33 Sioux Falls High School Graduating Seniors Honored for Post Secondary Achievements
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (May 2, 2008)—Thirty-three Sioux Falls graduating high school seniors from Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt and Joe Foss high schools were honored Thursday night as the first Learners to Leaders™ class to obtain their high school diploma while also completing 20 credits at Southeast Technical Institute (STI). The achievement puts the students well on their way to earning their Associate degree before even leaving high school.
The Smithfield Foods, Inc. Learners to Leaders program is a local educational partnership that includes John Morrell & Co. (Smithfield Foods’ local independent operating company), the Sioux Falls School District and STI.
In 2007 the Sioux Falls School District selected 33 high school juniors who were given the opportunity to take college-level courses that counted toward their high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree from STI. The Learners to Leaders program, along with a state grant, funds each student’s first 20 credits of STI’s two-year A.A.S. degree program.
According to Dr. Pamela Homan, Sioux Falls superintendent of schools, Learners to Leaders is playing an important role in the community. “For the most part, these students are non-traditional learners and the first in their families to attend postsecondary education,” Homan said.
“In their feedback, students said the program helped to expand their horizons for postsecondary education and potential career opportunities and improved their perception of the value of higher education,” she said.
“All of us at Smithfield Foods are very proud of these students,” said C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. “We are strong believers that education is the bedrock of any community. There can be no doubt that a solid, successful educational framework makes any community a better place—a better place to live, raise a family, work and do business.”
Ken Baptist, vice president and general manager at John Morrell, cited another benefit of the Learners to Leaders program. “There is a very practical benefit of the program—down the road Sioux Falls’ businesses will benefit from the investment made in these talented young people because we will have a more prepared work force,” Baptist said. “And that’s a win-win for everybody.”
Learners to Leaders is an educational alliance funded by Smithfield Foods through its philanthropic wing, the Smithfield-Luter Foundation. The alliance is made up of Smithfield Food’s worldwide independent operating companies and local organizations focused on promoting education. The alliance’s goal is to reinforce what the organizers believe is the most critical part of any community’s foundation, the education of its citizens.
The Sioux Falls program was the first of several Learners to Leaders programs that have been launched around the country.
Smithfield Foods is a global food company with operations in 13 countries through wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. Headquartered in Smithfield, Va., the company produces more than 50 brands of pork, beef and turkey products and more than 200 gourmet foods. Employing more than 57,000 people across the globe, Smithfield Foods is the world’s largest producer and processor of pork and a leader in turkey processing, cattle feeding and beef processing.
John Morrell & Co., founded in 1827 in Liverpool, England, is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., of Smithfield, Va. John Morrell is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has operations in Cincinnati; Great Bend, Kan.; Sioux City, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; San Jose, Calif.; Middlesboro, Ky.; Springdale, Ohio; and Sioux Falls, S.D. John Morrell is a broad-based supplier of fresh pork and processed meats to every segment of the market. Its products are marketed coast-to-coast under a dozen brand names, including the flagship John Morrell label. John Morrell is one of the leading producers of private-label meat products for retail chains and foodservice distributors, as well as the first meat company to establish a successful brand in the enhanced fresh pork category with the John Morrell Tender N Juicy brand.
News Release