MEDIA RELEASE
South Central Kansas Roadtrip Nation Project Kick-Off
Monday, August 1, 2022, at 1 pm,
Wichita Workforce Center, 2021 N. Amidon
(WICHITA, KS) The Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, USD 259, Wichita State University, and WSU Tech are celebrating the launch of an exciting project with Roadtrip Nation (RTN) designed to engage high school students and job seekers in exploring their career journey with area business leaders, in addition to learning about the variety of jobs, education, and skills training resources in South Central Kansas. A local coalition came together to bring RTN to the Wichita region and has been developing the project for the past several months.
RTN is an Emmy Award-winning media and career guidance non-profit focused on leveraging human-centered storytelling to assist those at pivot points in life with their career journeys. Each year, RTN selects socially relevant topics upon which to focus its narrative-based storytelling projects. Content from these “road trips” is then disseminated across a wide range of education and media channels to inspire the next generation with a more inclusive view of the future of work. Core to RTN’s education model is its Interview Archive, a database of 9,000+ video assets showcasing the career stories of a diverse set of individuals from all walks of life, which is accessible to 14 million students nationwide through our education partnerships. Each RTN production project fuels new stories for this database, in addition to creating documentary content for PBS (100 million households annually) and other digital distribution channels.
Key features of the South Central Kansas Road Trip Nation project include the Build Your Future interactive website where students and job seekers can explore in-demand careers, and hear stories from business leaders about their career journeys and how they found their path to success. Build Your Future Wichita (roadtripnation.com) is a resource tool will be used in classrooms throughout the region and across Kansas to help inspire students and job seekers to discover the path that matches their interests and career goals.
The project includes a “road trip” across South Central Kansas following three young people as they explore careers and jobs to help them get started on their vocational journey. The filming is slated for November and will result in a one-hour documentary to air nationally on PBS in 2023. South Central Kansas Roadtrip - Roadtrip Nation Applications (smapply.org)
Speakers at the RTN Project Kick-Off include:
- Dr. Rick Muma, President Wichita State University
- Dr. Alicia Thompson, USD 259 Superintendent
- Dr. Sheree Utash, President WSU Tech
- Karen S. Carter, Chief Human Resources Office and Chief Inclusion Officer, Dow Chemical (Wichita Native
- Mike Merriner, President Roadtrip Nation