Lubbock ISD Agri-STEM complex set to soon open its doors to students

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Lubbock ISD Agri-STEM complex is on track to have students in the classroom in less than a month, moving LISD’s plan to expand agriculture education forward.

“I believe the Agri-STEM complex is a game changer,” the coordinator of agriculture education, Michelle Pieniazek, said.

Faculty went from seeing it on paper to being able to walk through the halls on Monday. LISD Superintendent Kathy Rollo said she is excited for students to be in the state-of-the-art facility this year.

“It’s just exciting, when we’ve been planning for it for so long to actually see it coming to fruition,” Rollo said.

The complex is on 4th Street and Quaker Avenue. Students should be welcomed into the classrooms on Aug. 16.

A teacher, Cassie Sanders, said she cannot wait to be in her new space.

“I squealed,” Sanders said. “I was very excited.”

Sanders teaches floral design and is currently instructing at the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center. With the new facility, Sanders said opportunities are blooming. She will have more storage space, more sinks and a cooler.

“So, the cooler space alone is going to be instrumental in being able to teach my students how to process flowers properly, and I just couldn’t be more ecstatic,” Sanders said.

Pieniazek said the complex also includes meat and dairy processing capabilities, plant science, ecology, animal science and veterinary science. She said it is important for students to have hands-on experience in agriculture, since it is part of a person’s every day lives.

“If you eat or wear clothes, you’re involved in agriculture,” Pieniazek said. “So, it’s vital to our everyday life and our students will be the next workforce of the Lubbock community.”

The complex is for high school students who are finishing upper-level classwork.

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