E57-Learning Omnivores Conference + MASA

NewTech High Blog
October 10, 2026

Good morning. I have some loose ends to tie up from recent NewTech High activity. This past month has likely been the busiest month we have had in our short existence. This school year shows the growth we have made on this initiative in the past year. Thank all of you for reading, discussing, acting and promoting innovations at the high school level in Minnesota through NTH. 

The Learning Omnivores Conference (link)

All NewTech High schools are reminded of an opportunity to bring four leaders each to the Learning Omnivores Conference at Resource Training & Solutions on October 30, 2026. We will begin at 8:30am and conclude at 3:30pm. There is a continental breakfast sponsored by the Central Minnesota Manufacturing Association (CMMA), as well as a lunch served on-site. It is also being sponsored and promoted by Learning Omnivores and NewTech High. 

Our Headliners: 

Stevie Ray, Improv -- "Own Your Space"

Luke Greiner, MN DEED w/ Dr. Jeff Howison, State Demographer -- "Economic and Demographic Trends in Minnesota" 

Ric Dressen CEO & Jake Trippel, Quantum Bridge Solutions -- "Creating AI Advantages Amid Technological Disruption" 

Jerrid Sebesta, "Being a High Performance Professional"

This conference will close with 120 enrollees. All fees are now within the conference fee. There will be a continental breakfast and coffee in the morning, and lunch served on site as part of the conference fee. 
  • NewTech High registrations should type in a code of NEWTECH to get free admission. 
  • Those enrolling as a District team can type in a code TEAM to get 25% off the regular price. 
  • Those who will watch the conference virtually can type in the code VIRTUAL to get 25% off the regular price. 

NewTech High MASA Presentation September 29

Our team presented at the annual MASA Conference in Brainerd on Tuesday, September 29. We had a good audience there as we spoke of the massive changes that are occurring in the junior and senior year in Minnesota public schools. 


One of the slides in this presentation was labeled "The 50 Year Disruption of the 11th and 12th Grade in Minnesota". This interactive apple graphic is located on your left. Keep clicking on the graphic to see how many bites have been taken out of that enrollment apple in the last fifty years. 

Our organizational position has changed this year. Instead of thinking that the conditions are ripe for mass disruption in the future because of artificial intelligence, we have changed our thinking on that topic. We now feel that we are at the back end of the disruptive innovation, not the front side of it. If there is any common thread to NewTech High, the MASA presentation and the Learning Omnivores conference, it is exactly this point. We have an urgent need to change what we do at the high school level. We have been waiting around for a long while, perhaps akin to "the frog in boiling water" idea. The changes to the 11th and 12th grade year have been happening regularly and slowly enough, with only moderate feeling and affect to any of them, for a long time. Only when you look from the beginning (1976) to the current (2026) can you sense the full effect of the disruptiveness. We believe the ideas of NewTech High are the types of ideas that serve as an antidote to past problems with design, delivery and execution, as well as a formula for the next generation of high schools. 

Blogs and Podcasts

Part of the art of this work is getting the word out there. We are now past 50 episodes of blogs and podcasts. I am happy to report that many of our podcasts are now on Spotify (just type in NewTech) and we are also working on moving them to YouTube and Apple Podcasts once we get all of our current podcasts into Spotify. Our searchable words are NewTech and the name of the guest or school district. 

Network Update (current)

Last year, we ended at six schools. This year, we are up to 19 schools working within the NewTech High network. We have another 4-5 "on the line" so to speak. We will not be adding any pilot schools after October 31, but could be adding some Gold Schools, and group partnerships along the way. 

Gold Schools -- Rocori, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (BBE), Hutchinson, Open World Learning (OWL), Paladin Career & Technical, Luverne and Pipestone

Silver (ongoing) Schools -- Spring Grove, Brandon-Evansville, Ortonville, Dawson-Boyd and Renville County West

Bronze (Pilot) -- Buffalo Lake-Hector, Mabel-Canton, Hiawatha Valley (HVED), Minnesota River Valley (MRVED), Komensky School, Wabasha-Kellogg (W-K), Plainview-Elgin-Millville (PEM)


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