Great kids, great trip

On April 7 the Leadership class at OJSHS took a field trip to Boise. The group’s advisor, Annette Haag, got the funding from Idaho National Laboratories and the Class of 1985. The basis of this field trip was to teach students that there are many job and educational opportunities available to them.

On Friday of that week the students began their day with a trip to the Discovery Center of Idaho, a hands-on science center. They then had the good fortune of having a personal, backstage tour of Quest Arena by Eric Trapp, a 1985 Orofino graduate who manages the Idaho Steelheads hockey team. Eric gave the group Idaho Steelhead ball-caps and free front-row tickets to a playoff game against Las Vegas. It was quite a treat as most of them had never attended a hockey game.

Amy Lientz, Idaho National Laboratories communications director and OHS class of 1985 graduate, accompanied the Leadership students for the day. She was also instrumental in securing funding for the trip and helping Ms. Haag with the planning. She gave an impressive tour of the Capitol Building including visits to the House and Senate floors and a peek into the Governors office. The day was topped off with a quick visit to Zoo Boise and the kids loved this close-up experience with the animals.

After that action-packed day, Saturday found the freshmen attending an Engineering Day at Boise State University. They took part in sessions on robotics, catapults, math facts and were even able to ride a segway. The juniors and seniors were given a full guided tour of the Boise State University campus, including a supposedly haunted sorority house.

This was a great learning adventure for all of these kids and they are very grateful to Idaho National Laboratories, Class of 1985, Amy Lientz, and Eric Trapp as well as chaperones Dale Province and Dawn Erlewine. With funding cuts in education, these field trips are very rare and the Leadership class feels so fortunate to have had this opportunity.