Kiwansi Club Project “Who Gets the Job”

The Litchfield Kiwanis Club sponsored a program this year with the 8th grade FACS students from Litchfield Middle School called “Who Gets the Job.” The program taught the students various skills that will help them as they seek employment in the future.

Kiwanis Club member Judy Hulterstrum says they were able to get a wide variety of employers involved in the program for interviews and job shadowing experiences such as Meeker County Probation, Tow-master, Center Bank, St. Philip’s School, Meeker Memorial Hospital, and even arranged for a Zoom call for one of the students to learn about meteorology with Litchfield native Jared Piepenburg at KMSP-TV. She says even though the students are in 8th grade, many of them will be seeking their first jobs soon.

FACS teacher Laura Hulterstrum says the program with the Kiwanis Club tied in to her curriculum of career study and job preparation. She says it taught the students valuable skills

Laura says, following group interviews, two students in each group had individual interviews and then one of them was chosen for a job shadowing experience, so there were 14 students all-together who were selected. She says since this program was implemented, many of her students have actually had their first real job interviews. Probation agent Brenda Warren says Brooke Johnson worked with her to learn about the court system.

Warren says the students in this program were so engaged, and it was a rewarding experience for the employers who were involved. Brooke Johnson says the interview process was kind of nerve-wracking, but the job-shadowing was so much fun.

Brooke says it was her dream to be able to learn about the court system and she will most likely pursue this type of career someday. Chloe Johnson says she got to job shadow at Papa’s Sweet Tooth.

Chloe says she may pursue this type of work in the future, or maybe just enjoy baking as a hobby. Myles Johnson says he got to do job shadowing with Nathan Winter and Dave Schwartz to learn about agronomy.

Myles says he still has 4 years of high school to finish, but he will consider agronomy as a career choice when he gets older. Judy Hulterstrum says people can help the Kiwanis Club with its projects like Who Gets the Job when they attend their fundraisers like the pancake breakfast on July 11th in Central Park.