Andrew Atwal/P&D | Posted: Sunday, June 30, 2013 10:13 pm
Yankton’s Dogs ‘R’ Us 4-H group held its first Pet Palooza event Saturday at the Yankton County 4-H Grounds. The event featured petting zoos, fingerprinting for youth, a dog show, an appearance by the Yankton Police K-9 unit and pet contests. Animals on site included dogs, cats, alpacas, ponies and this hungry camel, who is shown being fed by a delighted little girl.
Posted: Friday, June 28, 2013 10:00 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Joe Gertsema is leaving the Yankton School District (YSD) after 22 years, but he’s not leaving education.
Gertsema, whose official last day with the district is Sunday, is now teaching school finance at the University of Sioux Falls as well as an additional course at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell.
“I just started teaching college classes this week, but teaching on the college level has always been on my bucket list,” he said. “Over the course of time as an administrator, I’ve been able to pick up a lot of experience and I’m looking forward to sharing it with aspiring school educators.”
Gertsema announced his resignation last December. He said had been contemplating the decision to resign for about a year and felt that it was a good time for him to leave.
He said it was a privilege to serve as superintendent of YSD.
“My time here went quickly, and I viewed it is an honor to serve here as superintendent,” Gertsema said. “I’m most proud of student achievement during my time as superintendent, but this is the result of many people doing their jobs, including teachers, administrators and other employees — everyone contributes to student success.”
He added that the school board has been good about keeping student achievement a top goal of the district.
School board member Jay Williams said Gertsema has been a “tireless advocate for the Yankton School District.”
“Prior to my election to the school board, I had the opportunity to know him as a parent, with my children in the school system, and as a fellow member of a local service organization and as a friend,” Williams said.
When Gertsema arrived at YSD more than two decades ago, he began working on a project to develop the facilities at the district. He formulated a plan that included a joint relationship between the city and school district that led to the building of the Yankton High School (YHS) and Summit Activities Center.
Williams said that he has always been impressed with Gertsema’s leadership of the school district.
“When it became apparent more than 20 years ago that the district needed a new school to replace the aging middle school, it was Dr. Gertsema’s leadership and efforts that led to building the Summit Center and new high school,” he said. “We built a first-class facility that, not only serves the high school students, but also provides a major recreational facility for the community.”
Williams noted that this creative solution allowed YSD and the city to cooperate in both building the facility and then sharing it.
“This was a major accomplishment that Dr. Gertsema can be very proud of,” he said. “Of course, the project also included renovating the old high school into the new middle school, which has also served our students well for the last 20 years.”
Williams said Gertsema also served in a leadership role with the Yankton Rotary Club.
“As a fellow Rotary member, I watched Gertsema serve as president of the organization,” Williams said. “His unselfish volunteer activities with Rotary and other organizations go largely unnoticed, but they contributed by helping to make Yankton a better place to live.”
YSD school board president Chris Specht said he appreciates the team with which Gertsema surrounded himself.
“Gertsema was able to surround himself with quality leaders and educators,” he said. “If you look at the current administrative team, faculty and staff, he had a hand in hiring the vast majority of them. Those folks work hard to provide quality educational opportunities for students in a safe and well-maintained environment.”
New YSD superintendent Wayne Kindle said he appreciated that Gertsema allowed building principals to run their own schools, while also holding them accountable. Kindle also said Gertsema’s experience was crucial in how he ran the school district.
“Gertsema had many years of experience in education, which led to good problem solving skills related to school issues that came up throughout the school year,” Kindle said. “He was also able to accomplish a lot of good things over the years, including building the Summit Center, which has been an asset to our community and students.”
Kindle added that he enjoyed working for Gertsema over the years.
“Gertsema was a good boss to work for and he wasn’t afraid to tell you if something needed to be changed,” he said. “I appreciate the fact that Gertsema hired me and allowed me to have an opportunity in the Yankton School District.”
Although Gertsema said he’s proud of all of his accomplishments, he’s most proud of being able to see students succeed at YSD.
“Seeing students succeed is the biggest reward for me and it’s why I’ve always been in education,” he said. “I think another thing was the facilities situation at YSD was improved immensely during my time there. Also, being able to continue the academic and activity program tradition the district had before I came in was important to me.”
