This is a guest post from Neil Andruschak, Digital Convergence Specialist at Little Falls Community Schools. Read more reports from past mini grant recipients on our page.

A group of Central Minnesota educators (MidMN EDU) put together the 3rd annual Student Powered Conference – A MidMN EDU Event on the morning of February 7th at the Sartell Community Center.

Maddie, a Sauk Rapids-Rice High School senior, gave the opening keynote presentation. She talked about her experiences with engineering and how those experiences were powerful and have shaped the way she approaches many things. The bananas made a surprisingly good piano keyboard! Maddie did a fantastic job.

Following the keynote, there were 3 breakout sessions (with 2 rooms and poster sessions in the gym) for students to choose from. All main and poster sessions were led by student presenters. Based on feedback from the first two years, we put a bigger emphasis on poster sessions (think Science Fair but any subject/content/sharing was welcome).

We had student teams sharing about their robotics endeavors, individual students playing musical instruments, a group of students shared their experiences in school sports, and much more. The rooms and gym were busy with students sharing, leading and answering questions all morning long. It is amazing to watch students in grades 4-12 leading and learning from each other.

The first 3 years of the Student Powered Conference were a great success. Feedback has been 100% positive with over 95% of students stating that they would come back the following year. 

The requested grant funds covered Little Falls Community Schools transportation. We brought 50 people to the conference! Thank you for supporting unique, personalized learning opportunities for Central Minnesota students!