S-O Discount Deals holding Food Drive for the Red Wing Pantry

Great news, Red Wing -- there's a new store in town!

Shawn Chaska and his fiancée Oksana have opened a new discount store in Red Wing called S-O Discount Deals at 1890 Old West Main. To help get the word out about all the great deals the store has, they are hosting a drive to help stock up the college's Food Pantry throughout the month of February.

S-O Discount Deals has a very wide variety of items including clothes, housewares, food, appliances, baby items, cleaning supplies, and more. "The best part is, that most of their items are 40-60% off retail value, which makes them great items to donate without breaking the bank," said Kimberly McVay, a Basic Needs Outreach Specialist at the college.

Until the end of February, Shawn will be donating a chance to win store credit when people give to the MSC Southeast Pantry. Donors will get a chance win $10-$30 worth of store credit. 2 items equals one chance, 4 items equals 2 chances.  He is offering up to $100 in store credit total. 

"Shawn has also created a table with item ideas for people to donate and someone already bought the whole table to donate to us!" said Kimberly. "The generosity I have seen these last few months has been so amazing and so heartwarming."  

All of the items on this table were purchased by a donor and donated to the MSC Southeast Pantry.

Bike program helps adapt recumbent bike for injured cyclist

When Red Wing resident Tristan English realized that his recumbent bike needed a highly specialized modification, he thought of MSC Southeast's Bicycle Design and Fabrication program. Tristan had been an avid cyclist biking thousands of miles a year, but following an injury, he had to switch to a recumbent bicycle.

Due to the injury, he was having trouble getting the recumbent bike moving from a standing stop. "Like a skateboard, I do a push off to get it rolling. But this bike was too low for me to get it moving,” he explained.

He needed the seat raised a few inches, which was quite a problem since the seat is mounted on a track that allows it to be moved forward and backwards along the bike frame. (It's not like a conventional bike seat on a post that can be moved up and down easily.)

Welding instructor Mike Ford and his bike students tackled the issue by disassembling the seat support system, templating four pieces of metal to expand the vertical rise, expertly welding them into position, and repainting the parts to match. 

Mike Ford said, "No matter what we’re building, it has to be structurally sound, it has to be functional, and and it has to be right aesthetically."

On February 8, Tristan came back to pick up the bike and was thrilled with the result. Reider Litz, one of the program’s students, took time to set up the precise location of the seat. He also adjusted the bike’s pedals and Tristan’s bike shoes so that he could clip in more easily. Tristan took a test ride around the parking lot despite the February ice and snow and it looks like he'll be ready to hit the road this spring!

Watch a video of Tristan's test ride on Facebook

This cardboard template shows one of the four pieces of metal that were designed to fit the existing structure. 

This photo shows the finished work, after the metal pieces were welded into position and painted.  

MSC Southeast honored with Winona Area Chamber of Commerce 2021 Innovation Award

Minnesota State College Southeast was honored by the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce with the 2021 Innovation Award at its Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony on January 28, 2022. The award recognized the most innovative ways that business have adapted to the new challenges, new opportunities, and new ways of working brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Innovation Award is sponsored and selected by Watlow. The school won the award for "finding innovative ways to service the rapidly changing needs of their students and business partners and for developing new courses and new machinery to assist with those changing needs."

"The Innovation Award is a testament to all the hard work put in by the faculty and staff at MSC Southeast to be more flexible for our students as a result of the pandemic," said President Marsha Danielson in accepting the award.

Minnesota State College Southeast has been responsive to the changes in business and industry by continually developing training and learning opportunities. For example, in the last two years the college has launched partnerships with area businesses to offer training in mechatronics. A new certificate in electronics is now available for high school students. Additional investments in the college over the last year have increased the college's potential to offer state-of-the-art learning in updated shops and labs. 

The Admissions staff has developed new recruiting processes, such as offering virtual open houses, admissions meetings, and financial aid information sessions via Zoom. These practices have proven so effective that they will be continued going forward, regardless of the status of the pandemic. Simulations developed by instructors and an enhanced online presence have offered greater flexibility for all students, including hy-flex class delivery where students can attend virtually or in the classroom. 

"We've grown into a comprehensive community and technical college that really supports students across the Southeast area and is vitally connected to the workforce in our area," said Chad Dull, Vice President of Student Success, in a video that was produced especially for the Chamber banquet. "There is a sense of community here. People believe in one another, people support one another, and there is a lot of energy around making it a very vital, special place." 

Watch the video produced by Mallard Productions, Winona