South Dakota Sturdy
By: Gov. Kristi Noem
August 23, 2024
It’s back to school time! My kids are all grown up with their school days behind them, and though my grandkids are still young, Miss Addie is starting preschool! This time of year means so much to me. Everything that I do is about making our state safer and stronger for our kids and grandkids – and making sure they get an excellent education is a huge part of that.
This year, we’re kicking off the school year with a new initiative called South Dakota Sturdy. This is a free resource that we’re offering to each South Dakota school district to teach our students resiliency, work ethic, and that driving pursuit of achievement.
South Dakota Sturdy provides ten free lesson plans for students between fourth and sixth grade. It’s available to school counselors and teachers alike. As an added benefit, these lesson plans are rooted in our state standards – so teachers can use aspects of South Dakota, tribal, and American history, and even science to teach these important lessons.
Let me give you an example: One of the ten lesson plans covers my favorite president, Teddy Roosevelt. As a young man, Teddy refused to let asthma and poor eyesight get in his way. He adopted an outlook that he called “the strenuous life,” exercising and spending time outdoors – and he overcame his asthma .
When Teddy’s mother and wife both died just hours apart, he moved to the Dakota Territory, became a tremendous outdoorsman, and proved himself to the other cowboys as a man full of grit. And when America went to war with Spain, he personally led the Rough Riders into combat, defeating the Spanish in a battle and becoming a war hero.
As president, he strengthened America’s Navy, built the Panama Canal, and set up the national parks system that we know today. Throughout his political career, he took on seemingly insurmountable corrupt political machines – and won.
Teddy was able to overcome challenges because he believed that he was in control of his own life. He made the world around him greater because he took charge of his own destiny. Today, his face is on Mount Rushmore – the greatest symbol of American Freedom – because of his leadership.
That’s the type of lesson that South Dakota Sturdy will teach our kids. No matter what challenges they face, even the most unimaginable difficulties, they can overcome with the lessons that this initiative will teach.
I do want to be clear; these lesson plans are not mandatory. They’re available to give additional flexibility to our teachers who work so hard. Maybe they could be used as an easy option for a substitute teacher who has to drop into a classroom at the last minute.
To our knowledge, South Dakota Sturdy will make us the first state to provide such specific lesson plans in this area of resiliency and student wellness. This is the latest way that South Dakota is raising the bar for our kids, making sure that our students receive the very best education possible.
We appreciate everything that our teachers do for their students. We raised their pay this past legislative session because we respect their work. South Dakota students deserve to learn these important life lessons. With this effort, we will make it easier for teachers to provide an excellent education for our kids.
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It would be great to see this South Dakota Sturdy 10 lessons. Searching for the curriculum provided a link to the message by Gov Noem.
It’s great that Addy has access to preschool that is denied to most children in South Dakota. In my view with the first five years proved to have 90% of brain development occurring, all SD parents need to have preschool available.
It’s not at all fishy that she’s promoting something the public doesn’t have access to view.
Also something that most educators were in the dark about. Like that 5.5 million we’re sending to a Utah company to make social studies materials.
One of the best and easiest things we can do for our children and grandchildren is leave them a sound election system. With same day, in person voting, paper ballots, and hand counting.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/corsi-paquette-presented-ohio-secretary-states-voter-integrity/
A better thing would be an education that gives them the knowledge and skill to realize that same day hand counting proponents are equivalent to toddlers with driver’s licenses and as much are better ignored than placated.
I fought for 20 years to keep an IT system working. It was hard to keep out the corruption even when no one meant us harm. Believe Elon Musk who says “everything can be hacked” or keep believing the politicians who get elected by the same machines..
Like how your brain’s been hacked by propaganda?
Yeah, I know when I think about leaving a legacy to future generations, it is a restrictive voting system that can’t adapt to the changing world…..lol. Top of my list, we don’t need food, shelter, or clean water and air, it is the voting, because Trump and the Pillow guy have convinced me everyone else cheated. Instead of creating popular policy stances, we can just make it tougher to vote and see if that works again; if it doesn’t, then we can call them cheaters again.
It’s amazing that Trump could be considered losing with such popular policies like “immigrants bad” and “no tax on tips.” that’s about it. What more can we want though, there are no other problems in our country besides immigrants and taxes on tips, right?
Is that you Kamala?
I wish Governor Noem would get her sticky fingers out of our public school system. It always will need improvement, and more funding, but our schools were doing fine work before she discovered them as fertile ground for political mischief.