FAIRMONT - Starting next week through early May, local business and community members have a unique opportunity to see what it is really like inside classrooms today.
Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, has chosen Fairmont Area Schools as a site for a pilot project called K-12 Business Connection.
The project brings members of the community into classrooms as guest educators. The volunteers actually participate in whatever the students are doing, be it learning new material, preparing for a spring concert, or studying for tests. The classroom teacher is present the entire time.
"This is not a red carpet tour," said Bob Millette, president of Education Minnesota Fairmont and second-grade teacher at William Budd Elementary. "This is not a tour of the building."
Millette said the program is intended to show residents not connected to the schools what is happening inside classrooms.
"We want people to have a better understanding," he said. "People drive by and see kids go in the building and then go about their day. ... We want the community to know the triumphs and challenges we go through every day."
Fairmont was 1 of 17 districts in the state - out of 400 - chosen to participate in the program, which Millette sees as an accomplishment in itself. Education Minnesota aims to see businesspeople participate in the schools regularly as the connection builds momentum.
Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce president Bob Wallace said he agreed to help Education Minnesota Fairmont with the project, but emphasized the volunteer doesn't need to be a business person.
"I would like to see members from all walks of the community participate," he said.
Volunteers are invited to spend the entire day in the classroom of 1 of 10 teachers, taking part in exactly what that person would be teaching his or her class if there was no volunteer there.
Cooperating educators and guest educators will meet prior to the day the volunteer chooses to participate to go over the lesson and classroom rules.
Wallace said the volunteer can choose which of the 10 classroom he or she would like to visit. Everything from preschoolers to high school calculus is represented.
"This is a real, roll-up-your-sleeves day," Millette wrote in a letter about the program, "where business people will work side-by-side with students and educators in our schools."
Millette cautioned that the program, while it does allow the public an intimate look into the running of the schools, has nothing to do with the upcoming referendum. It was supposed to take place during the fall, but snow days pushed back the event until now.
The program is looking for people interested in spending the day in the life of a teacher during the week of April 26 to May 7. For questions, or to enroll in the program, call Wallace at (507) 235-5547.