Winner announced for CTEC’s ‘Skoolie’ raffle
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IDAHO FALLS — After months of selling raffle tickets, the Career Technical Education Center drew the winning ticket for “Skoolie,” the old school bus students converted into an RV.
Linda Lippert, of Idaho Falls, is the proud new owner of the tricked-out RV. She picked up the skoolie at CTEC in Idaho Falls Friday afternoon, eager to ask questions and take a tour.
She bought a raffle ticket because she “likes to support the kids” and already has plans for her adventures with the RV.
“I’m taking it fossil hunting,” Lippert told EastIdahoNews.com.
She travels to Wyoming, Montana, Utah and even farther afield, searching for the perfect fossil. This year, she is going to Kansas.
“I’m not going to stop until I find a freshwater stingray,” she said.
Over 130 students at the CTEC worked for almost a year (from December 2022 to November 2023) to rebuild an old special education school bus into a solar-powered, fully-insulated mobile home. They redid the floors, took out all the seats, raised the ceiling 10 inches, created two booths and a table that fold into a bed, added a bedroom, custom cabinets and a bathroom. They also finished the plumbing for a workable sink, oven, fridge and stove.
They even added a climbing wall onto the outside “just for fun,” Travis Summers, the automotive technology instructor, told EastIdahoNews.com.
Summers was on hand to walk her through the ins and outs of the rig. His students completed much of the rebuild, and he showed Skoolie off with evident pride before presenting Lippert with the keys.
The raffle raised over $35,000, according to Beverly Hott, coordinator at CTEC. The community came out and showed its support, she said.
All the proceeds from the raffle will go towards scholarships and future projects at the technical education center.
School officials have yet to decide if they’ll do another big project next year, Hott told EastIdahoNews.com, but it’s always a possibility.