MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County School District and JCI Contractors held a “Topping Out Ceremony” for the county schools’ Agriculture Facility, located on Doc Darbyshire Road across from the high school.

The brand-new facility will have a livestock barn that will accommodate both large and small animals for livestock shows and a 6,967 square-foot canning plant will have eight fully equipped workstations. Altman and Barrett architects worked with the faculty of the school’s agricultural department to design the facility that’s being built by JCI Contractors.

Superintendent Dan Chappuis welcomed everyone to the ceremony, “We’re thankful to everybody who’s been a part if this.”

Then, he went on to specifically thank the board of education members, Board of Education attorney Bill McCalley, Chief Officer of District and Employee Relations Angela Hobby, Ashby Autry of JCI Contractors and former Superintendent Ben Wiggins.

‘I feel like, in just talking to everybody from JCI today, this will be, when it’s completed, the premier ag facility in the state and we are certainly proud of that,” he said.

He also said that it would benefit not only the Colquitt County School District students but the community as a whole.

“As the center of agriculture in the State of Georgia, this facility will really just shine a light on everything that we’re doing here. All the work that our students do and everything that the community does with agriculture in the State of Georgia,” Chappuis said and added that it would benefit students and the community for years to come.

Then, he also thanked the agriculture education advisory committee, JCI Contractors and Altman and Barrett Architects.

“We’re happy to have you all as partners in this,” he said.

Next, Colquitt County FFA Chaplain Zachary Nowland gave the invocation.

Becca Turner, representing the agriculture education advisory committee, was then introduced. She said that for many years, a state-of-the-art livestock facility, in which the youth of Colquitt County could house their livestock projects, had been a dream.

“A facility like this does more than just house animals. It nurtures relationships, it promotes responsibility in young people, it provides a service to those in our community and it truly gives our ag teachers the opportunity to teach their students and the families in our community all that’s required and involved in a youth livestock project,” she said.

She also said, ultimately, it was one more step in the advancement of the overall ag education that current teachers and leaders and all of those who have been a part of the Colquitt County ag program in the past have always pushed toward.

“This facility, as well as the canning plant at the front of the property, which you can see behind you, will be an integral part of the continuing legacy of ag education in Colquitt County,” Turner said.

She went on to say that many people who were in attendance had thoughtfully considered the design and how the facilities would not only make an impact within the next few years but over generations of ag enthusiasts to come.

“As a parent of two children that have been part of the livestock project and deeply rooted in the school system, here in Colquitt County, I’m grateful for the investment that our county and our school system have made to this project,” she said. “Today as we observe the ‘topping out’ of the building, we’re celebrating all the collaboration and hard work by so many people at many different levels to get it to where it is today.”

Turner then said that a “topping out” ceremony was deeply rooted in history and tradition just like agriculture.

“So, as you sign the beam, think about the impact that this program has had on you and your family and the impact that this particular facility will have on so many families in the future within Colquitt County,” she said.

Next, Project Manager Braxton Jones spoke on behalf of JCI Contractors, giving a construction update. He said participants could look around and see all of the progress that had been made over the past several months and then gave a run-down on all of the tasks that had been completed so far.

“We’re on schedule for an early summer of next year completion date turn-over to the school system and for the community to use. So, we’re really excited about the progress that has been made and excited about the future and what it’s gonna do for this county and this community,” he said.

He went on to say that the purpose of a “topping out” ceremony was to show appreciation for all the parties involved in the project. He said that it was a celebration of the work that’s been put into place to get to a point of “topping out” of a structure, the completion of the main super-structure portion of the building.

“When everybody signs their name to this beam, they’re signing that they take pride in the work that they’re putting in place and they’re signing that they have done their work to the best of their ability in everything that they have done,” Jones said.

He also said it celebrates the guys with the “boots on the ground” who show-up early mornings, late nights and on the weekends to get the job done.

“I just want to say how much I appreciate all the work that these guys out here in the field have done and all the work that they’ve put in to get the job to this point and all that they’re gonna do to finish those things out,” Jones said.

In closing, Chappuis reiterated his earlier “thank you’s” and also included thanks to the taxpayers in the community for getting behind the project.

“Just another example of the people in Colquitt County coming together to do something that’s gonna benefit students and benefit the community for years to come,” he said.

Then, he invited the attendees to sign their names on the beam that would be raised into place for the livestock facility.