This episode focuses on Learner Interest Day, part of Harrisburg's Career and Technical Education (CTE) month. It features guests discussing the origins of Learner Interest Day, its growth from a small initiative to a district-wide event, and the impact on both students and community partners. Guests share personal stories and benefits of the program, emphasizing hands-on learning experiences and career exploration for students. The narrative highlights the collaborative efforts of educators, business owners, and community members in shaping this innovative educational approach.
This episode focuses on Learner Interest Day, part of Harrisburg's Career and Technical Education (CTE) month. It features guests discussing the origins of Learner Interest Day, its growth from a small initiative to a district-wide event, and the impact on both students and community partners. Guests share personal stories and benefits of the program, emphasizing hands-on learning experiences and career exploration for students. The narrative highlights the collaborative efforts of educators, business owners, and community members in shaping this innovative educational approach.
Transcript
00:00:03 VerMulm
We're giving you more than just the 411. This is the Harrisburg 412 podcast coming to you from Southern Sioux Falls and Harrisburg, SD.
00:00:17 Lynch
All right, Harrisburg, 412 listeners. Welcome back. We are celebrating CTE month. We have some really wonderful guests with us today to talk about learner interest day and what career development looks like in the K through five or K through 8.
00:00:30 Lynch
Area of the Harrisburg School District today. Joining me, I have Carrie Bell.
00:00:35 VanVoorst
Kara Van Voorst.
00:00:38 Watson
Emily Watson.
00:00:39 Lynch
And of course, me, missus Lynch, your career in education coordinator for the school district. So we're going to dive right in. Learner Interest Day has a pretty long history. Now. We've been doing this for quite a few years. So Mr. Dennis, can you give us a little history of the origin of learner interest day?
00:00:52 Knips
I was trying to remember the exact year I think it was 20/17/2016.
00:00:58 Knips
2017 and this kind of all stemmed from our trip to Maine. So we had a group of educators from the Harrisburg School District that were examining personalized learning. And so there was a cohort in Maine that wanted to show us a little bit more about what they do. So we had a group of about six or seven teachers from the Freedom Elementary and from the district.
00:01:18 Knips
And we headed to Maine. And when we were there, there was a specific school. I can't remember. I think it was Cornwell.
00:01:25 Knips
Charter school that they had a whole bunch of posters on their walls and every single Friday they didn't have school, but instead they had different members from the community that would come in and tell about their jobs. And so a lot of them were family members of the students, other ones were business partners and they would come in and they would just kind of an informal presentation of what is it like to be an architect? What is it like to be?
00:01:48 Knips
Construction worker or any other field.
00:01:50 Knips
And so we kind of took those ideas and we brought them back to freedom and we wanted to kind of put our own little spin on that. And so the very first time we did it, I think was in 2018, we only had four different groups. And one of them, I believe was hyvee came and they were going to show us how to decorate cupcakes. So what is it like to be a Baker?
00:02:10 Knips
And then we had a coach from Dakota Wesleyan University.
00:02:14 Knips
And so the learners then got to kind of rank their choices. And we had four of them. And then they kind of got to pick from there. So it started with just mains idea. We kind of made it our own. And then it's kind of expanded.
00:02:25 Lynch
Over the years, yeah, it's really expanded, right. So starting with one building, 1 school, that personalized learning visit to Maine and now being.
00:02:33 Lynch
And four of our Sullivan elementaries for this new season, I'm going to call it of Lerner.
00:02:39 Lynch
So the format for learner interesting now looks similar, but we've expanded from 4 sessions to about 12 to 15 for our students in grades two through 5 and then if the building includes kindergarten through 1st grade, they're in too many sessions for about 20 minutes each and then they switch. So just to keep everybody's attention and keep high engagement and to help out our business.
00:02:59 Lynch
Presenters as well. So we know that keeping kindergartners and 1st graders focus for a full 45 minutes could be a challenge for seasoned educators, let alone our volunteers.
00:03:08 Lynch
So we're going to talk a little bit about the benefits of learner interest today and I'm going to let Emily take that one first. And being a high school facilitator of a session, Emily, what is the benefit to you as a facilitator and then what do you think the benefit has been to those kiddos you get?
