Fergus Falls students earn college credit through intercultural learning program

Mindy Christianson’s Intercultural Communication students did more than sit in a classroom: they walked into Fargo, listened to multilingual learners and refugees, and practiced the kind of communication employers ask for in real workplaces. The Fergus Falls High School and M State class earned college credit while building skills that have now drawn national attention.

NEA Today featured the class in its May 2026 issue, giving a west-central Minnesota program a national stage before the National Education Association’s more than 3 million members. For Fergus Falls Public Schools, the spotlight carries weight because the district serves about 2,500 students in pre-K through 12th grade and is trying to show families that local coursework can lead directly to college and career pathways.

The class is offered in conjunction with M State, also known as Minnesota State Community and Technical College, so students earn high school and college credit at the same time. M State says its Fergus Falls campus has offered academic programs for more than 60 years, and its concurrent enrollment program in Fergus Falls began in 1985, the same year Minnesota statute established concurrent enrollment statewide.

The yearly field trip that anchors the course took students to the Fargo Adult Learning Center on Oct. 22, 2025, where they observed five levels of English Language Learning classes and spoke with adult students. Fargo Public Schools said the Adult Learning Center has partnered with Fergus Falls High School on the program since 2014, and many of its learners are multilingual, recent immigrants, new Americans or refugees. Students also learned about refugee resettlement and asked adults about their home countries and the experience of moving to the United States.

The day extended beyond one classroom. Students visited Tee’s Tacos, an Indigenous restaurant, stopped at the Plains Art Museum’s Indigenous art exhibit and shopped at three international grocery stores. Together, those stops gave the class a practical look at language, culture and community, while reinforcing the kind of workplace communication that can shape a student’s next steps at M State, in Otter Tail County, or far beyond Fergus Falls.