This episode discusses the role and evolution of apprenticeship programs in education, particularly in South Dakota. It features discussions with Dr. Michael Amolins (HSD) and Dr. David De Jong (Dakota State University), covering topics such as the history of apprenticeships, their modern relevance, and specific initiatives like teacher apprenticeship programs. The episode highlights the significance of apprenticeships in addressing workforce needs and providing practical, hands-on learning experiences.
This episode discusses the role and evolution of apprenticeship programs in education, particularly in South Dakota. It features discussions with Dr. Michael Amolins (HSD) and Dr. David De Jong (Dakota State University), covering topics such as the history of apprenticeships, their modern relevance, and specific initiatives like teacher apprenticeship programs. The episode highlights the significance of apprenticeships in addressing workforce needs and providing practical, hands-on learning experiences.
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.
00:00:16 Lynch
All right. Welcome, 412 listeners, we are going to talk about registered apprenticeships in the state of South Dakota, how they're benefiting our younger learners with registered Youth apprenticeship and how they can also benefit in some high need, high demand career areas.
00:00:30 Lynch
Today we have Doctor Michael Amolins and Doctor David De Jong joining us, as well as myself, Breannene Lynch, your lovely CTE podcast Hostess, I think, is what we call it.
00:00:40 Lynch
Officially right guys.
00:00:41 Amolins
That's right. It's good to be here, Breannene.
00:00:42 Amolins
Thank you.
00:00:43 Lynch
So for all of you that enjoy the late Night NPR podcast, this might be the episode for you. I apologize.
00:00:50 Lynch
In advance. So let's jump into it. We are all here because we love education, and we know that apprenticeship has a robust history. Does anybody have any good statistics or things they would like to share about the history of apprenticeship in the United States?
00:01:08 De Jong
No, I mean, I think apprenticeships feels like a tidal wave right now of what's happening in the world of education, where a few years ago Tennessee was the first state in the nation to have a recognized apprenticeship around teacher apprentices.
00:01:27 De Jong
And what they did is they worked with their Department of Labor and they determined that the workforce, the, the teacher shortage was a workforce need. And so they were able to use funds and free up some of their workforce dollars to start a teacher apprenticeship pathway in their state and.
00:01:48 De Jong
Once they were approved by the United States Department of Labor and Regulations, then what happened as other states wanted to jump on?
00:01:56 De Jong
Board and I'm excited to, you know, be a part of the South Dakota teacher apprenticeship pathway, which is the 10th state to have a registered teacher apprenticeship in the state. So I'm I'm excited that that's up and running and I'm excited to be here to talk about that.
00:02:16 Lynch
Yeah, I think so. Predating Tennessee's movement into the teacher apprenticeship pathway, apprenticeship has had a long history, right? Started out in Europe, and we can think of traditional apprenticeships being likely in manufacturing and skilled trades.
00:02:29 Lynch
With that industrial revolution that came to the Americas in the early 1900s, that's where apprenticeships really took a strong hold. If we think about the East Coast in the US, interestingly enough, apprenticeships didn't always have a positive view. It typically became sort of a way to look at indentured children, right. So there's some negatives.
00:02:50 Lynch
In the history of apprenticeships that I think we need to shed a light on at the.
00:02:53 Lynch
The ending of this, and that's where a lot of our employment laws and employment laws specifically to protect children came from, is from the apprenticeship lens. So it's crazy to think about how far we've come from the early 1900s to where we are now in.
00:03:06 Amolins
2024. Yeah. And I think it's a good point, Breanne, that you brought up, you know, the European model. I think I Germany is the country that always comes to mind.
00:03:14 Amolins
Where you think of students that maybe through 8th or 9th grade go through a traditional educational model and then transition to some sort of an apprenticeship or a really career focused training pathway and and I think what's important to note is is you know in the United States, oftentimes when we hear apprenticeship, we think about.
00:03:30 Amolins
The trades right? You think of, you know, a journeyman apprentice working for an electrician or something along those lines. And those are certainly valuable pathways. But I think to get yourself in the mindset where you really are career focused, regardless of what pathway you're going is really, I think, where we're trying to get to now, but hasn't traditionally been the philosophy in the United States where a lot of other countries.
00:03:53 Amolins
And you again, you don't need.
00:03:54 Amolins
Up this has been the case for, you know, hundreds of years. This has just been the educational model.
00:04:00 Lynch
Yeah, it's sort of that different lens of trade school. You know, that option of a Technical College that we have here in the US is probably more of an apprenticeship model in Europe. So similar but different. I think if we're looking at the purpose of a a registered apprenticeship program, of course there's workforce development, but apprenticeships.
00:04:20 Lynch
Really have that embedded earn while you learn capacity. Either one of you want to expand upon the value of earning while.
00:04:29 De Jong
Yeah. So when I started at Dakota State University, I was learning about our programs. And one of the things that I realized is that we have an online teacher preparation program. And I was skeptical at first because I was like, OK, in order to become a good teacher, don't you have to come to class to see good teachers teaching?
00:04:49 De Jong
And so I asked our professors. I was like, all right, how long have we had this? What's the history of this? And they said they've been doing it for over 10 years. And I was like, that's crazy. And I said, you know, who who's the, like, who? Who's the targeted audience for this earn while you learn process? And they said well.
00:05:12 De Jong
Who are in our online program and that started me thinking like, OK, that does actually make sense where you have somebody that's a paraprofessional working 8 hours a day in a classroom and then at night or on the weekends, they're learning in an online setting or a face to face setting if if that's how it's set up.
00:05:31 De Jong
And then they can immediately apply the very next day.
00:05:35 De Jong
What they learned and they can share that with the rest of the group and everybody can learn with them and from them and and that's where the whole earn while you learn concept really became real for me. I was like, OK, that that actually makes sense and and the more I learn about it, the more I believe in it.
00:05:54 De Jong
Actually, so that's it's a great.
00:05:56 Amolins
Concept. Yeah. And I think I think of really two candidate pools for a program like this who would maybe be attracted to the urn while you learn model for two different reasons. So one of them I think of all the time is you know our our traditional student teachers coming out of undergraduate you know.
00:06:14 Amolins
Depending on what school you go to, we're asking them to go for an entire semester an entire year, really, without being able to earn any wages during the day, you know? And so, you know, if I'm, if I'm student teaching all day and I'm paying tuition to do that, I've got to find time in the evenings for another job or on the weekends and and certainly, you know, many people out there have.
00:06:34 Amolins
You know, have stories of, you know, just making ends meet. And that's that's part of it. But I think, you know, when you're thinking about going into a profession like education, being able to offer some sort of income while you're while you're learning, I think is going to be attractive, whether they're coming through a traditional undergraduate program or.
00:06:54 Amolins
Are saying, hey, you know what, this apprenticeship pathway is really attractive to me. It fits more of kind of my lifestyle and my values. And I I want to just dive right into that. The other group that I think about is you know your non traditional.
00:07:09 Amolins
Non traditional candidates to to come into the education realm, you know, I know like my wife for example is a a second career educator and you know by the time she decided to make that transition, we've got kids that are in elementary school. We've got a mortgage, we've got a, you know, a house to maintain and so.
00:07:26 Amolins
You know, for somebody like that, being able to have an opportunity to earn some some, you know, some sort of wage I think is really important or you're you're kind of limited in what you're able to do.
00:07:41 Lynch
Yeah. So let's dive into maybe the parts or the format or the organization of a registered apprenticeship.
