For the second year, educators across South Dakota packed up and took in their state’s notable landmarks. While celebrated by attendees, it could be the end of the road for these trips.
The Department of Education road trips were started to give South Dakota teachers firsthand experience at some of the most important sites in the state, from Bear Butte to Brookings.
DoE Secretary Joe Graves compared it to his time visiting friends in New York City.
“The number one day I was there, the two parents said to me ‘what do you want to see in New York?’ I say I’d really like to see the Statue of Liberty, and they say, ‘that’s great, we’ve never been.’ That’s kind of true of all of us," Graves said. "What’s near us we don’t fully appreciate, and there’s so much in South Dakota that has cultural and historical importance.”
For teachers, Graves said seeing can make a huge difference when covering South Dakota history.
“It’s absolutely important to have that local connection," Graves said. "Especially at the elementary level – when you can touch something, or have someone talk about something they’ve actually seen, the teacher, or when you can bring back an artifact, that’s what elementary kids really love.”
Despite this, it looks like the road trips are running out of gas.
“We used funding from the federal government, some of the relief dollars we had," Graves said. "Most of the relief dollars went to school districts, but a certain percentage went to the state and we’ve used it for things like this – one-time things we can do. It’s not generally the thing we would ask the state Legislature to pay for, but we do think it was a very successful and effective process.”
While almost completed, Graves said he would be interested in continuing the effort if funding were secured from other sources.