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Wood River High principal seeks sponsors for VR lab and heavy‑equipment simulators for CTE program
Summary
Principal Jay Graf outlined a plan to build a VR lab and purchase heavy‑equipment and CDL simulators for Wood River High’s CTE pathways, seeking business sponsorships to cover initial capital costs estimated in the six‑figure range and citing Perkins and state CTE funding as potential supplements.
Jay Graf, Wood River High School principal, presented an information‑agenda proposal on April 8 to create a virtual reality lab and add heavy‑equipment and commercial driver’s license (CDL) simulators to expand Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings.
Graf said the district has already secured grant money to purchase a classroom set of about 20 VR headsets and that the proposal for simulators would supplement those headsets with larger simulator stations for excavation, loading and other heavy‑equipment operations. Graf said the VR lab could also expand career exploration offerings (cosmetology, medical exploration, heavy equipment) and serve post‑graduation training partners and summer camps.
Graf described benefits for students: simulated multi‑student job‑site scenarios, pre‑certification training that could prepare students to receive industry certification (for example, forklift training that could be followed by industry certification at a technical center), and a recruitment tool that keeps students engaged.
Graf said the project team had presented the idea to local contractors and the Wood River Contractors Association and had received positive feedback; he named one prospective lead donor and said FarmWise and other community organizations had offered to help secure donors. Graf estimated an initial capital ask could be sizable (proposal referenced approximately $233,000 as a full‑build example) but said the lab could be staged over multiple years starting with one station.
Trustees and staff asked about ongoing software licensing costs, whether IT infrastructure would support the simulators, how annual CTE and Perkins funds might be used for operating costs, and whether the district had independent vendor references. Graf said the district has Perkins funding and other CTE state funding that offset software and periodic upgrade costs, and that the IT director had been involved in planning the classroom headset rollout.
Trustees asked Graf to secure vendor references and to pursue a lead gift before broad fundraising, and recommended staged implementation aligned with fundraising results. No action was taken; Graf was authorized to continue outreach to potential sponsors and return with a fundraising plan and vendor references.