00:07:46 Lynch
Program. OK, so we talked about earn and learn, meaning you are likely in the field wherever that may be, right? It could be on a construction site, it could be in a classroom, it could be in a healthcare organization. So you're going to be in the field learning hands on for 90% of our apprenticeship programs, especially for the high need areas in South.
00:08:06 Lynch
You're going to be able to earn a wage and with that earning there are guaranteed wage increases embedded into registered apprenticeship programs, which I think that's huge, right? We always sit here and you're like well, am I going to get my quarter raise or my $0.50 raise at my part time job? I don't know. You talk about inflation and economics and can I hire somebody else that I can keep my wages.
00:08:26 Lynch
The same but inside of a registered apprenticeship program. There's the guaranteed wage increases when you're meeting certain benchmarks or threshold.
00:08:33 Lynch
Builds and then there's also coursework that supports whatever the registered apprenticeship program may be, and that course work can look different, right? Doctor Deyoung, depending on if we're in a teacher apprenticeship pathway or a skilled trades apprenticeship pathway in HVAC or mechanical or something like that.
00:08:50 De Jong
Yeah, that's really good. One thing that I want to point out that Mike was talking about earlier with student teachers not getting paid.
00:08:57 De Jong
South Dakota decided to implement an advanced student teacher permit and it just started this last fall and already 25% of our student teachers are getting paid at teachers salary and we actually predict that that number is going to increase. So rather than.
00:09:17 De Jong
Just getting student teachers, you know, for free, they're actually getting paid now.
00:09:23 De Jong
Which is.
00:09:24 De Jong
That that is a huge and and and school districts are using their substitute line item in their budget to to pay for some of that stuff as well. But Breanne, like you, you listed all the components of a apprenticeship pathway. I mean you hit the nail on the head that was that was really good.
00:09:45 De Jong
That's good. And So what happened? Our story at Dakota State going down that pathway, we applied for a grant for the South Dakota Department of Labor, and that was an absolute pivotal moment for.
00:10:01 De Jong
Us to be a part of the apprenticeship journey. So when we were granted that it was, it was a start. Today SD Grant, it was just $35,000, which was very gracious and it and it helped to help me pay my team to make some of the changes that we needed to make. But more importantly than the money.
00:10:22 De Jong
They gave us the credibility throughout the state for other entities to join us, so after we were, we were awarded that grant, the South Dakota Department of Education reached out to us and said, hey, we want to be helpful as as you go down this journey as.
00:10:39 De Jong
Well, and then out of the blue, the regional educational laboratory or realm, they reached out to me and they said, hey, we would like to help you as well. We were funded by the US Department of Education and we have consultants that work on high impact changes in the state. And we always pick one or two projects to get behind. And we want to get behind this.
00:11:04 De Jong
And then the South Dakota Department of or Board of Regents joined the initiative and then tie, which stands for technology and education. They joined the initiative. So really it all started with the South Dakota Department of Labor funds, but really the.
00:11:24 De Jong
Credibility that went along.
00:11:25 Lynch
With it, I think that's true for our program as well. Right, Doctor Amolins, I mean, I don't know if we would have jumped into registered youth apprenticeship specifically youth just being a defining characteristic of the apprenticeship. Meaning you can start as young as age 16 instead of age 18. But beyond that, they're exactly the same as any other registered apprenticeship program. We wouldn't have jumped into that boat if there wasn't funding.
00:11:46 Amolins
Right. No. And and I'm you know, I'm very grateful for the the grant that the Department of Labor has put together. And I think, you know, hats off to our legislature and our our governor for really. Really.
00:11:58 Amolins
Putting the seed funds in place to make that happen, I think that's that's worth acknowledging. Certainly. And and I think we all understand that, you know, you had mentioned, you know $35,000 it can go a long way for a period of time, but really that's where the expense is at is really getting these programs off of the ground once they're running. And you have partners in place.
00:12:19 Amolins
Then a lot of that, you know, self funds in a way once it's been established and and I think it certainly pays dividends. So it's worth the.
00:12:27 Lynch
Investment. So we're both fortunate, the Harrisburg School District, Dakota State University, recipient of these grant funds and I think that's really beneficial. I think that answers some questions for us. You know why now? Why did we jump on this ship? Well, anytime there's funding.
00:12:41 Lynch
Available. It makes things a little bit more accessible, right? We can do that.
00:12:45 Lynch
Make things happen. We do know these are federally recognized programs, so the application process can be daunting. Sometimes when you're looking at federal paperwork, what tips or ideas advice could you give to maybe people in K12 or post secondary that are looking at jumping into a federally recognized in South Dakota recognized apprenticeship program?
00:13:03 Amolins
Have a Breannene Lynch on your staff. Yeah, no.
00:13:08 Amolins
You know, certainly find people who have been a part of an apprenticeship program, organizations that that, you know, are a a sponsored site. Make sure you're interacting with the team at the Department of Labor. They've been just an incredible resource and just available for conversations about how to make those things happen. And just don't try to reinvent the wheel. I mean, there are. There are.
00:13:28 Amolins
You know, hundreds upon hundreds of examples out there across the nation of of organizations that have been able to establish this. And I think, you know, that's communication and relationships are our greatest resource.
00:13:39 De Jong
Yeah, absolutely. And don't underestimate the time commitment that it's going to take from somebody, right? It doesn't just the IT doesn't just happen. And if you're expecting somebody on your team to just take care of all the reporting and take care of all that stuff without freeing.
00:14:01 De Jong
Them up like deselecting something from. They put their normal job.
00:14:05 De Jong
You'll overwhelm people as well, so I'm not saying that you need to have like a bunch of new FTE full-time equivalent people to to help with this, but one of the things I'm watching closely is I I talk frequently with the the North Dakota's secretary of education, they call it a state Superintendent.
00:14:25 De Jong
And their assistant Superintendent. So I'm in communication with them almost on a weekly basis. And now that they're into the millions of dollars into their teacher apprenticeship pathway and now a principal apprenticeship path.
00:14:38 De Jong
Way they had to hire a full time person just to take care of the reporting information, so her name is Lynn Hammonds. And I talked with her late last week. And you know, she explained that there are software packages designed to help with.
00:15:00 De Jong
With all of the information that you have to collect. So for example in our story, it was a surprise to me that we had to report how much how the wage of a paraprofessional I'm like, boy, I I didn't know we were supposed to collect that. So then we are all looking at each other. Like, whose job is it to find out 90?
00:15:20 De Jong
The the exact like a contract for 90 pair of professionals throughout South Dakota and you have you have all those overwhelming moments setting things up so.
00:15:31 De Jong
Like Mike talked about talking to or getting somebody as either a mentor or a consultant or an advisor that's been through the process before. Very helpful.
00:15:43 Lynch
So the application process, I think maybe for some people listening in the K12 sector when you first open that up can look a little daunting whether you're applying for grant funds or the specific registered apprenticeship program.
00:15:54 Lynch
However, like Doctor Hamlin said, there's great examples out there. Don't reinvent the wheel and then reach out to people that have done it right. So we are still early adopters of this process. We have two students that are going to jump into our Registered Apprentice Youth apprenticeship pathway and start the actual earning and learning. So they've been able to take coursework already at our high school, which has been fantastic.
00:16:16 Lynch
But they will then get to partner with SE tech along the way, and then their employment partner of Weller Brothers landscaping as well. And so bringing all those people together in the K12 world before submitting that application was huge for.
