Coal Country students visit GRE
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
Over 80 local high school students traveled to area coal facilities last week to learn about the lignite industry, technology and working as a team.
At least 85 area students and nine from Washburn took a trip to Coal Creek Station and Falkirk Mine last Tuesday for an educational tour and various presentations. Washburn Public School Superintendent Brad Rinas said the students started their day a Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station, taking in presentations focused on working as a group.
“We learned about how a team is put together to handle a problem that comes up or how to carry out planned maintenance,” Rinas said. “The True Colors Personality test helped students understand how different personalities have different strengths and different challenges, and there are ways to structure teams to make the best use of everyone’s personality.”
A tour of the plant further demonstrated how individuals with various backgrounds and skills come together as a unit, Rinas said.
After lunch, students traveled to Falkirk Mine for a presentation on servant leadership before breaking into groups covering two different technology demonstrations.
“One was the Pegasus program, which uses very accurate GPS and electronic sensors to provide real-time monitoring of the operation of the draglines,” Rinas said.
