The Dalles, like many Oregon rural areas, faces a changing economy. Once reliant on agriculture, the dam, and a now-shuttered aluminum mill, the town and the extended Columbia river area now are becoming a hub for technology-based industries including Google, wind power companies, aircraft system designers, and more. And the schools in this Columbia Gorge town are racing to keep up.

With federal grants and state grants from the Engineering and Technology Industry Council, the school district is investing in introducing their talented young people to the joys and rewards of technology.