Sioux Falls School District Superintendent Jamie Nold speaks at Thursday’s event celebrating Lutheran Social Services’ 25 years of mentoring in Sioux Falls. (Joe Sneve / The Dakota Scout)
Twenty-five years ago, Rebecca Kiesow-Knudsen became one of Lutheran Social Services’ first mentors.
There was a bit of symmetry to the application process: Kiesow-Knudsen also landed her first "real life" gig out of college at LSS — unexpectedly becoming the organization’s inaugural Mentor Coordinator overseeing what was a brand new program in 2001.
Today, she’s one of a dozen volunteers from that first class still helping guide young South Dakotans into adulthood. And all these years later, LSS boasts 5,400 volunteer mentors who have come through the program, working with 6,806 students across a network of schools that now spans 13 districts.
Subscribe to The Dakota Scout to read the rest of the story.
Become a paying subscriber of The Dakota Scout to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.
SubscribeA subscription gets you:
- Daily news in your inbox
- Viewpoints, concert reviews, obituaries
- Weekly digital copy of print version
