SANDPOINT — Sandpoint High School counselor Cindy Albertson is used to dealing with her students’ problems.

When three exceptional math students approached her with a need beyond the school’s resources, however, she turned to the Idaho Education Network for an innovative solution: video teleconferencing.

State officials honored Albertson for her out-of-the-box thinking Tuesday afternoon by presenting her with an IEN Talk Award for her efforts in bringing Eagle’s Calculus II class to Sandpoint.

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna presented Albertson with the award from the Idaho Department of Education using the very same fiber optics technology that made the Eagle-Sandpoint educational collaboration possible. Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, also attended the ceremony personally.

 “We’re continuing the Idaho’s tradition of educating in the best way possible: by interacting with each other,” Otter said.

Albertson first tackled the challenge of setting up the technological link between Sandpoint and Eagle when three students — Gerhart Suppiger, Mason Foster and Tim Redford — told her they needed credits in Calculus II, a class the high school doesn’t offer.

Along with math teacher Nachele Search and on-site tech Christian Boone, she arranged to have the three students virtually attend Eagle High School’s class taught by Dave Gural, a fellow recipient of a 2010 IEN award.

“There were a lot of people that worked hard to make this happen,” Albertson said. “This is really a shared award.”

The Calculus II class is the first iteration of what Boone envisions as a robust selection of classes freed from geographical restraints. This school year, he intends to focus on field trips. NASA and the Smithsonian both offer free virtual tours of their facilities. As the program develops, however, the range of possibilities expand dramatically.

“For example, we can have our French class here connect with an English class in France to get that interaction between languages,” he said.

Just as well, then, that Albertson won her award. The IEN grants the winner’s school $250 to pursue new opportunities in networked education.

The IEN is a statewide government organization designed to increase connectivity between Idaho schools. From working to improve school Internet connections and promoting video teleconferencing, the IEN seeks to make the most of modern technology in K-12 education. As an unexpected side-benefit, consumer technology improvements generally follow educational advancements.

“One great thing about this technology is that it’s getting high-speed Internet access available in rural areas,” Boone said.