However, it was not all smooth sailing for Gertsema during his tenure. Two property tax opt-outs failed, and he was also arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) last October, an incident he was forthright about right after it happened. In addition, YSD has faced a declining enrollment and state education cuts that Gertsema has had to deal with over the past several years.
Kindle said one of the things he appreciated most about Gertsema was all he was able to provide students and faculty members of YSD.
“He did a lot of good things for our students and staff here,” Kindle said. “I appreciated it when he would be frank and candid with you, because you always knew the next day was a new day.”
Specht said Gertsema expected faculty members to do their jobs while and expected positive outcomes for students.
“While he had high expectations, he always tried to stay out of the day-to-day operations of the buildings and left that to his administrative team,” Specht said. “During my time on the board, we always had a professional relationships. I believe there was a mutual respect in that I did not try to tell Gertsema how to be superintendent and he did not try to tell me how to be a good board member.”
He added that board members understood their roles with Gertsema in charge and felt as if they could disagree on an issue, but move forward and be able to support decisions made once the votes were counted.
Gertsema said he always took his job at YSD seriously.
“I wish the district, students, staff and board members well,” he said. “Being superintendent at YSD was my job for more than 20 years and I know I’m leaving the district better than I found it. I hope YSD continues to improve and thrive and believe the kids of the district deserve that. I wish Dr. Kindle well. I’ve known him for 20 years and it has been fun contributing to his career.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 10:29 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
A new study shows that 103,180 people in South Dakota do not know where their next meal will come from. In addition, of those 103,180 people, 36,110 are children.
The Feeding America study also shows that 12.5 percent of the state population will struggle with hunger.
Locally, there are varying levels of people who are “food insecure.” Food insecurity is defined by the USDA as “consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money or other resources at times throughout the year.”
In Yankton County, 10.9 percent of the population is considered food insecure, or 2,450 total people. Of that total, 40 percent fall below the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) threshold of 130 percent of the poverty level.
In Bon Homme County, 10.8 percent of the population is deemed food insecure. This percentage is 13.9 percent in Charles Mix County and 15.1 percent in Clay County.
Nearly 14 percent of the Nebraska population deals is food insecure, including 11.3 percent for Knox County and 9.2 percent in Cedar County.
“This is the third study Feeding America has done, going back to the time when the measurement for the need of food assistance was based on just a few factors,” said Matt Gassen, executive director of Feeding South Dakota. “The new approach and formula was created using those few factors and adding in others to have a better determination of the amount of people across the country who are food insecure.”
He added that the term “food insecure” is new, as people are used to using the term “hunger”.
“This is really about the entitlement for every American to have three meals each day,” Gassen said. “If someone is food insecure, it means they don’t know if they can have food for a given meal.”
This study allows officials from across the country to look at food insecurity rates in each county.
“This really helps us identify the areas in South Dakota that have a greater need and we can focus more on those areas,” he said.
South Dakota has experienced a slight increase in the number of people who are food insecure from the last study.
“There are about 1,000 more people in this study who are said to be food insecure,” Gassen said. “However, there has also been an increase in the population of South Dakota. So you could summarize that it’s a natural increase that comes with a greater population base.”
Officials at Feeding South Dakota said the study confirms, to an extent, what they already knew.
“We know that there are a lot of people in the state struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table,” Gassen said. “The study enables us to … see how many meals are being missed and look at data by areas in the state.”
He added that even though there is a large number of people in the state who need food assistance, officials at Feeding South Dakota will not be overwhelmed by the number.
“These statistics are what keep us up at night,” Gassen said. “We want to be able to figure out better and more efficient ways to get food to different areas across the state.”
He said the figure he found most interesting in the study was that the group between 130 and 185 percent of the poverty level makes up about 14 percent of those that are food insecure in South Dakota. However, the number of people who are food insecure jumps up to around 50 percent of those people who are at least 185 percent of the poverty level.
“As a whole, the numbers are significant,” Gassen said. “The percentage breakout tells us different stories and shows that some families are struggling with their incomes, working poor families and people who are struggling with non-liveable wages.”
He noted the fastest growing group of food insecure people in the state could be the working poor and seniors.