00:16:31 Lynch
So I hate to have a meeting just to have a meeting, but that pre meeting for us that we had was essential. Otherwise I don't think we'd be where.
00:16:39 Amolins
We're at today. Yeah. And I think, you know, one of the important things that has come out of my role in the district here, I I do a lot of grant writing. And one of the things that I always try to think about before applying for a grant, and I think it applies.
00:16:52 Amolins
Here as well as is making sure you have all of the appropriate or correct relationships in place before you go after you know a major initiative like this and so you know, for example like you know, if I want to start a apprenticeship related to construction management, I probably need to have a relate.
00:17:10 Amolins
Ship with the construction company or with the Home Builders Association or somebody like that for a period of time before really going out and asking them to partner on something like this because it's a big commitment financially. As Doctor De Jongsaid it in terms of your time investment and then the other thing I always try to think about too is is at least as a K12 organization is triangulating that relationship.
00:17:33 Amolins
Only with somebody from the business sector, but also post secondary education. And so you know as a K12 Public school district. We need to have an Ave. to be able to earn and receive credits. We need to have an Ave. to employ our students as part of this process, right to earn and learn. And so I think it's important to foster those relationships and make sure that you have a vision for how all of that comes together.
00:18:01 Amolins
Before you actually apply, it doesn't have to be perfect, certainly. And and I think you're going to learn a lot in the process and you need to be flexible. But I think the more.
00:18:12 Amolins
Natural those relationships, naturally, those relationships are built, the more likely it is that you're going to be able to establish the types of relationships you need to be successful in a program like this.
00:18:24 Lynch
Yeah, let's jump into our specific program. So we have a registered Youth apprenticeship program and landscape management and horticulture technician. Our main business partner as Willer brothers landscaping. So close to us here to the Harrisburg High School.
00:18:37 Lynch
In general, if a parent or a learner comes to you and says, what's the benefit, why should I do this? How do you answer their question?
00:18:47 Amolins
Well, you know, I think.
00:18:51 Amolins
One of the interesting changes that we've seen in our graduating classes over the last I don't know decade or so is just this shift in mindset in terms of what their their post secondary plans are. You know, I see.
00:19:08 Amolins
The number of students going off to four year colleges and universities decreasing. I don't see the number of students graduating high school without a plan for their next step increasing. And what I mean by that is.
00:19:21 Amolins
Less students are choosing to dive right into a bachelors or undergraduate program, and they're exploring other options and.
00:19:29 Amolins
I think you know the idea of earning credentials, knowing exactly step by step what they're going to obtain by completing certain tasks or certain programs is really, really important to our graduates. And so when I talk to families, when they ask that question, Breanne, I I, I relate it to that.
00:19:50 Amolins
Experience and I I, you know, say hey, if you're questioning what you want to do or perhaps you know what you want to do.
00:19:57 Amolins
Wouldn't it be beneficial to maybe step into employment in that career field and and have an opportunity to, you know, again earn while you learn or or take some classes or be employed to really answer some of those questions and that's probably more of a philosophy for an internship. This is maybe the next step of that as an apprenticeship.
00:20:20 Amolins
But I think what's important is if I know exactly what I want to do.
00:20:25 Amolins
Then and and I've got a pathway to start employment in that field. I'm I might be avoiding a lot of steps that are unnecessary to earn, you know a certification or credential and and then be able to move on with my career.
00:20:41 Lynch
So let's bring in Emily. Emily's going to jump in and share a little bit of her interest.
00:20:45 Lynch
As to why she's interested in the registered Youth Apprenticeship program?
00:20:50 Lynch
Hey, Emily, thanks for joining us. Yeah, of course. So in interest in a registered Youth apprenticeship program, what was interesting to you and why have you decided to apply to this program.
00:21:02 Watson
What was interesting to me was that I was able to get hands on experience while getting those college credits that I wanted to have.
00:21:09 Watson
We kind of talked about it before, but I'm going into education, so having these like kind of pre things that allow me to have a specialty because I'm going into the greenhouse apprenticeship, which I think is the only one that.
00:21:20 Watson
I have, but with that I'm going to be getting hands on working with like landscaping and I'm going to be able to pull that information from what I learned from this apprenticeship and be able to teach it to my students when I'm a teacher or use it in my future life, or even helping out family when it comes to your project. So that was something that was really exciting to me. Also like looking at the different credits that I get.
00:21:40 Watson
With this apprenticeship knockout, some of the years in college that I go for, because it double s up on the stuff that I'm already learning, so those things will transfer.
00:21:48 Watson
Over and it will knockout college time for me, which is really exciting.
00:21:52 Lynch
Yeah, the ability to be able to pick up some credits along the way is a huge part of the apprenticeship program. So embedded inside of the apprenticeship are competencies or skills that you learn along the way, coursework which we just talked about and then that ability to earn a wage while you're learning.
00:22:09 Lynch
So for you, have you had a part time job in the past and maybe what was what were you doing then and you know was the ability to earn a wage part of your decision to jump into an apprenticeship?
00:22:20 Lynch
OK.
00:22:21 Watson
Definitely. So yes, I have had a job in the past. I've had multiple actually, but my current one right now is working at a daycare which I love, but having this apprenticeship wasn't really about the money for me. It was more about the learning aspect of things. I mean, having the paid apprenticeship is really nice and a benefit to having it, but for me it's more about the learning and the different type of skills I'm going to gain from it.
00:22:44 Watson
I'm able to go out and help work with them throughout the summer and I'll be able to transfer that knowledge not into like just right now, but I'll be able to take it and use it in the future. So that's really exciting for me and like being able to either work with.
00:22:57 Watson
To you for Mr. Christensen about different projects that they're going to have in their classrooms with this semester, with their landscaping class or different things like along the way for me anyways or talking to colleagues that I'll be working with or college students I'll be with. So having that information and talking to them when I'm like, learning about that stuff throughout that will be kind of exciting.
00:23:18 Lynch
Yeah, you've been a very active member of Harrisburg High School, FFA and the FFA chapter. Do you want to talk maybe a little bit about how FFA has prepared you for work and life outside of school and maybe as you embark upon your post secondary journey and apprenticeship?
00:23:34 Watson
Definitely so. FA has been a big part of my life ever since freshman year. I joined second semester doing my first egg.
00:23:41 Watson
Us with that overtime I've gained a lot of knowledge from T, F&M R Christensen about a bunch of different things, and they actually led me to decide what I wanted to do with my future career. I loved how hands on it was. Everything that I learned from there, learning how to use wood tools, learning how to Weld, learning about different plants, everything like that.
00:24:02 Watson
It was very exciting and then doing different competitions within that as well, like Cdes and Ldes, which prepared me for public speaking.
00:24:08 Watson
And like having a good job interview or plant identification and stuff like that has really helped me kind of get me to where I'm going. But one of the biggest things that like like distressed about FA&A classes is it's not like a normal class. It's not going to be like your English or math where it's lecture all day, maybe the first couple of weeks to get over the safety stuff, but after that.
00:24:30 Watson
Everything is hand.
00:24:31 Watson
On I can tell you how many days we were in the shop freshman year because we seemed like we were always out there because it was just the first couple of weeks of safety stuff, which is important necessary. Yeah.
