Nearly 900 sophomores from 13 regional high schools took another step forward in exploring their futures Friday at Ridgewater College’s Hutchinson campus.
The third annual Ignite Your Future event included 60 industry and agency partners from the region collaborating with Ridgewater faculty and staff to provide 80-plus hands-on activities for students to explore. Examples included several simulators and virtual reality experiences in transportation, construction, manufacturing and health care. Some of the new activities this year included remote control construction vehicles, a meat-cutting mobile lab where students stuffed sausage casings, artificial intelligence graphics and text experiences, pottery, and much more.
Students from Litchfield, ACGC, Eden Valley-Watkins and Kimball high schools were among those who participated from around the region.
“The excitement and energy was exactly what we hoped for,” said Mary Hodson, Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce president and one of many Ignite Your Future event planners.
The Chamber Serving the Meeker County Area director Judy Hulterstrum and events and communications manager Janaye Prieve assisted at the event, helping with agriculture-related businesses.
“With all the work put into this event by businesses, volunteers and staff, the reward is seeing young people explore the possibilities of their future,” Hodson said. “Many adults tell us they wish they had had the opportunity to explore careers and workforce options this way when they were in high school. This is truly workforce building in action.”
Some of the returning popular activities included welding or drafting a souvenir; emergency services exploration of gear and equipment; high-tech nursing, agriculture and veterinary science.
“Every year the schools get more excited about attending, and our partners take their activities to the next level for the students,” said Janet Meier of Ridgewater College, one of the many Ignite planners.
This year’s sponsors included the Southwest Initiative Foundation, Hutchinson Health, Towmaster, Uponor, SouthPoint Financial Credit Union and Meeker Development Corp.
