Napavine students now have a literal sandbox to play in, but not to build sandcastles.
Instead, they’ll be building the technical skills needed to operate a tractor and other heavy equipment, preparing themselves for a possible future career in the trades.
The Napavine School District officially opened the Tiger Sandbox on Thursday after about a year of planning how best to have students use a new tractor it purchased with grant funding.
“We were trying to figure out how to use that and get students on it,” said Napavine career and technical education (CTE) Director David Rutherford.
The district ultimately decided to spread sand over a section of property behind the bus barn, located near the Napavine High School football field.
“This project was graciously donated by Tapani, Janke Trucking, and CalPortland with Tapani spearheading the project,” Rutherford said. “This allows our students to move materials using bucket skills and digging with the backhoe in a controlled environment. The idea is to give students a chance to learn basic operator skills to explore this career area and prepare them for jobs in our community.”
Pipes, concrete slabs, buckets and other moving materials will soon be added to the sandbox to create a realistic construction environment for students to work with. The district also hopes to partner with local industry professionals to mentor students in the sandbox.
“I’m really excited to bridge real-life application with just learning a piece of equipment,” said Napavine High School science and agriculture teacher Matt Deebach. “When I was approached with this, I thought it was amazing, and partnering with the industry is just a win-win for us, and hopefully for kids and employees in the future.”
Students will start using the tractor in the sandbox next month, according to Rutherford.
Napavine High School’s CTE program includes 10 distinct course pathways: welding, healthy living, graphic design, global business, business fundamentals, environmental science, digital photography, commercial art, culinary arts and construction. For more information, visit https://nhs.napavineschools.org/o/nhs/page/napavine-cte.