00:03:22 Watson
To interact with, yeah. So the benefit for me is I get teaching experience and getting to work with little kids.
00:03:29 Watson
My future career involves me going into education, so getting that experience now really helps me broaden on, like public speaking and how to work with kids that are younger and how to hold the attention spans and stuff like that. So that gives me good things with that, it allows the learners.
00:03:46 Watson
To just get experience, so I do the FFA 1 S like we do things talking about animals and plants and stuff like that. So like the one that we're doing this year involves with the little kids.
00:03:59 Watson
Saying what's safe for your dog or small pets to have, because we're going to layout a bunch of stuff on the table and they're going to say, yeah, that's safe or no, it's not. And then we're going to go through a presentation and they get to pick that. And then for older kids, they're gonna learn about bio security and the importance of washing your hands before eating after touching your pet. So you don't get those things.
00:04:19 Watson
So just browsing those things and then also allowing the students to kind of see what agriculture.
00:04:24 Watson
Is when I was younger, I really didn't know. I mean, I came from a family farm, but I didn't get to see that how, like everything in today's world relates back to agriculture in some way, shape or form. So I think that's really important for them to learn at.
00:04:36 Lynch
A younger age. That's great. Mr. King nips for the staff. And you're building. That helps support learner interest day. What do you think the benefits are to bringing in these outside partners for an afternoon?
00:04:46 Knips
I think for staff it's just interesting to see what else is out there, you know? So from a very young age and into college, you know, I've always been elementary education. I didn't really know a whole lot about the trades. And now, you know, we have HVAC come in there and we have electricians and we have this whole other world that I.
00:05:02 Knips
I don't think even as an adult that I was introduced to. So I think it's super interesting. So when we ever have learner interest day, I'm always just really curious and I'm lucky I get to take pictures. So I go to all 12 or 15 sessions and just kind of listen in for a little bit just things that I didn't know and I just find it fascinating some of these other jobs and other careers that that people get to do every day from people who own their own business.
00:05:25 Knips
And in the private sector and just kind of what that looks like and a lot of them it has to do with their passion too. I know we had the Rainbow Trading card and he came in and explained what he did and the kids were just so interested in that. And so were the adults like.
00:05:38 Knips
My son's now into Pokémon and I have no idea what that is and just like you can take your passion and your interests and you can make a career out of it. And these are people you know, like here that's going to talk about in a little bit that have done that and it's just so interesting, I think as an adult to see other people in some of the the interests and.
00:05:56 Knips
Professions that they've taken on. Yeah. So it's a great time to bring in.
00:05:59 Lynch
One of our business partners, Kara from Paul Stein studio, so maybe can you explain just briefly what the benefit for is is for you as a business, a business owner and then maybe how those kids receive you when you come in for learner interest day?
00:06:13 VanVoorst
Yes, I would say as a business, when I come in.
00:06:16 VanVoorst
Primarily, if we're looking at the business aspect, I love that I get to kind of be hands on with these kids when I come in, show them what dance is all about. Maybe I'm working with students that don't have that opportunity to maybe in their schedule or whatever their family situation is, to not be able to do dance.
00:06:36 VanVoorst
Or attend extracurricular activities. So that's really fun that I get to bring that in. For those students. It also benefits me as a business owner because I've actually gained students from showing up and saying, hey, we're right here in Harrisburg. This might be something.
00:06:52 VanVoorst
That you're good at and you didn't know you would be good at or something that maybe you were afraid to try, or that maybe your friends aren't doing but you feel comfortable for one day for 20 minutes or whatever the time frame is to try something new. See if you like it. So I feel like that's a really big benefit and I love coming in. I feel the kids.
00:07:13 VanVoorst
Receive pulse very well when?
00:07:16 VanVoorst
I am coming through the door and getting everything set up. They always have questions or showing me dance moves or asking me what styles of dance we have or what are we going to do today. So I love that I can bring something that's more of like the physical learning and getting them exercising and moving and just bringing so much joy into the building.
