World Class Field Trip

The Rock Ridge School District is committed to providing a world class education for its learners. It is imperative these learners are exposed to professionals who have excelled in the industries we are teaching them about.

Students toured the Mall of America and US Bank Stadium where they were introduced to business, marketing, and broadcasting professionals who increase brand awareness to tens of millions of visitors each year. A multitude of leading world class companies utilize the Mall of America and US Bank Stadium’s marketing strategies to gain market advantage with consumers around the world.

Introducing student learners considering careers in business management, event planning, and marketing to world-class venues and professionals is an exceptional way to ensure student engagement and a 21st century educational experience.

Here’s a recap of the experience written by Mrs. Jill Oja, RRHS Career Counselor:

Yesterday was an incredible day! As I snapped a photo of a RRHS junior kicking a field goal from the 20 yard line at the US Bank Stadium, I wondered if he appreciated the moment as much as I did. We had just come out of the Vikings locker room and had a few minutes on the field. We weren’t there for football, but we were seizing a rare opportunity. I snapped another photo of three student learners sitting on the Viking logo centered in the middle of the field. I wanted to capture their moment. Today was created for them.

Mr. Kyle Hammer, a licensed Career and Technical Education teacher at RRHS, instructing students in business and career exploration, worked vigorously over the past couple of months to make this day happen. His plan was to take students on an Industry Tour in Minneapolis. Being the Career Counselor, I was fortunate to collaborate with him. We made many phone calls and wrote many emails. We secured tours with Mall of America and US Bank Stadium. Both are world-class facilities using marketing strategies to increase brand awareness to tens of millions of visitors each year. We arranged to meet with the professionals excelling in the fields of business, marketing, event planning. As the US Bank Stadium tour was secured we requested broadcasting to be included in our engagement.

With support from Northeast Service Cooperative as part of Minnesota Service Cooperatives Rural CTE Consortium Grants funded through MN Legislature, a bus carrying 24 students and three educators departed RRHS at 6:00am enroute to Minneapolis.

The Mall of America, we learned, was a business proposal that many thought would fail and many community members would oppose. Newspaper headlines with negative connotations regarding the location were published. They did not believe tourists would travel to Minnesota for an attraction. But the property where the Metropolitan Stadium had vacated years earlier was about to evolve into something different, something new, something exciting! Maybe the students made the connections. Maybe they didn’t. But the rest is history and the future is theirs.

Our second stop was the US Bank Stadium. Before our tour, we met with professionals willing to step away from their hectic schedules and projects to meet with our students. The message they expressed to the student learners was the importance of getting involved in clubs and activities, meeting new people, volunteering in their communities, finding mentors, and job shadowing.

During the tour, we were allowed into the broadcasting room, something rarely open to the public. I looked at our broadcasting students and my energy was charged. What an incredible moment for them. I pointed to a chair and asked a student who I knew had incredible audio and visual technical talent if he would like to be sitting there one day. He enthusiastically affirmed he would. I told him he could make it happen. On the way out, an equally impressed student whispered that this area was four times as big as the RRHS broadcasting space. I replied with a smile, “It should be. You’re at the US Bank Stadium!” And that’s what I love about my job. There’s nothing that excites me more than seeing a rural Minnesota kid getting a glimpse into the bigger world and broadening their horizon. I am committed to continuing collaborating with teachers like Mr. Hammer who believes our students are second to none and deserve the world class 21st century education we strive to provide.