“There are a lot of rising costs right now, including food costs, fuel costs, utilities and medications,” Gassen said. “Although these groups might make enough money to survive, in reality they don’t.”
Feeding South Dakota aims to help citizens in a number of different ways, including by running food pantries and food banks.
“We base the food pantry on other organizations’ needs, so the community gets to decide who needs the food assistance. We just provide it,” Gassen said. “The food bank provides and distributes foods to non-profits across the state. However, all of the programs we run have one thing in common — providing food assistance to individuals and families across the state.”
Feeding South Dakota also runs a mobile food pantry program that distributes food straight off the truck to around a dozen communities each year.
“We understand when people are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, it could be the result of a number of different factors,” Gassen said. “The solution to that — in simple form — comes from higher paying jobs and education. Some communities also need better access to low-cost meals, and some rural communities don’t even have access to grocery stores, or grocery stores where food is more affordable.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Andrew Atwal/P&D
Sean Wamble, facilities manager for Walnut Hill and East Meadows apartments in Yankton, will begin construction of a community garden for residents beginning this week. Wamble, along with property manager Kristal Seeden, are seeking donations for the garden and volunteers to help set the garden up.
Posted: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 10:44 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Statistics show that every bite of food the average American citizens consumes today travels more than 1,500 miles to get to the plate.
On the other hand, gardening greatly shortens that distance and eliminates higher costs associated with food transportation and retail price markup.
In an effort to cut down food costs for residents, officials at the Walnut Hill and East Meadows apartments are beginning to construct a community garden open only to their residents, all of whom are on income-based rent.
“We are trying to give our residents access to produce that is cheap and, for the most part, free,” said Kristal Seeden, property manager at Walnut Hill and East Meadows. “We’re going to also do our best to provide some plants and seeds, and we’re trying to find as many donations we can to help cover those.”
Officials are seeking donations of several different items.
“We need supplies to help build the garden, not just money,” Seeden said. “We’re also looking for volunteers to help set up the garden and gardening and lawn supplies, as well.”
Ace Hardware in Yankton is also set to help officials out by donating about $100 of merchandise for the garden.
Sean Wamble, facilities manager at Walnut Hill and East Meadows said he’s currently going to be the only person constructing the garden.
“The garden will be 50-by-50, so it’s a lot of work to get it going,” he said. “Starting this week, I’ll cut up sod and till it. Getting the gardening going will be a job in itself.”
Despite just beginning to construct the garden, Wamble hopes to have it open at the beginning of July, weather permitting.
The idea came about when Wamble, Seeden and operations manager Christina Pixley were still living in California.
“Community gardens are really common in California,” Wamble said. “The city in California that we are from has community gardens all over, so I think Christina (Pixley) wanted to be able to help out the low-income families that live here. A lot of them don’t get a chance to get fresh fruits and vegetables.”
Seeden said residents have been very interested in the community garden.
“We had a kickoff party a few weeks ago and had a really good turnout,” she said. “So far, we have around 10 people signed up to have a plot, and plots are all free for our residents.”
Wamble added that he thinks the garden can provide a sense of community for residents.
“People can work together and have a common-ground place, as well as meet other residents that live here,” he said. “We’re allowing people to plant whatever they want as time permits and as long as it’s legal. I’m assuming we’re going to have a lot of people planting tomatoes, rhubarb, herbs, lettuce and onions. We also have an area for vertical crops like corn.”
Those interested in donating to the garden can contact Wamble at 562-333-6847 or Seeden at 605-665-4512.
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Friday, June 14, 2013 10:26 pm | Updated: 12:08 pm, Sat Jun 15, 2013.
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Officials across the region are stressing the importance of safety this summer when you head out on the water — wjether it’s a river or a lake, or if it’s a backyard swimming pool.
Brittany Orr, recreation coordinator for the City of Yankton, said there are a number of safety precautions families should take when they go swimming with their kids, either at a home pool or a city pool.
“I would tell parents that do have a home in-ground pool to have a gate or fence around it in order to prevent neighbors or anyone else from being able to get in there,” she said. “If it’s an above-ground pool with a ladder that goes into it, parents should remove the ladder so their kids can’t get into it at any time.”
Orr said most issues that take place at city pools, including Memorial Pool and the Summit Activities Center (SAC) pool, come from supervision.
