- December 4, 2025
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As Kate Traugott spoke at The Farm at McIntosh Middle School, she had a special guest with her: Napoleon.
She said the Old English game rooster was very much like a small rooster she had had as a child while growing up in Sarasota — before a neighbor's call to code enforcement, about the crowing of the bird, forced her family to auction it off.
As farm manager in Sarasota's school district, however, she has the opportunity to oversee The Farm, which provides a dedicated space for kids throughout the district to perform agricultural projects.
The ribbon-cutting on Sept. 9 celebrated the complete opening of the 30,762-square-foot facility, which is partially a renovation of existing farm space and was stated in June to be budgeted at $8 million.
Since the soft opening last year, the facility had been supporting students.
Traugott said on Sept. 9 that over 1,600 sixth and seventh grade students were already scheduled for science field trips, with three classes from Sarasota High School prepared to use the space.
Included on the campus, which features seven new buildings and two renovated buildings, are an animal showing arena; a greenhouse; a food science lab and kitchen; a hog, sheep and goat barn supporting 36 animal projects; and a cattle barn supporting 17 cattle or dairy projects.
Superintendent of Schools Terry Connor stated that it had been a priority for him to see the project come to fruition, noting the many different disciplines, and career and technical education pathways, represented in agriculture.
"(Agriculture) really is a technologically advanced field that has a lot of promise," he said. "I mean, when you talk about drone technology, you talk about hydroponics and aquaculture, there's so much technology and engineering involved in that, that it just merges very well with the whole STEM process.
Traugott called the engineers and architects involved with the project "so open and receptive to hearing about the student experience in these buildings and really creating something unique and state-of-the-art for our students."
In addition to the animal facilities, the campus also includes a greenhouse with both horticulture and aquaculture features.
She said students will focus on growing cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, to bring the basics of produce into the school's cafeterias and culinary programs, while high school students in culinary arts programs will also have their own garden space.
A metal roof on the kitchen is designed to capture rainwater so that it can be piped into the greenhouse for irrigation, while a bio-digester and a mineralization tank convert waste into fertilizer that can be used on the property.
Additionally, the kitchen space can be used for students to learn about food preparation, and for training culinary staff.
Among the students to already find a place on The Farm is seventh grader Sophia Sandusky, who is housing her pig Stella there, as well as a cow she is going to name Bella.
She said while the farm she previously used was sold to developers, as a student at McIntosh Middle School, she now has a convenient spot.
“The old farm was like an hour away from my house, and I was only able to go once a day because it's so far away," she said. "But here I come twice a day because it's my school, so I come here in the morning, and then I come here after school to make sure that the pen's all clean and she has food and water and she's all healthy.”
She says the visits help ensure Stella has eaten her first meal instead of overturning her food container.
“I like that everything has a spot, and I like that we're all held accountable for everything that we do," she also said.
Pointing to an area of the pen, she noted, "Like, there’s a drain right here, and last year it was really clogged, so everybody was held accountable, and we had to clean it our own selves."
Addison Porter, a high school sophomore who takes online classes and says she wants to be a large animal vet in the future, spoke during the ceremony about her gratitude for the farm.
"There are a lot of kids out there like me that don't have property of their own to take on livestock projects, so we are extremely grateful for this farm," she said. "I know a lot of time and energy has gone into making this farm a great place for us all to do what we love, and learn more about these projects we take pride in."
