As breaths are held and anticipation builds, it gets cut short by the ribbon cutting. On March 19, 2026, Texarkana Independent School District (TISD) celebrated the opening of the new Texas High Career and Technical Education (CTE) Innovation Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The official opening of this building invites the public and staff to experience its opportunities to prepare students for future careers.
“This building [provides] all of our students in CTE classes an opportunity to learn new skills because of the type of equipment and things that have been ordered for us. They are going to be able to graduate with skills that they wouldn’t otherwise have,” TigerVision adviser Victoria Pearcy said. “[In] our studio alone, we have newer cameras and equipment.”
Culinary students prepared their menu over the course of three days, which included a variety of dishes, allowing them to gain hands-on kitchen and serving experience.
“[This opening is] a validation for the community that their vote for the bond went to something that is going to change kids’ lives with not only culinary but every single program that we were able to create,” head chef Cory House said. “[This building is] a game changer for our community and our students in general. [It] prepares them for life after high school, whether it is going straight into careers or seeking post-secondary education and having a leg up on those peers who will be joining them at university, colleges or trades schools.”
In 2022, the bond initiative, voted on by the community, made the construction of CTE 1 and CTE 2 possible.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time, and [we] got [a lot] of parents, students [and] community members engaged in helping to develop that vision. The voters approved $58 million for this complex, and we started construction,” TISD superintendent Dr. Doug Brubaker said. “There was fine-tuning to make sure that the spaces were really what our teachers and students needed.”
Teachers in CTE 1 were notified of the opening and prepared their classrooms to display their students’ work to the community.
“We have kind of cleaned up and streamlined everything and tried to get students here to help out, show people around and provide examples,” health science teacher Joe Nolen said. “The new opportunities that are coming about for students, [as well as] better opportunities and facilities [make it] so that students can obtain different certifications in different professional areas.”
Various clubs and organizations, including Leadership, cheer, HighSteppers, band and culinary played a part in the entertainment and support of this event.
“[The cheer team and I] greeted people as they came to look at the new CTE building and were here while they cut the ribbon [to] open the new building to the public,” junior Reese White said. “I think it is important for us to be here because we are the face of the school, [along with] the other clubs.”
With the hands-on experience offered by the CTE programs, students train and prepare for their future careers.
“I think it’s going to be a drive of economic development here in our community,” Brubaker said. “We’re going to have businesses that are considering relocating to this area that [will] come and see what we offer and how well we’re preparing students to go into the workforce or to college, and that will appeal to companies to relocate here.”
The 2022 bond initiative not only included the CTE buildings but also provided the new Paul Lawrence Dunbar Early Education Center for pre-kindergarten students.
“What really excites me is that [at] Dunbar, those three-year-olds are getting education and a facility that’s like a children’s museum. They can choose what they want to be at the top-tier academics or go through career and technology,” principal Ben Renner said. “I think that’s going to really change lives.”
