DEVIN WEEKS

Vocational Rehab, Coeur d'Alene School District host career fair

Vocational Rehab, Coeur d'Alene School District host career fair

The gym in the Coeur d'Alene Early Learning Center was bustling with conversation for hours Tuesday as high school students learned about pet grooming, public safety, cotton candy making and other potential career paths. "I did learn a lot of stuff," Coeur d'Alene High School student Danny Nguyen said.

North Idaho College programs take burden off mom in need of vehicle repair

North Idaho College programs take burden off mom in need of vehicle repair

A spray and wipe here, a twist of a lug nut there. Second-year North Idaho College automotive technology student Sam MacKinnon inspected a front brake rotor of a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer before putting on the final touches Thursday afternoon.

North Idaho Kindness Project delivers notes of appreciation throughout community

North Idaho Kindness Project delivers notes of appreciation throughout community

"You are loved." "You are appreciated." "Our community is a better place with you in it." "We're glad you're here." These words of love and gratitude are showering the community with good vibes as friendly notes are being distributed to an array of organizations and businesses during the North Idaho Kindness Project's 2025 Kindness Card campaign.

Lakeland superintendent talks levy with Rathdrum Chamber

Says passage in May is critical to operations

One hundred percent of seniors at Lakeland, Timberlake and Mountain View Alternative high schools graduated at the close of the 2024 school year. "That's 13 years of commitment and dedication from an amazing staff working with amazing parents to take care of kids and make sure that they have the skills that they need to be successful," Lakeland Joint School District Superintendent Lisa Arnold said Thursday as she spoke at a Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.

High school transition program celebrates 15 years

High school transition program celebrates 15 years

If rising tides lift all ships, then Project SEARCH is how young adults with disabilities become captains of their own fates. The high school transition program has been conducted in partnership with Kootenai Health and the Coeur d'Alene School District for 15 years. Interns, graduates, business partners, school district leaders and hospital officials gathered Wednesday at Kootenai Health to celebrate just how much of an impact this program has made on countless lives and the community as a whole.

Post Falls Rotary dedicates crosswalks to honor Mark Jones, others

Post Falls Rotary honors Mark Jones, founding members through crosswalks, signs

For a guy with a fairly common name, Mark Jones was an uncommon guy. He believed in the kids who fall through the cracks of society, the ones with difficult home lives who often find their way to juvenile detention. In his role managing the Post Falls School District's Alternative to Suspension Program, Jones led students to give back to their community through work at the Post Falls Community Garden and local seniors through the Meals on Wheels program. He led the charge for students to Stuff the Bus each year to support the food bank. Jones died June 15, 2024, but the work he did for the students and his community won't be forgotten. “He was a special guy,” said Mel Larson, a program coordinator with Third Avenue Marketplace.

Send us your fourth grade Arbor Day program stories and photos

Send us your fourth grade Arbor Day program stories and photos

Retired forest pathologist John Schwandt grew up in Illinois where he and his siblings received free trees for Arbor Day programs. "One of them is still there 70 years later," Schwandt said Monday. "I got interested in forestry partly as a result of that and made that my career. I’ve been very fortunate to have been out in the forest for 40-something years." chwandt, chair of the city of Coeur d'Alene's Urban Forestry Committee, served as Idaho's first forestry pathologist after he obtained a doctorate in forest diseases from the University of Idaho. "I've been in Coeur d'Alene since 1976," he said. "It was about then, because of the insect infestation problem around town, they started the forest pathology program." Having served on the Urban Forestry Committee since the 1980s, Schwandt is also a part of the nonprofit Arbor Day Organization of North Idaho. In conjunction with the city, the group has annually given away free seedlings to fourth graders since the program's inception 40 years ago.

Post Falls superintendent gives levy talk at American Legion

The Post Falls School District runs an average daily attendance rate of 92.6%. "Which means that each year, we lose 7.4% of our operational funding — funding that should be coming to us from the state of Idaho," Post Falls Superintendent Dena Naccarato said Monday evening. “The only way for us to actualize 100% of our funding is for 100% of our students to be present 100% of the time," she said.

Women's Gift Alliance visits grant recipient Lake City Playhouse

Women's Gift Alliance visits grant recipient Lake City Playhouse

The old lights in the Lake City Playhouse theater were installed in the 1960s, and even then, they were secondhand.

Milken Award-winning educator shares teaching style, tips during lab sessions in Coeur d'Alene

Milken Award-winning educator shares teaching style, tips during lab sessions

He walked around his colorful and ambiently lit classroom, stopping at different desks to check in with small student groups as his pupils worked their way to cylinder volume answers using the V=πr^2h formula.