00:07:36 VanVoorst
No matter if it's boys or girls or I even have teachers jumping into.
00:07:40 Lynch
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:40 VanVoorst
The past too.
00:07:41 VanVoorst
And I feel it brings so much joy. And that's what I'm all about. Is just being able to whether they want to be in dance, whether they want to have that career.
00:07:52 VanVoorst
And dance or start their own business or whatever it is.
00:07:57 VanVoorst
Even if they just want to do it for a day, as long as they're having fun, it's absolutely worth it as a business to come in and bring some joy into the schools.
00:08:05 Lynch
Yeah. And Carrie, you know, just speaking overall to the Chamber membership, what have you learned about learner interest a the benefit to our community?
00:08:13 Bell
I think it's incredibly beneficial for businesses to be involved just as something they can do to give back. It gives their staff an opportunity to have a.
00:08:21 Bell
Type role you know and I think workforce development is always something that's very top of mind for our businesses. And so this is a way for that early education of like Kyle had mentioned just what's available to students, what do careers look like. There's just so much potential and you can really see that starting at learner.
00:08:42 Bell
Intrastate, whether it's those K through five students or K through eight, really kind of peaking their interests earlier on, that's just a huge benefit for our businesses.
00:08:51 Lynch
There's so many great things that come out of learner interest day that I don't think on the surface, most people would realize, and I think for me it comes back to the relationships that we allow. Our kids start to form, you know, even at that young age. And I was talking with somebody else earlier today. They're like what is lid? And I said Ohh Lynn is learner interest day. We love acronyms and education, right.
00:09:11 Lynch
And it really came out of that voice and choice for learning and being excited about something and knowing that workforce development is huge in South Dakota, it's big in our area.
00:09:20 Lynch
But if we continue to go down this road of saying that four-year college is the only option, we're probably not meeting all of the kids where they're at and with their own interest. Kyle brought up HVAC. We have a dance studio owner straight across from us and carry supports all of our Chamber businesses. How many member?
00:09:35 Lynch
Businesses do we have here?
00:09:36 Bell
We're right at 200.
00:09:38 Lynch
Wow, so 200 member businesses in the Harrisburg and Southern Sioux Falls Area and that's.
00:09:42 Lynch
A huge group to pull from and like Kyle said, a lot of this started out with maybe just connections of staff in the current building. That learner interest is being hosted in. It may be parents, grandparents, somebody with just a really deep passion, but we've really expanded to now. Corporations are reaching out to us and asking, hey, when are those programs that you do for the little kids? What time is that? What's the commitment?
00:10:02 Lynch
Look like and so I'm gonna ask that question as far as being a business owner, Kara is the commitment manageable. Do you feel like it's too much and then maybe that communication process of how do those asks come to you? And then how's that information relayed to you so that you know?
00:10:18 VanVoorst
Definitely I feel I do most of my communicating with you, but I would say the commitment level is definitely manageable. I am an army of one. When it comes to learner interest Day because I enjoy it so much. So even though I'm the owner of Holstein studio and the entrepreneur and doing.
00:10:38 VanVoorst
Every single aspect I do my marketing and accounting and all the lesson planning and everything that comes along with the business and I.
00:10:47 VanVoorst
Hit every single time slot that I can when it comes to learner interest day because I see so many benefits with it and it fills my cup too selfishly. I love coming in and being able to teach and bring maybe new knowledge, whether it's starting your own business and showing kids, hey, you can do this, this is something.
00:11:07 VanVoorst
If you work hard, you can whatever you love, make it into a business.
00:11:11 VanVoorst
Then every day that you work, you feel good about it and you're growing yourself. Or even if I can just come in and teach a class and they're pumped for the day, it's absolutely worth the commitment. It's really not. I mean, I have my routine that I bring in in music, so I don't have a lot of setup or materials, but.
00:11:31 VanVoorst
The joy that it brings to these kids, giving them the power to pick what they want to learn from, I think is very important, especially with the technology and.