00:24:43 Watson
Necessary stuff within. After that you're going straight in, hands on, and for me it's best because I'm a hands on learner. But I know for other people they like the textbook stuff and they do a really good job of putting both of those together, if that makes sense like they mash it. Kind of.
00:25:00 Watson
So having those options is really nice and like how well I learned from them, prepared me for the work life is because everything that I've done in a job has been very hands on. I mean, working with kids, being a barista, working at Shields, everything like that has been very hands on stuff and they've really taught me like good work ethic and how important it is to like.
00:25:21 Watson
Make sure that you're planning stuff and nothing overlaps.
00:25:24 Watson
Or time management is a really big one that I like to see because there's a lot of stuff that gets like onto your plate that you have to try and figure out. When am I gonna do this? When am I going to do that? So having that or like even taking the greenhouse class I took last semester and going in and making sure that you're watering your plants on a regular basis and everything like that scheduled. So having those abilities.
00:25:44 Watson
It's been really nice to just, like, learn all that stuff from them and it's been really nice to be able to.
00:25:48 Watson
For over that stuff that I learned from them into my like future career or what I do in my daily.
00:25:54 Watson
Life for my job.
00:25:56 Lynch
Yeah, that's fantastic information for students that maybe are considering a registered apprenticeship or maybe before that an internship. What advice or things would you like to share?
00:26:05 Watson
With them, I would like to say, like I know I've talked about it before, but it's it's more of just go for it. I mean, I know like thinking about different things.
00:26:17 Watson
I feel like I'm going to look back.
00:26:20 Watson
10 years from now, per se, and be like I'm so glad that I did that compared to me not doing it and being like ohh I wish I would have had that experience. I feel like high school is a good place to like branch out and try different things before you get into like college where you have to pay to branch out and.
00:26:35 Watson
Stuff like that.
00:26:36 Watson
So it's a good opportunity for students to see.
00:26:39 Watson
Different careers, different things that they can do without having to necessarily take on the college like load of having to pay however much for our course that teaches you about that.
00:26:49 Watson
So having that like experience, before you go into something or before you decide a major or a minor or whatever allows you just to have that good experience before you're like ohh yeah, I really don't like that. Yeah.
00:27:01 Lynch
Good point. Summing up your interest in apprenticeship in a few words, what are?
00:27:08 Lynch
You most excited about?
00:27:10 Watson
I think I'm most excited to learn about all the different parts of it like I looked at that sheet that you handed me that these. Yeah. And like, looking at some of the things like learning how to scale things for when you're drawing stuff out or doing your own project of, like, in somebody's yard. It's like something. Yeah. All of that is, like, really exciting to me as like.
00:27:16 Lynch
The competencies, yes.
00:27:26 Lynch
Yeah, being a project manager.
00:27:31 Watson
Actual hands on stuff. I'm also like I said before, really excited to just carry the stuff that I learned from this apprenticeship into my future career. Whatever I decide to do, if it.
00:27:40 Watson
Stays with teaching or if I decide to go into landscaping or nursery management or whatever it may be.
00:27:45 Lynch
Yeah. The transferable skills are endless.
00:27:47 Watson
Yeah, I'm one of those people that I'd like to say. Like, I get bored easily. So like, I like to branch out or try something new every now and then and so get having this, like experience will allow me to branch out. Or I could say, like on my future job application that I have a specialty in greenhouse management because of the apprenticeship that I did.
00:28:08 Watson
In high school.
00:28:09 Lynch
Yeah, it's really special. Well, thanks for joining us, Emily, and offering your insights as you begin your apprenticeship journey.
00:28:14 Watson
Yes, of course.
00:28:20 Lynch
So how does a school district decide where to jump into the registered Youth Apprenticeship program? I mean, how do you decide which program or pathway we know? CTE is huge. There's 16 occupational career clusters. How does the K12 institution decide where to go? And then Dr. de Young, how did you know where did DSU play into that? How did they decide that the teacher apprenticeship?
00:28:41 Lynch
Pathway was the right one at the right time. We'll start with you, Doctor.
00:28:45 Amolins
Yeah, well, you know, anytime we develop a new program at the high school or I mean any level really, one of the things that we're trying to do is is think about all the different variables that impact not only the efficiency of our programming, but what's going to give us the most impact. And so you know, we think about economic development in our community we think about.
00:29:05 Amolins
Employment opportunities. You know, when we built our home Builders Academy.
00:29:11 Amolins
You know, we looked at the the high demand, the high need for people in the construction industry and partnered with those individuals to create that program so that we knew we would be able to directly impact again the economic development surrounding that industry. And so you know, we certainly look to the community, we look to our partners that are out there, whether it's to the Chamber.
00:29:33 Amolins
Commerce, whether it's, you know, parents of students who own businesses in our community, whether it's the the organizations that we frequent or partner with on a regular.
00:29:42 Amolins
Basis, but then just as importantly we we we talked to our students, we talked to our families, we try to find out what it is that they're interested in pursuing as a career choice. And I think one of the things that I I'm extremely proud of in the Harrisburg School District is is the variety of opportunities we've been able to develop. You know, it doesn't matter if I want to become a doctor or I want to be.
00:30:05 Amolins
Become a landscaper. I want to work in the automotive industry or the business sector. It does. I mean, it doesn't really matter what direction the student wants to go. We've created pathways and and allow students to.
00:30:16 Amolins
To have options within those pathways, whether it's entering the workforce right out of high school or or getting a a certification of some kind or a two year or four year degree and so that's that's certainly part of it as well.
00:30:30 Lynch
So I think for us specifically choosing landscaping and horticulture seems like a curveball, right? I mean, here we are, Southern Sioux Falls sort of becoming a suburban school district, right. Although we are continuing to grow.
00:30:44 Lynch
I would say this program also came out of a need right. There was a lacking of true horticultural education in our egg program and a need for a greenhouse. We knew there was some funds available to do that, but we weren't just going to be able to obtain grant funding to build a greenhouse. It had to be bigger than that, the scope.
00:31:03 Lynch
Need to be larger? Can you elaborate on it?
00:31:05 Amolins
Certainly. Yeah. You know, when I think so, it's our egg food natural resources program, which a lot of people you know, associate with FFA, future farmers of Amy.
00:31:15 Amolins
You know, Harrisburg, 20 years ago was a rural farm town of 500 people and we had a single K12 school building and now, you know, we have 13 schools. We have 6000 students and two thirds 3/4 of those students live in Sioux Falls, which is 1/4 million people.
00:31:33 Amolins
Metropolitan area and so.
00:31:36 Amolins
You have to be willing to change and adapt to meet the needs of of your students and of your community, and so you know, we wanted to continue to honor our agricultural roots and really foster the development of that program, but we really had to think about it differently because the majority of our students didn't grow up on a farm.
00:31:56 Amolins
They you know, you hope that they have, you know, agricultural connections, being from South Dakota and knowing that that's such a rich part of our our past, present and future, but.
00:32:08 Amolins
We needed to think about it differently. You know, we the types of careers that our students are going to pursue if they go into the ag industry look different than the traditional farmer in a lot of cases and and you know, I think people sometimes forget when you think about.
00:32:22 Amolins
Landscaping and horticulture. I mean, every time a house is built, there's a huge agricultural component to that. Simply, you know, getting your lawn going and and landscaping around the house. Something as simple as that or really just developing Community green.
00:32:36 Amolins
Places thinking about urban farming and sustainable farming and thinking about, you know, some of those operations that are taking place in the field of hydroponics or aquaponics. These are industries that larger areas, residential areas like the Sioux Falls Community.
00:32:56 Amolins
If they don't already have, those industries will have those industries and so providing opportunities to continue on with our rich tradition while also opening the door to all those new new you know fields I think is a really, really important part of that vision and and it's so far it's been a really successful venture for us.
00:33:16 Lynch
We also don't want to compete, right? So looking at programs that were well established on the ability for students to get their CNA certification or you use the home builders as a good example of obtaining credentials or credits through a partnership with SE Tech in that residential construction area. Our goal is the K12 school district is to provide opportunities and ever to compete with programs that already exist.
00:33:37 Lynch
In our community, right.
00:33:38 Lynch
So although it seems strange, maybe I've I've had some people ask, like, why horticulture? Why landscaping? It was a natural fit. It was an area of a program that needed to be expanded to meet the needs of kids today in 2023-2024 and beyond, but also looking at horticulture, expanding career paths and opportunities into, like you said, Feeding America.
00:33:58 Lynch
Conservation those types of careers that maybe we just don't think of when we default to landscaping or horticulture.
00:34:04 Amolins
Yeah, and. And you know, when you think about agriculture in a more industrial setting or in a more urban?
00:34:09 Amolins
Setting you know, just give you a couple of examples within our greenhouse. We certainly are teaching traditional growing techniques, but we have something that's called a farm bot. If you go Google Farm Bot, you'll it'll take you to this. This really, really interesting robotic agriculture apparatus, I guess is the closest thing I can compare it to is like a.
00:34:31 Amolins
CNC machine or a CNC router, except instead of a router.
00:34:34 Amolins
It has all these different attachments. It it can water your plants, it will detect when something's growing that's not supposed to be there, so it'll weed your garden bed for you. It will maintain soil moisture and oxygen levels and all of those kinds of things. What is interesting about it is it's a garden bed, but there's open source software that the students.
00:34:56 Amolins
Program their growing operation into that really mimics what you would see in Precision AG on a large scale. So even if I'm out in rural South Dakota and I'm it's planting season or it it's, it's combining season.
00:35:11 Amolins
The software that they're working with is exactly what you'd see on the dashboard in one of those big machines out there. And so they're getting an opportunity to be exposed to that on a scale that makes sense for a high school. But likewise it, it could also be applied in a very, very different area where I've maybe got a again.
00:35:31 Amolins
In agriculture, operation going on or hydro.
00:35:33 Amolins
Phonics. You know, company that's growing tomatoes or something like that. It it's the exact same software. And so they get that opportunity. We've got a couple of other really cool things. We've got flood tables where the students can manage automated watering of plants. We've got an aquaponic system where we're going to be raising tilapia and growing, you know.
00:35:54 Amolins
Plants over the top of that fish tank, and so just some really, really unique things. We won't. Yeah, you don't you don't want to eat anything that you've you've named. That's certainly true.
00:36:00 Lynch
Don't name the fish.
00:36:02 Lynch
Because I think we're going to eat them.
00:36:06 De Jong
Is that like the last day of class you?
00:36:08 Lynch
Eat the fish so they're going to collaborate with the culinary program and they will learn how to effectively manage and harvest the fish, and then cook them appropriately because it's all about sustainability.
00:36:18 Amolins
Umm yeah. I mean, there gonna be growing other things for the culinary program too. Some different produce and some herbs and spices and things like that. So it's all about sustainability, right?
00:36:26 Lynch
So Speaking of growing, we've been talking about growing our own teachers for.
00:36:30 Lynch
A long time, I think anytime anybody's been interested in what does workforce development look like, how are we going to fill 300 plus open positions? It's been talked about in the legislature, it's been talked about on local news. So the teacher apprenticeship pathway.
00:36:46 Lynch
What did the rollout look like? Doctor De Jong?
00:36:48 De Jong
Yeah. Thanks. So we had a first figure out what is the demand out there, how many paraprofessionals are really interested in earning their teacher certification.
00:37:00 De Jong
And you know, we could, we could guess all we wanted. So I was a part of a pretty high level meeting at the state level and we were trying to guess or predict how many were interested. And one person said I think they'll be 40 Paris that want it to become a teacher, 1% thought 70 another person thought.
00:37:22 De Jong
And I was the outlier of the group when I got to me at the end, I go. I think there are hundreds of parents out there that want their teaching degree, and I'm willing to bet my professional career that they are in our state now. I said that because I knew that in Iowa, I was studying what they, their model and their roll out and how they figured that demand.
00:37:42 De Jong
Out and I, you know, I knew that the there's a lot of people and I was I was a principal Superintendent for eight years and I had three pairs in my building. One of my buildings alone that I was like oh, I wish you had your teaching degree I'd hire you in a second.
00:37:57 De Jong
And I was just like, there have to be lots of those stories. And in most school buildings throughout South Dakota. So the Department of Education came back and said, we have no way to get this data. We we don't know how to reach the paras in our state. There's not a database. We don't have their contact information. So I've been a part of a lot of dissertations.
00:38:18 De Jong
In South Dakota.
00:38:20 De Jong
Unfortunately, sorry for all those people that had to suffer through me with that. But but I I learned that if we go through a trusted source, we can get to that information. So we we kind of went did like a backwards design and we were like well, principals know how many who their parents are in their building and we're like, well, what's the best way to reach the principles?
00:38:42 De Jong
You're like, well, maybe not through the university level, but maybe through the Department of Ed level. So that's what we did. We worked with the REL to create a survey that was.
00:38:52 De Jong
Designed for Paris to fill out.
00:38:54 De Jong
And what we did is we sent those from the Department of Ed to principals and had them forward to their paraprofessionals. And I was like, oh, boy, I hope this works well. We had 632 responses from Paris in South Dakota and and of those 542 of them.
00:39:15 De Jong
Either said yes, or maybe they're interested in teacher certification and in that number over 250 our special Ed teachers.
00:39:24 De Jong
So if we really believe that the best place to recruit future teachers are our current classrooms right now in South Dakota, now we have the data that proves that they're out there and they that for whatever reason, they didn't get their degree right. Everybody has their own story and.
00:39:44 De Jong
So we targeted that group of people and we get the data came from 96% of school districts in South Dakota. So we had a pretty good statewide representation.
00:39:56 De Jong
And so we know that they're they're ready for us. So the Department of Ed opened up a application window and we had some troubles getting that open because we had some legal questions, like, can can you ask about criminal background? That's actually the the main what what cost us a a month or two?
00:40:17 De Jong
Because we didn't know what we could ask and what we couldn't ask in this application process. So once we got that sorted out, we launched the application for two weeks. We had 299 applicants for 60 spots in just a two week window.
00:40:33 De Jong
And I was like, all right, here we go. And the governor's office heard about that demand. And I met with them, shared this data with them. And and again, I want to come back to this. Like, you need to, as a as a leader, you really need to have data to back it back up. What is out there? It can't just be.
00:40:53 De Jong
While Mike thinks this or Breannene thinks this, when you have the data I watched how that changed the narrative on getting this off the ground, and that survey was absolutely critical.
00:41:06 De Jong
So the governor's office somehow supported it, and that number went up to about 90 slots. So on the first day of Class Dakota State University, first day of class in fall of 2023, we had 78 teacher apprentices in our program, which increased.
