From the recent national ACTE Work-Based Learning (WBL) Conference to North Dakota school professional in-service trainings to the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce’s WBL employer event, the excitement around hands-on work experiences and student-employer connections is growing. We’re here to help all of you find the connections you seek, manage WBL and other opportunities, highlight careers and programs, and take your next steps in career exploration or workforce development.
Read this month’s newsletter for more details!
North Dakota school professional in-services build career connections
The spring North Dakota Career and Technical Education Regional Career Professional In-Service trainings across North Dakota wrapped up last week. The all-day sessions in six cities included engaging presentations, organization and university tours, and trainings related to work-based learning and Compass updates.
Open to school professionals, these free Career Resource Network in-services also provided business and industry insights, updates on career resources, and networking opportunities. The sessions were held in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, and Williston.
During the in-services, we connected with Minot State University, Williston State College, Dickinson State University, the University of North Dakota, and North Dakota State College of Science. We also heard from city leadership in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, and Grand Forks. Organization presentations included the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, FlowCore Systems, Verendrye Electric Cooperative, Job Corps, Altru Health Systems, and Braun Intertec.
There are a lot of good people doing great work across the state!
Thanks again to Laura Glasser with NDCTE for organizing, and to Dawn Ulmer with NDCTE and Kerri Kraft with the North Dakota Department of Commerce for presenting with us.
The next NDCTE training opportunity is the 2026 CTE Professional Development Conference, Aug. 3-5 in Bismarck.
ACTE conference explores work-based learning
We enjoyed seeing so many of you at the Association for Career and Technical Education’s Work-Based Learning Conference 2026 earlier this month in Providence, RI.
WBL professionals from across the country met to explore everything from how to expand access to WBL to building stronger partnerships, scaling WBL programs, and emerging trends.
We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation, including at the broader ACTE CareerTech VISION 2026 conference, Dec. 2-5 in New Orleans, LA.
ACTE Work-Based Learning Conference 2027 is scheduled for April 28-30 in Oklahoma City, OK.
FMWF Chamber’s WBL event a success
The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce hosted Insider Access: Work-based Learning – From Interest to Impact in April in Fargo.
Employers, school professionals, and workforce partners filled the room to find a shared approach and align goals around these hands-on work experiences for students. The group explored how opportunities like internships, mentorships, and job shadows can help students find their future careers and employers find their future talent.
Leadership from Fargo Public Schools, West Fargo Public Schools, and Moorhead Area Public Schools unveiled their shared goals to expand work-based learning opportunities for students across the region.
These shared WBL goals include:
- 25% of high school seniors (about 600 students per year) engaged annually in work-based learning
- 650 regional businesses actively engaged in work-based learning by July 1, 2027
- 100% of students engaged in intentional career exploration experiences by graduation
At the event, businesses and students shared their experiences with WBL, the Chamber shared how employers can get involved, and Golden Path provided best practices on how organizations can use Compass to connect with students.
Explore this FMWF Chamber page for more information about WBL and why it’s important.
Employers can create their Compass accounts in just a few minutes with the featured QR Code. Reach out to us if you have questions.
New Compass Student User Group is underway
Golden Path is creating a new Compass Student User Group to provide valuable student feedback and insight on the platform and career exploration needs. The group will include about 10 students from across the region, representing a variety of schools and communities. Students will serve as advisors, sharing their feedback on Compass to help us enhance the experience and ensure it meets students’ needs.
We are assembling the group this spring, and it will officially start meeting next fall. Students are asked to commit to the full school year of monthly electronic communications and quarterly Teams meetings.
Please contact Amanda Peterson at Golden Path if you would like to nominate a current 9th-11th grader to the group.
New School Professional Guides and Resources in Compass
School professional guides and resources are now updated in both Compass and the Professional Center in RUReady.ND.gov for North Dakota educators.
The School Professional Guides page includes Compass user guides, a Compass school rollout presentation, Managing the ND Four-Year Rolling Plan in Compass guide, How to Find Sponsorships flyer, Compass lesson plans, and more.
