South Dakota high school students interested in any one of the state’s four technical institutes to study programs related to high demand jobs can now apply for part of fifty million dollars in scholarships.  The Build South Dakota Scholarships are funded through a twenty five million dollar donation from banker T. Denny Sanford, with twenty five million more matched by the state.

Kathy Blaha is the guidance counselor for Avon High School, and she says there are about 10 students graduating this year looking at a technical school for higher education…

 

There are 54 program options that are considered high demand industry areas and include trades such as welding, automotive, construction, energy technicians, manufacturing, and some nursing programs.  Blaha says that while not all of the senior students may necessarily qualify, she is helping them through the application process…

 

She says that she will introduce the current high school juniors to the scholarship information within the next few weeks.

About 300 scholarships will be granted this fall for students studying in one of the qualifying programs who agree to work in that field of study within the state of South Dakota for at least three years after graduation.