SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good afternoon, Bluffs Country. I'm Peggy Sweet, and this is Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation. I'm joined in studio today with one of my friends, Brent Hazing. He is the Superintendent of Schools at Lewis Central Community School District. Welcome, Brent.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Absolutely. It's been a while since you've been in the studio.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

It has been.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

And you guys have been really busy.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Very busy, correct.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

And I know you received a grant from Iowa West, so congratulations for that.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

And I know that it's really important for you and the things that you do there. So why don't you tell me a little bit about what this will do for you?

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Correct. Yep. No, the grant is actually year two for us. And what ended up happening was last year the foundation came to us and said, listen, what do you guys need? And that can help us develop the workforce. And we talked about several options. One of the things we landed on was we'd we could really use a person in our building who could help our students discover different avenues for work, for training, for schools, somebody that can introduce them to things that they otherwise would have never gotten to know. And so we actually got the grant and we hired a college and critiness counselor, Mr. Pat Nippel. And his full-time job with our district is to go around and make connections with community members, make connections with businesses and organizations in the area, bring our students out to their places of work to do some observation, potentially some apprenticeships or some internships, help them find a job. And then on the flip side, he also gets them, the people in our community, to come in and talk about their careers with our students. He also does college visits. He meets with students on a regular basis with our other counselors to help them determine what courses they want to take if they're looking for a very specific career field. They are also meeting to talk about what kind of classes they need to take from Iowa Western. And then as part of the grant, we actually co-opt with Iowa Western to hire another counselor whose full-time job is specifically to help our students connect with Iowa Western and so that they think they can take advantage of the free courses that they can take while in high school. And actually, our numbers that of our students taking college classes, specifically on campus, has just skyrocketed the last couple years with these two programs.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

That's amazing. That's really getting them ready for college and maybe they want to do the trades. They're going to be able to, it's well-rounded, it sounds like correct.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

The whole goal of the program is just to make connections and to hopefully ensure that all of our students have a plan when they leave high school. I think the old way of doing things was we need to get you ready for our four-year school, and and that's it. And so we would have 60 to 70% of our students who would leave and go to a four-year school, but we're only having about 35% of them actually graduate the four-year school because they get there and realize it's really not for them. They were looking for something different. And so this is trying to help them understand that their other paths before they get to that point. So whether it's going straight into the workforce, it's going in the military, it's getting an apprenticeship and doing that on-job training, or it is going to another community college or Iowa Western to finish your degree there, or even going on to a four-year school. So we're not removing anything from those who still want to do a four-year school. We're just trying to help those who maybe that wouldn't be a great choice for them because that's not something where they're interested in. Uh figure that out earlier so that way they're not wasting money and spending money at a four-year school and then coming home after a few years and saying, you know, I really always wanted to be an electrician. Now I'm going to go become an electrician.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Networking. This is networking. This is great.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

That's incredible. And so this is the second year for the grant.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

It is, yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

And that has really improved college and other things for you.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Correct. So a much higher percentage of our students are leaving with a with a more uh definitive plan for what they want to do. We're having a lot more students who have never even visited a college campus before go and get those opportunities to go visit college campuses. Uh we have students that are being exposed to careers that they are now leaving after high school and going to work directly for those employers. Uh, we're also having students still go to four-year schools, still go to two-year schools. Um, and we have a lot more students who are taking the courses on campus at Iowa Western who are leaving with um certifications and even associates' degrees.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

They're better prepared.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Correct, yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

All the way around. That is great. Okay, um, for more information for you, your student, or someone you may know.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, just reach out to our high school. Uh, talk, you can talk directly with Mr. Neppel. I know that he is always willing and able to have a conversation with anybody about the services he provides, the connections we can make to ensure that your student is um as prepared as they would like to be when they leave when they leave high school.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

And what would the website be?

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Uh our website is www.lewiscentral.org. And the phone number for the high school is 712-366-8220. And you can call anytime, leave a message, and we will get you in touch with Mr. Neppel.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

You're really preparing our students, and that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Thank you so much, Brent. It's a pleasure having you here. I'll have you back real soon. We can talk about what you guys are going to be doing in the fall.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

All right. Sounds great. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

This has been Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation.