Lapwai building career technical center

The Lapwai School District will be building a new Career Technical Education Center to expand carpentry and fabrication programs.

The district received $1,278,843 in grant funding from the Idaho Career Ready Student Funds, $51,000 in material donations from R M Steel in Caldwell and $20,000 in Nez Perce Tribe Local Education Program Funds. The district reached out to RM Steel, an industry partner with the school, who later made a donation, according to Superintendent David Aiken.

The building will be behind Lapwai Middle High School next to the current career technical building. Plans for the building’s design are still ongoing and the next meeting is in December. The school board and the Nez Perce Tribe will have input on the design.

“Piiwapáyatat,” Nez Perce for “helping each other,” was selected as the project name because it shows the collaboration and support the schools receive from the tribe and Lapwai community, according to an email from Aiken.

Arnzen Building Construction and Castellaw Kom Architects are the design-build team for the project. The same group was used for the 2011 Lapwai Middle High School gym.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with them again,” said Aiken in an email.

The current career and technical education building has carpentry, welding and fabrications, which are large-scale welding projects with construction elements. However, the equipment is in a tight space with a high number of students, according to the email.

The new facility will expand carpentry and fabrication instruction with a long-term goal of automotive technology. Welding will remain in the current agricultural building behind the high school as it already has ventilation for welding.

The new building will have two sections with garage door access on each end. One side will be for carpentry and the other for fabrication. The fabrication side will also include room for automotive technology.

The school district is located on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and educates the largest population of Nez Perce students in the world. The district has collaborated with the tribe in other areas of career and technical education with the Tribal Employment Rights Office Program. Through the Baker Technical Institute, Lapwai High School students can earn heavy highway construction certifications, according to the email.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.