00:41:26 De Jong
Our overall enrollment in the College of Education by 36%. So now all of a sudden that created more demand for classes. I think in a matter of about a month I added 18 sections of courses that filled immediately.
00:41:44 De Jong
Right before the year began. So it was like the Wild West getting started. But on the other hand of that, how awesome is it that we're addressing the teacher shortage and helping people get started? So a little bit of data after the first semester that didn't end that long ago.
00:42:03 De Jong
But the teacher apprentices let me just like, have you guys guessed here? How many credits do you think that they registered in one semester? Just to put this into perspective?
00:42:14 De Jong
Is considered full time, so they're already full time workers. What's your prediction?
00:42:19 De Jong
Then my.
00:42:20 Amolins
So you're talking per teacher or total?
00:42:21 De Jong
Her teacher, apprentice. What was their average?
00:42:25 Amolins
I'd probably say 16.
00:42:26 De Jong
16 credits. What do you think, Breannena?
00:42:30 Lynch
I'm going to go 12.
00:42:32 De Jong
13.6 credits, so you know, now you have some full time humans. They have full time work and full-time students at the same time. So they got really, really busy. What do you think their GPA was on a four point scale after the first semester, taking that many?
00:42:53 Amolins
Say 3.7.
00:42:57 Lynch
And go straight up 3/5.
00:42:58 De Jong
3.54 is what it ended up I would say.
00:43:02 De Jong
Brand's a better guess.
00:43:03 Amolins
She's a much better guesser I do.
00:43:04 Lynch
I really like data, but you like data too. So we're we're numbers, people, sadly.
00:43:09 Lynch
Promise. We're still fun.
00:43:10 De Jong
Cut couple more. Couple more stats here. I'm going to have you guess out of the 78 teacher apprentices that got started at Dakota State. Guess how many dropped out. They're like, you know what? This isn't for me.
00:43:22 Amolins
I'm going to say 1/2.
00:43:23 De Jong
One, yeah. Good job, Mike. You're. But you're coming back. And here's the last piece of data I have for you. How many are still on? So they were, they all got.
00:43:26 Amolins
Coming back.
00:43:33 De Jong
Schedule that they could finish in two years, so one benefit that we had a lot of these teacher apprentices had already started their degree, so they already could transfer some credits in. Now the the flip side to that is they all dropped out. Literally every one of them stalled out.
00:43:54 De Jong
All 70.
00:43:55 De Jong
Right. So that's a different learner than you know an 18 year old coming out of a high school, right? So you know they we have primary mentors, we have secondary mentors. We're really providing support and we got good ideas from other states. So the last question I'll ask you is.
00:44:15 De Jong
All the teacher apprentices, how many are still on pace to graduate within that two year time frame? What what's? What's your guess? What percentage of them?
00:44:24 Lynch
97.
00:44:27 De Jong
I'll say 9595 on the ohhh yeah boom. You weren't even peeking.
00:44:33 De Jong
The good news is, is that's some pretty good data to show that these teacher apprentices are sticking with their coursework, but it's manageable. But it's rigorous. Yet at the same time, and almost all of them are still on pace to meet their goals. So that's pretty exciting right now.
00:44:51 Amolins
Can we can we can we assume then that other than the one that the rest are still on track to graduate just may?
00:44:57 Amolins
Their programs being extended by a little bit, yeah.
00:44:59 De Jong
Correct. So then they would have to pay for that. If we don't have any more funding, they'd have to pay for.
00:45:04 De Jong
Just one more semester.
00:45:06 De Jong
So which is OK.
00:45:06 Lynch
Well, what a great opportunity. I mean, life happens, right? There's illness, there's babies, there's family situations. There's all the uncontrollables. But but to still be able to come back and complete for a lot of these people, this is.
00:45:07 Amolins
What a great.
00:45:18 Lynch
Like a lifelong dream come true.
00:45:20 De Jong
Yes. Yeah, lots of redemption stories. I don't know how else to explain it, like hearing the stories from teacher apprentices was just. I'll give you one quick story here. So we had a, a teacher apprentice was going to visit her grandma.
00:45:35 De Jong
She goes to visit her grandma and her grandma had Dakota State University alumni magazine on her coffee table. And she's like grandma. She's like, why? Why do you have this there? And she's like, well, I graduated. I was a teacher. I graduated from General Beetle, which is a previous name of Dakota State University. That's how long ago she.
00:45:56 De Jong
Graduated. She got her teaching degree, you know, two generations before her granddaughter. When her granddaughter tried and and dropped out. And you know, she just was filled with emotions. Like almost felt like full circle. Like this is.
00:46:13 De Jong
A part of my grandma's story is now a part of my story and, you know, think how much that.
00:46:21 De Jong
Think how much that fuels that teacher apprentice. You know what I mean? Like what? A great. Yeah.
00:46:25 Amolins
It's a legacy, it really is.
00:46:26 De Jong
It is like.
00:46:27 De Jong
Yeah. So we're capturing lots of stories like that. And to be a part of an initiative that's making an A true impact on the state of South Dakota, it's just really rewarding. So.
00:46:39 Lynch
So registered apprenticeships are truly just knocking the goals and actually knocking all the barriers down right? Meeting goals, knocking down barriers, overcoming challenges that maybe families have dealt with for years and just opening doors. And you're one example of a very successful program.
00:46:59 Lynch
Year in year one, almost ready to embark on year 2. So do you have a application open for another round? What does the future look like for your program?
00:47:09 De Jong
Yeah. So right now everything is ready to go except for funding.
00:47:14 De Jong
And I've been working with our friends in North Dakota and they've been able to dump millions of dollars into their apprenticeship pathway and North Dakota just this last semester as well, has the first state to have a recognized principal apprenticeship pathway. So I'm hoping that.
00:47:35 De Jong
I I LED a webinar for their Deans in North Dakota talking about some of the things that we're doing. So we're learning from them. They're learning from us, you know, and I ended it with like Team Dakota. So I really hope to. Yeah, I hope to hitch my wagon to them later this week. I'm going to San Antonio to the first.
00:47:47 Lynch
Rah rah.
00:47:56 De Jong
National grow your own content.
00:47:58 De Jong
Mention so it will have representation from all 50 States and the keynote speakers are from North Dakota. So we need to pay attention to that and learn, learn from our friends and and.
00:48:12 De Jong
You know, get things really ramped up here in, in our.
00:48:15 De Jong
State is it?
00:48:16 Lynch
A. Grow your own focus on educators only or just growing your own in your state.
00:48:21 De Jong
Yeah, this one is just for education only. So it's it's led by David Donaldson is his name and he was a part of the the initiative that started in Tennessee.
00:48:32 De Jong
And he's considered as the national expert, you might say. So I have a a meeting with him later this week, just the two of us.
00:48:42 Lynch
That's awesome. So kind of on the horizon, right? Breaking news, we know that we've been trying to grow our own educators through a little organization called Educators Rising. So doctor Amolins, you want to speak maybe about what educators rising is and the benefits and.
00:48:56 Lynch
And maybe some coursework currently available at the high school to let kids test drive education, and then maybe doctor De Jongshare what the possibilities here are in Harrisburg, but also K12 schools across the state that maybe are interested in part of being part of that. Grow your own initiative.
00:49:15 Amolins
Yeah. So, you know, educators rising is a CTS O, which is a student student organization that's affiliated with a specific career pathway. And so again, I had mentioned FFA earlier in the in the podcast here. And and this would be a parallel to that in the education.
