Employers
Business and Community Partnerships
Working Together to Prepare Today's Learners for Tomorrow's Challenges
The Park Rapids School District realizes that strong partnerships between the school and local businesses are imperative for the success of its students, as well as for the betterment of the Park Rapids community as a whole. As a school district, we take pride in being a part of the community! Each year, hundreds of people volunteer in Park Rapids Area Schools. Many of our students job-shadow, volunteer, and learn from the experts in our area. We want to increase the partnerships we are building with businesses in our community - and our goal is to create partnerships that are mutually beneficial.
We hope you'll join us in this effort!
To get involved with Panther Tracks, please complete the Employer Partnership Application and feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We can't wait to get you involved in our Pathways!
Partnership Opportunities
As a business owner, career professional, community leader, volunteer, parent or student, there are many ways you can get involved with our school district and Panther Tracks program, in high school, working or retire. Guest instructors provide their expertise on topics aligned to the high school curriculum. Teachers use an approach to learning that enables students to master academic core content as well as provide hands-on learning opportunities to prepare students for real-world challenges. Students can go on job shadows or partake in a local apprenticeship to explore careers and gain work experience.
Project Sponsor: A provided 8-10 week project with real deliverables for students to solve problems related to your organization.
Career Speaker: A career professional who visits our school to speak with/to students about their career and/or business.
Guest Instructor: A career professional who works with a teacher to plan and deliver a lesson or provide opportunities for students to earn career certificates.
Field Trips/Site Visits: Students accompanied by staff to a local business or organization.
Job Shadowing: A student spends a few hours or a few days accompanying an employee or multiple employees in the performance of their daily duties.
Job/Work Sampling: Volunteer work by a student that allows the student to spend meaningful time in a work environment to learn basic work readiness skills along with the "soft skills" required for success in the workplace. Short-term, unpaid, supervised by District Staff.
Internships/Apprenticeships: Formal agreements where students are assigned specific tasks in a workplace over a predetermined period of time. Paid or unpaid. Tasks mutually agreed upon by company and student.
Paid Employment: Student is hired as a paid employee. Informal support from District Business Internship Program Teacher as needed.
Mentorship: Group mentoring is a mentor who works with a group of mentee. E-Mentoring is a mentor who mentors a student through email or virtually. Professional Mentoring is a mentor who works one-on-one with a student with regard to their field of interest and develops a career relationship. Project Mentor is a mentor who works with a group of students to assist with a project.
Fairs: Participate in career, college, or apprenticeship fairs hosted at the school for students.
Experiential Learning Donation: Donate supplies or items for classrooms or labs to help with exploration and skill development.