March 15, 2019

Celebrity Mike Rowe’s visit to South Dakota last year to promote technical school education has inspired him to fund scholarships for those students.

The mikeroweWORKS Foundation is partnering with Build Dakota Scholarships to provide $5,000 Finish Strong Scholarships to 10 second-year technical education students.

“What’s being done here in South Dakota is a template for what every state should be doing,” Rowe said of the Build Dakota Scholarship program. “We have 6.5 million open jobs in our country right now, and a vast amount of those jobs don’t require a four-year degree. They require training, and that’s why we’re providing this opportunity.”

Rowe’s foundation provided a gift of $25,000 that will be matched by the state’s South Dakota Future Fund for a total of $50,000.

Rowe, the former host of the TV series “Dirty Jobs,” was in South Dakota in September as part of the New Day in Tech Ed event. He toured technical schools in Watertown and Sioux Falls, and met with students.

“The mikeroweWORKS Foundation has stepped up and provided opportunities for thousands of young people across the country,” said Dana Dykhouse, chair of the Build Dakota program. “We were fortunate to have Mike join us in South Dakota last September and are thrilled we can partner for a South Dakota-specific scholarship.”

Applicants for the Finish Strong Scholarship must be enrolled in a South Dakota technical school and entering their second year of a two-year program this fall. Applicants will be required to sign The S.W.E.A.T. Pledge, a promise to live by Rowe’s own standard for work ethic and personal responsibility.

The deadline to apply is May 10. Technical school teachers and administrators also are encouraged to visit the website and submit an email on behalf of deserving students.

Learn more about the Finish Strong Scholarship by clicking here.