It’s 10:30 a.m., and Tristan Izzard has been practicing his welds for two hours.
Clad in green welding coats, Izzard and a handful of his classmates sharpen their skills in Marsing High School’s shop, recently outfitted with nearly a dozen new welders through a grant.
With declining enrollment and no reliance on local supplemental funds, Marsing has to get creative. District leaders pursue grants, foster cooperatives and save money to expand offerings, serve a high number of students in poverty and compete in a changing landscape for rural districts in Idaho…