>> CATHY: WOULD IT SURPRISE YOU TO KNOW THAT SOME OF THE STATE'S MOST RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE SCHOOLS TODAY ARE IN GREATER MINNESOTA?

REPORTER KAOMI LEE TRAVELED TO MOWER COUNTY TO VISIT A SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE WHITE STUDENTS ARE THE MINORITY.

>> FALL KICKS OFF A NEW SCHOOL YEAR AND A NEW SPORTS SEASON.

ON A RECENT EVENING, THE AUSTIN PACKERS FACED THE OWATONNA HUSKIES AT AN AWAY SOCCER GAME.

THIS BIG 9 CONFERENCE TEAM LOOKED LIKE THEY COULD HAVE BEEN FROM THE TWIN CITIES.

BUT AUSTIN IS 100 MILES SOUTH OF THE METRO.

FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS BEEN UNDERGOING DRAMATIC CHANGE.

>> LET'S GO, JOEL!

>> MY NAME IS JOEL, I PLAY FORWARD, AND THE COACH PUT ME EVERYWHERE.

>> JOEL IS IN THE 11th GRADE.

HE WAS BORN IN MYANMAR IN THE STATE OF CHIN.

AND LIKE MANY OF HIS TEAMMATES, HE AND HIS FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S. TO ESCAPE VIOLENCE AND POLITICAL UNREST.

>> MY DAD GOT HERE BEFORE US, BASICALLY TEN YEARS, MY DAD LIVED HERE FOR, LIKE, TEN YEARS, MY MOM, MY BROTHER AND I, WE LIVE HERE FOR LIKE SIX OR SEVEN YEARS NOW.

>> YEAH.

AND HOW OLD ARE YOU?

17?

>> YEAH, I'M 17.

A THIRD OF HIS YOUNG LIFE HAS BEEN HERE IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA.

I'VE SEEN A LOT OF CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.

LIKE MORE PEOPLE MOVE HERE.

DIFFERENT RACES.

AND AT SCHOOL, THERE'S LIKE A LOT OF EXCHANGE STUDENTS, TOO.

>> HE DOES STAND OUT, BUT FOR HIS SOCCER ABILITY, NOT HIS RACE.

AT AUSTIN HIGH, HE BLENDS RIGHT IN.

IN FACT, 57% OF THE DISTRICT'S STUDENTS ARE BIPoC AND 67% QUALIFY FOR A FREE OR REDUCED LUNCH.

>> YOU KNOW, IT'S DEFINITELY DIFFERENT THAN PEOPLE MAYBE REMEMBER.

ESPECIALLY IF YOU'VE BEEN AWAY.

>> SUPERINTENDENT JOEY PAGE IS A FOURTH-GENERATION AUSTINITE.

HE SAYS, MANY NEW MINNESOTANS ARE COMING TO AUSTIN FOR AREA JOBS, AND THAT'S HAVING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY.

>> OUR DISTRICT IS MORE DIVERSE THAN WHAT THE COMMUNITY REPRESENTS, BUT I THINK WHAT THAT TELLS ME AND WOULD TELL THE COMMUNITY IS, THE DIVERSITY IS GOING TO CHANGE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE THESE ARE OUR STUDENTS IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.

>> I THINK IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU START TO SEE MORE AND MORE.

WE HAD A GENTLEMAN WHO WAS ON THE CITY COUNCIL FOR A WHILE.

AND WAS A REALLY GOOD OPEN FACE TO WHAT THE DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS CAN BRING TO AUSTIN.

SO, YEAH, AND I THINK IT'S NEEDED.

>> ACCORDING TO 2022 CENSUS ESTIMATES, AUSTIN HAD 22,000 RESIDENTS, MORE THAN 30% WERE BIPoC.

15% WERE FOREIGN BORN.

IN 2000, ONLY 5% WERE.

>> A LOT OF THE PLACES THAT YOU THINK OF, LIKE AUSTIN, ALBERT LEA, WORTHINGTON, YOU KNOW, THOSE REALLY STARTED TO SEE THESE INFLUX OF THESE POPULATIONS, I WOULD SAY SINCE THE 1990s.

>> KELLY ASCHE HAS BEEN RESEARCHING DIVERSITY IN GREATER MINNESOTA FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

>> I THINK IT DOES A COUPLE THINGS.

