A Community-Centric Approach to Education and Innovation

A Rural Texas School District Preparing Students for the Future While Staying Rooted in Community Values

Nestled in the heart of rural Texas, the Marion Independent School District (MISD) embodies the grit and resilience of its tight-knit community. With deep roots in farming and ranching, this small-town district prioritizes preparing students to thrive in a changing world while staying true to its blue-collar values. “It’s a family-oriented, get-to-work type of community,” says Superintendent Dr. Don Beck, describing Marion as a community where hard work and collaboration define daily life.

From modernizing campus safety to adapting curriculum for tomorrow’s workforce, MISD balances community pride with forward-thinking strategies. For business leaders, MISD’s story offers a model of how strategic planning and community engagement can drive long-term success in education.

Core Values and Community Roots

At MISD, education extends beyond the classroom, rooted in the community’s hardworking ethos. The district’s mission, “to prepare graduates to be responsible, productive citizens in a diverse and changing world through partnerships with parents and community by providing opportunities to achieve excellence and personal growth,” reflects its dual focus on tradition and innovation.

For MISD, values aren’t just stated, they’re lived. The district mirrors the community’s “get the job done” attitude, fostering unity through shared purpose. Dr. Beck illustrates this bond with a vivid memory from his first time in town, “I look behind me at the football field full of young kids, and the sun was setting over the football stadium and I just thought, man, I’m back in small-town USA.”

This alignment between school and community ensures that every initiative, from curriculum to infrastructure, reflects the needs and character of Marion itself.

Safety and Infrastructure Modernization

Safety takes center stage at MISD, where a sweeping campus redesign transforms both security and learning spaces. After national tragedies highlighted risks, a community bond committee proposed a solution. Faced with a scattered layout of aging buildings, some with open doors and up to 20 entry points, the district acted decisively.

“We had 8 buildings that we were rotating kids around through with doors open and such,” explained Dr. Beck, “After looking at that, a community group decided, you know what? Why don’t we try to connect the buildings as opposed to separating the buildings all together.”

Now in Phase 1, the redesign prioritizes controlled access while expanding career-focused spaces. “By getting us all into one roof, we’re able to expand our CTE departments, make things a little bit bigger for the growth that’s coming,” Dr. Beck notes, “it also just makes it safer in general by giving us limited entry points.”

Flexible classrooms feature movable furniture instead of “built-ins,” allowing quick adaptation to evolving needs. “We’re trying to focus on furniture and not built-ins to the walls that pigeonhole us into what’s happening in those rooms,” Dr. Beck explains, “things change on a dime.”

The project also future-proofs growth, enrollment has surged from 1,475 to 1,708 in three years, demanding infrastructure that keeps pace.

For MISD, safety isn’t just physical, it’s about creating spaces where students and teachers can focus on progress, not vulnerabilities.

Curriculum Evolution for a New Economy

MISD is rewriting the playbook on career readiness, moving beyond the “college-for-all” mindset to meet modern workforce demands. “We do know it’s a changing world,” says Dr. Beck, “the original thought with no child left behind was that every kid should go to college.”

“Right now, we’re struggling to fill those voids of that thinking and trying to get kids into the trade industry, and in fact, kids actually make a lot more money than those of us that have degrees at university sometimes,” he adds. The district responds with agile programs designed for jobs that may not yet exist. “We don’t know exactly what this can look like, but we do know we got to prepare kids for what’s coming,” Dr. Beck emphasizes.

STEM and career training take center stage. Dr. Elizabeth Bentzen, Curriculum Director, highlights grants fueling innovation including a Caterpillar-funded robotics program, Project Lead the Way courses, and a GVEC funded CNC plasma torch cutter for welding, all integrating technology like CAD and Adobe certifications. “We’re trying to up our game in technology,” she explains.

Dual-credit partnerships with local colleges expand opportunities, offering courses from criminal justice to floral design. “We’ve partnered with our community colleges to offer not only core academic classes that are dual credit or dual enrollment, but to offer CTE classes,” Dr. Bentzen adds.

Dwayne Reiley, a career-tech instructor, ties Marion’s past to its future. “When you look at the history of our district, we’re almost 150 years old and probably the first kids that took welding in Marion, Texas were probably learning how to fix implements for their fathers on the farm,” he explains.

Now, middle schoolers learn the basics so high school can focus on advanced tech like AI-assisted design. “When they get to high school, we have more time and more ability to teach more of the technology that’s going to go with that,” Reiley explains, “I think adding that extra level of technology is what’s going to make those students better employees.”

“We’re having kids come out with skills that are relevant to not just today’s workforce but we’re educating kids and trying to give them skills for jobs that don’t even exist yet,” he adds, proof that Marion’s curriculum evolves as fast as the economy.

