the new facilities and evolving curriculum, the ag program has been raising awareness about its offerings, she said.
A few years ago, they began the Children's Barnyard Day, busing kindergarten through third-grade students to the high school for a petting zoo-type environment, Jobe said. And last year, the FFA visited eighth graders in advance of class registration, which resulted in a boom of freshmen Greenhands this year, Jobe said.
On a personal level, Jobe said FFA has been the highlight of her high school years. She has gained public speaking, leadership and organizational skills through the program. And she said she is grateful for the trips and friends she has made.
Like many, Jobe was skeptical about taking her first agriculture class but by the end of that year, she was hooked and recommending it to others.
To celebrate FFA Week, she has organized promotions such as the display case in the front of the high school, decorating the cafeteria windows and painting hay bales with "FFA" on them in front of the ag building.
"It's kind of sad; it's my last time and it's meant so much to me," Jobe said.