A large crowd attended a back-to-school open house at Linn Co. R-1 near Purdin. A barbecue was held with lots of parents, students and faculty participating. The grill was operated by FFA students, where they fed attendees burgers, hot dogs and sides. There were many favorable comments on the unveiling of the new Ag Education Building, which was the feature attraction of the open house. These comments emphasized the additional equipment and space in which to learn. The building is now complete with new wood and metal shop facilities, as well as a large classroom and an office for the instructor. “This is such a wonderful facility,” said Samantha Blaue, Vocational Agriculture instructor. “The old building was very small and bordered on unsafe. The new area provides so much more space to work on individual projects, and is much safer with the separation between the wood shop and metal-working areas.”
The Ag Facility was made possible by a tax increase passed by the Linn County R-1 School District (also referred to as Prop C) two years ago. The monies collected by the school district through this tax increase were used to build the agriculture building. As required by law, the project was publically bid, and the lowest bid was from Bill Rhodes Construction. They began work on the new addition in the fall of 2009 and completed the project early this summer. “Rhodes Construction did a wonderful job and was very good to work with,” stated Ryan Livingston, Superintendent of Schools at Linn Co. R-1. The agriculture building is not only ready for student use but also is available for community use. “This is a great addition to our school and community. This is something we have wanted to accomplish for quite some time,” says Steve Hardy, Board President. “The agriculture building is 75’x75’ with one agriculture education classroom, an office, restrooms, and the woodworking and metal shop,” he added.
See today's LCL for the full story
