A group of Sandpoint High School seniors presented to the Lake Pend Oreille School District board Tuesday, highlighting career-and‑college programs, a new teacher‑cadet course, internships and hands‑on career training that students said helped prepare them for post‑secondary plans.

Why it matters: The presentations illustrated how district programs and community partnerships translate into college admissions, dual‑credit opportunities and workforce certificates for students across academic and vocational tracks.

Assistant Principal Carrie Greiner introduced the district’s new teacher‑cadet program, begun last year with two students, which provides district training and placements in elementary classrooms. Student Betty Travers said the cadet program gave her dyslexia and ECRI (enhanced core reading instruction) training and that she now teaches ECRI to kindergarteners each morning; Travers said she plans to attend the University of Idaho for elementary education.

Student Maddie Mitchell described a combination of advanced classes, online AP coursework and an internship at Washington Elementary in special education under Samantha Garrison and Megan Yu. Mitchell said the internship included confidentiality and special‑education procedures and helped her learn to advocate for students. Other students described opportunities in welding (Emmett Momen), commercial-driver-license training paid by the district’s advanced-opportunity funds (Owen Decker), library internships (Stella Lopez), athletics scholarships (Sheila Meyer, golf scholarship to Lewis‑Clark State College) and STEM camps and university applications (Alton/Fisher).

Students and staff credited counselors, teachers and community partners—including North Idaho College workforce training programs—with helping place students in training pathways such as CDL, EMT and phlebotomy programs. The student presenters said these hands‑on pathways complement conventional 2‑ and 4‑year college preparation.

Ending: Board members and administrators thanked the students and staff for the presentations; district leaders noted the programs align with strategic priorities for relevancy and career preparation.