TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Changes are on the horizon for Twin Falls High School's Career and Technical Education programs. The Twin Falls School District plans to expand the programs thanks to a grant from the Idaho Department of Education.
"I'm super excited for the upcoming students," Welding student Allison Wilcox said. "I'm sad that I don't get to experience it, but I'm super excited for all the kids that do. I think it'll give them great opportunities, and I really wish that my first year, we had better opportunities like that."
The Department gave the Twin Falls School District a little more than a million dollars this summer for the improvements. Roughly a dozen districts were awarded funds — $18.5 million in total.
LT Erickson, Twin Falls secondary programs director, said they want to extend the current shop at the high school 100 feet. Both the welding and agriculture programs will use the space.
"We're trying to provide as many opportunities for students as possible," he said.
Right now, welding teacher Joe Woodland said the expansion will help him teach more students. He teaches about 100 students, and many others wish they were in his classes.
He had to turn down 193 students each semester this year, Woodland said.
Not only will more students be able to join once the expansion is done, but he said they will also be able to work on bigger and better projects for more "real-world experience."
"This country is short welders out there," he said. "It's an opportunity for them to even walk out of my classes at the end of their third year, graduate from high school and go on in [the] industry."
Wilcox said she thinks more high schoolers are starting to realize how much money welders make. She said it is a unique career that lets people express themselves.
She hopes to enroll in the College of Southern Idaho's welding program after graduation.
"I love [welding]," Wilcox said. "This class really prepares you for building and planning things out and measuring, and you know how everything's going to go when you're actually building stuff."
A district spokesperson said they hope the expansion is complete by next school year. They are in the initial planning stages and do not know when construction will start.
The Department's Idaho Career Ready Students grant started in Summer 2023. To date, more than $62 million has been awarded to fund more than 70 proposals.
This round of funding was only possible because the legislature approved an additional $20 million for the grant during the last legislative session, a spokesperson said.
Districts have to apply. ICRS considers factors such as "partnership with local industry, sustainability of the proposed program and responsiveness to community and statewide workforce needs."
"We were so excited ... just for the opportunities for our students to expand this," Erickson said. "Not every student needs to go to a four-year college."