Community Partnerships and Workforce Development

MISD bridges classroom learning with real-world opportunity through robust industry collaborations. The Seguin Economic Development Corporation connects students with major employers like Caterpillar, Niagara Bottling, and United Alloys. “Our kids do job shadowing, tours of facilities, and we meet with them on a regular basis,” says Dr. Bentzen.

“There’s a lot of different opportunities for students to see the skills they’re learning here and how they’re relevant in industries that are right here in our own backyard,” Reiley adds. These partnerships also offer internships, with some juniors landing paid roles while still in high school.

The district prioritizes keeping talent local. “That’s going to be the best for the kids, it’s best for the industry, it’s best for our community to keep that locally educated student here in our community and be productive members of our community,” Reiley explains. “We go back to that a lot, we talk about community, but that’s a big thing too is that they have opportunities here, they don’t have to go off halfway around the world to be able to do that trade and so we do work hard to get those connections.”

Dual-enrollment programs with colleges like Northeast Lakeview and Palo Alto further anchor opportunities locally, offering courses from marketing to animal science.

“Some of the things we’re going to incorporate next year is getting other kids besides just manufacturing kids involved, because all of those plants, they have HR departments and marketing,” explains Dr. Bentzen.

By aligning education with regional employer needs, MISD ensures its graduates aren’t just job-ready, they’re community builders.

Investing in the Future

MISD’s $78.8 million bond initiative marks a transformative leap from temporary fixes to sustainable growth. “This is a significant change for us,” says Reiley. “We have had through the years in terms of the bond packages, what people here thought were big, again, the 20 to 22 million, it basically allowed us to keep our doors open and have enough classrooms for everybody, it was a band-aid.”

“Now, we are able to really make a difference, and provide some opportunities for students that we just haven’t had here in the history of our school district,” he adds. “It’s a positive thing to have a school board and administration that believes in the programs enough that we’re spending that kind of money to renovate and rebuild.”

“It takes an investment,” Dr. Beck adds, “and the community is willing to do that.”

Teacher support anchors this progress. “Start with the teachers first because the teachers are the ones that are going to support the kids,” Dr. Beck says. “We’re looking for anything that we can find to give them that edge that they need to be successful.”

“I think when it comes to the CTE stuff it’s important to find teachers that exude that passion,” Dr. Bentzen adds, “and I think that keeps those kinds of kids engaged in the content.”

“If you have the right teacher and you’re given the right materials, the kids really want to take those programs,” Dr. Beck adds, noting how the board’s support enables classroom innovation. By investing simultaneously in facilities and educators, MISD ensures its upgrades yield long-term academic and community returns.

The Green Space Initiative

MISD’s most visionary project transforms a defunct nursery into “The Green Space,” standing for Students Participating in Authentic Career Experience, a student-run hub blending education with entrepreneurship.

“As we purchased it, we wanted to try to keep that thing up and running for the community as best as possible,” explains Dr. Beck. The revitalized space plans to feature an operational greenhouse, floral design lab, and to offer culinary experiences. Monthly market days and potential rotating food trucks will further energize the community.

This living classroom delivers real-world skills. “We’re going to not only have kids learning how to grow plants, we’re going to have the business aspect of it of marketing and sales and finding that right cross point of supply versus demand” explains Dr. Beck, with plans for proceeds to fund the program’s sustainability.

Advanced floral design students could operate a retail shop, while others master agriculture, business logistics, and customer service. “The Green Space provides a lot of opportunities for all types of students as they get into all kinds of business skills from marketing and management and accounting,” says School Board President Ryan Zwicke, “the students are going to learn valuable business skills through this opportunity.”

“We love the idea that the kids are going to be able to run their own park that can not only teach them, but also give back to the community,” Dr. Beck adds. More than a revenue generator, The Green Space embodies Marion’s ethos, preparing graduates to strengthen the community they call home.

Where Community Roots Meet Future-Ready Growth

MISD masterfully bridges its rural heritage with forward-thinking innovation, proving tradition and progress can thrive together. The district’s proactive investments, from safer campuses to The Green Space, demonstrate how strategic planning meets community needs. “If we’re not learning, we’re not progressing,” emphasizes Dr. Beck, whose dynamic leadership team embodies this growth mindset. “As things change, we need to make sure that we’re doing it too.”

For districts nationwide, Marion’s success offers a blueprint, authentic community partnerships and bold investments create lasting impact. Here, education isn’t just about preparing students for the future, it’s about building that future together, one graduate at a time.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Marion Independent School District

What: A rural Texas district blending tradition with innovation through campus modernization, STEM/CTE programs, and student-run enterprises

Where: Marion, Texas

Website: www.marionisd.net