August 24, 2001

FAIR AND COLLEGE OFFER FUN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

Students don’t always have to learn in a formal classroom setting and Iowa Lakes Community College and the Clay County Fair are out to prove that theory.

In a unique one-of-its-kind program, the college and fair are teaming up to offer college credit during the 2001 Clay County Fair.  This will be the fourth year for the joint effort which is believed to be the only one in the world.

“This is education for all walks of life,” said Don McKinney, career consultant for Iowa Lakes.  “These classes will be valuable for anyone who wants to enhance their educational skills – whether it’s business or just pure enjoyment.”

The college and fair have been working together since 1998 on educational ideas to enhance the fair.

“The Clay County Fair is the perfect place to see education in action,” said McKinney.  “Companies bring their state-of-the-art equipment, best personnel and newest technology to the fair – and that’s hard to duplicate in the classroom.”

Iowa Lakes is offering courses in Web Page Design and Geographic Information Systems – in two blocks of “Fast Track” education.  For every four “blocks” of Fast Track classes, a person can receive one semester hour of credit.  Students can take courses from previous fair Fast Track courses and combine them for their college credit.

“Getting educated has never been so much fun,” said Phil Hurst, Clay County Fair Manager.  “Partnering with Iowa Lakes creates an excellent relationship for our institution.  I know of no other fair offering a program such as this, but predict many will imitate it in the future.”

This year, the college and fair are working on a new class for fair board members and managers of county and state fairs.  Participants in this class will learn how to select fair entertainment to include carnival, roaming and musical groups.  The course will also include other methods to attract attendees such as the Clay County Fair’s Ag-Citing field trips for grade school students and other educational opportunities such as fair surveys and fair classes.  This class will be on Thursday, Sept. 13^th and is being offered for non-credit only.

The Geographic Information Systems course will also be offered on Sept. 13^th.  The course will provide introductory information on this new method which uses satellites to determine location, land structure, wetlands and a variety of other infrastructure management information.  GIS is a great enhancement of current surveying methods.  The course number for GIS is 35406N.

The Web Page Design class will be held the following day, Friday, Sept. 14^th.  This course allows participants to spend time at the fair taking photographs to be used on a web page which each individual will design.  The Web Design course number is 35407N.

 The classes are designed so that students begin their sessions at the Iowa Lakes Clay County Center in Spencer (which includes not only teaching facilities but a state-of- the-art computer center) and then proceed to the fairgrounds for additional “outdoor classroom” experiences.  All participants will be given a free pass to the Clay County Fair and will be provided transportation from the Clay County Center of Iowa Lakes to the Fair.

For more information or to register for the course, please call 1-800-252-5664.