University of Minnesota was a home run!

The second half of Tuesday was just as fun as the first.  After we took a tour of sharing and caring hands, we headed towards the North side of the city to go to Urban Research and Outreach engagement Center (UROC).  There, we met with Wokie Freeman who is the Assistant Director of Operations and Programs of the facility.  In the facility we utilized one of the multiple modern conference rooms to talk about the services and programs that UROC offers.  We also learned more about the demographic of the community, the types of research UROC conducts, and how they are trying to build a trusting relationship with the community members.  Wokie explained that at first the community was resistant because they perceived “research” with a negative connotation.  However, with UROC opening up its doors to the community members by offering things as simple a conference room or as complex as a computer class, trust began to and is still growing within the community.  After we discussed the different types of programs that the center offers, we began our tour of the facility.  There were multiple conference rooms, as mentioned before, but some were smaller and some were much larger.  The building also had an open design, which was created by the community to promote the university being transparent and open with the community.  After completing our tour we looked at some of the artwork that was done by youth in the community and then said our goodbyes.

Once we were back in the cars, we headed to the University of Minnesota to meet with Dr. Sandra Christenson.  Sandra is a professor in educational psychology and was kind enough to take time out of her busy day to talk to us about her research and experiences with drop-out rates and urban education.  She is the project director for a program called Check & Connect which focuses on improving drop-out rate by providing supports for “at risk” students.  A big part of the program is the students working with mentors.  The mentor program works in cooperation with the classroom teacher and the families of the students in order to improve their success and intrinsic motivation for school completion.  The program can be used K-12^th grade and even in some community college settings.  So far the experimental results have been promising and we are all looking forward to reading through the new 3^rd edition of the Check & Connect manual when it is available.  After our meeting we walked around campus for a little bit and were able to snap a few pictures. 

Soon enough we were back in the car and headed to a suburb to meet with Rachna who graciously invited us into her home and prepared a delicious traditional Indian meal for us.  Rachna is a professor at the University of Minnesota in business and provided us some nice insights into the area, her research, and just some fun conversation!  We had lentils, naan (bread), some yummy rice with vegetables, and daal which is a kind of soup.  We had a great time chatting and left with full bellies to head back to the city.

Although the weather was questionable, we were lucky enough to be heading for the Metrodome which is covered stadium, so no rain delays!  We went to see a University of Minnesota versus North Dakota State baseball game.  Not too far into the game we realized that none of us were huge baseball fans but we still had tons of fun talking and getting some U of M posters.  After the game we were all pretty tired and we headed back to the hotel where we all quickly turned in for the night.  The day was exciting and educational and we couldn't have asked for more!

-PW