Case Study: Northern Cass School District

The Challenge

Northern Cass Public Schools is a rural school district in North Dakota consisting of around 700 students enrolled in elementary through high school. As with all schools, they are tasked with preparing learners to be productive members of society by either attending college, starting a career, or joining the military. Due to being 25 miles outside of the nearest metro, the district has a lack of access to expose students to career exploration opportunities. Some of Northern Cass’ barriers included time, finances, safety, and most notably—distance.

Why CareerViewXR?

Northern Cass is an innovative school district that is in a period of transformation to personalized, competency-based learning. They were looking for new ways to use technology and get learners engaged and interested in career exploration content. They chose CareerViewXR because its content is compatible with various VR headsets and features in-demand careers in skilled trades, healthcare, manufacturing, and more.

Immediate Impact

Northern Cass School District initially invested in CareerViewXR access and four VR headsets for use across high school, middle school, and elementary levels in 2022. One headset was placed in the media center for learners to use at their convenience. CareerViewXR opened doors for their students, allowing them to see careers first-hand despite the physical work environments not being nearby. Students were able to gain a deeper understanding of various career opportunities. Subsequently, this made it easier for them to do further research and connect with real professionals in the region.

“It was surreal, thinking I could just witness a day-in-the-life of my possible future career. I wish I had more experience with it, or had access to it earlier, because knowing for sure what kind of things I'd do in so many different careers would help me figure out what I wanted to do so much quicker."

Results & Future Plans

Overall, Northern Cass students’ feedback on CareerViewXR has been overwhelmingly positive. A sample of students from a study hall at Northern Cass reported:

• 67% said they explored a career that they hadn’t considered prior to using CVXR

• 89% said they would take the next steps to learn more about what is needed to have the career they explored in CVXR

• 100% said CVXR helped them to narrow down their career choices

Due to the significant impact the platform has had on learners, the district invested in additional VR headsets for use around the school. Mackenzie Tadych, Director of College, Career, and Life Readiness uses the platform as a tool to help learners be choice ready as they approach graduation. We are proud to share that Northern Cass School District continues to be a subscriber as well as a cheerleader for CareerViewXR and its growing content library.

“The virtual experiences have opened learners' eyes to careers they did not know existed as well as created interest and a deeper understanding of career opportunities.”