It is no secret that College Park has a very large and committed faculty, however, I would like to highlight one particular teacher that deserves some recognition for all his hard work, Mr. Berrigan. He is the floral design teacher and works very hard to find new arrangements for his students to create and learn about the origin of flowers and designs while constructing the designs.

Not only is he great at teaching floral design but he is also a FFA/Ag teacher. He has guided his students along a journey of becoming hard working, respectful leaders for many years now. Before he became a teacher in 2003 Mr. Berrigan trained horses and taught riding lessons. He has been working for College Park for a total of 8 years, teaching for a total of 19, and in Conroe ISD for 15 years.

“With all of the training I had and would continue to take, I quickly became very confident in the floral lab” Kevin Berrigan said. He noted that it was funny since he always considered himself an “animal science guy,” but quickly discovered that he later became a “floral guy” as well.

He was taught from a young age how to care for animals and to follow his passions, leading him to being active in FFA when he was in high school, ultimately his foundation for becoming an Agriculture teacher. At Texas A&M he took several horticulture courses as part of his degree plan, one being Floral Design. His first year teaching at Oak Ridge he was supposed to teach Woodshop, but when an Ag position became available, he jumped at the opportunity, consequently teaching Floral Design as required. 

“I love when students look at a design as a huge challenge when they start building, and then seeing the look of accomplishment on their faces once they create something with their own two hands,” Berrigan said.

Being able to share his passion is very important to him, especially with his own students. His definition of a good student is, “one that realizes that nobody is perfect and seeks knowledge. It’s okay to make mistakes because whether a subject is difficult or not ultimately, were all here to learn and grow,”

Lastly, a quote that inspires him everyday is “The only person who is truly educated is the person who has learned how to learn, adapt to change, and realizes there is no security in knowledge is a basis of security given,” said by psychologist Carl Rogers.