Soda Springs High School expands trades education with new building
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SODA SPRINGS — During the fifth of his seven years as Soda Springs High School principal, Jess McMurray went fishing and caught several big ones during his quest to improve education in welding, auto mechanics, construction and bench carpentry.
Given the dearth of people to fill needs in most employment sectors, McMurray opted to focus on providing students the chance to quickly enter the workforce in specialties available right where they live – at Caribou County’s mines, construction and agriculture.
“Thirty-five percent of those holding college degrees do not find employment in their field of study,” McMurray said. “We need practical skills – no matter what our educational background may be.”
So he grabbed the phone, submitted applications and threw out his line.
“Money is tight,” he said as he described how he envisioned expanding, “but my philosophy is the sky’s the limit.”
Through nothing less than serendipity, he came upon R&M Steel Company, a Caldwell firm specializing in pre-engineered metal buildings, who asked him three simple questions:
- What do you need?
- What would you like?
- What is your fantasy?
His pragmatic Montana roots notwithstanding, R&M awarded the district even more than McMurray’s wildest fantasy – a new 7,200-square-foot building through a grant, to be used for career and technical education (CTE).
Local contributors such as Bayer and Simplot covered new welding equipment. High school students performed interior finish self-help to add insulation and plywood walls covered in corrugated steel with restrooms, classrooms, storage and tool spaces. The school district’s $75,000 helped defray material costs. All tolled, the completed structure and contents will exceed $1.2M, banked via donations, additional grants and the community’s considerable largesse.
Nonetheless, McMurray said, “Nothing can be done without personnel, even with the best building.”
With one full-time staff member on the payroll (Scott Evans, welder extraordinaire), McMurray embarked on a search for professionals in construction and auto mechanics. Two part-time employees were added, Tracy Davis and Alan Erickson who, by McMurray’s account, have exceptional talent and are dedicated to teaching in a facility that doubles the space previously available in the district’s former bus barn.
The result? The new structure is not quite ready – a disappointment generated by a litany of unexpected challenges – but will be in the fall of 2025.
Nonetheless, CTE enrollment jumped from the prior school year, proof that McMurray’s wildest fantasy will serve the community well in the long run. With serendipity again in evidence, two large overhead doors were added to accommodate outsized vehicle frames or sheds and, possibly, tiny homes to be constructed then ferried out to new owners.
CTE enrollees include senior Payson Hatch, who studiously repeated four welding rules to Evans, then donned safety gear and stepped into the booth to practice welds. Hatch expects to help her dad on the family farm this summer with new skills to share, then she will enter cosmetology school. Which one does she anticipate she will do long term?
“I’m not sure,” she replied.
Regardless of her eventual decision, she is gaining practical experience and solidifying options for her future.
Those new options, through McMurray’s efforts to save Caribou County taxpayers money while simultaneously expanding opportunities, increase choices for current and future students.
An extraordinary catch.
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