EDITOR’S NOTE (8/30/24): The reporter on this article, is enrolled in Floriculture. We are disclosing this to address issues of conflict of interest.

EDITOR’S NOTE (8/30/24): Two paragraphs from were removed due to lack of quotes from sources.

After 11 months of building and the years-long process of getting the barn approved and funded, Stagg’s new barn is finally open to Agriculture students and teachers for the purpose of new educational and hands-on opportunities, and even new animals to raise for AG Fest.

Last May, it was announced to the public that a barn would be built on an old vineyard in the school through a groundbreaking event held by Stagg FFA.

Though the barn is being opened this year, this task was not an easy or fast one. Head of Stagg’s Agriculture Department Daniel Barrett said, “The process started in early 2020, however we started planning in 2019.” 

Barret also spoke about how unique this build is, “It’s very different. The architects haven’t designed anything like this before, the construction guys hadn’t really built something like this before. It was a very unique project with all the specifications we needed.”

To Barrett, the barn levels the playing field for FFA students at Stagg. This will give them new opportunities that have been open to FFA students in other schools with more resources.

FFA Sentinel and 11th grader Andrea Alonso is most excited for the animals being held in the barn, such as pigs, lambs, and possibly even steers. Alonso said, “The barn will bring way more opportunities for more members to participate.”

The three year planning process consisted of getting funding, approval, and even touring other schools’ barns to help plan out the building and construction. The planning of the barn had a multitude of funding sources, one of them being through the district. They had to shift their budget and change their LCAP goals to allocate the funding for the barn.  They needed about 4 million dollars, most of which was raised by grants.

SUSD Superintendent Dr. Michelle Rodriguez said, “We can’t say we believe in something and not have the money for it.” Rodriguez wanted something that speaks to all students’ passions, interests and talents and will open and lead to something that all students might be interested in taking part in, which is why she supported the barn.

Rodriguez expressed how real it was now that the barn was built and visible. “We can conceptualize it but if you look at the board plan it’s not half as exciting as the actual facility.”

With all the good that is coming from the barn there will be way more responsibilities. There will need to be a farm manager who will make sure the barn is in a good environment and it is in top shape for the animals and students who will be in the barn. 

The beautiful state of the art facility gives a sense of pride for both the school and students at the school. With the agro-science classes at Stagg they want to be able to have year-long egg projects and explore more animal science that will be available with all the new animals. Daniel Barret expresses his main goal with the barn and what the big accomplishment tells students, “We want to let students know that all were gonna keep doing is cutting down barriers for them and if there’s an obstacle we will overcome it.”