00:11:40 VanVoorst
The way things are going, it's a different world out there. Like you said, it's not so much more about. You have to get a four-year degree, otherwise these opportunities aren't going to come your way. There's good that can come from both sides of that. A four-year college to your college or no college at all. So I think that the commitment level is.
00:12:00 VanVoorst
Absolutely doable for any business owner.
00:12:03 VanVoorst
Really, it doesn't take a ton a ton of planning on my behalf, and I would say I would recommend it to any and all business owners. The joy that it brings to the kids, the opportunity that it gives to them and kind of a fun back story if we have, yeah, time is that I actually kind of stumbled into what's now my career through something.
00:12:17 Lynch
Go for it.
00:12:22 VanVoorst
Similar to Learner Interest Day and maybe that's why it's so special to me. But when I was in daycare before, I could even go to kindergarten and get into the school world, we lived in Tennessee at the time and my mom said there is this mom and daughter team that came into your daycare and.
00:12:40 VanVoorst
And said if people want to, we'll have just lessons. We'll come in X amount of times a week and nobody in my family has ever done dance. This was not something that was passed on or a passion that came from somewhere specific. And I was like, OK, she's at daycare anyways. Yeah. Let her go dance or do whatever. And little did we know.
00:13:01 VanVoorst
That right now I'm currently in my 27th year consecutively in the dance world and that it would become my career and a huge part of my life, starting from something very similar to learner Interest day. So I feel that's why it's so important because you never know what these kids will absorb because they are like sponges. When I come in and I teach.
00:13:22 VanVoorst
A routine it's crazy that.
00:13:24 VanVoorst
These kids can learn.
00:13:25 Lynch
So fast, I love. I always start at yours at the beginning, and then there's a couple of them who obviously are in your classes and they kind of know what they're doing. And so they're they're kind of helping the.
00:13:35 Lynch
Other ones figure it all out but.
00:13:36 VanVoorst
Yes, which is great to see that too.
00:13:38 Lynch
Yeah. And you come back at the end, though, and you're like, how did 35 little people master this? Yeah, it's amazing.
00:13:45 VanVoorst
Just learning like. Yeah, it's fantastic. Yeah. And they have smiles and energy, and that's just the coolest part and.
00:13:45 Knips
Polished routine.
00:13:52 VanVoorst
Any good business owner will totally see that and want to be a part of it. It's just the best thing. Every year when you send out the e-mail of, hey, these are our interest days, this is what we're doing. It's like sign me up for all of them. I will be there. We'll make room for it. Yeah, I can attest. Pulse is usually the first one that.
00:14:09 Lynch
Replies. I appreciate that.
00:14:12 Lynch
I think you know.
00:14:14 Lynch
Kara speaks with such passion about why she does this and it happened. You know, it could have been the catalyst of having this great mother daughter team come into her daycare at a time in her life where she didn't even realize it was play right it was.
00:14:23 VanVoorst
Yeah, no idea. I don't even remember it, so.
00:14:24 Lynch
Play. Yeah, it was fun, but it was something that internally probably sparked some kind of light or creativity in you, which is really exciting. I know it can sound.
00:14:34 Lynch
Daunting right to come into a classroom and say, hey, can you give us 45 minutes to work with young people?
00:14:39 Lynch
There may be some business owners that are scared of that. How does the Chamber help? Maybe facilitate some of those questions. And I'm gonna also ask Mr. Kips and I to help maybe share how we've helped businesses that maybe don't have that vision or are just maybe struggling with what it looks like to connect with those younger kiddos.
00:14:59 Bell
Absolutely. And I also was when I was a business owner, I was able to participate in Learner Interest Day as well and came into the schools and and had done that. So also can relate to those business owners being a little bit nervous or scared. What does that look like? I'm not an educator. I don't know how to educate these students properly. And I think the biggest take.
00:15:18 Bell
Way is just keep it simple. You don't have to be afraid. The kids are excited for you to come in. They're. This is something they've chosen to do. So this is something that they're passionate about. So keeping it simple, keeping it fairly easy, having some sort of an activity for the students to do something, hands on, getting them moving around.
