© 2024 SDPB Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Early childhood specialists eligible for Build Dakota scholarships

The Build Dakota Scholarship has a new option for oncoming students. With a major need in the workforce, aspiring child care specialists can now apply for a new program.

The scholarship program is open to traditional and nontraditional students and can offer a full ride to help avoid debt and line up jobs upon graduation.

Along with that, the scholarship money includes other financial needs students face, like new textbooks or technology.

Kelli Rogotzke is the career services coordinator at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.

“Early childhood is a new Build Dakota program that will launch for our '25/'26 school year. That program specifically will help, we’re hoping, to fill the need of the child care workforce industry," Rogotzke said. "As we know, daycares are looking for multiple to fill those roles and we’re hoping to get more students in the program with a Build Dakota scholarship that will alleviate debt as they’re going in and working in those fields.”

There are 54,000 kids reliant on early childhood care in South Dakota according to EmBe, a Sioux Falls-based women and family organization. However, the balance of keeping child care affordable while paying a living wage to employees has been a difficult tightrope.

That is where the scholarship can make a major difference, removing student debt from the expenses of a new child care professional.

"Especially in the Sioux Falls area, we’re really hoping students can come to Southeast Tech," Rogotzke said. "When they graduate, they can fulfill that role to help meet that demand. To allow other parents looking to go out into the work force to be able to send their child to a daycare they can trust.”

Rogotzke said Southeast Tech offers a comprehensive child care education.

“It’s a two-year program where they’re going to go into talking about what it means to work with young children," Rogotzke said. "They’ll go through special sociology and psychology programs. They’ll go from pre-natal to two years, and then they’ll also look more into literacy for early childhood.”

Build Dakota scholarship resources can be found on the organization's website.

C.J. Keene is a Rapid City-based journalist covering the legal system, education, and culture