“If you bring kids to a pool, especially those who are 5 or 6 years old and younger, our lifeguards aren’t supervisors,” she said. “Lifeguards are there to help, but they do not overtake parental or guardian supervision. We recommend young kids have someone 15 years old or older to supervise them while they’re at the pool.”
She added that parents or guardians watching kids should be actively supervising them.
“This means that parents and guardians should be standing at the edge of the pool, in the water or at the side of the pool,” Orr said. “This allows them to pay a lot more attention rather than if they’re laying on the pool deck.”
Another issue that officials at city pools face occurs when kids show up without wearing sunscreen.
“This is a big issue at Memorial Pool. Kids come without sunscreen and are left there for seven hours,” Orr said. “We’re able to provide some with sunscreen from the lost-and-found, but when at least 200 kids are there, we can’t get sunscreen for everyone. This is really bad for kids’ skin and it’s painful, as well.”
Orr said patrons to city pools should not swim if they’re sick.
“If you’re sick, there is a big risk of vomiting in the pool, which spreads bacteria,” she said. “People also need to wash their hands after they use the bathroom and shower before and after they’re in a city pool.”
Orr added that if you go to the lake or river before going to the pool, you should wash your swimsuit because there are bacteria at lakes and rivers that officials do not want to have transported into their pools.
Officials that work at city pools send weekly water samples to the state to test for bacteria and make sure there is no bacteria in the water.
“We also check our water multiple times a day to make sure chemical levels, including chlorine and pH, are where they need to be,” Orr said. “If something breaks in the pool, we’ll try to fix it in a timely manner but will shut down the pool if it becomes a safety issue.”
She added that it is especially important for parents to watch their kids if they go into deeper areas to reduce the risk of drowning.
“Although we have a rope to keep kids from going into a deep area, it’s not a wall and they can still get through,” Orr said. “Parents should keep an eye out to where their kids are, how tall they are and where they can touch (the bottom of) the pool. They need to be knowledgeable of how far their kid can go in the pool. If they can’t touch, parents should just be in the water with them.”
Orr said supervision is also important at home pools.
“Parents should always supervise their children at home and never leave them unattended in the water, even if they are good swimmers,” she said. “There should always be someone outside just to watch kids, not to pick weeds while watching the kids in the pool.”
Orr said parents need to watch their kids in the pool to prevent “huge risks.”
“There are so many circumstances that drowning can come from so someone should always have their eyes on the kids in the pool,” she said. “If no one is supervising kids in the pool, parents are putting their kids at a huge risk for drowning.”
Not all safety issues occur at pools. There are also a number of precautions boaters should take when they head out on the water.
Brandon Gust, law enforcement specialist for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P) offered several tips for boaters.
“Boaters should always wear a life jacket,” he said. “Seat belts don’t work if you’re not wearing them and neither do life jackets. In addition, boaters should also make sure they have enough life jackets on board for everyone in their vessel.”
Gust said boaters should always have a safe and sober operator as alcohol accounts for around 17 percent of boating fatalities nationwide.
“Another safety tip I would give to boaters is that if their vessel is more than 16 feet in length, they should have a throwable life-saving device on board as well,” he said. “Also, if your vessel has enclosed gas compartments, make sure to have a working fire extinguisher on board.”
Throwable life saving devices include those that are designed to be grasped, not worn. These include ring-type devices and certain types of boat cushions.
Gust recommends that new boaters should take a boating safety course, and the GF&P offers three online courses that can be taken at a boaters leisure. The courses can be accessed at http://gfp.sd.gov/fishing-boating/boating/default.aspx.
“Boaters also need to know all the laws and regulations before they take to the water,” he said. “They can pick up a free boating safety handbook from any state GF&P office to help them out with this.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Assistant Principal Moving Up To Replace Kindle
Kelly Hertz/P&D
After interviewing four finalists, Yankton School District (YSD) school board members chose current Yankton High School (YHS) assistant principal Jennifer Johnke to replace Wayne Kindle as principal of the school. Johnke said she is looking forward to her new position and working with students, staff, parents and members of the community.
Posted: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 9:35 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Jennifer Johnke is ready to further her career at home at Yankton High School (YHS).
