Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week

A column by Interim Secretary of Education Dr. Ben Jones

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to thank South Dakota teachers for your hard work and devotion to students.

I’ve had the opportunity in recent weeks to visit several schools and classrooms across our state.

In a discussion with Mitchell students, a fifth grader defined leadership as “when you make the people around you better.”

If that doesn’t define teaching, I don’t know what does. With our school system producing insightful fifth graders like that, you’re doing great things.

In South Dakota teachers, I see dedicated professionals pushing their students to achieve high standards in reading, writing, and math, so that they will learn how to think, not what to think.

You know that students must graduate from the K-12 system ready for college, career, and life. You know that a career is the means to a good life, but it won’t teach what a good life means, so you push your students to achieve high standards in civics, literature, fine arts, athletics, and in appreciating our environment.

You recognize that your students have different talents and skills and seek to develop all of them in the way they should go for South Dakota’s common good.

You value students’ many cultures and shared future.

I also had the opportunity recently to attend the first Educators Rising conference in South Dakota. Educators Rising is an organization for students interested in pursuing teaching careers.

The students in attendance got to hear from several speakers about the education field, and their enthusiasm was palpable.

Your profession is honorable, and the next generation of educators comes into your classroom every day. Encourage them to follow in your footsteps.

Gov. Noem proclaims Teacher Appreciation Week 2019

Executive Proclamation

Office of the Governor

State of South Dakota

Whereas, South Dakotans believe in the importance of education for our students; and

Whereas, South Dakota teachers are our state’s greatest assets for ensuring student success; and

Whereas, teachers are at the forefront of the effort to prepare South Dakota students to graduate from the K-12 system ready for college, careers, and life; and

Whereas, highly qualified teachers are trained professionals deserving of the utmost respect for the work they do, which often extends well beyond the regular school day, week, and year; and

Whereas, our state is dedicated to supporting new and current teachers as well as recruiting future teachers from among the ranks of today’s students by elevating the teaching profession:

Now, Therefore, I, Kristi Noem, Governor of the state of South Dakota, do hereby proclaim May 6-10, 2019, as

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

in South Dakota, and encourage school leaders, parents, students, and communities to take time to thank teachers who have made an impact in their lives and the lives of their children.

TEACHER FEATURE: Mentoring program pair reflects on two years of professional growth

Andrea Harstad (left) and Courtney Hentges

“As part of my job interview, my superintendent [Lonny Johnson] informed me that if I took the position, I would be participating in the statewide mentoring program,” says Courtney Hentges, band and choir teacher in the Montrose School District. “I didn’t even know what it was.”

How does she feel now, as her second year of teaching comes to a close, and she approaches the end of her time in the mentoring program?

“Without the mentoring program, I think I would be more burnt out than I could handle at this point,” she said.

Instead, she feels optimistic about her career choice. She is building stronger relationships with her students, colleagues and community.

Hentges’ mentor is Andrea Harstad, fifth and sixth grade band director and assistant high school band director in the Canton School District.

“In the band world, we talk about retaining students,” Harstad said. “We put so much time and energy into that little 10-year-old. What’s going to make that 10-year-old become an 18-year-old in our program? How do we retain them? Keep them motivated? Well, it’s the same thing with teachers.”

Harstad wants all new teachers to know, “Everybody’s got your back. Everybody wants you to succeed. Everybody wants you to do well and be happy and do good things with your students.”

Striking a balance
Early in the mentoring relationship, Harstad sought to strike a balance between giving Hentges a detailed rundown of what she sees as a band director’s roles and responsibilities versus letting the new teacher feel things out on her own before requesting Harstad’s input.

Now that the pair has been meeting for over a year, Hentges likes that they’re past what she describes as the “awkward new relationship” phase. “We know each other a little deeper,” she says. “It’s easier for me to say, ‘I’m really struggling with this. I need help.’ Whereas last year, I think I would have been a little slower to come to Andrea with a problem. I’m a little more vulnerable with her this year.”