00:15:38 Bell
Is something that we recommend as well, and then remember as the business owner or an employee of the.
00:15:43 Bell
You're the expert in this field, So what do you think a child might be interested? Whether you're an architect or a landscaping firm or HVAC, what can you bring in from your industry? You know very well about just bring those things in, do a little education. It doesn't have to be scary or intimidating.
00:16:00 Lynch
Yeah. What advice or tips do you have?
00:16:02 Knips
Kyle. Yeah, I agree with everything that Carrie.
00:16:03 Knips
That they're hands on is the key. These kids can't sit in the desk and just sit back and listen. And so if you can have a little bit of a presentation, a little overview of what your business is like, how you got into the business, but then have some type of activity related to what you do.
00:16:20 Knips
And it's easier for some than others. You know, dancing is is a very easy, active thing. But if you have other things like architecture, that might not necessarily be a hands on activity until you kind of think outside the box. And some of these things, let's design this tree house together or something that you can bring it to their level. And like Carrie said, anyone who's in that session.
00:16:40 Knips
Picked that session so you know we have 12 to 15 sessions and everyone ranks their top three choices and everyone gets their top three choices. And so if they're in your session, they want to be there, you know, and.
00:16:53 Knips
In the classroom, if you're teaching fractions or the water cycle or something else and everyone is interested, and so.
00:16:59 Lynch
Water cycle may not be everybody's jam. That's OK yeah.
00:17:03 Knips
And so you have a captive audience. So it's a little bit easier. And again, just trying to think of just outside the box ways to relate to them hands on, things like that.
00:17:13 Lynch
Yeah. And throughout the support with the school district myself or if you know, Mr. Travis Lake, we're great resources. If you're a business listening to this saying, hey, I've always wanted to do that, but I've always been a little.
00:17:24 Lynch
Intimidated or scared or or I don't. Maybe I don't have an occupation that lends itself to movement or whatever it may be. That's OK. I mean, carry your business. Former business. Can you maybe share about that? And the lesson that you prepared for an?
00:17:37 Bell
Example. Yeah, absolutely. I had owned Carrie Ann's boutique right here in Harrisburg, so women's clothing boutique. So I came in as an entrepreneur.
00:17:44 Bell
We're kind of talking about what that looks like, just as being a business owner day-to-day, we didn't have a real great hands on activity, but we brought in some. I brought in some clothing pieces and some accessory items for the students to kind of look over and go through. We went through kind of a pricing activity. What does it look like to price an item? What do we need to do to prepare that?
00:18:05 Bell
Item we had to unpackage it and a few things like that, so just very simple kind of down to their level and just kind of an overview of what that looks like to own a business from the day-to-day. Like Kara mentioned, you're doing everything from A-Z. So we kind of talked about a lot of those.
00:18:19 Bell
Things and we talked about some marketing too for a business. How do you market a business and they kind of gave some fun ideas. How do we connect with our customers and some of those kind of things and I actually got some fun take away ideas from the students and fun events to talk about. So just keeping it simple and just bringing in, what is it that you're doing on a regular basis and how can you bring that to their level?
00:18:40 Lynch
Yeah, Emily, you facilitated a couple of sessions through FFA in that programming. Do you have any tips for people that may be considering supporting A learner interest day?
00:18:48 Watson
Yes. OK. So I know it seems really intimidating. We bring a lot of kids with us to help out with those lessons that hate public speaking. So I know it can seem intimidating and I hate it public speaking. Before I became an officer and did all this stuff with FFA, so I would encourage just like making sure not to be scared. I like to tell myself they're little kids, they're learning too. It's.
00:19:08 Watson
Something that we all did when we were younger and I feel like if when I remember when I was a little kid, like going in and someone would come in and talk to us, I was never, like, thinking, ohh. They're gonna mess up. I was like, so excited that they were going to be there. So just like knowing not to have those nerves there.
00:19:24 Watson
Also, knowing that keeping little kids attention can vary from different ages, so like having that and creating lessons that are more like interesting and maybe more hands-on for the younger kids and having more of like a structured lesson for the kids that are older and like I talked about before, like last year, we did a dirt warm activity. So like they got to make.