“I taught math at YHS for nine years, before I moved into my current position as YHS assistant principal,” she said. “I know that YHS is a great place to work and when the opportunity came up for the principal position, I decided I wanted to apply for it.”
After four finalists were interviewed for the YHS principal position in May, board members said Johnke stood out as the candidate they wanted to hire.
A few weeks later it was announced that she would take over for Wayne Kindle as YHS’ new principal for the 2013-14 school term.
Johnke had been the assistant principal at YHS for the last three years and had also previously served as a dance coach for eight years.
She said her new role as principal will have a lot more facets to it compared to her current position as assistant principal.
“My main duties as assistant principal have primarily been discipline and attendance,” Johnke said. “The principal of the school oversees everything that happens in the building, so there is a lot more responsibility that comes with the new position.”
She added that she is excited to get started and work with students, teachers, parents and community members.
“I enjoy those relationships I’ve built throughout my time here in Yankton so far,” Johnke said. “However, there is a lot we need to get done this summer. We will have to hire a new assistant principal and then I will continue to work with Dr. Kindle to assure a smooth transition. He’s been a great mentor for me thus far, and I know he will continue to be that.”
YSD board member Jim Fitzgerald said Johnke has been committed to the educational process of students for many years.
“She cares about student achievement across the district,” he said. “Jennifer has also recently received her doctorate in the field, which is an indication of wanting to advance, not only for her, but also for the district and students of Yankton.”
Fitzgerald said that there were other good candidates that applied for the principal position, but few had experience with the size of school that YHS is.
“Dr. Johnke has had first-hand knowledge of what it is going to take to continue the high achievement standards that we expect in Yankton,” he said. “Her time as assistant principal will be quite valuable and she will be able to hit the road running, so to speak.”
Kindle said officials in the district are pleased to have someone who has past experience working with high school students.
“Not only that, she has also taught at a high school and has administrative experience at the high school level,” he said. “Johnke will continue to do well in her new role as principal. She is a good communicator, understands curriculum and will bring some new ideas of her own to YHS.”
Kindle noted that Johnke knows there are challenges ahead in the areas of technology with state-mandated online testing, possible changes to the teacher and administrator evaluation system, and on going funding concerns which have an impact on curriculum and staffing.
“I am looking forward to working with Jennifer and providing as much mentoring as needed to help her be successful and continue our excellence of academics, fine arts and activities for our students at YHS,” he said.
School board president Chris Specht said he’s confident in Johnke’s ability to step up as YHS principal.
“In my experience with her, she has been very student-centered and an excellent team member,” he said. “During her tenure in Yankton, Johnke has demonstrated effective teaching and administrative qualities and worked hard to obtain advanced degrees which qualify her from an education and experience perspective for this position. She, in my opinion, has the talents and personality to be an excellent high school principal.”
Johnke said her main goal as principal is to continue the tradition of excellence that YHS has.
“I’ll need to prepare for a lot of things we have coming down the pipeline … but overall, I want to continue the success that YHS has,” she said. “I really like the community of Yankton it has a lot to offer including education and recreational activities. There are also a lot of ways people can get involved within the community and there are great ways for kids to get active in the community through recreational and service programs. Overall, Yankton has a lot to offer.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Monday, June 10, 2013 10:41 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
The Yankton School District (YSD) school board discussed elementary school changes at its regularly scheduled board meeting Monday night.
Melanie Ryken, Webster School principal, discussed several changes to the elementary school handbook, which board members approved.
“Last summer, we really revamped the handbooks so there are not too many changes we have to make this year,” she said. “One of the changes we’re making has to do with how inclement weather announcements are made over the new system we have at YSD.”
Other changes to the handbook address parent-teacher conferences and the dates they are held and the visitors policy, which requires visitors to the elementary schools to sign in at the main office upon arrival.
“We decided to hold parent-teacher conferences after the first quarter, in addition to having them between the second and third quarters,” Ryken said. “When we used to have them after the third quarter, we thought they were being held too late in the year.”
She also discussed a pilot study for Webster School during the 2013-14 school year that will deal with holding recess before lunch for students.
