MOULTRIE, Ga. – The Colquitt County School District is making progress with the planning stages of a new Colquitt County High School Canning Plant and an agriculture facility. 

The current CCHS Canning Plant is located near the CCSD office and opens seasonally to the public during the summer and by appointment during the school year. 

William Burt, a CCHS agriculture mechanics teacher, said the plant is run collaboratively by the CCHS agriculture teachers and students.

“It’s not a drop-off and go system, but we’re going to teach you how to do it. Our kids are really good at it,” Burt said in an interview Friday.

Moultrians can bring any produce and learn how to can with a small nominal fee.

“The most popular thing that we see is green beans at the beginning of the season, and then we’ll slowly transition into tomatoes. With those tomatoes, you get a plethora of people that want to make their own marinara sauces or spaghetti sauces,” he said.

Although Burt and his students mainly focus on produce, they occasionally help make jams.

He says that’s due to Colquitt County being the number one produce county in the state of Georgia.

One of the reasons for pursuing a new facility is that the current plant often becomes too crowded during operations, and everyone cannot be served.

“We’re hoping to get a bigger floorspace to accommodate more people. According to the records everyone submits each year on our FFA Ag website, our plant is the busiest one. We’re just in dire need of new equipment to service everybody because we’re constantly having to work on stuff and half the day go by fixing a pipe,” Burt explained.

Superintendent Ben Wiggins said the general conversations about construction costs and square footage of the new facilities were presented to the Board of Education in September 2021.

Kyle Wilkerson from Altman + Barrett Architects of Hahira has been working with Burt and other ag teachers on the new plant designs since then. The current design plans for the Animal Housing Facility and the Canning Plant were presented during the August BoE meeting.

The 20,630 square foot ag facility and the 6,800 square foot canning plant will cost the district approximately $9,515,556, according to the Altman + Barrett Architects budget estimate. 

The school district would like the building to last approximately 50 to 60 years for the next generations of students to use.

“In order to make sure that’s what is taking place, we’ve had numerous conversations with our current personnel that come each summer … asking opinions on what would make this place better,” Burt said.

He continued, “We’ve visited … and toured [surrounding] ones, so we have a lot to go off of to make adjustments to fit our needs to ensure that we’re going to put the best thing possible in Colquitt County and serve the needs of what we have to handle here.”

There will also be another classroom added to the plant where students can take lab classes. 

Burt mentioned that not only the agriculture department can use the classroom but other departments can benefit from it too, like Family and Consumer Science. 

They are also designing an Animal Housing Facility where students who would normally not have the opportunity to participate in the program can raise an animal in the school’s facility. 

“Colquitt County has a very strong livestock program,” he said. “Students purchase a stock project, whether it be cattle, goat, sheep or hog. They raise it for a series of months, and they exhibit it at various shows.” 

Although CCHS has a large number of participating students, the participation rate is gradually decreasing.

“We’re trying to accommodate the kids that are not able to do this by any other means and give them a place where they can raise an animal. It’d be entirely their property. It’ll just be housed in a school facility, and then we’ll be able to assist them with those projects,” he explained. 

Chief Communications Officer Angela Hobby said, “That’ll open up options for kids who’ve never ever had the chance to participate. It’s not just the ones who it’s not quite as easy anymore, but students who have traditionally never been able to do something like this.”

Students will learn the responsibility of caring for their animals and the business side of livestock shows.

She added, “A student who thinks they may want to go into veterinary science should do this program. Even though they may think they’re going to work with small animals, dogs, cats, they should do this program to get that exposure.”

Burt said the design of the Animal Housing Facility was in collaboration with a group of parents and representatives that have seen over 100 different facilities across the southeastern United States and have extensive experience from each of the four main species — goats, cattle, hogs and sheep.

Wiggins added, “The Ag department has done a good job of including all of the stakeholders in the community to get their feedback, and they’ve worked really well with the architect to share their thoughts and ideas.”

The board is currently reviewing a list of facility updates and projects and determining what projects they can move forward with.

“The ag department is very appreciative of the opportunity presented by the board and Mr. Wiggins to explore this. It has been a very easy and smooth process, and we feel respected and listened to, and we’re just very thankful for the opportunity that we’ve been provided to just look into it,” Burt concluded.