Construction is underway at Blackfoot High School with the construction of a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Student Center.
Ryan Wilson is the assistant superintendent with the Blackfoot School District and works in partnership with the construction crew. The Student Center is just one of the many projects the school district is working on right now.
Back in 2021, the idea of a new elementary school building was formed to better the education within the school district, which then started what Wilson calls a domino effect.
“Part of the domino effect of all of this is if we started building an elementary school, what would we do with the older building? And we came up with the concept of, let’s turn it into a CTE,” Wilson said. “We actually call it a BTEH, a Blackfoot Technical Education Center. That would give opportunities to our students and community to explore other avenues and pathways to further their education.”
Wilson says the new building will offer a variety of courses upon its grand opening. Some, with help from local businesses like Premiere Technologies. There will be classes in machining, welding, cabinet making, auto mechanics, agriculture, broadcasting, nursing, photography and cosmetology.
"We also work with Shoshone -Bannock Tribes to do hospitality courses and partnering with them. So, it's a wide range of options and availabilities that will be open for our students and community,” Wilson said.
The classes that will be offered in the Student Center, according to Wilson, will better prepare students for the future, giving them a taste of different career options they may be interested in.
“And we just felt that if we could help them get a jumpstart in the trade industries, that there’s other options and explore that while they’re in high school still and hopefully get them excited in pursuing that and furthering their degree if they choose to go on further to university,” Wilson said. “We’re giving them a taste of opportunity, a head start if you will, in high school.”
Construction is underway on the building, but there’s still much more work to be done until the new student center can start to offer classes.
To stay up to date with the projects, follow the school district’s Facebook page.