Employees partner with BestPrep for eMentor program

Employees in Bloomington (top photo) and Marshall,
 Minnesota, volunteered for an eight-week e-mentoring
program through BestPrep. Each employee was paired with a
high-school student, where they worked with them
on business and career-development questions.

May 31, 2018 — For the third-consecutive year, our teams in Marshall and Bloomington, Minnesota, volunteered for BestPrep’s eMentor program. This year, our team in Bloomington mentored business-class students from Totino-Grace High School in the Twin Cities metro. And, our Marshall team mentored students in a “Kids, Cash and Credit” class from Worthington High School.

The eMentor program was coordinated through BestPrep, which is a non-profit organization located in Minnesota. The organization’s mission is to prepare students with business, career and financial literacy skills through hands-on experiences that inspire success in work and life.

Throughout the program, students would email weekly questions to our team members asking about a variety of topics, including career experience, choosing your attitude, networking, how to ask for help, teamwork, marketing and leadership roles.

Midway through the eight-week program, the students visited our offices in Bloomington and Marshall for special meet-and-greet sessions where the mentor and mentee could meet face-to-face. Students enjoyed a lunch that featured Schwan’s products.

Some of the comments from participating students included:

• “I learned that being professional is a key skill to have, but it isn’t everything. You also have to be friendly, comfortable and knowledgeable in order to sound professional.”
• “I have learned lots of things from this experience. I am grateful for this because it has helped me daily. Communicating with people is really important and that’s one of the things I have learned.”
• “I learned how to invest, what to expect in a workplace, how to maintain a job and more.”