Building blocks of life

RATHDRUM - When Ben Macomber was a little boy, he dreamed big.

He used LEGOs to construct entire worlds in his home and won prizes and bragging rights in local competitions.

The Press featured Ben in a 2008 article about the annual LEGO-Rama contest at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

"It's build, build, build," said the then fifth-grader.

Well, it's still "build, build, build" for the Lake City High School junior, but he has taken his impressive LEGO dedication and is now applying it to his scholastic aspirations.

"I've always liked making things," said Ben, who is now 16.

Ben is presently finishing his first semester at the Kootenai Technical Education Campus (KTEC), where he can build things on a larger and more permanent scale. He goes to regular classes at LCHS in the mornings and spends his afternoons in the large, open KTEC workshop classroom, located on the campus on Lancaster Road. He is a student in the engineering design and automation program.

"I'm liking it a lot," he said. "I like it a lot more as a high school than Lake City. Lake City just doesn't really like, cut it for me."

He held a strip of sandpaper taut in his hands Wednesday as he focused on smoothing one side of a robotics wheel he was making. Peering intently through his safety glasses at the circular aluminum piece spinning on the lathe, he explained that the wheel may be used in the First Robotics Challenge. Or, he may just take it home to add to his portfolio.

"I can build a career out of what I'm doing here, and actually do stuff with it, and I think that's really cool. And opposed to Lake City, everybody wants to be here, so everybody's a lot more focused," Ben said. "There's a lot more one-on-one time, you know, and I just feel that it's a lot easier to learn and a lot more productive."

Ben said he may attend the University of Idaho after graduation to pursue a degree in engineering or machining. He also said he feels his interest in LEGOs (although they have been put away for a few years) helped build a foundation for his career choices.

"I just kind of loved making things as a child," he said. "Me and my dad have made things around the house, like we built our back porch, random things around the house and I've always found it to be really fun. And you get to see your end product, you know, it's really fulfilling."

Ben's KTEC instructor, Dale Sprouse of Post Falls, has more than 30 years of experience in electrical engineering, robotics, supervising/inspecting and much more. He said the robotics wheel Ben was working on was "very good" and that Ben and his 12 classmates comprise one of the best classes he has taught.

"This is one of the better classes I've had and he's part of that, absolutely," Sprouse said. "This class doesn't need to be prodded to move forward. They drag me along as fast as I can go, helping as I go. They ask questions and they do very well on tests. We had a test here recently where the average was an 88 percent. That's an average. Shucks, yes, that's absolutely wonderful. I'm very proud of this class."

Ben's proud and supportive mom, Leslie Macomber, said her son is brilliant when it comes to working with his hands, but the traditional classroom setting just wasn't sparking his passion. She discovered the KTEC program and suggested it to him, and he responded with enthusiasm. Now, a path into higher education is becoming more appealing to him.

"College is not necessarily something that he was going to do," she said. "My son is more and more talking about going into engineering and college."

Ben said he recommends KTEC to other students who may be feeling bored or uninterested in a traditional classroom setting and who enjoy interactive learning.

"This place is great," he said. "I learn a lot more, it's easier to learn, you get more credits, I think you get college credits, too. If I could come here full time and just be done with all my other credits at Lake City I would, because this place is just such a better alternative, in my opinion."

Info: www.ktectraining.org