How Payette River Academy Runs 14 CTE Pathways with Gameplan

Idaho's CTE Center With Fourteen Pathways and One Platform

Location: Idaho | Grades: 9-12 | Type: Career Technical Education (CTE) Center  | Size: 320

Payette River Regional Technical Academy (PERTA) is a career technical center in Idaho that serves students across 14 career pathways including engineering, aviation, automotive, and other technical programs.

The district currently serves around 320 students, with projections showing enrollment increasing to 600 to 700 students in the coming years. Within the academy, about 100 high school students in grades 9 through 12 currently participate in programs that use Gameplan.

School leaders were looking for ways to strengthen student engagement while organizing instruction across multiple programs. At the same time, they needed tools that were practical for teachers to use and flexible enough to support multiple subjects.

“Students don’t just sit in rows and listen to a lecture and have the teacher disseminate information and they automatically pull it in. Today is the day of social media, videos, everything that's popping up. So you need something that is twenty-first century that is going to be able to capture the student.” - Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

The Educators Driving Career-Connected Learning at PERTA

Patrick Goff - Superintendent, Principal and Technology Director

Patrick Goff has spent 30 years in education, moving between teaching and administration. He now holds three titles at once: superintendent, principal, and technology director. When it comes to technology, he evaluates programs through decades of hard-won experience.

"I've been playing this game called school for thirty years. I've been buying programs and looking into programs. This one has been one of the best that I've seen. And I think it has so much more potential." -  Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

Robert Salisbury teaches engineering, technology, and esports at PERTA. His courses are structured, detailed and built around the reality that students learn differently and need consistent access whether they are in the classroom or at home.

Before using Gameplan, he had experience with several learning management systems including Moodle and Schoology. His goal was to build lessons that were structured and clear for students.

“My experience with Gameplan has been very positive. It allows me to have more control over the type of display I want to present to my students. I am not really limited to just a simple text and graphic. I can do very elaborate and interactive presentations.” - Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

Impact on Student Engagement and CTE Programs

Hear how Patrick Goff describes the impact:

The Challenge: When Your CTE Pathways Outgrow Your LMS

Running 14 CTE pathways under one roof means managing course content for subjects as different as culinary arts and aviation mechanics. Older LMS platforms were not designed to support such a wide range of programs. Many of them started with a basic structure and added features over the years without ever rethinking the experience for students or teachers. 

“We use Gameplan for both esports and traditional classes. Esports drives engagement, while in engineering courses students benefit from the same consistent platform whether they’re learning at school or at home.” - Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

Like many schools, PERTA has to use education funding carefully and where it makes sense. For Patrick Goff, that means every program the school adopts has to work hard and work broadly. 

“In education, cost is always a top priority. We’re constantly asked to do more with less, and that’s one of the biggest challenges we face.” - Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

Why Payette River Academy Chose Gameplan 

During their evaluation process, school leaders reviewed several different programs. Gameplan stood out because it provided both curriculum and the tools needed to organize lessons. What sealed the decision was a combination of factors: the look and feel that students responded to, the ability to support all 14 CTE pathways alongside gaming pathways and the people running the product.

“Choosing the right program makes a huge difference. When you know the platform works and covers everything you need, you can stop worrying about the technology and focus on supporting your staff and students. For us, that’s what Gameplan provides.”  - Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

Robert Salisbury's view from the classroom confirmed the choice. After years with Moodle and Schoology, he found that Gameplan's approach fits how teachers actually want to present material.

“Gameplan supports different learning styles. I can set up courses and tailor lessons for students who learn best through visuals as well as those who prefer reading.”  - Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

How PERTA Built Its CTE Curriculum on Gameplan

Phase 1: Getting Started

Implementation began with Robert Salisbury in the engineering and esports classrooms. He structured his courses in Gameplan's calendar, building 12-day units tied to PERTA's four-day school week, then scheduling lessons two to three weeks out at a time. The platform's automatic scoring and gradebook population cut the administrative work that had previously eaten into his prep time.

Patrick Goff jumped in on his own as well. Working as a first-time user, he built four structured course units in under an hour, covering PERTA's identity, engineering, aviation, and medical pathways. No training beforehand. 

“I set up four new units in about an hour. It was almost silly simple.” - Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

The middle school teacher also adopted the platform early, using it to run four-week discovery rotations across culinary, aviation, and automotive content. One tool was now serving students from 6th grade through 12th, across very different subject areas.

Phase 2: Expanding Across the School

As teachers became more comfortable with the platform, Gameplan expanded into additional courses. The goal is for every pathway to have its curriculum built and ready before the fall semester.

On the academic side, PERTA has launched an online academy delivering math, science, history and english through Gameplan. The vision is full integration: students in the same interface for both CTE and core academics, with consistent structure and access whether they are in the building or somewhere else entirely.

“Whether a student is in the classroom or two states away, they see the same learning experience. We’re integrating all our CTE pathways and connecting subjects like math, science, history, and English within them.” - Patrick Goff, Superintendent, Principal & Technology Director

Robert Salisbury explains how he uses Gameplan:

Results: More Student Engagement, More Instructional Time, Measurable Gains

Student Engagement and Performance

• Student scores and interest have gone up 

• CTE attendance has held strong with a platform students want to use

• Students consistently report that Gameplan is better organized and easier to navigate than previous LMS tools

• Parents have echoed the positive feedback

“Students say Gameplan makes it easier to understand what they need to do.”  - Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

Teachers Regained Instructional Time

• Teachers spend less time on course administration and more time working directly with students

• Automatic grade-book sync and multi-week unit planning reduce the day-to-day workload

• When a specialist teacher is out, substitute coverage no longer means a drop in educational quality

Patrick Goff points to this last item as something he had not fully anticipated. A sub covering an engineering class does not need to know engineering. The course is built, the content is loaded and the substitute keeps things moving. The instructional value holds.

Key Takeaways for CTE Leaders

• One platform can cover a full CTE program. Gameplan's flexibility across 14 pathways means PERTA does not need separate tools for separate subjects.

• How a platform looks and feels matters to students. The visual design and clear daily structure directly affect engagement and cut down on classroom management issues.

• Support quality changes the experience. Both Patrick Goff and Robert Salisbury cite Gameplan's fast, responsive support as a significant reason they trust the platform.

• Getting started does not take long. Patrick Goff built four structured units in under an hour as a first-time user. Robert Salisbury had multi-week units scheduled within weeks of adoption.

• Gameplan grows with the district. From 100 students today to a projected 600-700, Gameplan's structure is built to scale without starting over.

“I’ve never worked with a company where support actually leads to change. With Gameplan, we can suggest a feature and see it added soon after.”  Robert Salisbury - Teacher and Curriculum Developer

Ready to Strengthen Your CTE Pathways With Gameplan?

If your school or district is looking for a platform that can support a full CTE program, organize curriculum across multiple pathways, and engage students in the classroom, Gameplan is worth exploring.

From esports and engineering to core academic subjects, Gameplan allows schools to organize instruction in one place while giving teachers the flexibility to design lessons that work for their classrooms.

Schedule a short meeting to see how Gameplan works in real classrooms and how it could support your CTE programs.