High School Preps Students For Energy Jobs

A local high school has started up a new kind of class, giving students a head start in a fast growing industry.

Pocatello high has began the Energy Technology class and said the new class will help prepare students for the careers of tomorrow.

“The idea is to introduce students to the idea of all about energy. how do we get light, where does it come from?,? Energy Technology teacher Linda Engle said.

Those who helped start up the new energy technology class, said the energy industry is seeing steady growth in southeast Idaho at the same time the workforce in the energy sector is starting to shrink.

“It is a stepping stone to jobs in the energy industry. And those jobs are becoming more and more, there’s more and more of them, and they are high paying also,? Engle said.

Grants from the Idaho National Laboratory help fund the class, and students were able to spend days visiting facilities producing power, from nuclear reactors to wind farms.

“I didn’t know I could be interested in an energy technology class, and when I took it it interested me,? Pocatello High student Lindsey Harrell said.

And even for students still in high school, concerns about the ability to find a job in the future is a real worry.

For some taking the new class, figuring out just what to do with their lives is getting more important to do earlier and earlier.

“Don’t you want to know what you’re going into before college, so you don’t waste time taking classes you don’t need for your future,? Harrell said.

“Teachers are constantly telling me, ‘You need to know what you’re going to go into. You need to be ready,’? Pocatello High student Shayla Henderson said.

Along with fulfilling a high school science requirement, the class gets students three credits at Idaho State University.