Week of Work at Harrisburg High School aims to steer students to careers

HARRISBURG, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - With school years entering into their final stretch, there’s a push for high school students to start looking for jobs or education opportunities in the summer. But it may be tough for students to know all of what’s available to them. Across the state and at Harrisburg High School, educators are looking to help fill that information gap.

How students utilize space at their schools and their time there has changed over the past few years. The library at Harrisburg High Schools, while still holding plenty of books, is now usually more of a space for collaboration.

“When I started working here, I had never worked in a library. It’s not quiet. It’s kids, we have chess tournaments, we do things to intermingle and work with them to figure out how we can help them to become better adults.” Harrisburg High School Assistant Librarian Lisa Richardson said.

So it’s the perfect space for Donuts and Dreams Career Exploration, the kickoff event for Week of Work at Harrisburg. The week is a statewide push for students to explore the ever-growing number of career options, and how students to get there.

“The Week of Work is just a great way for us to get kids into the door, and teach them about careers they maybe don’t have any idea exist, and help them think outside the box a little bit when planning their futures.” Harrisburg High School Librarian Eve Langerock said.

Companies and individuals from industries in the area came looking not just to interest some upperclassmen in potential internships and part-time jobs, but also answer the questions of younger students still figuring out what they want to do in life.

“Obviously, the four-year college is a traditional route, which is also big. But it’s really an opportunity, anything we can do to help those kids, give them more tools in their toolbox to figure out what they want to do and help them make those decisions. And maybe guide them along, give them any information that we can.” Richardson said.

Richardson said even more professionals from different industries will be coming to Harrisburg this week to share their experiences -- and hopefully spark an interest in students to start thinking about their future.

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