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Rice CISD held its Art, CTE, and GT Showcase on Feb. 2 at the Rice High School and Junior High Auditorium from 5-7 p.m.
The showcase featured rodeo art from elementary, junior high and high school students, culinary art, cosmetology, horticulture, welding, and health science.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Melody Grigar is credited as helping to start the program.
“I got this going several years ago as a night for people to come see stuff that goes on in the classroom,” Grigar said. “I heard about another school district doing something like this and I thought, let’s do our art show and this.”
She said the showcase also gives people to look at the CTE wing, which was added on around the 2017-2018 school year.
“When we built the CTE wing with culinary and vocational trades, the school board wanted the opportunity for the public to come out and see it in use,” she said. “I heard about another school district doing something like this and I thought let’s do our art show and this.”
She said they had the showcase for about two to three years until the pandemic hit, in which they were able to feature the showcase in 2020 but could not the following year due to the remote environment out of precaution for everyone’s safety.
Grigar said this is the first year the school has added GT projects to the showcase. While the district has always had a gifted and talented program, she said the state rewrote the standards about three years ago, which now requires a showcase.
“We are required to do those projects and have a GT show of some kind for those that are finished,” she said.
Grigar said students worked on the projects throughout the fall related to science, social studies, culture and history and that students chose the topic that interested them.
Kyle Thurman, the GT Coordinator, helped prepare the students for the showcase.
“I really enjoy working with the GT kids,” Thurman said. “They are in the program for a reason, and it’s been very fun for me to work with them. You show them one or two things, then they got it; they are off to the races.”
Thurman said that there is process that students undergo to select the project they will work on.
“They are part of the Texas PSP,” he said. “So, they are state approved GT projects. Every grade has about 10 different projects they can choose from or themes they can research. I narrow it down based on what I thought they would be interested in and successful with.”
Students in grades 3-12 completed their projects on chrome books, while others completed them on poster boards.
“I was trying to push more technology,” Thurman said. “For the very young ones below second grade, it was easier for them to do more of a standard, poster board project because they don’t have chrome books at that level.”
Students in culinary arts sold hamburgers and did a demonstration of cooking. Chef Luttrell started working at the high school eight years ago and said that he has enjoyed watching his students cook.
“To see them go from freshmen and spend 4 years with me and do some really cool things is just amazing,” he said. “It’s fun to get the chance to expose kids to something they otherwise would never get the chance to see.”
The culinary arts program does not offer college credits, but students can get certified as food safe managers. He said juniors and seniors get to take the food service manager certifications.
“It’s a very difficult test, but when they pass it they can work in almost any restaurant industry as a manager in the state of Texas,” Luttrell said.
Students are also able to compete in Waco, which is a part of the ProStart program.
“It’s a nationally recognized program,” Luttrell said. “Every program has their own ProStart and we compete against other schools throughout the state of Texas.”
He said students are working on perfecting a Mediterranean dish for competition this school year.
“They have an hour to make three dishes and they have to make identical plates of each dish,” he said. “Judges from restaurants and food companies all over the state of Texas come and judge them and watch them cook and taste their food and give them feedback. Whichever team makes first place each year goes on to the national conference in Washington, D.C.”
Students have to be in the program for at least two years before they can compete.
The showcase also featured the audio and visual technology program.
“This is a broadcast studio,” Brennan Jobe, teacher for audio and visual arts, said. “So anything that has to do with lighting, sound, microphones, broadcast television. We try to get as much as possible handson with the students.
Jobe said students run most of the operations including the daily morning announcements, which feature videos that are posted to the RHS News YouTube channel.
“Students pretty much do all of the operations. They operate the teleprompters, write the script, they run the whole show.”
The class gives students the basic use of equipment and knowledge needed.
“It’s a great prerequisite if you are looking into going into anything that has to do with audio, video, technology, news reporting, or just technician work if you like to do lighting, set up microphones for a band,” Jobe said.
He talked about parents who came by the night of the showcase “Some of the ones that have come by here have been really young, so it’s interesting to see whose thinking about being in this program.”
Cosmetology students did face painting, hair curling and braiding. Cosmetology Teacher Alma Aguilar talked to parents also that night and said most of her students will receive their cosmetology license before they graduate high school.
“Students need 1500 hours to take their state exam to get licensed, but for core subjects, they are given 500 hours therefore just needing 1000 hours to get licensed,” Aguilar said.
She said those who do not go on to pursue a career in cosmetology are able to use the experience they have gained as a fallback career.
Principal Janet Lumpkins said that the hort iculture program is preparing for another activity in the spring.
“Around spring break, our horticulture and life skills students work together to do a plant sale and they have been very successful,” Lumpkins said.
