May 2023 Newsletter

May 2023 Newsletter

Partners, educators, and parents — THANK YOU for another great school year! We are so appreciative of your support and advocacy in our work to connect today’s students to tomorrow’s careers. We look forward to collaborating with you next year and continuing to make a difference in the lives of our students!

 

Year in Review — School Year 2022 – ’23School Year 2022-2023 Thank You Video

The 2022 – ’23 school year was full of learning, discovery, opportunity, and FUN! We couldn’t have done it without the support of our amazing partners and volunteers. Check out this video to see some of the experiences your involvement helped support.

 

 

 

WLC Employee Sue Neil Retires After 23 YearsSue Neil

If you’ve worked with WLC over the years, there’s a good chance you’ve had the opportunity to interact with Sue Neil. Sue is the longest-tenured WLC employee ever, having been with us for over 23 years. She started in 1999 as a part-time office administrator and has since held many roles, from job shadow coordinator to business liaison to database manager to school liaison.

When Sue first started at WLC there were only four people on the team; since then our organization has seen tremendous growth. Sue has been instrumental in helping develop a lot of the programming from the ground up. She is most proud of the growth we have seen in the Job Shadow Program and the development of our database.

“I am amazed and proud of the job shadow growth, as I have been involved in that program from almost the beginning,” says Sue. “We started just setting up individual job shadows. As our program grew, we knew we needed to create job shadows where we could have multiple students attend together; otherwise, the demand of our businesses would be way too high. At that point we started developing our group career exploration days. Fast forward to today and we have well over 100 career exploration days for students to pick from, and this year alone we provided job shadows for over 3,700 students!”

In her time with WLC, we estimate Sue has been involved in creating job shadow placements for nearly 20,000 students.

“I’m also very proud of the database we have developed,” says Sue. “I was a part of the team in the development of it from the beginning. I like to problem-solve, so this provided an opportunity for me to help find ways to improve our processes, communication, and documentation. The development of the database has helped to improve communication that can be sent to students, businesses, and schools by a quick click of a button. This has astronomically helped to improve not only timely communication, but helped with time management and record-keeping on our end. Back in the early days we collected paper copies of student applications and entered them into a database ourselves until we developed the student portal.”

We can’t imagine a WLC without Sue. WLC business liaison Casey Estling says, “Sue embodies all that WLC stands for. She is kind, helpful, persistent, hardworking, and always has the best interests of others in mind. She is always willing to go the extra mile to help anyone and everyone! Her knowledge, expertise, and WLC background/history are going to be greatly missed, and her giving spirit and kind heart will leave a void that will be very hard to fill. I consider her a close friend, as does everyone on our WLC team. I can’t thank her enough for all she has taught me and for the manner in which she went about her work.”

“It has been amazing watching the growth of WLC over the years,” Sue says. “I’d say the biggest reason for such growth is from having great leadership and amazing co-workers who work so hard to provide quality opportunities for students and teachers. Receiving the support of the businesses in our community and Kirkwood Community College has aided in allowing us to provide amazing experiences to help students discover their passion. If you think about how we started from scratch in developing relationships with our schools and businesses, it is truly amazing. We have close to 4,000 businesses in our database that we have worked with at one time or another! I am honored to have been a part of this growth.”

If you know Sue, please join us in sending her a quick thank you and best wishes in her next adventure. Sue hopes to travel and spend more time with her two children.

 

WLC Job Shadow Student Becomes Full-Time Employee With Host CompanyStutsman

Last spring Braydon Younge, a Mid-Prairie High School student who graduated in December 2022, attended WLC’s Agriculture Sales Job Shadow Day hosted by Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc., an agricultural product supplier in Hills. During the shadow Braydon had the opportunity to tour the Stutsman facilities, shadow several employees from various departments, and experience a day in the life of a sales rep. Upon graduation, Braydon sought out the company for a full-time position. He now works at their Wellman location as a custom applicator.

“This was such a great story, reconnecting with a former job shadow student,” says Brooke Cook, HR manager at Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc. “Engaging with Workplace Learning Connection has provided us opportunities to enter the classroom as well as bring students on-site. Over the last three years working with WLC we have hosted many students, which has provided us a competitive advantage when seeing them later on down the road at a college career fair or when they begin their search for full-time employment. It’s really given us the upper hand to establish those relationships with students sooner and develop a funnel of potential future employees for down the road.”

Interested in hosting a job shadow and connecting with your future talent? Visit our Partners and Volunteers page to learn more.

This month WLC recognizes Kalona Cooperative Technology Company in our Partner Spotlight. KCTC has been a valuable partner for many years, helping students explore careers in business, marketing, and software development/IT, and as telecommunication technicians. Through hosting job shadows and internships, and participating in career speaker events, Financial Literacy Fairs, and mock interviews, KCTC has helped countless students explore careers and prepare for their future.

“Kirkwood Workplace Learning Connection (WLC) opens up the opportunity for students to learn about many different careers they can pursue post high school,” says Casey Peck, CFO/general manager at KCTC. “The connections and opportunities that WLC opens for both the student and the employer are amazing. I appreciate the opportunities that WLC offers KCTC, and we appreciate the long-standing partnership.”

Interested in hosting a student and helping to develop your future workforce? Visit our Partners and Volunteer page to learn more.

KCTC