Leading a life of service and instilling in her students the desire to help others has earned Charlotte Mohling a hefty award. The South Dakota Association of Career and Technical Education (SDACTE) announced that the Wessington Springs School District family and consumer sciences and technology educator and FCCLA advisor has been named the Carl Perkins Community Service Award winner.
The organization stated that Mohling, in her 47th year of teaching, has been selected because she uses career and technical education to make an impact on the community and promotes student involvement in community service. For Mohling, devoting herself to service and guiding youth toward a path of giving to others is not only part of her work but also a means for the longevity of a community.
“If it weren’t for members of the community pitching in to get things done or helping those in need, we may not survive as a community of people,” she explained. “I have every one of my classes do a community service project and not just in Wessington Springs. We have done projects with an impact statewide, nationally and even globally.”
Charlotte’s goal as an educator is to help students realize the impact and importance of service to others.
“I need to be a role model and practice what I teach to achieve this goal,” she said, pointing to the service example her grandmother displayed as she grew up. “My grandmother was always giving back. I remember as a child that when she’d go to the doctor, she’d bring the health care providers and the office staff baked goods. That was one little thing among many that I witnessed when it came to service to others. She was my example.”
Leading by example is evident in all she does in her school and community and is reflected in a nomination letter for the award: “Charlotte is consistently working with our community organizations to get her students involved in working for the betterment of themselves, along with their educational and extracurricular experiences they are involved in at school.”
Mohling’s leadership and commitment to community service is also shown in her professional involvement at the state and national level having served in many leadership capacities. Mohling cites SDACTE as being her professional organization since the 1970s, having done all of her leadership development and professional growth through the organization and that it is an honor to be recognized by her peers in the industry.
Some of the many service projects her students and FCCLA members have done at the local level include the following: the Angel Tree Project, collecting food items and warm clothing for the local food pantry, coordinating Veterans Day activities, implementing benefits for local families, preparing a meal and delivering needed items to the Ronald McDonald House, raising money for Make-a-Wish kids and Pheasant Forever habitats, cleaning and renovating the Nature Trail, providing various learning activities for the elementary students and leading activities with the nursing home residents. FCCLA chapter members have been recognized at the state and national level where they have shared their community service projects to give other chapter members ideas of how to identify needs in their community and carry out service projects, receiving recognition for their efforts.
Projects on the schedule for the 2022-2023 school year include: involvement in helping honor local veterans through participation in the Honor Flight program, making blankets for animal shelters, hosting a “Friendsgiving” celebration, holding a kindness challenge, creation of a mental health project, “Little Pals” project, spearheading a project to encourage reading, “Sew Powerful” purse program, “You’ve Been Mugged” program that consists of gathering supplies for one serving items that can be made in a coffee mug and delivered to elderly members of the community living alone and “Keep Your Toes Warm,” a continuation of the socks project students started last year.
Mohling said it is gratifying and encouraging to see former students giving back to their communities. “I see former students coaching, serving within their church or helping with community activities. It may not be in Wessington Springs but they are giving of themselves.”
As the South Dakota winner of the award, she now qualifies to compete for the Region V ACTE Carl Perkins Community Service Award. The Region V Conference will be held in Fargo, ND, on April 12-15, 2023.