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If you’ve been looking for people to change the world, chances are you’d find a few of them in a group of students at the Service Leadership Academy in Sioux Falls.

The academy, led by Gregg Talcott and Kim Bartling, works with high school and middle school students to spark conversation and expose them to different needs in the community. It’s an outgrowth of The Humanity Launch, which serves up to 15,000 students a year in South Dakota, southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa, Talcott said.

For a few days in the summer, a few dozen high school seniors get together at Augustana University.

Funding from a grant from the Community Foundation helps keep the program free. The idea is the kids learn how to serve and then pay it forward.

“When they come in, we don’t ask, ‘what’s your grade point average,’ or 'what activities are you in,’” Talcott said. “We just ask, ‘do you want to grow your leadership skills, and do you want to be a servant leader?’”

Overwhelmingly, they do.

On a recent Thursday, students spent the morning at the St. Francis House. Talcott said exposing the students to different nonprofits helps create awareness – not only of community issues, but of the organizations helping solve them.

“It’s been really eye-opening,” said Emma Langerock, 17, of Brandon, who participated this year. “We’ve talked about so many opportunities and places I wasn’t even aware of where I can help.”

Fellow student Grey Lee, 17, from Washington High School, agrees.

“It’s good to hear how you can be part of the community,” Lee said. In one activity, students come up with an idea. Lee’s group wants to collect books and send them to underserved schools. She said it’s a cause particularly meaningful to her. “I was really poor, and people helped me. I want to do that for other people.”

Langerock hopes they can inspire others. “As seniors, we have a lot of people looking up to us,” she said.

Learning from others

In the afternoon, various nonprofits came for a “speed dating” event – where students went table to table learning about what they do.

“They sit down, and the nonprofit shares their story. Either what the organization does, or how they got involved. Then the kids have a few minutes to ask questions,” Talcott said.

Then they do the same thing with young leaders in the community.

“The leaders will tell their story, where they came from, and things that have happened in their life they maybe had to overcome,” Talcott said.

“The kids often think adults are the way they’ve always been, and they don’t know the journey. They think it’s all a straight line – and adults know it’s rarely a straight line.”

At night, Improv Falls comes to teach the students how to say “yes” and how opportunities present themselves.

It’s all to teach the students that the world can be what you make it – and they have a chance to shape their future, and, through service, the future for others.

Lessons include how to apologize, how to accept an apology and how to be grateful.

“Those are three great signs of being an adult,” Talcott said. “If you do those things, you’ll be surrounded by good people.”

Lasting lessons

For Talcott, the event doesn’t end after the session. He’ll go watch kids play basketball or tennis or whatever they’re into. He loves watching them thrive, and many come back to serve as counselors years later.

“I was a student, and now I’m a counselor. I had such a great time, and I loved hearing all the stories and how to be a better person in life and in general,” said Kendra Hiltunen, 20, of Volga.

She went and helped give water to people downtown as part of the program this year.

“There were people sleeping in alleys, and they were so appreciative,” Hiltunen said. “I think sometimes people forget that homeless people are people, too.”

Even though she had been through the program and was now helping other students, Hiltunen, now a junior at South Dakota State University, still had an a-ha moment this time around.

“This used to be someone’s baby, or someone’s 3-year-old son. Nobody dreams of being homeless,” Hiltunen said. “I want to be the best person I can be, to help them. There’s always something you can do. People just need to remember to keep going.”

That’s exactly what Talcott wants students to learn.

“This is our attempt to plant trees and leave something behind,” he said. “A lot of kids are just surprised. They maybe haven’t had someone really sick in their family, so they don’t understand why something like the Ronald McDonald House is important. It’s our responsibility to expose them to those things.”

Patrick Gale, vice president of community investment for the Community Foundation, said helping support programs such as the Service Leadership Academy is good not only for students but for local nonprofits.

“More people who can understand how important these organizations are means more people who will step in and lead them in the future,” Gale said. “I love anything that shapes the next generation. And I am always so inspired by these students and how passionate they are about changing the world.”

Karsten Saathoff, 17, of Estelline, said learning how to use their voice has been part of the training.

“Use your platform,” he said. “Everyone has something they are known for. So be known for lifting people up in your community.”