With its first anniversary just around the corner, Partnership Rapid City is gaining momentum but still has a long way to go, school officials say.
About 50 community members and school officials met this week at Western Dakota Technical Institute to discuss the future of the program, which links willing community partners with teachers and students in the school district.
Since hiring Julie Ward as the community partnership facilitator last January, program members have created a Web site, collected almost a half a million dollars in donations and grants and started forging partnerships between schools and the community through internships, apprenticeships and the opening of three new full-time intership/apprenticeship coordinator positions with Rapid City area schools.
Ward's position was created after the school district invited business and community leaders to comment about what schools could do to prepare students for the future.
The response was that students must know how to apply what they have learned to real-life situations.
Ward said the new coordinators will work specifically with students in finding internships and apprenticeships within the community.
"They will help kids with job exploration and learn from professionals in the field," she said. "(Students) will learn work ethics and customer service and have hands-on, real-life learning."
The Web site is a major step in the right direction, she said.
Community members can sign up to speak to a classroom of students, post internship or apprenticeship positions, and provide information on scholarships. Teachers and students can also log on and view the information.
"This will be just a great tool for us," she said. "Teachers are strapped for time, and they don't always have time to make contacts out in the community."
Rapid City School Board member Eric Abrahamson said the link between education and the community is key to success.
"Kids need to know what they're learning in class can be put into the real world," he said. "It's also about them going into the community and making a difference."
Ward agreed. Students are ready to apply their knowledge somewhere.
"They're not ready to sit in the four walls of a classroom anymore," she said.
Abrahamson said the best way for Rapid City to offer opportunities for students and create better work-force development is to come together.
"South Dakota will never be rich; South Dakota schools will never be rich," he said. "The only way to bring resources to the table is to come together."
But Abrahamson said it isn't about throwing any student into any workplace, but rather guiding and teaching.
"This is not about having a kid copy 4,000 reams of paper," he said. "It's about engaging them."
Ward said it's also about engaging businesses in the idea behind Partnership Rapid City's direction.
"The business community has really stepped up to the plate as far as helping us with this mission, this vision," she said. "We're hoping many more will step up to the plate."
For businesses or individuals that opt not to visit a classroom or offer an internship, Ward said there are many ways to contribute.
Sponsors can adopt a classroom for $250. The funding would go towards basic classroom supplies and extra project costs. Ward's second project is the "We Love Rewards" program. For $40, a sponsor can provide a treasure chest stocked with incentive rewards for students.
Rapid City School Board president Sheryl Kirkeby said she was able to deliver several of the treasure chests to local schools.
"The kids and the teachers were so excited," she said.
Ward said the future for Partnership Rapid City hopefully will include more coordinators.
"My goal is to have a partnership coordinator in every school," she said. "… I am just thrilled to death with this program."
Contact Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com
