The Tri-Valley Education Rising Chapter, under the direction of leader Rachel Sturm, went to DWU in Mitchell to learn about opportunities in the education field. (Photo/Submitted)

Sara Stadem | Editor

Both Tri-Valley (TV) and West Central (WC) schools have been busy this school year with participating in the Educators Rising program which is part of the Career and Technical Student Organization.
Educators Rising is a program that was started to encourage students to explore teaching in the hope that those same students would choose to become teachers, West Central teacher and Educators Rising Leader Kim Schmidt explained.
Schmidt said, “It gives the students the chance to see what it is like to be a teacher and gain some experiences that teachers actually have.”
Tri-Valley teacher and Educators Rising Leader Rachel Sturm also added this program is an opportunity for students to learn more about and become excited for a career in education with opportunities for learning, growing and competing.
Statewide students can join Educators Rising as early as their freshman year and remain in the program through their senior year.
For WC, this is their third year participating in the program, currently with 17 students in their chapter, quite a few being seniors who have been in the program for several years, Schmidt explained.
According to Sturm, this school year TV kicked off their first year participating in Educators Rising with 13 students in their chapter. The Tri-Valley Educators Rising Chapter is currently focusing on sophomores through seniors.
Throughout the year, chapters can schedule events for students to participate in such as field trips to area colleges in order to learn more about a career in education. “Students have the opportunity to compete in a variety of events to showcase their knowledge in different educational areas,” Sturm said. The TV Chapter plans to meet on a monthly basis with hopes to become more active in their school, Sturm said.
Schmidt explained the WC chapter had their first field trip in September which was at the University of South Dakota (USD) in Vermillion. This event consisted of students listening to speakers in the teaching field, two breakout sessions introducing them to the opportunities available to education majors such as counseling and leadership along with a panel of college students that are student teaching now.
In October, the WC chapter had the superintendent, high school principal, school board president and a teacher speak with the students about the hiring process in the education field. “This leadership group took the students through what they look for as far as hiring new teachers and how to interview and follow up on that interview,” Schmidt said.
Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) in Mitchell was the next stop for the WC chapter in November. According to Schmidt, at DWU, students were able to hear the 2021 Teacher of the Year speak with options of four breakout sessions in the morning and another four in the afternoon. While at DWU, the students were also treated to a lunch and a panel of current teaching candidates from the USD campus.
The TV Chapter also attended DWU in November which marked their first event they attended for Educators Rising, Sturm explained. “Our visit to DWU was fantastic,” Sturm said. “Students had so many take-aways and are excited for the future!” She continued, “I thought that this was one of the best events I’ve taken students to. There was so much energy and positivity, such a great experience!”
Coming up in December for the TV chapter is a trip to Aberdeen in order to attend the expo at Northern State University (NSU) as well as the state conference at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings.
The WC students will be focusing on shadowing a teacher or grade level that they have an interest in through the months of December and January. “I think it’s important to see what a day in the life of a teacher is like and that could include recess duty, lunch duty or coaching,” said Schmidt.
“There is a growing teacher shortage in the nation but it is felt even more acutely in South Dakota. This isn’t new news,” Schmidt said, explaining she knew there was going to be a teacher shortage when she took her own daughter to a college visit and were the only ones attending the session for education majors. Schmidt recalls that as a scary moment for her, wondering who was going to be teaching children if no one is looking at education as a career.
“I have taught for 30 years and the last few years I have never seen so few teaching candidates. When the opportunity to lead Educators Rising came up this past year, I knew I wanted to encourage our young people to go into teaching,” Schmidt said. She continued, “There truly is no other job like it. We need quality people educating our children. I look forward to seeing this group of young people in the classroom in the next few years…maybe even teaching my grandchild.”
Sturm concluded, “We’re just excited to get this started in TV and I can’t wait to see what students do.”