PRIEST RIVER — Priest River Lamanna High School will get a boost in its career-technical education programs after two teachers were awarded grants totalling $27,500.

Kari Eggert, PRLHS business teacher, said she and the metal shop teacher Daryl Hall were surprised when both were picked to receive Idaho Career-Technical Education grants.

“We were assuming that only one would get selected, so it was really awesome for both of us to get selected,” she said.

Hall received the 2018 Program Quality Initiative Technical Assistance Grant in the amount of $17,500, which will be used to purchase a do-it-yourself computer numeric control plasma table, a plasma cutter, and to update welders in the metals shop.

Eggert received a $10,000 Program Quality Initiative Technical Assistance Grant to start a student-run vinyl sign business. The funds will be used to purchase a Roland vinyl cutter, large format printer, a lease-to-own color copier, as well as a printer and vinyl supplies for the start-up.

“It is exciting to see these innovative teachers take the necessary steps to provide outstanding educational opportunities for our students,” said PRLHS Principal Joe Kren in an email. “Both teachers are working hard to grow their programs where they teach the skills necessary for our students to become successful. The community is extremely fortunate to have teachers with this level of commitment to their students.”

Hall said he is "very excited" to bring the new welding/fabrication technology to PRLHS.

"My goal with the welding shop is to get it up to today's standards in both safety and equipment," Hall said in an email to the Daily Bee. "The students need to learn how to use old technology as it is still being used in the surrounding area, but they also need to learn the new technology that is out there to better enable them to be more productive if they choose welding as a career. That being said, the new equipment that will be purchased with this grant will make that happen by introducing CNC to the students, enabling them to have a deeper knowledge base in the welding/fabrication career field."

Eggert said career-technical education offers “realistic life skills” for students, preparing them for the workforce. In an effort to give students experience in running a business, for the past 20 years the business and technology department at PRLHS has ran a coffee shop inside the school, offering a variety of snacks and beverages before school and during lunch.

“Unfortunately, not every student fits in that category,” Eggert said. “Not everybody wants to run their own business in that way.”

When Eggert came to PRLHS in 2014, she said, she began implementing a graphics program. With the help of grants from the state of Idaho and programs like Adobe Creative Cloud, the students are “flourishing” in the program, she said. The graphic students have been asked to do different projects in the community, Eggert said, and one student recently re-designed the school logo that now decorates the floor of the PRLHS gymnasium.

After learning design, however, she said the students often wonder what the next steps are — what opportunities are available to them.

The new print shop will allow students to help out their community, as well as their school, by creating anything from vinyl letters to posters, she said. Eggert said she teaches photography in the graphics program, so they will be able to print photographs as well.

“We have people in the community wanting to purchase these great things that students have, but as far as cost, time — things like that — we just don’t have the ability to do that,” Eggert said. “So to be able to meet that need, this is a great way to get students hands-in, learning that next step in what graphics could be, and learning basic skills in that type of a business.”

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydaily.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.