Knights of Columbus grant enables Mayde Creek student to raise a pig for FFA competition

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 2/23/22

Chavalita is a 200 lb. pig being raised for this year’s Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show. She loves marshmallows and belly rubs.

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Knights of Columbus grant enables Mayde Creek student to raise a pig for FFA competition

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Chavalita is a 200 lb. pig being raised for this year’s Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show. She loves marshmallows and belly rubs.

Thanks to a grant from the local Knights of Columbus, Chavalita—Spanish slang for “little girl”—can get those marshmallows, along with the shampoo and conditioner that she needs. She can also have the required wood shavings on the floor of her pen.

Alcatrez Salazar, a Mayde Creek High School senior who is raising Chavalita, gives the belly rubs.

Salazar said she has always liked animals and a teacher encouraged her to raise one for the FFA competition. But raising a pig is an expensive proposition, and Salazar worked with her father to budget the money. The Knights of Columbus grant made it possible to pursue this goal.

“I was happy because I knew I couldn’t afford a pig,” Salazar said. “For me to get one, it was really nice.”

Salazar adopted Chavalita last October. But Chavalita wasn’t ready to go whole hog on the relationship at first.

“When I got her, she didn’t want me to pet her,” Salazar said. “But little bit by little bit, she wanted me to pet her. She loves belly rubs. You can pet her. and she will just lay down.”

Still, Salazar said if she leaves the pig pen gate open, Chavalita will run out.

Raising a pig is a seven-day-a-week job. Salazar said she wakes up early and rides the bus to come take care of Chavalita. In the afternoons, after class, she catches a ride with a classmate who is also raising an animal at the Gerald D. Young Agriculture Sciences Center, 5825 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road.

Should Chavalita win the grand champion award, Salazar would receive a ribbon, belt buckle, and money she would put towards her schooling.

“I hope I make it,” Salazar said. “We’ll see.”

Alas, Chavalita failed to win the ribbon Thursday.

This is the only year Salazar will be raising livestock. After she graduates from Mayde Creek, Salazar plans to attend Lone Star College and work towards becoming a stenographer.

Salazar said she has really enjoyed the experience of raising Chavalita, though they will part company. Salazar will continue her schooling. Chavalita, like the other livestock, will eventually be on someone’s plate.

Yet she encouraged other students to get involved in FFA and raise animals.

“It’s a lot of effort, but you can do it,” Salazar said. “I would tell them to join FFA. If they don’t want to raise an animal there are a lot of things you can do. The teachers are really sweet. The Ag teachers will always be there.”

Mayde Creek High School, FFA, Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show