Expectations vs. reality
Hentges remembers as she was completing her teaching degree, she was most concerned about pedagogy—knowing instrument fingerings, how to do minor instrument repairs and run rehearsals. Looking back, she feels her worries were a bit naïve. During her first week of school, she quickly realized her biggest challenge would be classroom management.

Harstad has been a great help. After observing one of Hentges’ rehearsals, she cheerfully said, “Oh, you’ve got some performers in the classroom!” in reference to some students playing their instruments when Hentges was trying to provide instruction.

While Hentges had been getting frustrated with the students, Harstad suggested a strategy—let those enthusiastic students demonstrate what Hentges is trying to explain, thereby indulging their impulse to play, while also helping Hentges get her point across.

Harstad has also helped Hentges change her perspective in other ways. “I kind of go into robot mode when we’re preparing for a performance,” Hentges says. “Andrea helps me remember: They are human. They are children. They are my students. At the end of the day, it’s about relationships. It’s about making your students better people, not just better musicians.”

Keeping that in mind, Hentges has noticed her relationships with students have felt more easygoing this year.

Other things are getting easier too. Hentges remembers being so nervous her voice shook as she spoke at her first Christmas concert in Montrose. Whereas she says, “This year at the Christmas concert, it was like getting in front of a whole bunch of friends and making music.”

Building a network
Harstad has made a priority of helping Hentges build her support network, by introducing her to colleagues at professional development events and other gatherings so that she always has someone to reach out to and bounce around ideas.

Hentges also appreciates the networking made possible with other new teachers of all kinds through the mentoring program: “It doesn’t matter what your content area is when you’re trying to navigate those classroom management challenges.”

As she looks ahead to completing the mentoring program at the annual Mentoring Summer Academy this June 5-6, in Sioux Falls, she says it’s a bittersweet milestone. She and Harstad will stay in touch, but she knows their contact won’t be as frequent as life moves on for both of them. But she is grateful for the resources she’s gotten through the program, as well as the professional development. And she hopes to become a mentor herself someday.


Try it
As for Harstad, she plans to continue mentoring. “A lot of thought has gone into this program,” she says. “The speakers, professional development and resources are all well done. If you’re even thinking about becoming a mentor, go for it. It’s only a two-year commitment. If it’s not for you, that’s okay—at least you’ve helped one person stay in the profession.”

Celebrating CTE Month

A column by Laura Scheibe, director of career and technical education for the South Dakota Department of Education

February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. In South Dakota, we have much to celebrate and even more to look forward to. Throughout the month on our website we’ll be featuring students and educators from across our state talking about their best new CTE ideas.

Last year in our state, more students than ever took CTE coursework. More students also focused on a particular career cluster and graduated in higher numbers than their peers. We launched a newly redesigned SDMyLife website to help students find their paths. But we are celebrating even more than this.

In summer 2018, the state Board of Education Standards adopted new high school graduation requirements that acknowledge success looks different for every student. We are hearing from administrators and teachers across the state that they are excited about the new structure and optional advanced endorsements now available to students.

One of these endorsements is the Advanced Career Endorsement, which will signal that a student has focused preparation in a particular career area, thus placing additional value on career coursework and work-based learning. Additionally, by providing more room for elective credit within required academic credits, schools can design rigorous courses that infuse both CTE and core content together. For example, a course could be designed that incorporates geometry and construction skills.

Additionally, the Department of Education recently entered into a unique partnership with the Department of Labor and Regulation to put career advisors in several school districts. And this summer, the scope of this project was broadened so that local DLR offices across the state are more empowered to work with the schools in their area.

We are also celebrating the recent reauthorization of the federal CTE law, known as Perkins V. This law will help us take a modernized approach to CTE in middle school, high school and at the college level.

At the state level, we’ve been busy on the career readiness front, and now it’s your turn to help shape the future of CTE. We are asking schools, businesses, students and parents for your best ideas about what can be done to better prepare students for pathways to careers after graduation.

Be bold. Be creative. Let us know how to make the next generation of CTE even better.

Send your ideas to DOECTE@state.sd.us.

Celebrating American Education Week

A column by Interim Secretary of Education Mary Stadick Smith

November 12-16 is American Education Week, a time to celebrate our nation’s public schools.

