Longtime BCSD teacher leaves behind a legacy that looks to the future
By Eric Valentine
When 60 Residential Construction Academy (RCA) students at Wood River High School designed and developed a newly constructed Hailey residence, they probably didn’t realize that the modest, gray-and-white single-family residence was the perfect metaphor for the teacher who spent the past four years helping them make it a reality.
Gray: What better color to reflect the longer, less-predictable construction timeline thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Single-family home: What’s more desperately needed than that in these parts?
Contemporary, modest, unassuming, and charming: Numerous students and co-workers would use those words to describe Kevin Lupton himself.
This January, the WRHS Engineering, Architecture and Robotics teacher announced his intent to retire on social media and got swarmed with congratulatory comments, but moreover, grateful ones. Like this one, from former student Matthew Johnson:
“I wouldn’t be where I am without you. Your guidance was top-notch. Thanks for your dedication,” the alum wrote.
“I have two particular memories to share,” Lupton replied. “I was in the stands the game you broke your leg and I remember your mother went running out on the field. The second was in the classroom. I had a programmable robotics board I had purchased, kind of the precursor to an Arduino board. I bought it with you in mind, knowing you were a student that would problem his way through it.”
‘Problem your way through it’ is Luptonese for troubleshooting and learning by trial and error. It’s a concept Thomas Edison captured when he said (paraphrased): “I have never failed, but I have learned a thousand ways how not to make a lightbulb.” And it’s a concept Lupton masterfully embedded into his students over a career that spanned 30 years.
How so?
“That’s the biggest advantage electives teachers have—we can meet the students where they’re at. We don’t have a core curriculum we have to get through per semester,” Lupton said. “This is a training experience not a production line. Training kids how to navigate the permit process and the design takes time, then they have to actually execute it.”
In 2004, the construction academy was launched by Lupton and community member Sue Woodward—who Lupton said understood there were housing and workforce issues in the Valley years ago. It enables students to learn and master a wide variety of construction methods and techniques, from rough framing to cabinetmaking and intricate woodworking. Late last month, an open house was held at the most recently built turnkey home. The project started with a design created by Lupton’s architecture students, who presented their plans to the City of Hailey for permits. Once the permits were approved, RCA students got to work on building the home under the guidance of construction teacher Ian Blacker, which is the third to be completed in the program’s history.
“Preparing kids for a life past high school—a career doing something they love and are good at—that’s what our job is,” Lupton said. “I know there are numerous kids who graduated from this program to go on to become architects, engineers, you name it.”
Legacies In So Many Directions
One of Lupton’s favorite all-time students did just that. His son spent all four years on his dad’s extremely successful robotics team. He went on to get a mechanical engineering degree and just recently started working for POWER Engineers in Hailey. His daughter lives in Coeur d’Alene, where she is a nurse practitioner.
Lupton, who spent a career on the technical side of things, said he and his wife will spend a lot of their new free time in nature.
It Takes A Valley
In addition to the WRHS program, students at Carey High School also have the opportunity to take part in the Residential Construction Academy (RCA). That school’s program has completed six homes since 2000.
The house, located at 2761 Winterhaven Drive in Hailey, was made possible thanks to the support of numerous local businesses and community partners. They include:
Apollo Excavation • Blake Turner • Bob Wright • Bozzuto Appliances • Bradley Construction • Blaine County Education Foundation • BCSD Maintenance Department • Buffalo Electric • C&R Electric • City of Hailey Building Department • Classic Stoneworks • Clearwater Landscaping • Conrad Brothers Construction • D&S Heating & Sheetmetal • D Swaner Welding • Electrical Wholesale Supply • Elevation Builders • Evans Plumbing • Ferguson Plumbing • Franklin Building Supply • Gale Insulation • Galena Engineering • Greenworks • Hank Brown Painting • Houston Lumber • Howie Royal • HyLift Crane • Idaho Lumber • Idaho Mountain Builders • Interior Contractors • Jay McCoy • Jeff Anderton • Jodie Taylor • Lloyd Construction • Magleby Construction • Mike Chatterton • Morell Engineering • Mrs. Pratt’s FCCLA Class • Neighbors of 2761 Winterhaven • Overhead Garage Door • Platt Electric • Professional Roofing • Rocky Mountain Flooring • Sawtooth Paint & Airless • Standard Plumbing • Stromberg Moore • Sue Woodyard • Tanner Construction • Terry’s Heating & Air • Valley Maintenance • Vital Ink Architecture