Kootenai High School: Lauren Lowery relishes helping her community

If at any time during the next few years you find yourself in need of an emergency medical technician who can also do backflips, look no further than the Lewis-Clark State College campus in Lewiston.

That’s where you’ll find Kootenai High School graduate Lauren Lowery, who for the past three years has balanced a demanding academic schedule with extracurricular activities and her position as an EMT volunteer with the Harrison Ambulance Association.

Lowery hopes to attend medical school and become an emergency surgeon, but first she plans to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at LCSC. She also will be joining the cheer team after receiving an invitation from the coach there.

Lowery is graduating after only three years in high school, thanks to a full load of classes at Kootenai combined with dual enrollment at both North Idaho College and the University of Idaho. She didn’t realize until the beginning of her junior year that she was only a couple credits short of graduation, and made the decision to move forward after this year.

While at LCSC, she will continue to volunteer occasionally as an EMT in Harrison, and after her 18th birthday, she will be able to work alone. She was licensed this year, and is able to administer basic medical procedures under supervision.

“My dad and science teacher were both EMT volunteers,” she said, “and they recommended that I take the class if I was interested. At the beginning, I went on really cool calls and got to see how medics work. My instructor in the class had military experience in ER surgery, and I became interested in that too.

Her Kootenai science teacher, Matt Greer, noted that Lowery is receiving an Idaho Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics diploma and that this year she completed a significant senior project that involved refurbishing a retired ambulance and restocking it to functional capacity.

“In addition,” he added, “I have watched her be a role model to other students, a good listener, a sage adviser, and a mentor to other young women in our school.”

Lowery has been involved in the cheer program at Kootenai for all three years there, watching it grow from four students to more than 10. She was elated when she got the opportunity to participate in the LC State program.

“I’ve always wanted to go to LC State,” she said. “I just filled out a sports interest form with my college application, and the cheer coach emailed me after that. She contacted me at competitions and gave me resources to build my skills. I submitted a video tryout, and I went to a clinic in April.

“I’m super excited about the nursing program and cheer at LC State,” she said. “I will miss knowing every person that I see in the halls and the closeness of the Harrison community, but I’m grateful for the support that my friends and family have given me.”