"The Times, They Are A Changin"

To borrow from good ol' Bob Dylan, the times, they are a changing here for me. I have moved from the Deuel School District. The experience to work in such a progressive school has shaped the way that I think about education, teaching and administration. Creative budgeting and progressive teaching strategies have kept this school at the forefront of education in the State and I'm glad that I was part of it.

Now, I am moving on to a new adventure at one of the TOP 4 Two-Year Schools in the Nation! At Lake Area Technical Institute, I get to be an Educational Technology Specialist and work with instructors to integrate technology into their already very successful classrooms and labs. I em excited for the challenge and I am excited for the change of pace! Lake Area Tech has also been named by The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the Top Colleges to Work For for multiple years in a row! It doesn't get much better than that!

As all of this is happening, we are living in what will soon be a very critical time for many occupations in our country. We are already experiencing workforce shortages across the State in many different areas. For example, I toured the amazing Electronics/ Robotics classrooms this week at LATI and the Department Head/ Instructor said that he had employers contact him with over 150 job openings and he only had 9 graduates from his program last year! The job openings range from local South Dakota jobs to opportunities across the Midwest. LATI's Aspen Institute Awards have really opened up opportunities for graduates, too!

This is the picture of his "jobs" board in the classroom. I should have taken a picture of all of the amazing projects he has going on in the classroom, too. He has everything from educational robots to industry-grade robotics in this classroom. Wow! He is also going to do a "Community U" program this year so that anybody can build their own 3D Printer. I definitely plan on working that into my schedule as that is some of the coolest technology I have ever seen! 

Back to the Changing Times... well, as I move out of K-12 education, I think I will miss a lot of things, but most of all I will miss the kids. Getting to know the kids and helping them decide on careers and post-secondary choices was the best opportunity I could have had to know first hand how the world we live in is changing. I would like to say I'd do it differently if I was a 2014 High School graduate, but I don't think I would. Education is where I am supposed to be, how that career shapes is yet to be seen. I can't wait to see where this opportunity at LATI will take me!