Krista Hirschi, who currently teaches Math at Star Valley High School, has earned the first master’s degree offered through the Lincoln County School District #2 Education Foundation Gateway Program.

Hirschi accepted the opportunity to partner with the Education Foundation approximately two years ago as they launched a pilot version of the program, which facilitates the LCSD #2 effort to offer college credit through concurrent enrollment courses at Star Valley High School and Cokeville High School.

Staff members who teach the concurrent enrollment courses need to have a master’s degree, as the college credit is offered through higher education institutions. The Gateway Program enables current, certified staff members to pursue a master’s degree, which is funded by the Foundation, in a field that allows the high schools to offer courses that they might not otherwise be able to offer.

Hirschi’s degree is a Master’s in Statistics, and her completion of the degree will allow Star Valley High School to offer a concurrent enrollment course in Statistics to students who wish to earn college credit in that discipline.

“We are really excited,” said Tim Hale, who serves as Chairman of the Board with the Education Foundation. The success of this program may allow students to earn college credits and to potentially work toward an associate’s degree through high school, which could potentially save the student significant amounts of time and money.

Hale explained that the district was experiencing a gap in its ability to offer concurrent Math courses, “particularly in Statistics. We connected with Krista Hirschi and invited her to pilot this program with us, where we essentially helped to fund her master’s degree in order to be able to offer those additional classes to students so that they can earn college credit.”

The Foundation is working to expand the program, offering it to teachers who have the desire and who fit the needs of the school district. The program is “well-funded by generous donors in the community,” said Hale. Many certified staff members may be interested in earning a master’s degree, “but they may not necessarily be in a field that we really want to focus on, where we see the gaps within the district, specifically around the sciences. These are the areas where we need more teachers who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree and continuing to teach so they can offer those advanced credits to our high school students.”

The Foundation continues to explore the needs of high schools in building the concurrent enrollment program. “It has taken us some time to figure out how to approach it, to meet together as a board and identify what are the key areas, fields that we actually need folks at the current time,” Hale concluded. “We are keeping our eyes and ears open to finding that right fit. We have the funding. We know that this program works well. We are working on identifying the needs that we have academically and the teachers that are out there who are interested in pursuing that master’s degree.”

Hale extends the invitation to certified staff members who are interested in earning their master’s degree to reach out to the Foundation and explore the possibilities that the Gateway Program offers. He also encourages community members to get involved with the Foundation. There are many ways that folks can contribute and expand on the educational opportunities that are offered to local students.