(Radio Iowa, 10/1/25) – The Iowa Department of Education reports almost half of high school seniors participated in some kind of work-based experience last year — an increase of more than 76 percent over two years. MOC-Floyd Valley assistant principal Grant Hegstad says it’s good experience for the northwest Iowa students.

“To just help shift their mindset from being that of a student to that of being a professional, a lot of the adulting skills that we sometimes just assume they have, and then they get launched into the real world, and we go, ‘Why don’t these kids have these skills?’ So we really work to grow them as innovators, as problem solvers,” he says. Hegstad notes that some students are paid to do internships and even end up with full-time jobs when they graduate.

Sioux City West senior Vance Dudley explores his passion for podcasting at a studio located in the District’s Career Academy. The academy is where students from the region learn about 30 different career pathways and can even earn college credit and intern with local businesses.

“The work you wanna go into, you’re not gonna know what it’s like by just learning about the work you’re gonna go into,” Dudley says. “You’re gonna know by working the work you go into, and this gives you an opportunity to do that and to see if you like it, and if you like it, you can pursue it. And if you don’t like it, don’t pursue it.”

Dudley says he dreams of attending Julliard to study acting or Duke University for law. Either way, he says the skills he learns while hosting a podcast as an intern for the Sioux City School District will help.
The state passed legislation last year requiring students to start exploring different careers starting in fifth grade. The Iowa Department of Education recently reported 45 percent of the class of 2025 took part in work-based learning.