From Sioux Falls to Brookings, high school teachers learn what can await their students at SDSU

This paid piece is sponsored by South Dakota State University.

As a culinary arts teacher at the Career and Technical Education Academy in Sioux Falls, Janelle Whempner helps her students envision their future careers – whether that’s inside of a kitchen or out.

“My primary purpose is to aid students who might want to work in the food industry, to give them a glimpse of how they can work with food, whether that’s as a chef, on the hospitality side, horticulture or even science and engineering,” she said.

Recently, Whempner and dozens of her colleagues got an up-close look themselves at the growing variety of education and career paths available to students at South Dakota State University.

An in-service day earlier this month turned into an opportunity for nearly 70 Sioux Falls School District teachers to become Jackrabbits for the day, immersing themselves in everything that could await their students just a short drive north.

Superintendent Jane Stavem was inspired to make the connection after speaking at an SDSU event last year and hearing dean Sanjeev Kumar and professor Todd Letcher talk about the SDSU engineering department’s work, particularly involving NASA and related student competitions where SDSU has achieved national honors.

“It was not only fascinating, but it was a reminder that it’s really important that our K-12 teachers maintain relevance with what’s happening in higher education,” she said.

“Historically, we’re very focused on our own areas, but we started by bringing a group to visit with the engineering college to get an update, so the people who work on curriculum and instruction with our district can see the latest and greatest of what’s happening.”

From there, it became clear the opportunity should be broadened, she said.

“We said, ‘Our teachers need to see this.’ They’re casting the vision for our students.”

SDSU then organized an immersive day of education for high school teachers, whose subjects range from calculus and physics to accounting, pre-engineering, health care, agriculture and culinary.

“We structured it so each of the teachers in their respective areas got to go places on campus to experience their field and show the depth of the university, to give them a sense of what’s happening in the courses they teach on SDSU’s campus,” said Vernon Brown, associate vice president for external affairs.

“For example, chemistry teachers got to go to the pharmacy on campus and make pills and flavor pills. Engineering got to see the NASA contest equipment. Nursing got to see respiratory care and what equipment and simulations they use in the classroom. We wanted them to leave with a memorable experience.”

The rest of the day involved sessions for the whole group hearing from SDSU president Barry Dunn, provost Dennis Hedge and each of SDSU’s deans, as well as student support services staff members.

“We want them to understand as a land-grant university, we’re accessible to all, and we have special services to help as needed,” Brown said. “We wanted them to come away understanding that SDSU is open to all students and is a place to grow and experience and find a path. I think the depth and scope of the university was surprising to some. And we hope we also reached teachers who are interested in continuing their own education and may see a fit to do that through SDSU.”

Feedback on the in-service day was extremely positive, Stavem said.

“The teachers had a great time,” she said.

“It’s just the enjoyment of doing something in your own field, do some activities and do group work with others. It reminds them of their expertise and freshens up how it looks in their classes. Here in South Dakota, we have very healthy higher education institutions, and we know the importance of our role in creating graduates who can take advantage of all those programs and the importance to our South Dakota workforce.”

Ensuring teachers understand the financial accessibility of higher education is key too, she said.

“We want kids to take advantage of the great scholarships they have in South Dakota and come back to the city and be part of our workforce, so it’s a great synergy that begins to happen when we involve staff and try to cast that future picture and do so in a way that’s collaborative and fun,” Stavem said.

“We’re just grateful for the opportunity we have anytime our institutions make it easy for our teachers to have a great experience that enhances what we do.”

While Whempner has brought students to tour campus and plans to do it again, seeing it as a teacher was valuable in additional ways. She was able to learn more about SDSU’s dairy program and tour its production facility.

“I’ve done 20-plus years of in-service, and I thought it was a great use of our time,” she said.

“I came away with ideas, and they did a nice job letting us know it’s not too expensive to come here and there are some things you can do to help kids afford it. The deans at all the colleges were so welcoming, telling us to reach out if kids have questions. It was a great day.”

The relationship can be far more than a one-day visit, Brown added.

Last year, SDSU connected with Advanced Placement classes to present experiments in the classroom after students had taken their AP exams and had time remaining in the school.

“It’s all about bridging the gap between the Brookings campus and Sioux Falls,” he said. “The two are not far apart. We love that Dr. Stavem and her team wanted to come to campus, and we’re here for other educators as well, whether that’s having us come in for a day or organizing a way to connect you with everything happening on campus.”

Sioux Falls educators and employers can get further connected with SDSU in a number of ways. To learn more, email [email protected].