Learning gets a little easier

RAY YOUNT OF KELLOGG has a new solution to a problem hindering his education. One 1978 pickup plus a tricky Fourth of July Pass equals a disaster waiting to happen.

“The thought of being stranded out someplace and having my rig towed back is not all that appealing,” said Yount, 67.

For Yount, who calls himself a frustrated would-be engineer, the solution was becoming one of the first 11 students to sign up for academic classes at the North Idaho College Silver Valley Center. The center opened in Kellogg in January to offer academic, community education and GED courses to the Silver Valley.

Yount is continuing his education by taking a basic math course through the center. He said that without the center he would need to wait about a year to attend classes. Each trip to Coeur d’Alene costs about $20 and driving stress is bumped up a notch when fighting for a parking spot near campus, he said.

Candace Wheeler, director of distance education, was project manager for the Silver Valley Center and will continue as liaison between NIC and the center. She said Fourth of July Pass has been one of the biggest barriers to secondary education for Silver Valley residents. With 158 students now crossing the pass to attend classes at NIC, the school pushed to open the center last month.

The Silver Valley Center will hold a grand opening today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 323 Main St. in Kellogg. The program will include brief presentations by city officials, NIC staff and a county representative. In addition, Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd will speak.

Wheeler said the idea of a Kellogg site went back and forth for many years until talks picked up again this year with more gusto than before. She said the center moved ahead thanks to collaboration among North Idaho College, Shoshone County and Kellogg.

“Once the decision was made in August, hammers started flying,” she said. “It was wonderful.”

The Silver Valley Center is using the old Kellogg City Hall after some remodeling. The Shoshone County Fire Department and Kellogg Library still use a portion of the building.

The college will be able to use the space for two years without a lease. In exchange, the college contributed the technology and furnished the building. The center includes a computer lab, two classrooms and a videoconferencing room for distance education courses.

Wheeler said the high-speed Internet at the lab has proved a success through heavy use since the center opened Jan. 18. Sue Standley, 66, is taking five classes from Kellogg: child safety, nutrition, math, psychology and sociology. One of her psychology classes is broadcast through the Kellogg High School distance education program and she logs on to her other classes online at the center.

She wants to work with troubled children, and at 66 she’s eager to wrap up her education and return to the work force. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can still learn,” she said.

Vince Rinaldi, executive director of the Silver Valley Economic Development Corp., said the new center has the potential to spur economic growth in the Silver Valley.

“This is only going to get better and better,” Rinaldi said. “We regard it as extremely positive for our area.”

The corporation helped bring the deal home. He said the center will be a strong tool for attracting businesses to the Silver Valley and improving job training.

The coordinator of the Silver Valley Center, Becky Powers, hopes to see the benefit through future generations. Powers, a former student at NIC, said it will be exciting to see her grandchildren attend classes without the challenge of crossing the pass or scrambling for a ride. “The market of jobs required in the valley is changing rapidly, and I think people are just not content to settle anymore,” she said. “They want more.” Wheeler said the community will drive the type of education offered through the center through an annual needs assessment. The next step for the center is developing a nine-member advisory committee to help with the needs assessments in the Silver Valley.

Wheeler said other communities in North Idaho are requesting a physical presence of NIC, and the college is working on additional partnerships. However, no new sites are planned yet.