BROOKINGS — The South Dakota Education Association presented District 7 Rep. Roger DeGroot, R-Brookings, with the 2025 Friend of Education award.

“It was really a surprise to me,” DeGroot said. “I was just going about doing my duties in the House. We passed a few bills that affected the teachers of South Dakota, but I never really thought anything about this. Then one day, (SDEA President Loren Paul) said, ‘we’d like you to come down here.’ He said he wanted to introduce me to some teachers from around the state. So I go down there, and they give me this award. ... It was so unexpected that I got a little bit emotional.”

DeGroot was first elected to the state Legislature in 2022. He is currently on his second term in office and serves on the House Education Committee.

“I never thought — doing your job, doing what you’re supposed to do, helping education while on the house ed committee — that I’d be rewarded for that,” DeGroot said. “I’ve been in education for 40 years. And now being retired, I really already have a room full of awards. But those were all kind of expected. None of them means as much as this one to me, because it just came out of the blue.”

He was nominated for the award by Kelsey Lovseth, president of the Brookings Education Association.

“That was special, because Kelsey and I worked together here in Brookings when I was a superintendent. Then last year she had a job out here in Pierre, so we worked together again,” DeGroot said. “It also said to me that at the end of the day what I’m doing makes a difference for the kids in South Dakota. I think that’s really what came home to me.”

DeGroot was superintendent of the Brookings School District for eight years. After that, he served a three-year term on the Brookings School Board, and then sought a seat in the state legislature.

“I never really got away from (education),” DeGroot said. “Even now that I’m retired, I’m in the House and I’m working on educational issues all the time. In fact, I’m working on a committee this summer to put together some educational bills. I just don’t seem to ever get away from education, but I think that’s a good thing.”

He said defending and improving South Dakota’s public schools remains his top legislative priority.

“I think education as a whole in South Dakota — and in Brookings — is doing great, but certainly we should analyze it and keep improving as we move forward,” DeGroot said. “I have three kids who are quite successful, and guess where they went to school — the public education system. If you look at the legislative body out there in Pierre, most of the people that are in the House and Senate went through public education. They’ve been quite successful. I’m proud of public education. My son’s an optometrist, my other kids are teachers, I’ve been quite successful — we went through the same system. So yeah, I’m proud of public education.”

He said the state’s public schools do a good job, but there’s always room for improvement.

“Education has just changed immensely over the last 20 years,” DeGroot said. “Where should education be? We have some people working on that right now — where education should go in the next 10 years, like working on a strategic plan. That’s actually on a committee we’ve put together. Hopefully we can get some answers to that. … I think we’re pretty much on the right track, but we could certainly do better. We always need to evaluate what we’re doing and see what we can do better.”

He’d like to see more young people stay in South Dakota and pursue careers in education.

“The kids who are actually going into education are great, talented young people. We just need more of them,” DeGroot said. “The best and brightest should consider education because they are our backbone. They are the future for our kids. Unfortunately, if you look back 15-20 years ago there were many more kids going into education then than there are now. We have a tremendous teaching shortage now. I would hope young people would consider going into education. … I’d encourage more young people to become teachers.”

Contact Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.