00:49:32 Amolins
World and really it it's Co curricular in nature. The students that are part of educators rising have the opportunity to take coursework in the education field to learn what it would really mean to be an educator. As a professional, they have an opportunity to experience what it means to be an educator. And so, you know, students who take our courses.
00:49:53 Amolins
We we set them up with practicum hours, so they're spending time in our middle schools and in our elementary schools working side by side with teachers throughout the semester and developing lesson plans.
00:50:03 Amolins
And attending, you know, planning meetings and intervention meetings to, you know, determine best practices for how to how to address the needs of a specific student, all those kinds of experiences that you know up until, I mean really and until somebody student teaching in a traditional pathway maybe haven't really had those opportunities in here. We have sophomores, juniors and seniors participating in that. We even have a freshman course that's.
00:50:26 Amolins
Maybe doesn't have them going out in the field, but it's more of an introductory level of of, of curriculum that really just talks about the field of education and gives them an opportunity to explore it from the class.
00:50:36 Amolins
This room and then you know, as far as the student organization or club outside of school, we've so so our our director of our state program is is Travis Lake who happens to also be an employee here in Harrisburg. And you know we've we've served on the board for educators rising together for several years now. And and it's it's been really exciting.
00:50:56 Amolins
Watch how.
00:50:58 Amolins
The school districts across the state have identified those students who maybe have an interest in education and really fostered, you know, not only those opportunities similar to what I just described in their own districts, but then how our post secondary institutions have really jumped on board understanding the the need to keep you know.
00:51:18 Amolins
Viable teaching candidates coming coming through the the training programs and so.
00:51:25 Amolins
We've we've been able to bring groups of educators, rising students, to really all of the the colleges and universities across the state of South Dakota. They've all taken an opportunity to to host an event or most of them have to host an event where they really get to showcase their program but really develop.
00:51:44 Amolins
More or less a conference for students to come in and work with their students and their professors in in, in.
00:51:52 Amolins
Activities and sessions that allow them to grow as an educator while also learning about the institution that they're visiting. And so we've seen a huge turn around. I think in the number of teaching candidates that have at least coming out of the Harrisburg School District simply because we've we've, you know, for generations, teachers teach students how to.
00:52:12 Amolins
About other career fields and other content areas and we, we forget that the one area that we're probably most qualified to teach is just something that we do instead of something that we share and.
00:52:23 Amolins
So we've we've really had an opportunity to foster those relationships throughout our school district and then just some really cool events too. Like I think of, you know, every spring we do a teacher signing day. So you think of your students who are declaring to go play basketball at at the University of Kansas or something like that. And they have their big signing event and people are there to support them and cheer them on.
00:52:43 Amolins
We've developed a similar model for our future educators, so we have representatives from the college and universities that they're going to attend come to the high school and in a day in the spring and our our students, families come and we serve a.
00:52:56 Amolins
Breakfast and talk about the importance of education as part of our society, and then the students get to sign a a letter of intent for the school and program that they're planning on being a part of. And it's just been really fun to be part of educators arising and see all these things develop over the last several years.
00:53:14 Lynch
And for those students that take maybe some of those exploration of teaching courses and have those practicum experiences for that abbreviated time, that 1520 hours in the.
00:53:24 Lynch
Classroom. We found that half of those kids come to me then as an internship coordinator and say this was great. What other opportunities do I have? What else can I do? And so we do have the internship program that's been great. We have educators across the district that have continued to open their classrooms for kids to come in and observe and prepare many lessons and work one-on-one with with kids, which is fantastic.
00:53:45 Lynch
But talking about data, we know there's an increasing number of students that are interested in education as a profession, and if we don't continue to foster that, we're going to lose that interest. Right? And so what's on the horizon? Doctor Deyoung.
00:53:58 De Jong
Well, first of all I want to give a big shout out to educators rising. I honestly think it's our state's best chance at recruiting future educators and also fostering their passion for education.
00:54:16 De Jong
And giving them an on ramp into the profession.
00:54:19 De Jong
And I think that that's absolutely critical and I've seen the principal organization in South Dakota donate money to this. I've seen the Superintendent organization, I've seen the organization of Deans, of Universities, of College, of Educations, donate to this. And there's a lot of people that want to see this.
00:54:41 De Jong
Exceed and Travis Slade has been an awesome leader of this and a promoter and getting other helping other school districts start an own chapter in their district. If you're listening to.
00:54:52 De Jong
This and you should ask your school district leaders if they have a chapter and if they don't, I'd encourage them to get started because I believe that it's an important part of the future of bringing teachers back to your district that are interested in teaching.
00:55:08 Lynch
I think that's great and you know, knowing that there's opportunities to continue beyond what we've currently established in the district. And just knowing that apprenticeship programs can continue to grow and flourish based on student interest and workforce needs in, in our.
00:55:27 De Jong
One of the things Breannene, I want to talk about the future too is I'm hearing with the teacher apprenticeship pathways. School leaders are saying OK, when my para becomes a teacher, how am I going to replenish my paras in my district? That's a very real concern through for every school district that has a teacher apprentice.
00:55:47 De Jong
So we're partnering with the Harrisburg schools to try to pilot high school paraprofessional pathway. And what does that actually look like to get high school students part of a registered youth apprenticeship pathway?
00:56:04 De Jong
Day to during their day before school, during their open sessions, after school in the summer, start working with kids to be a paraprofessional apprentice.
00:56:18 De Jong
We will be one of the the first states to get something like that off the ground. We want to pilot that in one day.
00:56:25 De Jong
1st work out the kinks and see if we can blow that up at a statewide level. I think that's just one more on ramp for kids interested in education to get excited. And of course we would want to include coursework in that to get them taking some college level coursework to just equip them for the next stage.
00:56:46 De Jong
Of a possible career, I'm excited.
00:56:49 Lynch
Yeah, we already have a dual credit opportunities in so many different CTE pathways, right?
00:56:53 Lynch
But is it purposeful to take a dual credit in social sciences and then one in education and then another in agriculture? Or does dual credit have more meaning when it's embedded inside of a apprenticeship program or a program that you can then use as you're calling it an on ramp into something that you can?
00:57:14 Lynch
Jump into either at our technical schools or at one of the rental schools, or even the private schools.
00:57:18 Amolins
Here in the state. Yeah. And I I think that's a really good point, Breanne and I.
00:57:21 Amolins
Know you know to.
00:57:22 Amolins
To David's point, you know we're we're trying to fill a need on on multiple levels here, right and.
00:57:28 Amolins
You can't. You know, Rob Peter to pay Paul, right? Like you have to. You have to have some sort of an influx into the into the programming that you're offering. And so I think, you know, students, let's just look at high school students as an example. As I mentioned, they they want to be very intentional about the programming that they're that they're scheduling for themselves even while they're in high school. And so.
00:57:51 Amolins
You know, if I have an opportunity to earn credit or earn wages or earn something.
00:57:56 Amolins
And that will get me closer to the whatever goal it is that I have for myself professionally, we're seeing more and more students that are being attracted to that kind of a model. And so, you know, if that means becoming a pair professional while I'm a high schooler and and earning some credit or get some work experience along the way, I think there's that there's an attractiveness to that.
00:58:16 Amolins
And and you know, we've started to establish some of those credit opportunities for students independent of the apprenticeship. But I think it's a natural fit then to say, OK, we have this infrastructure in.
