Friends of SDPB Welcomes New Board Members Kara Flynn, Rapid City
Kara Flynn was born and raised in Sioux Falls and graduated from Lincoln High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Latin American Studies from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in Geography from South Dakota State University. In 2004, she and her husband Leo moved their family to Rapid City. Kara has been an educational advocate for years, serving as the Executive Director of the Public School Foundation and as a school board member for RCAS. She is the current cochair of the Black Hills SDPB Sound Vision campaign. Kara, Leo and their sons Leo K. and Nathaniel enjoy skiing, hiking, paddle boarding and fly fishing in the Black Hills. Kara is an avid SDPB radio listener and takes pride in the fact that her boys listen to public radio in their cars too. “SDPB brings me the world and reminds me what it means to be a South Dakotan,” says Kara. “The value of SDPB is the community that it creates. It provides stories, music and now studios for people to gather together to learn from one another.”
Josh VanLaecken, Aberdeen
Josh VanLaecken is a full-time faculty member in Northern State University’s School of Business. He graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and holds an active Certified Public Account (CPA) license. Prior to entering academia, Josh worked in both public and private accounting environments. He served a variety of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to locally-owned small businesses; and, from energy, agricultural, and financial institutions to governments and nonprofits. Josh is married with two young children and enjoys spending time lifting and playing sports, reading, and working on various car, home and small electronics projects.
Roberta (Bobbie) Clark, Mitchell
Roberta (Bobbie) Clark is a Registered Nurse and holds a bachelor’s in business and an MBA from Sioux Falls University. She is a substitute nurse for the Mitchell School District. She has served on the Mitchell Main Street & Beyond Board, Avera Institutional Review Board, and for numerous other community organizations. She received the Mitchell Lion of the Year award in 2014 and 2018 and the George McGovern Service Award in 2013. “I have been a consumer of public broadcasting for many years and a member of the Friends of SDPB since 1979,” says Bobbie. “Listening to SDPB in the car and watching at home is a quality experience. My husband and I especially enjoy the Prairie Doc®, NOVA, South Dakota high school activities tournaments and the fundraising specials.” She and her husband Pat have been married for 46 years. They have two children and four grandchildren.
Rapid City’s Emily Graslie Co-Hosts New PBS Nature Series Emily Graslie, born and raised in Rapid City, announced she is back online and onscreen as a co-host of a new special limited series In Our Nature, as part of the PBS It’s Okay To Be Smart franchise found on the PBS Video App and Passport. The digital short-form documentary series explores how seemingly distant ecosystems, even half a world apart, are connected in surprising ways. Emily joins Trace Dominguez and It’s Okay To Be Smart host Dr. Joe Hanson looking at the universal rules of life that tie together Earth’s living ecosystem.
Episode one takes Emily back home to South Dakota as she travels to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to learn how the bison is being restored to the native prairie ecosystem and its people. She and co-hosts examine how large mammals like the bison in North America and the wildebeest in Africa are cornerstones to their respective grassland environments. In 2020, she made her broadcast television debut on PBS in Prehistoric Road Trip, an original three-part series exploring the paleontology and natural history
of the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. Prehistoric Road Trip rebroadcasts on SDPB in August. Find It’s Ok To Be Smart on the PBS Video App, PBS Passport, or at YouTube.com/itsokaytobesmart. Watch Prehistoric Road Trip on SDPB2: Thursdays, August 5, 12 and 19 at 8pm (7 MT). August 2021 29
