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Local Organization Serves Students

Kealey Bultena

Out of every one hundred South Dakota high school students, 16 of those won’t graduate on time. Earlier this week, SDPB Radio examined some high schools’ efforts to keep kids in class. The methods show promise, but they don’t work for every student. This Dakota Digest explores what happens when a student can’t complete their coursework in four years, even with their educators’ help.

Most of South Dakota’s high school students turn in enough homework, perform well enough on tests, and pull good enough grades to graduate in four years. Even students who struggle have opportunities within their own districts to finish their classes in an extra semester or two. Some students, however, need more.
 
"They have a little bit of knowledge before they come here, because their school counselor has met with them and explained a little bit about what we’re about, and then those folks come in a little apprehensive," Diane Hyronimus says. "But the more I tell them about the program, the more excited they get. By the end of my time with them, they’re usually smiling and pretty happy to get going."

Hyronimus coordinates the high school diploma completion program at Volunteers of America, Dakotas. She builds relationships with students to ensure educators and counselors meet their needs as the students try to finish high school.

"They realize that this is not going to be exactly like what they were doing before, but this will actually work for them. That they’re going to complete all their work here in the building, so we’re not going to send a bunch of homework home with them every night. That the hours are a little bit different. Just the whole package, it looks totally different," Hyronimus says.

Hyronimus says that, but a classroom at VOA is pretty similar to schools across South Dakota. Students face the white board, surrounded by bold posters shouting fundamentals in math and language arts. Hyronimus says the setting is familiar, but the program’s structure is unique. She says the diploma completion track includes shorter hours and flexible scheduling. In more than two decades with VOA, Hyronimus says it’s obvious that work-around is key to keeping students dedicated to their schooling.

"I would say the majority of the students that we work with in the diploma program have part-time jobs and some of them full-time jobs. So they’re trying to pay rent in some cases, if they’re over 18," Hyronimus says. "They’re trying to make their car payment. They’re trying to pay all of their living expenses, so being able to come to school shortened hours and still keep their employment is really important to them."

In South Dakota, though, working isn’t atypical. Lots of high school students have jobs in addition to going to class. But the students who attend Volunteers of America have additional hurdles. Sheryl Barnett is Executive Vice President for Volunteers of America, Dakotas. She says alcohol and drugs continuously affect students’ attendance and performance – and pregnancy and parenting are also clear challenges. That’s not all.

"Some of the things that have been consistent through the years and are still there today do have to do with mental health issues. Often physical health – I can think of a number of students who had an illness and just weren’t able to keep up, or perhaps they were grappling with a sibling or a parent’s illness and/or death," Barnett says.

Barnett says some students avoid school because of bullying, and others provide an essential portion of family finances. No one has the same story. In her 22 years with VOA, Barnett says she’s seen many people who left school when they couldn’t keep up in advanced classes.

"If you have your basics in reading and your basics in math, you can usually go forward with the other subjects," Barnett says.

She says all of those students live with a quiet shame, and finding an opportunity to learn on their own timetables without judgment is empowering.

"And then when they meet others in a similar situation, it’s like, ‘Oh my god. I’m not the only one,’" Barnett says. "Some kids weren’t meant to be in large schools and large classrooms. They need a connection, and if they don’t have that connection, that’s difficult."

Despite one-on-one attention at their high schools or at Volunteers of America, some students still drop out. These advocates don’t give up easily, though, and that’s where VOA’s GED completion program takes the spotlight. Diane Hyronimus coordinates that program, too. She says people who dropped out of school for whatever reason often operate under assumptions about the GED, and they’re typically wrong.
 
"A lot of them believe that the GED is quick, that they can come in here and in a few weeks they can walk out the door with their GED, and that’s not usually the case," Hyronimus says. "Sometimes it can take up to a couple years to attain their GED certificate, and that’s not widely known."

Unlike the high school diploma program, the GED track isn’t geared toward teenagers. The average age of participants is about 25 years old. But one person enrolled right now is 55. That encourages Sheryl Barnett that she and the VOA staff are helping the whole community.

"I believe that the relationships established primarily with teachers or counselors and then each other is what really helps them see that, oh, I need to be proud about where I am today, and I need to say, this is how I might do it differently if I had it to do over. But we all make choices that are not optimal," Barnett says.

Barnett wants people to know they always have a second chance or a third or more. Volunteers of America isn’t the only organization supporting students, but educators here say they foster an environment where students can accept responsibility for choices that haunt them. That way they can move forward to achieve in the classroom and in everyday life.

Kealey Bultena grew up in South Dakota, where her grandparents took advantage of the state’s agriculture at nap time, tricking her into car rides to “go see cows.” Rarely did she stay awake long enough to see the livestock, but now she writes stories about the animals – and the legislature and education and much more. Kealey worked in television for four years while attending the University of South Dakota. She started interning with South Dakota Public Broadcasting in September 2010 and accepted a position with television in 2011. Now Kealey is the radio news producer stationed in Sioux Falls. As a multi-media journalist, Kealey prides herself on the diversity of the stories she tells and the impact her work has on people across the state. Kealey is always searching for new ideas. Let her know of a great story! Find her on Facebook and twitter (@KealeySDPB).
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