We are also creating a series of Quick Start Guides to make it even easier to get started in Compass. The first guide, for job shadows, is available already.
The Resources for Others page includes Compass student videos and flyers, Compass parent flyer, and templates and flyers to support employers in Compass.
All school professionals with Compass accounts have access to these guides and resources. If your school would like additional resources, please contact us.
Welcome to new employers in Compass
We welcomed several new employers into Compass during the past month, including Journey Animal Rescue in Grand Forks; Northern Plains Lab in Bismarck; Sidney (MT) Health Center; Jamestown (ND) Medical Center; OK Tire Store, Digital Plains, and Vocational Training Center, all in Fargo; the City of Moorhead; Turn North Salon & Spa in Detroit Lakes; and Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain in West Fargo.
New Career Profiles include:
- Parts Specialist with Swanston Equipment
- IT Specialist with the North Dakota Army National Guard
- Mechanic with the North Dakota Army National Guard
Golden Path presenting at Community Venture Network spring meeting
Patrick is excited to visit with Cory Hepola and the Community Venture Network (CVN) at its spring meeting on May 15.
CVN, a program of The Brookshire Company, is a group of economic developers, chambers, and service providers that focus on community building, especially in rural areas. Hepola is the chief communications and growth officer for The Brookshire Company, as well as the creator, director, and executive producer of the award-winning documentary series “My Town,” highlighting rural communities.
Golden Path will update attendees on the last two years of growth and development, as well as host an event table.
New features released in Compass
The latest Compass release includes a variety of new or improved features to help you build connections.
The updates include a new, easy employer set-up for school professionals. This new process enables school professionals to customize a QR Code or URL to send to employers they would like to work with in Compass. By scanning the code and entering basic contact information, employers can create a new Compass profile in minutes. This new feature will be especially helpful at school events and career fairs, where school professionals can invite employers to Compass to connect with their students.
Other updates include the new school professional resources and guides pages, text notifications for students, improved UX for students and employers, AI assistance for employer profiles, new fields in employer profiles, and more!
The May Compass Release Notes email went to all of our subscribers last week. Check your inbox or view the slide deck online for details.
Meetings continue with NDUS schools for Compass grant
We recently wrapped up our initial interviews with all 11 colleges in the North Dakota University System (NDUS). The university system received a grant from the Midwest Higher Education Compact (MHEC) to provide Compass access to all 11 institutions.
We focused our discussions on how each college is currently connecting its students with employer opportunities, how each college is reaching high school students about its programs to drive enrollment, and what each college would like to see in terms of data and collaboration with K-12 institutions. We’ve identified best practices to amplify, opportunities for improved collaboration, and areas of potential integrations/system changes.
We will review these findings with NDUS leadership and all college stakeholders and then invite users to their Compass accounts to build their college footprints. We’ll also determine development and/or process focus areas to work on over the summer so we’re ready to hit the ground running in the fall.
Let us know about your events
If you have an event that you want us to include in our newsletter, please send us a note at info@goldenpath.net. If you are an employer and want to publish your event to schools and students, remember that you can do that through Compass. If you’re an educator wanting to invite employers to a school event (like a career fair or expo), you can do that in Compass too, choosing the employers you invite by industry, name, career cluster, or distance from you.
Upcoming events
- May 15: Community Venture Network spring meeting, Lakeville
- May 19-21: North Dakota Petroleum Council’s Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, Bismarck
- July 26-28: South Dakota CTE Summer Conference, Brookings
- July 29-30: TEDxFargo 2026
- Aug. 3-5: North Dakota CTE Professional Development Conference, Bismarck
- Sept. 23-25: North Dakota Society for Human Resource Management (ND SHRM) State Conference, Grand Forks
- Nov. 12-13: Minnesota Career and Technical Education Summit, Minneapolis
Connect with us
Contact us for more information or more opportunities with Golden Path Solutions.