Success Stories

While scrolling through Facebook, Hunter Lee, a Breckenridge MN native and 2020 NDSCS HVAC/R graduate,  stumbled upon the ServiceTitan HVAC competition. Curious, he filled out an online quiz and was selected to move onto round two. While he was intrigued, he was skeptical that it may be a scam. About a month later, a package arrived in the mail with instructions for phase two — a torching and braising assignment.

Brandon Ralph (2000), owner of Bruno’s Pizza in Bismarck and co-owner of ND Country Fest in New Salem, was recently back on campus to celebrate the 1999 Wildcat Football Team’s induction to the NDSCS Hall of Fame.  While he did not initially have NDSCS on his radar, the Minot High athlete attended the ND State Indoor Track Meet the spring of his senior year, where John Richman, NDSCS’s Football Coach, was also in attendance.

Hailing from Grand Forks with a four-year university in their back yard, Bryce and Mychael Reller, twin brothers, took a different path than many of their college-bound classmates. Bryce shared his decision was more financial based and wanted to finish his education in two years. Mychael also agreed the two-year option was more appealing both timewise and financially.

When Marjorie Lommel graduated from NDSCS in 1974, she had no idea she was the first of many family members to follow in her footsteps, Sally Buckhouse, Lommel’s granddaughter being one of them.  Buckhouse graduated in 1999 in nursing, along with her two sisters, Cari graduating in 2001 and Alicia in 2005.

Paige Scholz is a proud 2014 Wildcat Dental Hygiene and Liberal Arts alum.   

Not all career paths are straight, in fact most are filled with twists, turns, valleys, and peaks. Lucas Mayes, Electrical Technology class of 2003, is an example of how life can take you in different directions and lead to destinations you didn’t realize you were headed for.

Harry Jackmann, a 1981 NDSCS Alum was recently Inducted into the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame.  Harry commented, “It is only fitting that I share a personal award with a school and community that were an integral part of my personal growth and who I am as a person today. I will always recognize Science, Wildcat football, Coaches Al Grage and Larry McDaniel, as the cornerstone of all successes I realized as an athlete.”

Chris Thomas of EAPC Architects Engineers is a 2000 NDSCS graduate. Chris is one of two Project Managers for the latest NDSCS endeavor, the Career Innovation Center, currently under construction in south Fargo.  He and his wife Marisa live in West Fargo and have three children, Avery (13), Holt (11), and Kenna (8).

Malee Olson, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, is the third generation to attend NDSCS. She enrolled in the Culinary Arts program in 2019. Despite the pandemic and all of the sudden changes, Malee still gained the hands-on experience that would prepare her for the food industry. Some of her favorite experiences were catering large events, baking apple pies from scratch during Thanksgiving, and baking as a work study for the school cafeteria. Malee recently graduated after her summer internship at Moccasin Creek Country Club and is now employed. 

Anna Winter is about to learn extensively about fast-paced kitchens.

The Coon Rapids, Minn., native attends the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton and is working toward a culinary arts degree.

Now, she’ll head to Washington, D.C. for the summer after earning an internship with one of North Dakota Farmers Union’s restaurants.

“I’m very excited – it was one of the first things I heard about on day one of our (culinary) program,” Winter said. “I knew that’s where I wanted to go. I’m definitely nervous, but super excited at the same time.”