YISD Beautification Project update

The Yoakum Independent School District (YISD) Student Council has been making some headway on their ongoing beautification project.

“Right now, we just finished up the landscaping of phase three which is the courtyard area in the middle of the school,” Student Council Advisor Amy Robbins said. “We are also working on finalizing the ‘Fling Memorial Garden’ and the memorial area that we have for some students who have passed. We want to have a dedication for that in May.”

The memorial will be honoring Bradyn and Kolson Jacobs.

“There will be a concrete Bulldog that’s going to be placed in the courtyard area and their names will be on the Bulldog,” Robbins said. “The senior class is also working on a memorial for Francesca ‘Neveah’ Solis who just passed away. She was a senior this year. We’re going to incorporate that into the courtyard area.”

Phase four of the project is also being worked on as well.

“We have also drawn up blueprints for phase four which is a multi-purpose space that is inside the school in an outside area,” Robbins said. “It’s an outdoor area that’s glassed in. It was the connection between the math and science department and the annex that did not have an actual classroom. They left it open and glassed it in. It’s an outdoor area that’s cemented but currently has nothing in it. We’re going to put in six tables so that it can have an outdoor classroom and can be used for teachers. If you’re doing stuff that needs to be outside, it’s close enough to the science and math department that they can bring experiments outside. It will also have some landscaping. The art club will also be painting a mural on the back wall of it.”

The marquee at the front of the school has been completed.

“The front of the school is pretty much done,” Robbins said. “The screen on the marquee is going to change a little bit, so that will be updated. Our school board has worked really hard to get the marquee up and running. Everything in the front that people can see is done.”

The Student Council has reached out to the community a lot this year.

“We’ve partnered with several of the elementary schools to help their students that are in need,” Robbins said. “We’ve also incorporated some programs where we’ve gone down and talked to the younger ‘Bulldogs’ about leadership and being a part of their community and a part of their schools.”

The staff and the district have been very supportive of the beautification project according to Robbins.

“Our administration is great,” Robbins said. “We have a really good administration that very rarely tells us no. So, we’re allowed to do some projects and test the waters on things that might not have been done in the past. That’s given us some freedom to experiment with some stuff that we’ve been very successful with.”