CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Next time you visit the welcome center at the Marion Chamber you’ll notice a fresh new look. It’s thanks to the help of Linn-Mar high school students.
The space was reimagined by students in the Venture Academics program which does project based learning by working with community partners.
“What they’re learning is not dry textbook it’s coming to life, they’re talking to people that work in these fields,” said Elyssa McDowell, Venture Academics Strategic Partnership Coordinator at Linn-Mar.
And that includes the Marion Chamber.
“We really wanted to breathe new life into the space. And we were really interested in not only how the students might rethink the space but also what types of products they might be interested in as well,” Jill Ackerman said, President of the Marion Chamber.
To get started students visited the old space for the welcome center.
“We got to come here, we got to see the old layout, we got to meet the people who work here, and we got to make some suggestions and they took our advice and it is a significant improvement,” said Rory DeSotel, a Linn-Mar student.
Students have been able to see their ideas come to fruition.
“They really did take a lot of our ideas and like actually utilize them and so that’s really cool to see,” said Sydney Ward, a student at Linn-Mar.
That includes the addition of a coffee cart.
“It could be something like small and easy to do just to make like a small change, make it more accessible, more modern,” said Emily Brandt who recently graduated from Linn-Mar.
Students earned school credit while gaining skills.
“Definitely perseverance because there was definitely obstacles that came along like things we couldn’t do that we had ideas for,” said Ella Kline, who just graduated from Linn-Mar.
Each of the students took part in Corey Brinkmeyer’s class.
“It’s awesome. The ability to work with community partners like this in the Venture program is fantastic and then for us to see it all the way through,” Brinkmeyer said.
The welcome center is something the community can enjoy and those who took part in creating it can be proud.
“It feels so special that like I did have a voice in this and it’s like everyone in the community and outside the community is going to see this. Even if they don’t know I had a voice in it, I still know it,” said Ward.
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