00:58:26 Amolins
Place what else can we do to offer opportunities and pathways to our students and not just those that are, you know, going to go on to undergraduate, you know, some of these students may land in a paraprofessional role and say, hey, you know what this is? This is great for me, for this stage of my life, you know, we hear all the time.
00:58:46 Amolins
About students who, you know don't want to go to college right out of school. Or maybe they're still kind of searching and maybe they've got a passion for kids. And this is a good fit for them. And I know there's not a school district out there. If they were told, hey, you're going to have this, you know, 1718 year old student, and they're going to, they're going to commit to working as a pair of professional in your district for the next two or three years.
00:59:07 Amolins
There's not a district that wouldn't say yes to that, yeah.
00:59:12 Lynch
I think that's amazing and I I think we're at the point where we're going have to start to wrap this up. So the wealth of knowledge I'm out doctored in the room, I've got doctor to the left and right, and then there's just me. So we're going to have to button up this conversation before the doctors run wild. But the apprenticeship program in South Dakota.
00:59:31 Lynch
Is truly changing lives, and I don't think we can overstate that. And I don't think that's an embellishment either. Whether that's a registered youth apprenticeship starting, you know, at age 16 in the high school world or looking at opportunities for people that have already been in the workforce or have tried traditional collegiate education. And it just didn't work out for them.
00:59:50 Lynch
Whatever that may be. So I have two final questions. Let's start with next steps. Where do we see this? You know, Doctor Young, maybe. Where do you see your program or where do you see the state of apprenticeship in the next two years, five years, Doctor Amolins, where does Harrisburg School District go with registered youth apprenticeships in the next two?
01:00:08 Lynch
To five years.
01:00:10 De Jong
So I think the future is bright for apprenticeships. I do not predict that it will like supplant the current teacher preparation pathway that most people, most teachers are educated with. But I do like it that it's just one more pathway.
01:00:30 De Jong
To get more people into careers that they want to, and in this case it's becoming a teacher and I'm excited to see, I I believe it's going to go.
01:00:43 De Jong
Deadly just from this massive influx of about 90 new teachers and every year, I hopefully that we normalize the conversation we.
01:00:56 De Jong
Workout all the kinks and I and I. I'm excited for that into the future.
01:01:02 Amolins
Yeah. I think for the Harrisburg School District, certainly education is going to continue to be a major focus of ours. We obviously see that need and and education, if you're going to impact the world.
01:01:12 Amolins
Was you're the best Ave. to do that because you're touching individuals in all aspects of life, regardless of what direction they want to go as far as programming is concerned, I'm willing to bet that in 10 years we have apprenticeships infused into every single program and pathway available at our high school level. I see numerous professions.
01:01:34 Amolins
Being a part of the.
01:01:35 Amolins
Yes. And and I say that because I think our philosophy as a district has really, really been focused for some time now on on that pathway development and providing opportunities across all of these career fields really in our within our CTE department, but but again expanding those partnerships across the board. And I think we've spent a lot of time.
01:01:56 Amolins
Fostering relationships and investing in in our community and and the organizations that represent that community and I I just, I don't see that shifting anytime soon. And so I think.
01:02:10 Amolins
Having additional apprenticeships is is a natural next step with many of those relationships.
01:02:16 Lynch
Yeah, I think that's fantastic and looking at if I'm a K12 leader administrator, I'm a post secondary leader, administrator.
01:02:26 Lynch
Where do I start?
01:02:27 Lynch
What do I do? How do I discern what's best for my learners, my community, my program, my school?
01:02:39 Amolins
Well, I think.
01:02:40 Amolins
As I had mentioned earlier, I think the the first thing you need to do is make sure you have those relationships established within your community. You need to know what what it is that they need, what what do your students want to do, what does your community need in order to grow and thrive and are there natural connections that can be made that you can explore as a starting point? Because the reality is is.
01:03:02 Amolins
Once you've established your first apprenticeship program, it's easy to add on and and use that model again and again and again. So start where your greatest need and interests lie.
01:03:12 Amolins
OK, because it's going to be a lot easier and less of an uphill battle than if you try to dive into something that just looks flashy or as exciting, even though it's not a good fit for your community.
01:03:25 De Jong
It's interesting that you say once you start one apprenticeship pathway, others emerge. So at Dakota State University this semester, we're doing cyber apprenticeships, right? Isn't that a very natural DSU thing? Right. So they're going to replicate our model.
01:03:40 De Jong
And we're going to go after cyber apprenticeships here this this spring also, like, if I was a leader and I was considering an apprenticeship pathway of any type, I would first ask myself, like, OK, as a as an organization, who are we and where are we going? And I think those two questions are pretty simple.
01:04:03 De Jong
But if you are a program, for example in teacher preparation and you are all about your face to face interactions, you are in a high population density area and that's who you are as an organization that.
01:04:23 De Jong
You know it, it would be a harder start for you than if you were a program like we were for 10 years. We had online teacher preparation.
01:04:33 De Jong
And we were already identifying in our program our best online students were the paraprofessionals in schools. Think of how different those two scenarios are to getting started. Now, it's not impossible, but from a very practical standpoint, if you're a, you're a Dean or you're a program chair of teacher.
01:04:54 De Jong
Education and you have to double your work load. So now you're teaching a class face to face and now you got to do it online or you're teaching it during the day and now you got to do it at night. That is not practical.
01:05:08 De Jong
For a program to get started, so you got to know who you are and where you're going, and if you, if those fall within an apprenticeship pathway and that that model. And that seems right to you, I would say go after it and keep following all the open doors that and it's been exciting for us to be.
01:05:28 De Jong
You know, diving into this in the past year or.
01:05:33 Lynch
All right. I think all of us agree that learning happens in so many different forms, right? And I think that's the the whole point of this episode, to know that learning doesn't have to happen within the four walls of the schoolhouse. Right, Mr. Holbeck would say learning doesn't have to just take place in the four walls of the schoolhouse. So knowing that and knowing that apprenticeships are here to stay and there's.
01:05:54 Lynch
A wealth of knowledge in the state, maybe forming A-Team Dakotas champion to figure all those things out in the logistics. But final thoughts from the two of you. And then we'll send our 412 listeners on their way.
01:06:08 Amolins
Well, I think just, you know, I would encourage the listeners to just reach out, reach out to your schools, reach out to your communities and ask questions about apprenticeships and the programs that are happening in your education system and try to be an active part of that process because what that's going to do is is ultimately help guide and foster learning, which is really, I mean it.
01:06:27 Amolins
It takes a village. We hear that all the time. And so I think that would be my, my, my number one piece of encouragement is just to to become active in this process and and help foster those relationships and and program development.
01:06:40 De Jong
Well, along with the relationships that Mike keeps talking about, I want to thank the Harrisburg School District for just being a good partner in the state. You know they're you're considered one of the leaders in the state of South Dakota and it's because of Breanne and and Mike and and so many other great people in this district from, from leaders to teachers.
01:07:00 De Jong
To everybody, you're great innovators, and we need you in the state to keep pushing that envelope, thinking about new ways to do things and and keep serving the students of the district in South Dakota well. So keep it up.
01:07:17 Lynch
Well, thanks, Harrisburg. We hope you enjoyed this episode all about apprenticeship and registered youth apprenticeship in the state of South Dakota. If you would like to learn more about career and technical education in the Harrisburg School District, check out one of our other episodes celebrating CTE.