 Students at Lowell Elementary spent their gym class today climbing mountains in France with virtual reality. If you never went mountain climbing, I would do virtual reality because it's not real, but it feels like it's real and it's amazing. Students around the Brainerd School District have been traveling the world this year using this new technology thanks to the Brainerd Public Schools Foundation and a smart rural grant through CTC. Jessica Gengel had asked all of our staff last year if we had a big dream. And my big dream was that I wanted to be able to bring all of 6,500 of our students anywhere in the world and experience anything. Obviously, we can't get 6,500 students on a plane and fly them to places. So I propose that we try virtual reality and we do this to virtual reality. The virtual reality goggles overlay a separate image from each eye that creates an immersive experience. The technology allows students to learn in a new way. Instead of just looking at something in a book, a picture, or even watching a video like we've always done in the past, we actually get to feel like we're there and experience in it. Besides being educational, the students enjoy getting out of the usual routine and experiencing something new. I loved it and it felt like I was actually mountain climbing. Virtual reality is a chance for us to take all of our students somewhere anywhere in the world and to see anything. And so using technology, it's pretty awesome. Thanks to virtual reality, students are able to travel the world and experience learning in a whole new way. Reporting from Brainerd with this week's Golden Apple, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News.