00:19:44 Watson
A dirt got necessarily and learned about the different layers of soil to go along with that. So just creating something that's enjoyable for them. Everybody liked food for that one.
00:19:53 Lynch
So, like, yeah, to clarify, Emily did not have students eating dirt they created, I think, like the old school dirt.
00:20:00 Lynch
Terms putting situation and then related it back to soil correct. OK.
00:20:02 VanVoorst
That's awesome. Yeah. I wanna begin that. Yes.
00:20:08 Watson
There is like Jello chocolate chips, butterscotch chips crushed up Oreos, stuff like that. We warm, but it allowed the students to see like dirt isn't just dirt. They were allowed to see the soil profiles like what we like to call it.
00:20:21 Watson
With the different types of layers, like there's bedrock or there's different things and like.
00:20:25 Watson
My brothers were in that lesson and they came back and they're like, that's so cool. I never knew like dirt was like that or like, the leaves that fall off the trees, go into the ground and help produce like nutrients to help either the grass grow or the crop grow or whatever, like that. And so, like, having them talk about those. Or they talked about other ones that they learned about. And they're like, that's so cool. Like, I would have never guessed that before. So like, hearing their side of it and then being the person that's teaching it.
00:20:46 Watson
It has allowed me to see how to engage more if that makes sense.
00:20:51 Watson
The lessons towards those younger groups, but it also allows me to see that they do enjoy us coming in, not only to talk to them, but they actually do take something away from.
00:21:00 Watson
Them so yeah. Thanks.
00:21:02 Lynch
I think we've hit on the major high points of why we love learner interest day, but does anybody have a funny story or something they would like to share from their experience?
00:21:12 VanVoorst
I have a really fun story. It just brought like my heart, like bursted after this learner interest day. I went into one of our elementary schools and we were learning a hip hop routine that day and it was a big class and it was amazing. We had kids with different learning abilities in that class and we had.
00:21:33 VanVoorst
Teachers in that class and everybody, including the teachers.
00:21:37 VanVoorst
Danced and, like, went all in with like the hip hop tricks that we did and the jumps. And it was so fun seeing everybody coming together and supporting each other and laughing when something didn't go right and we had to kind of redo it or they asked questions. And that was so cool to me.
00:21:57 VanVoorst
Of we have boys and girls and teachers and kids with different learning abilities that.
00:22:03 VanVoorst
They can all come together and find such joy in this one thing and have such a great time and support each other. And that reminds me of one why I love dance and just extracurricular activity so much. Because it does. You know, it brings you together for that moment and maybe even outside the class. Now you have something to talk about.
00:22:24 VanVoorst
Bond over our laugh over depending on how the class went, but that really has stood out to me from that class. It was just so amazing to see, no matter who you are like you can absorb it and have fun with it and.
00:22:39 VanVoorst
Take something from it. Whether they see that with hard work, you can build your own business, whatever you want it to be. Or maybe they want to join dance. And they found some passion with it. But that really stood out to me that day in our elementary school. That was just really cool.
00:22:56 Lynch
I think that's really special to think about learner interest a being this micro moment.
00:23:01 Lynch
Of belonging, yes. And I think that's huge. You know, inclusivity is an important part of learning and learning to accept everybody where they're at and and understanding that. And we know that that can be a challenge in elementary school.
00:23:12 Lynch
Right. Even in middle school and high school.
00:23:12 VanVoorst
Yeah, anywhere, anywhere. And it was fun to see. Like there was no clicks. There was no, like, laughing at other people or anything from making mistakes. And even as a business owner.
00:23:24 VanVoorst
Like even if I forget something while we're doing the dance, I just show them like, oh, it's OK to make a mistake. And I'm like, whoops, I forgot the dance. We gotta start over. We gotta do another one for me because I forgot I forgot what came next. So I think it's good for kids to see that. And like you said, even if it's for a moment, we were all together and we were.
00:23:44 VanVoorst
All just like one team having a blast, not thinking about anything else or worrying about anything else or what was going on, or who was who. And it was just awesome. It was so fun.
