News Home

DSU Education students volunteer at Multi-Cultural Center

            Dakota State University Education students are working at the Sioux Falls Multi-Cultural Center (MCC) in volunteer service positions to fulfill a requirement for fieldwork. Dr. Mark Hawkes, Coordinator for Graduate Studies in Educational Technology and instructor for the educational psychology class at Dakota State that requires fieldwork, says about 50 or 60 students each semester, are required to work 12 hours at the MCC.

“We want to expose our students to different cultures,” said Hawkes. “It’s a great opportunity for these future teachers. For many, it will be their only chance to teach or work with people of different nationalities.”

            The MCC in Sioux Falls offers a variety of programs that DSU volunteers can choose between to help with. The MCC provides many services to help educational organizations grow with diversity, including cultural curriculum development workshops, cultural issues discussion groups, cultural communications assistance with families and students, and accurate, reliable information about various cultures. Patrons of the MCC, both young and adult, can also choose from a variety of classes, including reading, English as a second language, food and nutrition, financial, crime prevention, karate, youth task force, basketball, tennis, dance, computer education and various orientation programs.

 “While at the MCC, I helped with a variety of projects, including after school sports, Arts with the Washington Pavilion, ESL classes, and various research projects,” said Suzanne Erickson, a senior Elementary Education Major from Irene, SD. “All of the people, especially the children, were so unique in their own ways. They helped me to see a whole different world out there.”

“The Multi-Cultural Center gives students a teaching and service experience,” said Hawkes. “Students bring experiences to class for discussion. They’re having fun and at the same time they are being challenged. Many of the students have appreciated seeing how different, yet how similar, we all really are.”

            Students at the Center represent 62 different nationalities and speak 61 different languages. Refugees come from all over the world, including Eastern Europe, Central America, Sudan, among other areas. The challenge for the volunteers is to help these minorities understand what is being taught, to relate classroom concepts and to take the roll of leader.

            “I was raised in a small town here in South Dakota and I had never been exposed to diversity before attending the MCC. So this experience was extra rewarding to me,” Erickson said. “I was allowed to see diversity in its fullest and I cherish every moment that I spent there. It gave me a chance to see that no matter how different we are, we are still so much the same. I feel that this experience will make me a much better teacher in the future because of the knowledge I have gained from it.”

            The MCC’s mission is to provide opportunities for all people to learn, celebrate and share through cultural experiences. Erickson says she continues to work as a volunteer at the center even though she has completed her required hours.

            “After finishing my required hours for my Educational Psychology class at the MCC, I have continued to complete many more hours as a volunteer,” commented Erickson. “I think this is something all people need to do at sometime in their life, especially those of us who are going to be teachers and will deal with diversity on a daily basis.”