traded in baseballs and bug spray for calculators and highlighters. Families across South Dakota are readjusting to early mornings getting kids ready to catch the bus and evenings spent working on homework at the table. In the Noem household, we're getting ready to move our oldest daughter Kassidy back to college to start her sophomore year, while Kennedy and Booker try to get back in the school routine.
• Life in the classroom has changed quite a bit since many of us were in school. Long division no longer requires time spent with pencil to paper, but rather number crunching in a calculator. Although our students are still taught how to solve problems the "long way," technology has made a substantial impact on education. Elementary students now use iPads to learn cursive and memorize multiplication tables, and students in middle and high school can now take exams and write papers on laptops in the classroom.
• When I was in college, my father died unexpectedly in an accident on our farm. I made the tough decision to leave college and return to our family farm to keep our operation up and running. I always intended to complete my college degree, but like so many individuals, life got in the way. I was raising three kids, running businesses and spending my days in the field. After years spent outside the classroom, it was a conversation with my sister that challenged me to return to school and finish what I

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