Movers and Shakers: Joe Gothard, superintendent, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District

Joe Gothard is forging partnerships with businesses and the community to bring new technology, learning environments and experiences to Burnsville High School students.

Gothard, in his fourth year of leading the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District, said the effort helps make students more "future-ready."

Burnsville High students this year received 2,700 Google Chromebooks supplied through a partnership with Best Buy Education, Gothard said. Students in the school's information technology pathway learned how to process the computers and distribute them to classmates. They also received training in tech support and customer service to help classmates solve problems with their computers at a Geek Squad desk, also staffed by a Geek Squad manager, within the school.

"The way that we're approaching traditional education in our classrooms is not very much aligned with what we've observed in the workplace," Gothard said. "We're trying to be that bridge through our pathways program," which covers a variety of career fields.

Google representatives on hand for the computer rollout returned last month for an ExploreEDU event, where students demonstrated tech tools and apps and showed off Burnsville High's new Google workspace-inspired active, flexible learning environments.

Gothard, who previously worked in the Madison, Wis., school district, has a master's degree in educational administration and a doctoral degree in K-12 educational leadership from Edgewood College.

Q: What did students gain from the ExploreEDU event?

Q: What influenced your view of students as clients?

A: If we're just focusing on our high school, each one is at a very important time in their development in terms of what their future's going to be. It's incumbent upon us as educators to make sure that we're serving them as individuals and providing them with meaningful skill development that's going to propel them into a future-ready life. The way we address that at our high school is through space, skills, relationships and support.

Q: What's the role of business and community partnerships?

A: We rely on our partnerships to build ways that our businesses and community can have regular contact with our students. That could be through an internship, job shadowing, mentoring or being an expert panelist in a classroom. This is one way that we can build a coalition, build excitement and rely on thought experts throughout our community to help us do a great job.