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Wayfinder. Looking through a row of 3D printers

The Wayfinder Blog

We are a district of trailblazers. The Trailblazer is the first to break ground on their quest for discovery. Innovative and driven, the Trailblazer blazes new pathways to explore and learns from the world around them. The Wayfinder Blog is your trail map. It contains stories, features and resources about how we enable our students to blaze their own trails.

Featured Stories

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bhs alum elizabeth mccormick with her diploma at the university of minnesota
  • Pathways & Partnerships

For Elizabeth McCormick, an assignment in ninth grade English class got her worried and sparked a passion for finding who she was and what she wanted to be. As part of an autobiography writing exercise, students were asked to write about their passion. Instead of having an easy answer, Elizabeth started thinking about what her passion was or what it could be. This quest for self discovery led her down a path of trying new things, organizing and finding another way. 

Read More about Elizabeth’s Journey into Accounting and Project Management

Wayfinder Mag

The new Wayfinder Magazine is sent to district families twice yearly and available online. Read the latest issue

First page of the PDF file: WayfinderIssue3Final-web
teacher working with a student on a project

Sparking curiosity and wonder in each student.” That’s the driving force behind Pathways at the elementary level in District 191. It’s not about having young learners pick their future career, it’s about allowing students to discover a world of possibilities through rich learning experiences. Opportunities for this type of interaction are found throughout the school day, and one example is the district’s specialists coming together to provide amazing experiences for every student. 

Read More about Elementary specialists strengthening Pathways with Spark experiences
davin alt and a classmate sit in a helicopter

The classes Davin took often provided hands-on learning experiences, but most importantly, he was able to earn important certifications that would be instrumental to his future. During hybrid learning his junior year, he started the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program with remote days focusing on theory and concepts and in-person days being focused on building skills and real-life applications like helping patients with daily activities and being a patient liaison.

Read More about Davin’s hands-on journey into healthcare
two middle school students working on a computer together

Students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades are excited to try new things, begin to explore what is important to them and dive deep into subjects. Exploratory classes at Eagle Ridge and Nicollet middle schools allow students to do just that in areas like family and consumer sciences, art, health, computer technology, and Project Lead the Way engineering.

Read More about Hands-on approach to science and engineering is part of Pathways model at One91 middle schools
Four male elementary students practice playing their instruments

Those are just two of the many instruments students get the chance to play over the course of the year in Instrumental Music. The program, which started in the 2020-21 school year, gives each fifth-grader the opportunity to take 3-4 small-group lessons with instruments from each of the four orchestra instrument families - strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. 

Read More about Innovative approach puts instruments in hands of every One91 fifth-grader
District 191 teacher Julie West sits at a table with a sewing machine

Whether it was teaching swim lessons out of her parents’ backyard pool as a teenager, participating in beauty pageants in high school, running a sewing school for young children as a stay-at-home mom, managing home-based businesses, supervising student teachers, doing preschool screenings or teaching students how to cook, she explored opportunities where she could thrive as an educator, entrepreneur and artist. All these experiences have helped shape her into the innovator that she truly is.

Read More about A passion for sewing places BHS alum at the forefront of a future fashion pathway for students