With books stacked sky high in the back seat and a trunk that’s bungee corded shut, many young Minnesotans hit the road last month, putt-putting to their futures. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education recently reported that 77 percent of the state’s high school graduates attended college in 2012, up from 56 percent in 1996. At …
A small rural clinic closes. A home buyer chooses to look elsewhere. A teacher can’t teach. While these situations seem unrelated and strangely paired, they all have one common denominator — broadband. Not what you expected? Here’s the skinny behind the stories: The Bigfork, Minnesota clinic, a satellite of Essentia, can’t upload patient files because …
Sometimes innovation springs from the strangest places – like a palace housing over 275,000 ears of intricately designed corn. Mitchell, South Dakota is home to the nation’s only Corn Palace and as Northern Minnesota author Aaron Brown says in his recent Daily Yonder article, While some might only know Mitchell as a tourist trap on …
Watergate. 9/11. JFK assassination. WWI. WWII. Y2K. What major events shaped the way you view the world? Chances are it depends when you were born. Similarly, the way you communicate was probably influenced by the technological advances that occurred as you were growing up. These influences, along with parenting trends, media, education, location, and general philosophy, shape …
Colorful, dancing feathered figures and the hum of ancestral melodies filled the room as Fond du Lac (FDL) students arranged themselves in such a way that they created a cornucopia of technology. Brandishing iPads, they celebrated their Ojibwe culture, together with community members, through the creation of mobile applications. Held at the end of July, …
This year, we’ve written quite a bit on the misconceptions surrounding brain drain – the outmigration of young people after high school graduation – in rural communities. Outposts guest blogger Aaron Brown recently discussed brain gain and the promise it holds for the future of healthy rural communities. He started by saying “Our future rests …
In the Midwest, 41-45 percent of people move throughout their lifetime – but it’s not just people that migrate. So does money. In fact, we know that in the next twenty years, $47.9 billion will transfer from one generation to the next in Minnesota. This could mean big things for small, rural communities. But if …
For a few years now, Blandin Foundation has been interested in the concept of brain gain and the promise it holds for the future of healthy rural communities. Recently, we were surprised when our broadband partners at Intelligent Community Forum published a book entitled Brain Gain that seemed to echo the brain gain research of …
As the Minnesota River surges south to join the Mississippi River, it dances between the bluffs of Renville and Redwood counties. Standing atop a lush emerald hill, you can see how the swirling stream of water stitches the shores together –connecting the two counties. Beyond the whooshing waters, for years the two counties remained detached, …
Ducks migrate for a reason. The Earth spins and triggers their “biological clock,” alerting them that it’s time to go. Global forces shape their movement. Though human and duck migration patterns look very different and are driven by very different forces, according to geographer Jim Russell, one conclusion can be drawn – migration is a …