Five days after an F2 tornado tore through the city of La Crosse’s south side, first-year students in Southeast Technical’s radiography program and instructor Robert Raasch partnered with Catholic Charities to help an apartment resident clean and vacate her unit, which was damaged by the storm. Damage from the tornado was severe enough that many buildings in the city were deemed unsafe; some were even torn down.

The group viewed their work as an extension of the Southeast Technical mission, which emphasizes not only providing high-quality instruction in the classroom, but also expanding classroom boundaries to real-world learning environments. “Even though this service had nothing to do with the technical aspects of radiography, we all still learned some very important life lessons. We can and do make a difference,” Raasch reflected.