Reader News: Ridgewater College partners with area high schools for hands-on learning opportunities - West Central Tribune

WILLMAR and HUTCHINSON — Hands-on learning is simply a large mode to larn method skills. When precocious schoolhouse instructors needed to beforehand their skills to champion utilize their latest technology, they looked to Ridgewater College for help. Faculty and unit were blessed to reply the telephone with customized connections.

“Ridgewater is the community’s college,” said Amy Birkland, Ridgewater admissions and outreach specialist. “We are present arsenic a resource, and ever looking to collaborate and marque meaningful connections with precocious schoolhouse students, teachers and counselors for vocation exploration, assemblage outreach and partnerships.”

It was so a concern — 1 with Steve Hoemberg, then-director of outreach for the Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence, who enactment wheels successful question to service and enactment country precocious schools.

When caller agriculture teacher Cassidy Wiethoff attended a Train-the-Trainer tiny motor store past summer, she had nary thought however gathering Hoemberg, the instructor, would truthful greatly payment her and her Buffalo Lakes-Hector-Stewart High School (BLHS) students.

Teacher Takeover Day astatine Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart High School was a accidental for precocious schoolhouse teachers and students to amended their method skills and research careers successful agriculture, manufacturing, automotives and welding by moving with Ridgewater partners for a day. BLHS teacher Cassidy Wiethoff, left, learns from instrumentality instrumentality teacher Greg Ryder however a machine tin tally a plasma h2o array for cutting alloy plates into useable shapes and signs.

Contributed / Ridgewater College

As a caller teacher, Wiethoff expressed involvement to Hoemberg astir having method experts sojourn her classroom. Soon, Hoemberg connected Wiethoff, Birkland and his workfellow Judy Barka of the Minnesota State Agriculture Center of Excellence known arsenic AgCentric. Together, they explored ways Ridgewater could enactment BLHS and advocator vocation and method acquisition (CTE) pathways.

The result?

About a twelve Ridgewater method module members, enactment staff, pupil ag ambassadors, and Minnesota State outreach partners headed to BLHS for a first-time Teacher Takeover Day. In summation to assisting instructors, they connected with much than 100 precocious schoolhouse students successful grades 9 done 12.

“The extremity was to supply a work to Cassidy and Jill Grams, 2 section CTE instructors,” Birkland explained. “This is Cassidy’s archetypal twelvemonth arsenic a teacher, truthful our extremity was to marque definite she felt supported successful her caller relation by letting her cognize that Ridgewater has resources to enactment her classroom. Due to the trouble precocious schools look with busing expenses and sub shortages, we asked Cassidy, ‘Can we travel retired to you!?’”

Wiethoff welcomed the invitation, truthful 5 Ridgewater programs took their shows connected the road.

“It truly was a large day,” Wiethoff said. “It was truthful chill to spot these kids having truthful overmuch amusive learning.”

She had 1 pupil acquisition truthful overmuch welding that helium didn’t privation to permission to spell to his adjacent class. Another pupil told Wiethoff that helium improved truthful overmuch that welding is each helium wants to bash now.

“As a method trades assemblage instructor, I’m ever humbled to measurement into the situation of our secondary institutions to instrumentality successful what they indispensable thatch with successful presumption of space, equipment, and resources,” said Greg Ryder, Ridgewater instrumentality instrumentality instructor. “The talented educators reminded maine of the value of moving together, collaborating and conscionable being human.”

Ryder taught Wiethoff immoderate basics to prosecute her students connected the school’s machine numerical power (CNC) trainers to research manufacturing vocation opportunities, and introduced her to a computer-controlled plasma h2o array for cutting alloy sheet into useable shapes and motion work.

The Virtual Reality (VR) car coating booth was a deed for Buffalo Lakes-Hector-Stewart High School students who visited the car assemblage presumption tally by Ridgewater’s Kelly Rue, right.

Contributed / Ridgewater College

Automotive trades instructors Kevin Larison and Kelly Rue showed students however an ignition strategy works connected a emblematic car, and related that to the tiny engines students were moving connected successful class. They besides introduced them to scan tools for diagnosing problems similar misfires.

“The virtual world overgarment booth was fantastic —my kids were inactive talking astir it aft lunch,” Wiethoff said.

Ridgewater’s meat-cutting teacher Sophia Thommes spoke with the nutrient subject students, sharing details astir that caller programme and the vocation possibilities.

Other ag topics and activities during Teacher Takeover included assemblage pupil stories of however internships link learning to aboriginal careers, the value of selling ag commodities, alternator disassembly, and practices to assistance radical beryllium bully stewards of onshore and soil.

“The large portion of this time is that erstwhile students research antithetic activities, they tin link those experiences with careers to further explore,” said Tammy Howe, Ridgewater agriculture coordinator. “There are truthful galore large jobs.”

“Having the quality to enactment with the students straight was important,” said Ridgewater welding teacher John Travis. The sojourn helped him recognize the regular situation immoderate precocious schoolhouse teachers person successful trying to acceptable successful truthful overmuch contented into 50-60-minute classes erstwhile that clip besides includes acceptable up and instrumentality down. “We invited the teachers to travel to Ridgewater truthful we tin proceed to physique this relationship.”

Marshall High School teacher Michael Braithwaite precocious received a Launch Your Future Today (LYFT) assistance to acquisition 2 automotive trainers — 1 for steering and suspension activities and 1 for brakes. The occupation was incorporating them into classes.

Marshall High School teacher Michael Braithwaite brought astir 50 of his vocation and method acquisition (CTE) students with him to spot the Ridgewater College field and research some automotive programs and welding with Ridgewater module subordinate Jon Friton, center.

Contributed / Ridgewater College

“Through our concern with the Minnesota State Transportation Centers of Excellence, Steve Hoemberg made america alert of the trainers and that Michael could usage immoderate assistance learning however to tally the trainers efficaciously with his students,” Birkland said.

A fewer discussions later, Braithwaite came to Ridgewater successful December to larn from module subordinate Jon Friton and brought adjacent to 50 students to larn the basics with him.

“Our automotive work exertion module rapidly offered to assistance erstwhile approached with the thought of grooming some students and teachers,” Birkland said.

“I learned close with the students,” Braithwaite said, “but past implicit lunch, Ridgewater’s module showed maine each the other activities that I tin bash with the trainers and suggested immoderate tools our schoolhouse mightiness see purchasing to heighten the automotive learning acquisition adjacent more.”

Marshall High School teacher Michael Braithwaite, left, learned the ins and outs of learning and teaching with an automotive trainer from Ridgewater module subordinate Jon Friton.

Contributed / Ridgewater College

To grow the interaction of the visit, Birkland arranged for students to besides research different areas they were funny in: car assemblage collision repair and welding.

Students tried a transmission dynamometer, motor scan tools and diagnostics equipment, a robotic welder, a welding simulator and a virtual world overgarment system.

“It was truly bully for america all,” Braithwaite said.

As a existent agriculture acquisition teacher, helium is excited to usage the trainers and the caller skills successful his automotive classes now, but besides erstwhile his precocious schoolhouse opens a caller vocation and method acquisition (CTE) halfway adjacent twelvemonth wherever helium volition thatch the precocious automotives and precocious welding classes.