ONE, IT INCREASES THE ROLE THAT OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE IN TERMS OF BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.

MANY TIMES, PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, WHEN IT'S AN IMMIGRANT OR A REFUGEE POPULATION, THE KIDS MIGHT BE THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY SPEAK ENGLISH FLUENTLY AND WILL HAVE BEEN TO THAT MIDDLE PERSON BETWEEN CITY OFFICIALS OR COUNTY OFFICIALS OR SCHOOL OFFICIALS AND THEIR PARENTS, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO TRANSLATE LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES.

>> IN THE PAST, HE SAYS IMMIGRANT WORKERS WERE NOT ALWAYS VIEWED POSITIVELY.

SOME WERE SEEN AS UNION BUSTING OR TAKING AWAY JOBS FROM WHITE AMERICANS.

NOT ANYMORE.

>> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MODERN HISTORY, WE HAVE MORE JOBS THAN PEOPLE AVAILABLE TO WORK THESE JOBS.

AND EMPLOYERS ARE NOW STARTING TO SEE, LIKE, OH, WE WANT OUR COMMUNITIES TO BE WELCOMING BECAUSE THESE ARE THE FOLKS THAT WE WANT TO BRING MORE IN TO EMPLOY THEM.

>> IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A WARM COAT OR BOOTS OR GLOVES OR A HAT, I CAN HELP YOU.

[ SPEAKING WORLD LANGUAGE ] OKAY?

>> IN AUSTIN, AT LEAST 47 LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH ARE SPOKEN AT HOMEMENT.

THE DISTRICT EMPLOYS 15 FULL-TIME BILINGUAL SUCCESS COACHES, THEY HELP STUDENTS AND FAMILIES IN TRANSITION BETWEEN CULTURES.

>> THEY SPEAK ARABIC, DISTINCTA, SWAHILI, KAREN, KARENI, THAI, BURMESE, FRENCH.

>> CHRISTY BECKMAN NAMES SOME OF THE LANGUAGES THE COACHES SPEAK.

SHE'S THE DISTRICT'S EQUITY COORDINATOR.

>> ONE THING THAT I'M REALLY PROUD OF THAT WE'RE DOING IN AUSTIN IS GIVING STUDENTS CREDIT FOR THEIR MULTILINGUALISM.

SO WE OFFER STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST FOR SEALS OF BILITERACY.

>> SHE SAYS THEY HAVE OFFERED 75 SEALS IN JUST TWO YEARS.

BESIDES COLLEGE CREDIT, STUDENTS GET HONOR CORDS TO WEAR AT GRADUATION.

>> UR STUDENTS, IN ORDER TO EARN THE SEALS, HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE PROFICIENCY IN BOTH, SO THEY HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE ENGLISH PROFICIENT AND I THEIR HOME LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AS WELL.

SO WE'RE NOT DISCOURAGING, OBVIOUSLY, ENGLISH PROFICIENCY, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO SHOW, HEY, THIS IS A VALUE ADD, THIS IS A REALLY REMARKABLE SKILL THAT SOME OF OUR STUDENTS HAVE.

>> THE RACIAL DIVERSITY FOR TEACHERS STILL LAGS FAR BEHIND THE STUDENTS.

IN AUSTIN, ONLY 15 TEACHERS, OR 3% OVERALL, ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR.

THE DISTRICT IS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE ITS STUDENTS TO RETURN TO TEACH.

EXPERTS SAY HOW WELL COMMUNITIES EMBRACE DIVERSITY AT ALL LEVELS WILL BE KEY.

>> THE OLDER GENERATION IS STARTING TO REALIZE, LIKE, IF I WANT SOMEBODY TO TAKE CARE OF ME AS I'M GOING TO NEED MORE SERVICES IN THE NEXT TEN TO 20 YEARS, THIS PERSON'S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO BE WHITE.

AND, SO, I GOT TO START GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH THIS IDEA.

>> ALL BUT FIVE PLAYERS ON AUSTIN'S VARSITY SOCCER TEAM ARE BIPoC.

FOR JOEL TONG, IT'S OMETHING TO CELEBRATE.

>> I PLAY