Rihm Partners with TriDistrict CAPS

The TriDistrict Career and College Readiness Initiative is a unique partnership between the school districts of South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, and West. St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan. This partnership is a collaborative effort to guarantee that all students of South St. Paul Secondary School, Simley High School, and Two Rivers High School graduate with a plan for their “next step” and the skills, knowledge, attributes, and attitudes to be successful, wherever their chosen pathway takes them.

It is critical for students to have a wide array of Career and College Readiness experiences, exposures, and explorations. To support the program's goals, TriDistrict schools team up with community and business partners to develop unique and immersive learning experiences for TriDistrict juniors and seniors. 

Rihm Family Companies is one of these partners, as we try to support the TriDistrict CAPS program in any way we can from inviting students to our dealerships to hiring high school interns from the program to work with us. Rihm was recently mentioned in the program's newsletter titled, "The Triangle." Continue reading to learn how CAPs and Rihm have been partnering together lately, or how your company can get involved as well.

Students Visit Rihm Kenworth 

TriDistrict CAPS Business & Entrepreneurship and Transportation & Skilled Trades programs combined forces to visit long-time partner Rihm Kenworth in South St. Paul last month.  A local, regional, national, and international presence, Rihm Family Companies welcomed our programs.  This allowed students to learn, explore, and engage with a diverse organization that showed students a wide range of career opportunities in business, computer science/IT, logistics, and technical roles. 

Who is  Supporting TriDistrict CAPS Programs?  

The support of our TriDistrict CAPS programs is substantial.   With a broad network of local and regional partners, our students have unrivaled access to the leaders within the industries our programs focus on.  TriDistrict CAPS partners engage with us how, when, and where they can.  Some are guest speakers, others serve as mentors, and others host our field trips.  Some even host our programs and  become employers of our CAPS Associates.  Whatever the bandwidth of your organization (and some work with us to expand their bandwidth!) there is a space and place to engage with our programs.  Below are current TriDistrict CAPS partners.  See what they have to say about their involvment with us: 

Rihm Kenworth/Rihm Family Companies - South St. Paul

We support TriDistrict CAPS because:

It is a unique opportunity to both invest in the next generation and welcome new perspectives into our business. Students bring fresh ideas to our marketing department that help us stay adaptable.

My advice to other businesses considering TriDistrict CAPS is......

Talk to Ben about the commitment, talk to others who are participating in the program and find out first-hand how a small amount of time committed to this program can pay large dividends to your company and the young people participating in the program.

How Can My Company Support TriDistrict CAPS?

TriDistrict CAPS, like the more than 120 programs in our global network of programs, is at its core a Profession-Based Learning Program.  As such, our programs in Business & Entrepreneurship, Computer Science/Information Technology, Healthcare, and Transportation & Skilled Trades seek increasingly immersive and authentic experiences with local, regional, and national partners.  Our 60+ partners support our programs in a variety of ways.  Curious about how you or your organization can engage with us?
Below are some examples:

Host an Intern!

We are actively recruiting partners to host our TriDistrict CAPS Student Interns.  Starting early February 2025, students work with our partners in a 120+ hour internship through the end of May.  

Interested in learning more?  Our partners at the Dakota County Regional  and River Heights Chambers of Commerce are hosting a Internship Host Site Informational Meeting on Thursday, November 14th from Noon-1pm.  Contact Ben Kusch at bkusch@tridistrictce.org for more information and to attend.  

Host a Site Visit/Field Trip!

Part of preparing for a future job or career is also preparing for that professional environment.  What does a typical workplace in  Transportation/Trades look like?  What does “business casual” look like in an office?  In a healthcare setting?  What has changed since COVID, and how has that impacted the work environment?  Students are eager to see first-hand what it means to be a professional in a given industry, and what they can expect in the future.

Be A Guest Speaker!

Our students are curious about your industries and companies, and the professionals in these spaces! 

All of our programs have weekly guest speakers.  In these 45- minute “career profiles,” our presenters share their professional story--where they are, how they got there, and even what they were thinking as a high school junior or senior.

Guests are also asked to highlight the other jobs/careers in their profession, and to share information and insights about these positions, and their differing levels of education.

Is your organization interested in getting involved with our programs?  Curious how you can support TriDistrict CAPS?  Contact Ben Kusch at bkusch@tridistrictce.org.