“For the longest time, schools throughout the country have been holding lunch before recess,” Ryken said. “(YSD child nutrition supervisor) Sandi Kramer and I have been talking about doing this for about the last 15 months.”
She added that the concept of holding recess before lunch is becoming a trend among schools nationwide.
However, there were several issues that had to be worked out before the plan could be put into place for Webster School.
“We had to get a number of issues working out including schedules with our teachers and custodial staff,” Ryken said. “We also have to deal with the issue of allowing kids to wash their hands after recess. We decided on using sanitary wipes for students which are quick, easy and effective. They’re also pretty cheap and each pack of wipes will only cost us about 1/2 penny.”
Despite the issues Ryken had to work through, she said the program should have a number of advantages.
“The national trend of recess-before-lunch programs shows that kids will eat more and waste less food,” she said. “There have also been trends that show these programs have less problems with students out on the playground during recess.”
Ryken said the staff at Webster School is on board and excited for the pilot.
YSD superintendent Joe Gertsema said he hopes the program has a positive impact and hopes it works.
Also on Monday’s agenda, board members authorized former school district employee Joyce Wentworth to research and index historical records of YSD.
“The project of doing historical work for the Yankton School District has been on my mind for about the last 13 years,” she said. “I’m passionate that the school district should save and archive its history and that kids need to be able to understand the history of the district they attend.”
Also Monday, board members:
• approved a one-time discretionary stipend for all classified and administrative staff who were employed with the district under a work agreement or contract prior to Jan. 1, 2013;
• approved contracts/work agreements and classified professional salary plans for a number of employees;
• accepted the resignations of eight employees;
• approved an addendum to new superintendent Wayne Kindle’s contract to pay him $4,022 for nine days of service in June before his contract takes effect July 1;
• approved Kindle as YSD’s representative for all federal programs for the 2013-14 school term;
• awarded the Prime Food Vendor contract to Food Service of America, as recommended by Kramer;
• approved the 2013-14 official textbook list;
• approved Jennifer Johnke as the Yankton High School principal with the contract salary of $75,665 for the 2013-14 school term.
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Thursday, June 6, 2013 10:02 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Mount Marty College’s school of education had 17 graduates this year, all of whom found jobs teaching in classrooms throughout the region.
“In years past, some students have taken jobs as paraprofessionals or in other fields,” said Nick Shudak, director of the Masters of Teacher Education at MMC. “With small colleges and with people that come to places like Mount Marty, oftentimes they can be location-bound and can’t look for a job outside where they live. Despite that, we’ve still seen really high placement rates.”
Some years with lower placement rates could be due to students not looking for jobs or not able to leave their home for a number of different reasons, Shudak said.
“We also have a remarkable rate of students who stay in school districts for more than five years,” he said. “This becomes a reflection on the teacher preparation program at Mount Marty — a lot of new teachers (nationwide) won’t make it past their first few years in the field.”
Shudak added that the high number of students staying in the education field shows that Mount Marty prepares students to work in education and deal with all the demands that come with working with students.
“Even our students that end up working as paraprofessionals end up working in the field for a long period of time,” he said. “This shows how strong our program is. Although this year we have 100 percent of our graduates working in classrooms, other years have seen strong placement rates, as well.”
Shudak credits the students who he says work hard to get out there and find jobs after they graduate.
“Teachers want to teach. We tell freshmen that if you want to teach, you’ll be able to find a job,” he said. “Our program is built on working with schools and the fact that we always have high placement rates is reflective on the districts and teachers that work with us every year, and we’re thankful for that.”
One way Mount Marty helps students in the education program find jobs is through a senior seminar.
“The class helps students reflect on their student teaching experiences,” Shudak said. “It also involves help with writing cover letters and resumes, and we help students with interviewing skills, as well.”
He noted the high placement rates are important when talking to prospective students.
“When interested students visit campus with their parents, some of them might come on with scholarships, but private liberal arts colleges have a decent-sized tuition,” Shudak said. “Parents often ask if their kids will find jobs. With these numbers, we can tell them with some level of assurance that they will be able to find jobs. However, it’s not going to be magic, and they will have to put in the work to get a job.”
Chris Riley graduated from Mount Marty’s school of education in May and took a job teaching sixth grade social studies at the Belle Fourche School District. He credits his education at Mount Marty for helping him find a job.