In South Dakota, we all have reason to be proud of the good work our schools do to serve students. A lot is asked of our state’s educators, and they routinely step up to the challenge, supporting students of all abilities and backgrounds.

When you consider some of the common metrics used to measure school success – things like attendance rates, graduation rates, test scores – South Dakota typically stacks up well compared to other states. But our schools are so much more than a set of metrics. They are a place where young minds are challenged and nurtured, a place where personalities are formed, character is developed, and future citizens and leaders begin to find their voices. These intangibles can be difficult to measure, but in the end, they are just as valuable as the academic content we want our students to master.

Like so many parents, I know that my child’s educators are a trusted source for helping me understand her academic progress and social development. They are the experts who have devoted their lives to kids, and they constantly strive to hone their craft.

It’s not only teachers and administrators who make up the fabric of a school. Librarians, paraprofessionals, coaches, office and school lunch staff, bus drivers, custodians, and others play vital roles as well. And in many of our state’s small schools, some employees wear several of these hats all at once.

Of course, parents and families are their children’s first teachers, and they have an integral role in the formal education process as well. A student does best when he or she has a strong support system both inside and outside the school walls.

During American Education Week, let’s take time to celebrate the successes of our public school system and to recognize the individuals who have made it their life’s work to help students build a solid foundation of knowledge, skills and experiences that will serve them well in postsecondary, careers and life.

Celebrating Native Americans' Day

A message from South Dakota Indian Education Director Mato Standing High

Native Americans' Day is for all of us. 

Remember, for a lot of South Dakotans, every day is Native Americans' Day. For others, it's an opportunity to remember and respect people who have inhabited this continent since time immemorial. 

As South Dakotans, we are lucky to have a unique history to share--a history that is tied to the land that we all share and respect. When we take time to understand each other, it gives us not only greater understanding, but better perspective--perspective that helps break stereotypes and bridges gaps that were also created by history. 

If you are asking yourself, how? or why? in reading this post, that is exactly why we must make more of an effort to learn about OUR Lakota, Nakota and Dakota neighbors, friends and relatives. 

One resource that is available for this exact purpose is the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. The Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings are a resource that has been developed over the past several years by numerous Lakota elders for use in the classroom. They can be used at any level of education and should be used in every school in South Dakota. It is not just for our Lakota, Nakota and Dakota people, it is for South Dakota. 

We all share the history and, to some extent, the culture. It is an honor and privilege to have such a unique and rich history as the people of South Dakota. 

Have a great Native Americans' Day!

Governor proclaims October Dyslexia Awareness Month

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. The Dyslexia Handbook for Teachers and Parents in South Dakota is available to help parents and educators learn more about dyslexia and includes additional resources for teachers to access if they suspect a student may have dyslexia. Find links to the handbook, a brochure and many other resources on the Department of Education's Dyslexia webpage.

Executive Proclamation

Whereas, Dyslexia is a language-based, neurological specific learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, spelling and decoding, and writing. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language, and secondary consequences of dyslexia may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge; and,

Whereas, The presence of dyslexia is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities. Dyslexia occurs on a continuum of severity, affecting between 10 and 20 percent of the population according to the National Institutes of Health; and,

Whereas, Parents and educators of students who struggle to overcome dyslexia across South Dakota and the nation have come together to advocate for reforms to support their children, namely a universal definition of dyslexia, teacher training, early screening, evidence-based remediation programs, and access to appropriate assistive technologies; and,

Whereas, South Dakotans and all stakeholders in education across the state of South Dakota will benefit from increased awareness of the nature of dyslexia, the early warning signs of dyslexia, and the value of scientifically-based multisensory structured language interventions and teaching strategies designed to better educate students with dyslexia; and,

Whereas, Greater recognition of dyslexia is necessary to ensure that individuals with dyslexia living in South Dakota are accurately identified and provided with appropriate services so they might learn to read proficiently in order to reach their full potential and contribute to society:

Now, Therefore, I, Dennis Daugaard, Governor of the state of South Dakota, do hereby proclaim October 2018 as 

Dyslexia Awareness Month

in South Dakota.