Name recognition: FGC dedicates public safety school to Avery and Twyla Roberts

OLUSTEE — The Florida Gateway College Foundation honored the dedication, partnership and commitment of longtime supporters Avery and Twyla Roberts Thursday morning.

The foundation dedicated a school on the FGC Olustee Campus in the name of the husband and wife team during a ceremony with close to 100 people in attendance, including state and local political dignitaries, FGC officials, community business representatives, college students and friends and family members.

The FGC Olustee Campus now serves as home to the Avery and Twyla Roberts School of Public Service.

The Olustee Campus, which is roughly 40 acres, has at least four buildings on the property and serves approximately 900 students per day. It’s also home to a 3,000 square foot CDL training building, two lighted 50-yard pistol ranges, a 180-yard rifle range, two gun range training buildings and a pair of new parking lots. The School of Public Service offers a corrections academy, police academy, courses for EMS and paramedics, firefighters, criminal justice as well as CDL training.

Decades ago the property and buildings served as the site of a Naval Stores Experiment Station for the timber industry. Studies were often conducted there on resins, turpentine and other products that were used to seal ships before synthetic replacements were created. The buildings were abandoned for years until the college gained ownership.

“We’re absolutely humbled by this. It’s an honor,” Avery Roberts said of the dedication following the ceremony. “We appreciate not only the staff and president, but the trustees and students for their belief in this project, as well our belief in this project as well as for the future growth of the entire Florida Gateway College organization.”

Roberts said his family felt it was important to make contributions and help the school in any way they could. Several speakers at the dedication — Rep. Chuck Brannan, who serves on the FGC Board of Directors; Lee Pinchouck, FGC Foundation executive director; and David Crawford, FGC Board of Trustees chairman — acknowledged the Roberts’ aid in many forms through the years.

“This campus meant a lot to me,” Roberts said, noting he was on the real estate board when they began to look at purchasing the adjacent property. “Our vision then was to do a driving school, a first responder’s training area, move the gun range from campus to this location to help our law enforcement training and department of corrections training. We just wanted to see the vision come to reality. We just appreciate everybody and we’re blessed to live where we do.”

FGC President Lawrence Barrett said the school has received more than $5 million in improvements since 2016 and noted that Thursday’s dedication was the first time FGC has named a school in someone’s honor.

“It’s just such an honor to honor Avery and Twyla because Avery and Twyla have been with me and the college working,” he said following her dedication. “It’s just not money, it’s contacting people, working the phones doing the work and saving us so much money.”

Barrett said various agencies in the community also utilize the site for training sessions as well as its firing range for recertification purposes.

“It’s not just about graduating students, it’s also a community training center,” he said.

Historically speaking, Barrett said the dedication ceremony was also significant for FGC’s Olustee campus.

“We growing and what’s so important is not just growing, but it’s that we’re pouring in the communities together,” he said. “I hope this acts as a regional training center, not just for Baker County, but we’re only three miles away from the (Columbia County) border. There’s not a facility within 150 miles like this… It’s still growing.”