“Mount Marty helped me a lot, even though I applied for the job on my own,” he said. “During the interview process at Belle Fourche, they asked me 20 questions, and I had already rehearsed all of the questions they asked with my professors beforehand.”
Riley said that he knew his education and student teaching experience makes him well prepared to have his own classroom at Belle Fourche. He is looking forward to having his own classroom.
“I’m really looking forward to interacting with students and knowing that my classroom is my own,” Riley said. “I’m going to try out different types of instruction to find out what will and won’t work.”
Shudak said he is excited that all students were able to find jobs in classrooms this year.
“We’re all tickled that 100 percent of our students placed, even though we do, generally, have a high placement rate,” he said. “The fact that all students got jobs before June is big for us. However, this wouldn’t be possible without the school districts and cooperating teachers we work with.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 10:39 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Thirty-nine percent of South Dakota high school students had at least one drink of alcohol within the last month.
In order to help prevent teenage drinking in the area, officials from Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Services (LCBHS) have been working with the Yankton School District (YSD) and community members to raise awareness on the dangers of underage drinking.
In August, Tiffany Kashas was hired as a school based drug and alcohol counselor for YSD and has worked on curriculum, school activities, contact with parents and meeting with students one-on-one to help combat drug and alcohol among underage students in Yankton.
“The first year of this program has gone really well,” she said. “There has been a lot of neat things we did, and I think students had fun with some of the activities we put on.”
With the new addition of a new counselor, Yankton High School (YHS) officials made a substantial change to one of their alcohol policies.
“With longer suspensions, students are now able to serve the suspension on a week in, week out basis,” Kashas said. “In other words, instead of needing to serve the suspension all at once, a student can rotate five days in, five days out. On the days they are out of school, students are also able to work at the Alternative Learning Center (ALC) to do homework and catch-up on other work.”
Wayne Kindle, principal at YHS, said the first year of having a drug and alcohol counselor in the school has been a resounding success.
“Our students and parents have both benefited from having access to the counselor,” he said. “Another crucial part of the relationship between LCBHS and YSD has been the steps taken by both parents and students to seek out the counselor before a situation has taken a bad turn. Our parents and students know we have an extremely valuable resource on campus who is readily available to assist them with their concerns.”
Jennifer Berg, community prevention networker for LCBHS and coordinator for the Coalition for a Drug Free Yankton, said the coalition deals with drug and alcohol issues in the community and has a prevention plan that is in its second year of implementation.
“We want to broaden our membership and let people know about the goals of the Coalition and help reduce the social access for underage drinking, which includes kids getting alcohol from parents and friends,” she said. “We also have been advocating for a policy change on the retail side of alcohol sales and have been working with the Yankton Police Department (YPD) to help them implement retail compliance checks.”
To simulate social access to alcohol, officials are working to implement a “Reality Party” next year.
“We will have an actual house and students from the theater department will act out various party scenarios throughout the house as if its a real party,” Berg said. “Because it will be in a house, there will be a limited number of spots available so individuals interested will have to apply to attend.”
In Yankton County, 32 juveniles were arrested for Minor in Consumption violations in 2012. In addition, there were 13 juveniles arrested for liquor violations that year. Liquor arrests were up from six arrests in 2011, while Minor in Consumption arrests were down from 44 in 2011.
These arrests typically spike during the summer months.
“In June, typically students do not have any activities going on, they don’t have to go to school every day, while parents still have to work,” Berg said. “When teenagers get bored, they may resort to alcohol and other substances to kill time.”
She added that programs like the Boys and Girls Club, the archery complex and Summit Center are greatly important because they are places kids can go during the summer with supervision and feel occupied, leading to fewer underage alcohol and drug related incidents.
Berg said there are numerous ways that community members can help prevent teenagers from getting alcohol.
“If retail stores are selling to minors, compliance checks will create a fear factor for businesses, making them less likely to sell to underage individuals,” she said. “This also goes for minors, when compliance checks are going on, they’ll become less likely to try to buy alcohol from retailers.”
Berg added that creating a value system with family members will carry on for their children throughout their lives.
