By Walt Cooley, AgProud.com
May 26, 2025
When Sam Stephens walks onto a mining site this summer as a certified welder, he’ll carry more than just his gear – he’ll represent the kind of success New Plymouth High School’s new $2.3 million ag building was built to create.
Stephens is a recent graduate from ag teacher Chase Shoemaker’s program with certifications in welding. He’s heading off to a career as a welder embedded with an exploration mining crew.
“Our goal is to have graduates possess the skills or training to walk into a high-paying job – not just a job, a high-paying skilled job where someone wants to hire them at a livable wage,” Shoemaker says.
There are multiple students like Stephens who graduated this past May and who start “livable wage” jobs this June, Shoemaker says. More students will get the same opportunities as instruction moves into a bigger building.
In lieu of a ribbon, New Plymouth High School celebrated the opening of their new ag shop and classrooms by cutting a chain. The school’s FFA chapter president, Olivia Smith, did the honors. Image by Walt Cooley.
The school’s new building was finished in a year thanks to a grant from Idaho’s Career Ready Students program and a donated building from R&M Steel in Caldwell. Shoemaker says students like Stephens and others are evidence the program will fulfill the grant program’s objective to create “career-ready” graduates.
“This facility is going to help connect kids with school and work, help them get training and help them get jobs for the future. This is a big deal for us,” says New Plymouth School District Superintendent Wade Wilson.
Former longtime ag teacher at the school and current parent of a student in the program, Kevin Barker, says the shop is a dream come true for the school and the community.
“Getting a new facility was always about the money. When the state’s grant program came up, I called Chase and said, ‘Here’s your ticket. Get on it,’” Barker recalls of his advice to Shoemaker, who graduated from his ag program. “He’s done the work and made the effort to make this happen.”
Graduating senior Sam Stephens poses with new welding ventilation equipment. Stephens has gained welding certifications during school that have enabled him to head straight to a high-pay job after graduation. Image by Walt Cooley.
The new building has two classrooms, each bigger than Shoemaker’s previous 1,000 square feet of instruction space. The shop floor is big enough that you could park a small commercial jet inside. Instead of just five welding bays, Shoemaker now has 20. The additional classroom and lab will open up space to teach meat science and train students in meat cutting starting in fall 2025.
“Chase now has the trifecta for a high school ag program – a greenhouse for horticulture, a state-of-the-art shop for welding and fabrication, and a lab for meat technology,” Barker says. “I’m excited that my own son is still in the program and gets to enjoy a year of it.”
As Shoemaker’s students say: “It’s a crazy, big upgrade.”
Read more from AgProud.com at https://www.agproud.com/
For more information, contact Carly Jordan at 208-856-0288, carly@growidahoffa.org or P.O. Box 827, Star, Idaho 83669.
Graduating senior Shawn Stephens displays the old shop’s welding ventilation equipment. Image by Walt Cooley.
