Students set up shop with new printer

SANDPOINT – With their first project nearly done, the staff of the Cedar Post Print Shop had learned a lot about the fancy new $10,000 printer in their Sandpoint High classroom.

It prints snazzy color. It collates copies. It can staple.

“If we could teach it to fold, it would be perfect,” junior Hailey Fuqua said Thursday as she helped fold programs for the Sandpoint Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

“We have two days to fold 250 brochures,” junior Emma Miller said. “We’re kind of stressed.”

Journalism teacher Erin Daniels won a nearly $10,000 grant from the Panhandle Alliance for Education to purchase the high-end printer and start a classroom print shop. Besides giving students some hands-on experience, Daniels envisioned the print shop as a way to help fund trips to journalism workshops. In November, she’s taking 30 students to a journalism conference in Atlanta.

The printer was the second big score this summer. Daniels also received a grant for new computers for the staff of the Cedar Post, the school’s award-winning newspaper.

Daniels was excited. New printer. New computers.

But there wasn’t enough power in the classroom. Daniels couldn’t plug in all of the new equipment she’d received. The discovery made her cry.

A local electrician, Dave Bangle, volunteered to help.

“He got me more power down here,” Daniels said. “We wouldn’t have been able to plug the darn thing in.”

As school started in September, Daniels sent out a districtwide e-mail. She told about the new student-run print shop and the capabilities of the new machine.

The Hall of Fame brochure was group’s first job. The print shop staff – four junior girls – arranged a cover photo of sports memorabilia, designed a cover and inside pages, printed, folded and stapled the programs.

Daniels is having the staff figure out prices and supplies, too. They have to take into account the cost of ink. A refill for the printer runs about $1,000.

The jobs have been trickling in. A science teacher wants periodic tables printed in color. The athletic director has asked about sports programs. Even the Panhandle Alliance for Education is considering the print shop for a project.

Though the students were growing bored of folding sheets of paper on Thursday, the project seemed to be coming to a smooth close – save a minor paper cut.

Next year, Daniels hopes to expand the “business.” The four girls would become managers and oversee a small staff in the professional-technical class.

“It’s a fun elective,” Ashleigh Mire said. “It’s almost like a job.”