OSKALOOSA, Iowa – When students walk into the Oskaloosa Hub’s new downtown location this fall, they will not be stepping into a traditional classroom. They will step into collaborative workspaces and a business environment designed to mirror the professional world they are preparing to enter.

After months of searching for the right space, Oskaloosa Schools has secured a new home for The Hub at The Office (108 1st Avenue East) on the downtown square, a move that school leaders, staff, and students believe will expand opportunities and strengthen connections between students and the community.

“We wanted to be downtown. We wanted to be in the business district,” said Jeff Kirby, principal at Oskaloosa High School. “We wanted to help build a culture around business that students walking into this environment felt like they were in a business environment, and learn important workplace skills like building relationships, teamwork, and listening to understand. Being centrally located allows us to provide even more empowerment and inspiration to our students.”

The Hub program has been a three-year journey that was launched to give students authentic, project-based experiences connected to local businesses and community partners. This year’s pilot program operated out of shared space at MidWestOne Bank, where students collaborated on branding, marketing, and business projects while building professional skills. But as the program grew, so did the need for a space built around The Hub’s long-term vision.

Carrie Bihn, Hub facilitator, said students and Hub leadership toured multiple locations before finding one that fit both the program’s practical needs and future ambitions.

“We are incredibly excited to have a place that will be our own,” Bihn said. “We can set our own hours and come in after hours, or come in before school or after school, whatever we need to do to work on a project.”

The new location offers several advantages beyond simply having more room. The building is move-in ready, includes elevator access, and already contains professional meeting spaces and built-in technology students can use for presentations and collaboration.

Bihn shared that the biggest strengths of The Hub have been the collaboration with local business partners  working side by side with our students. One of the best examples of this collaboration is how the current and future home of The Hub campus has been provided at no cost to the schools by our generous local partners. Students have loved having their own desks to work on their projects. They enjoy the professional work place setting, making their work more authentic.

For Bihn, the shift represents a major step forward from the makeshift setups students sometimes relied on during the pilot year.

“There’s already one or two monitors that kids can use in lieu of a projector,” Bihn said. “They’ll have that capability there to share whatever they’re working on in a presentation without having to put a projector on a trash can.”

The downtown setting also places students closer to the businesses they regularly work alongside.

That proximity matters because The Hub is intentionally designed to blur the line between school and workplace. Students collaborate with community partners on real projects, attend meetings, communicate with professionals, and learn how to navigate workplace expectations.

Kirby said sharing space alongside other businesses will help reinforce that environment daily.

“There are individuals there who model what it’s like to work in a business location for our students,” Kirby said. “Our students will have to make sure that they replicate that.”

For junior Lilia Morris, the new location already feels different.

“I’m overjoyed,” Morris said. “I was there for a business advisory meeting, and I was amazed before I even knew that’s where we were going to be.”

Morris said the current setup often felt temporary because students were sharing someone else’s workspace. The new location changes that dynamic.

“I’m really excited to be able to say, ‘This is our space,’” Morris said. “We can hang stuff on walls, make it feel like home, and really create an environment that reflects what we’re building together.”

She is especially looking forward to collaborative furniture and flexible workspaces that better match the way students actually work.

“If you need to, you can have your own space,” Morris said. “But then if you need to collaborate with other people, it’s going to be really great that you can just pull up chairs.”

The move downtown also creates new possibilities for partnerships with nearby student-run enterprises like Spirit Cafe. Bihn said she sees opportunities for Hub students to collaborate on marketing projects, operational planning and other business needs while keeping multiple student-led programs connected within the downtown district. The close proximity allows students to see authentic learning happening across different environments, from business operations to project development and customer service.

“It creates a space where students can see other students doing real work in real businesses just a few doors away,” Bihn said.

Spirit Cafe teacher Sarah DeRonde said the partnership could open the door for students to work directly with school programs, activity directors and community partners to help solve real challenges and support ongoing projects.

“We’re excited about the possibilities of having Hub students help lead conversations with coaches, activity directors and other school programs to figure out what their needs are and how students can help meet them,” DeRonde said. “That could mean marketing, design, organization, logistics or helping bring ideas from paper to reality. There are so many opportunities for students to collaborate, problem-solve and create solutions that make a real impact for our schools and community.”

School leaders believe the new space will help The Hub continue building momentum heading into the next school year. Students are expected to begin using the facility this summer, with expanded access throughout the 2026-27 school year.

Kirby said The Hub plans to continue growing student participation, strengthening internships, and expanding enterprise opportunities, including plans for a future student-run spirit store.

“We’re looking to continue to build our enterprise businesses,” Kirby said. “Another opportunity for our students to work in a real-life environment and learn and practice those skills that will help them be successful.”

Even with the excitement surrounding the move, Bihn said Hub leadership already sees the new location as another step in a larger vision, but it will take a few years to build.

“We are anticipating outgrowing this,” Bihn said. “We want this to grow, grow, grow.”