00:23:57 Knips
One funny story I had, and so it's called Learner Interest Day because the learners get to pick but also the teachers have to or get to supervise the sessions as well. So the teachers kind of get to pick what they're interested in as well. And I kind of float to all the sessions. But a female teacher was gone the day that they had learner interest.
00:24:17 Knips
So I filled in and it was a hairdresser that came in and she brought in all of her wigs and there was probably 20 to 25 girls in there. And so it was kind of a braiding session on the different types of braids and.
00:24:30 Knips
I have three young boys I've never braided anything ever in my life, and Mr. Knips Mr. Camps. Are you going to help? And so, yeah, they had a wig in front of me and I was working on the different types of braids and it wasn't pretty at the end. But, I mean, I would have never picked that, you know, normally, but it was kind of interesting. And I'm like, it takes a little bit of skill to do this.
00:24:50 Knips
You know, and so I thought that was kind of funny.
00:24:50 Lynch
Yeah, created some understanding. Maybe of somebody else's occupation or even moms getting kids ready in the morning. Multiple girls.
00:24:58 Bell
I have girls, yeah.
00:25:01 Lynch
This has been fantastic. I you know, thank you all for your time for joining us. If you had, you know, one last bit of wisdom or an encouraging invitation to others to support Learner Interest Day or early career development programming, what would you share?
00:25:16 Bell
I think it's super important to be involved in a program like this just to help start creating those connections. I know and even myself meeting some of the students that I had met while I participated. Those connections can carry through all the way into their high school years and.
00:25:32 Bell
Beyond and for anybody having a strong network is super important. And so just starting to create those connections, helping to kind of start developing that workforce and getting those things in the minds of the younger students. And I think as this program continues, I think we're going to see that in our internship programs and some of that interest.
00:25:53 Bell
Continue as well. So the internship programs are something that's big here in Harrisburg as well and helping with those and seeing some of the success stories that we see with that. So I think just really transforming and kind of taking the students from that earlier younger age all the way through high school creating those connections and getting them into your businesses. So it's a great way to start those connections.
00:26:14 Knips
You know, in school we talk about the the different habits of mind and one of them that really stands out is just taking a responsible risk. You know, if this is just outside your comfort zone and you're just like, I just don't know if I can do this. I'm not trained to be in front of elementary students. What if they make fun of me? What if it's not long enough? This is something that they're excited that you're there.
00:26:34 Knips
Just take your responsible risk. I mean, really, what is the worst that could happen? These kids are very forgiving and they will. They're just interested in in hearing what you do and sharing your passion.
00:26:44 Lynch
So, and we're forgiving, too, right? We're human. Like it's not always perfect. I will say we've had great support in our buildings, and this has just come from this homegrown effort of a small group of staff going and saying, well, maybe we can do that here and four sessions to really, really blossoming into what it is today. Some of our buildings supporting K through five programming, others 2nd through 5th grade.
00:26:45 Knips
Yes, yes.
00:27:04 Lynch
I mean, if you have a student in an elementary building, ask him, hey, does learner interest day coming to your building? What does that look like? And I guarantee you your learner will then have an answer to the question of what you do in school today and they won't reply with nothing.
00:27:19 Lynch
So I've got a third grader that has become her de facto answer. Right? Hey, how was your day? Good. What'd you do? Nothing.
00:27:25 Lynch
I know for a fact as an educator that is not the truth, so this is definitely one day of the year where your learner may come home and just have this amazing story that they got to interact with a new person in their life. Maybe they find a passion or an interest for life like Kara over here from daycare or in a similar program along the way. And all we can say from the district perspective.
00:27:46 Lynch
Thanks for supporting us all the businesses, the nonprofits, the Volunteers, the high school learners like Emily, Mr. Knips and his crew for just spearheading this effort and then being willing to share their successes with other building principles and integrationists and counselors that keep championing these programs for.
00:28:04 Lynch
So thanks to Carrie and Kara and Kyle and Emily for joining us and we hope you enjoyed this episode of our early learning programming for CTE month.