From the CEO: Coming Together to Uplift Our South Dakota Communities

Now more than ever, I see the need to shine a light on Acts of Excellence here in South Dakota, with the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation. Anytime we turn on the tv, or pick up our phones, we are greeted with news that instills fear and anxiety within us. So how can we shine some light in these dark times? By coming together to uplift our community and highlight stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Unfortunately we had to postpone our Watertown event to honor some amazing Acts of Excellence, but I wanted to share a few of those Acts of Excellence here.

Fourth-grade teacher Dawn Leuning’s mission to educate her students about the importance of recycling and reducing their waste, through a hands-on schoolwide project. After participating in the South Dakota Innovation Lab, Dawn Leuning returned to her classroom inspired, and designed a program to highlight the importance of reducing, re-using and recycling. Students took charge of the project; designing it to positively impact the amount of waste generated by the classroom, school, and community. 

The amazing work to restore the Goss Opera House to create a central gathering place in the Watertown community. Through the generosity of donors and the hard work of the community, the decade-long project to restore the 130-year-old Goss Opera House to its rightful place is nearing completion.

Lake Area Technical Institute reaching for the stars, and creating opportunities for their students to land prestigious internships with NASA and other prestigious programs. An example of the kinds of internships available is the one earned in the summer of 2019 by Watertown student Jacob Pagel. Pagel received an internship at the Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base in California. He spent 10 weeks in the program, which included hands-on experience in maintenance repair and integration of flight experiments on support and experimental aircraft

What Acts of Excellence have you witnessed during this challenging time? We are truly all in this together, and as South Dakotans we are no strangers to coming together for the greater good. Now is a great time to submit an Act of Excellence! From the tenacity of South Dakota teachers, going above and beyond to make sure their students are able to learn at home while schools are closed, to individuals delivering food and supplies to those in need, there are truly amazing people rising up in our communities at this time.

I can’t wait to see what Acts of Excellence will rise from this experience.

Greta Chapman
CEO, South Dakota Hall of Fame