“Parents of children can drink alcohol and feel it’s fine if parents are drinking responsibly. In this situation, the family is probably less likely to have issues with their children using alcohol,” she said. “However, if the same person feels as if it is okay for their youth(s) to use, as long as a parent is present, the message parents are sending to their children is that it’s okay for kids to use alcohol or other substances.”
Berg and Kashas both said that parents in the community need to practice what they preach to their children.
“If you tell your kids that you don’t want them to drink until they’re 21 and that, if they get caught or are using alcohol, you need to have an expectation for them and clearly tell them that,” Berg said. “They need to have consequences at home and, if parents’ expectations aren’t met, they need to follow through with consequences.”
She added that parents need to get to know their children’s friends and parents.
“Even if the parents say there won’t be alcohol or drugs involved at a party, parents should still call them and ask about the party,” Berg said. “They should exchange phone numbers and say, ‘if my son or daughter needs a ride home for whatever reason, to give them a call.’ Although kids might be embarrassed by this call, at least parents will know they are likely reducing the chances of drugs or alcohol being consumed at the party.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
Posted: Monday, June 3, 2013 10:36 pm
By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net
The class runs the weekend of June 18 and features defensive driving instruction, behind-the-wheel training, driving simulator instruction, a traffic talk with members of the Yankton Police Department and a roll-over simulator with the highway patrol.
Although only two spots remain open, Diane Hall, emergency care, traffic and membership with the South Dakota Safety Council, said she would bring the class back to Yankton if it fills up.
“This is a unique training class designed specifically for beginning drivers who have their learners permit,” Hall said. “The goal of the class is to reduce and prevent injuries and collisions and help beginning drivers drive smarter.”
She added that she hopes the class will increase the knowledge of beginning drivers and influence their attitudes and behaviors while driving to help keep them safe on the road.
The Safety Council has offered similar classes in Yankton in the past, including a defensive driver training course, but this is the first class specifically geared towards new drivers.
“With the simulator we’ll bring to the class, students will be able to go through a number of different situations,” Hall said. “The simulator brings up scenarios including hazard recognition, driving technique and appropriate decision making behind the wheel.”
The round-table discussion with law enforcement will deal with feedback and input about what officers see with new drivers, including driving distractions, impairment and what drivers should do if they get pulled over.
“One of the goals of the class is to introduce thoughts into new drivers that influence their attitudes and make them think more about certain situations when they’re behind the wheel,” Hall said. “We want to help kids drive smarter and increase their knowledge about what is going on when they’re driving.”
Currently, South Dakota allows 14-year-olds to get a learner’s permit. The difference between a learner’s permit and restricted license is that a learner’s permit requires drivers to have a qualified adult in the car while they drive.
The permit is held for six months, then if a parent or guardian says it’s okay, new drivers can go to the DMV and get their restricted license, following a driving test.
A restricted license allows new drivers to drive by themselves within a restricted time frame, there are no passenger restrictions with this license in South Dakota.
Hall said officials at the Safety Council believe the drivers license system in South Dakota is outdated.
“The graduated license procedure the state implemented is wonderful and it was current when it was implemented,” she said. “We definitely support new drivers needing to have their permit for a full year before getting their restricted license.”
Hall said the reason officials support the longer time frame on drivers holding their permit is because the state features so many different driving scenarios.
“There are a lot of different weather conditions in the state, and within a year, new drivers would be exposed to many conditions,” she said. “Not only weather conditions, but also traffic, farm equipment, bicycles, pedestrians, trucks and just so many things that new drivers should experience with a driver beside them.”
Hall added that there has been extensive discussion in the legislature about getting the system change, but, she noted, change takes time.
She thinks the beginning driver class will have a substantial impact on the people that take the course.
“We take what we learn from other classes and mold them in order to best enhance beginner driver skills,” Hall said. “We’ve never before included talk with law enforcement officers, a rollover simulator or behind-the-wheel training.”
The class will take place at the Rural Technical Education Center (RTEC) on June 18 from 8-5 p.m., with behind-the-wheel training on June 19. There is a cost to participate, which includes lunch, and credit and debit cards are accepted. Payment is due at the time of registration and all interested students must have their learners permit.
To register, call Diane Hall at 800-952-5539 or e-mail her at dhall@southdakotasafetycouncil.org.
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
By Andrew Atwal 