When last-year senior Fabrice Bakunzi of the English Language Development (ELD) program decided he wanted to pursue a physical therapy internship, but he lacked the connections to do so, the ELD program of LHS decided to do something about it. They got in touch with Dr. Gregg Talcott of the Sioux Falls Foundation, who was not only able to get Bakunzi his internship but was also able to add LHS to the Career Connections program which WHS and RHS have already been involved in.

This semester has been the first of LHS’s official involvement in the program, which consists of visiting different types of companies and conferences in order to help students build relationships within the community and expose them to a variety of career opportunities. So far, the program has taken field trips to several industries including car dealerships, social services, home construction sites, electronics manufacturing, banking and health care.

The program started with the intention of giving ELD students the chance to build relationships with people in the professional world, exposing them to a variety of career paths.
“It’s really good for kids to have a connection and sometimes our students that come from other countries don’t have those connections built into their social network,” said ELD department chair Emily Koo. “This is creating an opportunity for students who don’t have that networking to build these relationships.”

The importance of a social network is often overlooked, but in this day and age, it is crucial to finding success in most fields.

“We have this program so we can get the students connections within the careers that they are interested in so when they go in to apply for college they have people that they can put on their references,” said Koo. “Or when they go and try to get an internship they have people they already know within the community that they have a connection with because they visited with or interned or shadowed with them in the past.”

In addition to the long-term advantages of building connections, students like junior Milkies Woldargy have also enjoyed reaping the benefits of providing clarity for the future.
“[The program] helps me decide what I want to do after school and what kind of jobs are interesting to me,” said Woldargy.

Additionally, freshman Kishmar Eberline has used the program as a chance to narrow down his prospective careers and figure out which occupations he is passionate about.
“It has helped me know what I want to do or at least get me thinking about what I want to do and telling me which [careers] I don’t want to do and which ones I might be interested in,” said Eberline.

While the program assists the students in making decisions about their future, it also allows them to further develop skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.
“[Career Connections] has helped me learn new things and has made me more open-minded to trying new things,” said sophomore Binti Ukash. “I have seen my friends asking more questions, being more engaged and trying to come to school more.”

Not only does the program aid the students in many ways, but it also provides a sense of hope and comfort for them.

“It helps us know that there’s something out there that we can do and someone helping us,” said Eberline.

Many students involved in the program have felt a similar sense of reassurance about the future through the discovery of different jobs and alternate education options.

“A lot of students remarked that they didn’t realize that there was this breath of opportunity in Sioux Falls itself,” said Koo. “And with the Build Dakota scholarship which gives full ride to any student in South Dakota who goes to a South Dakota technical college, they’re learning about the opportunity of a one or two-year degree that can make them earn upwards of $60,000 straight out of school.”

Learning that there are different options than the traditional four-year college path has been an eye-opening experience for the students involved.

“Seeing that there are different paths to whatever career they’re choosing has been a really valuable experience for our kids,” said Koo.