Neosho students, community cut ribbon on new ag center

Yahoo

02-05-2025

NEOSHO, Mo. — More than 400 Neosho students, faculty, administrators, community leaders and residents gathered Thursday at the new agriculture center to celebrate its opening.
The $9 million center at Neosho Junior High School offers five traditional classrooms, three lab classrooms, a food science lab, a plant science lab, a greenhouse, a five-bay shop and a livestock learning lab in its 30,000 square feet. It will serve more than 400 students in grades seven through 12, according to the district.
'This is a historical day for the Neosho School District and the community of Neosho,' Superintendent Jim Davis said at the ceremony. 'We have a very high interest in our agriculture program, and it is a continuing and growing program where we have about 400 students that are involved. Just the things we are able to offer academically with these students with plant science, animal science, metals and mechanics, those are academic opportunities for our kids to have a hands-on experience.'
He said the center will also prepare students for the workforce.
The building was the centerpiece of a $14 million bond issue approved by 65% of voters in 2023.
'The agricultural center is more than a building,' Davis said. 'It's a commitment to preparing our students for high-demand careers and supporting the continued growth in our community.'
Kelin Kruse, agriculture teacher and adviser for Neosho's FFA program, said the center offers a world of opportunities for his students.
'In the old building, I was in a traditional classroom,' Kruse said. 'I did have a greenhouse, but we were constricted by space, so this is going to allow us to expand and accommodate larger class sizes and expand curriculum. Instead of a regular classroom, I have a plant science lab that I have room to instruct kids in floral design and also a larger greenhouse so for my plant sciences and greenhouse classes, they learn plant growth and greenhouse management.'
Future ag students joined high school students in giving tours of the different lab spaces and classrooms to those attending the ribbon-cutting.
In the barn, sixth graders Quincy Morgan and Porter Kruse and seventh grader Clancey Jones showed pens for animals large and small and demonstrated some of the tools students will use to learn about caring for livestock.
'All the cows and horses can be kept in these pens,' Morgan said while sitting on a horse in the barn.
'Students who live in town can leave their animals in here and take care of them,' Kruse said.
Junior Kaylynn Pruitt, who was serving finger food prepared in the food science lab for the event, said she started out as a freshman taking an animal science class and enjoyed it.
'I'm taking the advance animal science class my senior year, next year, and being in this building, we're going to get to do a lot more hands-on learning,' Pruitt said. 'We have our whole sale barn out here, so we're going to get to work with live animals, which will be a very good experience.'
Kadence Sutton, a senior, said that even if she won't be here to take advantage of it, the food science lab will be a great experience for students coming after her.
'With the food science lab, we can do more cooking for the community,' Sutton said. 'We volunteer at Hope Kitchen twice throughout the year. I'm more of a city kid, I don't live in the country, so having a sale barn for kids like me, it will be able to help them show more animals, help them store the animals out there. It's a better opportunity for the whole community.'