Teaching the Teachers

Menomonie faculty learn about modern jobs

Theresa Schneider |

For many kids, there is nothing better than taking day out of class to take a filed trip. But while school was out and kids were busy playing last summer, it was the Menomonie area teachers’ turn to take a field trip.

As part of an initiative focused on workforce education, the Chamber Workforce and Education Committee arranged tours of local businesses for Menomonie School District teachers and other staff working directly with children. Educators from kindergarten all the way up through the high school level were targeted to participate in the tours.

The goal of the tours was to give teachers the opportunity to see what businesses are in the community and have an inside look as to what different skills these businesses are looking for in future employees, Menomonie School District School-to-Careers Coordinator Jude Marion said.

“It’s to get the connection between business and education,” she said. “It’s a learning curve between business and education and what each has to offer the other.”

Teachers had to chance to get a two- to three-hour look behind the scenes at the Dunn County News, Red Cedar Medical Center, Mabel Tainter Theater, as well as other businesses.

The program was piloted last year and received a positive response from the teachers who participated, saying the tours gave them a chance to get a better look at the community, Marion said.

The tours are part of a larger goal in the state. Schools in Wisconsin are now concentrating on developing what is called a Plan of Study, Marion said. A POS identifies a career path a student is interested in and then develops a course load based on the “big picture,” she said. Focusing on this type of education style will help identify gaps in curriculum to 21st century knowledge and to develop curriculums at all levels of education that are focused on rigor and relevancy to the real world, Marion said.


    Special Education Teacher at Menomonie High School Jacalyn Broughton participated in the pilot tours as well as all of the tours over the summer. As a special education teacher, Broughton said she was particularly interested in the tours to find out what type of education level and skill level is needed for students to be employed in the area and to make connections with businesses in the area.

“It’s one thing to tell (students) what (job skills) they need and another to have someone else come in and tell them,” she said.

Currently Broughton teaches a computer literature class, where students spend time on career exploration. She has been able to modify her curriculum to emphasize finding careers and writing about careers.

Tours of area businesses will continue next summer, Marion said. Any businesses or area teachers interested in participating should contact the School-to-Careers office at the Menomonie School District.

Broughton encourages all local teachers to get involved in the tours.

“It’s a way to open the perception of the community … see the difference between education and business,” she said.

Marion stressed many of the children in kindergarten today will have jobs that have not been created yet, so it is important to develop a curriculum that prepares students for 21st century jobs.

“It’s all about awareness,” she said. “As long as teachers … and business become aware of what they can do to help education, it will be a seamless transition.”