by Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
On the crisp spring morning of Friday, March 25, the students of Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary were greeted by some unexpected visitors. Parents, grandparents, siblings, community members, and volunteers lined the student drop-off sidewalk holding rally signs and giving waves of encouragement.
Prior to the commencement of the school day, the sign wielding rallyteers joined the students at their morning assembly. The goal? To show our youth that we do care about their education and support all their efforts.
During the assembly Natosha Gobin, Lushootseed Teacher and coordinator of the rally, asked several students, “How did it feel when you saw your friends and family welcoming you to school, holding these signs?”
These were a few of the students’ responses: “I felt happy.” “Awesome!” “Made me feel good.” “It made me feel welcome.”
Following the assembly, See-Yaht-Sub staff discussed the meaning and impact of the morning’s event with Natosha.
What was the reasoning behind the Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary rally?
“During campaign season, with all the signs that go up and the roller coaster of feelings within the community, some positive vibes needed to be put out there. Not to attach to anyone’s name, not for a campaign, but to uplift, empower and encourage others. After seeing a post where my friend and fellow Tulalip tribes employee, Trisha Montero-Higgonbotham, spent an afternoon holding up positive messages, I knew this would be a great opportunity to spread blessings in our community.”
Why is it important to uplift our young ones? And what did meant to you and our community to hear the students say it made them feel good and welcome to school seeing the signs?
“Our youth are surrounded by chaos at times, no matter how much we try to protect them from it. Some of the simple things like going to school every day can be exhausting. I have five kids and four of them attend Quil Ceda Tulalip. They love their school and are proud to be a part of a cultural rich environment. Everyone is going into Spring Fever mode, so we wanted to show the kids some support and try to start their day off with some positive vibes. Hopefully it would stay with them the whole day as they interacted with others. Everyone says education is important, but how can we really help make sure our students feel supported? This was a success in making them feel loved, supported, encouraged, and welcome.”
Do you plan to hold more rallies like this one?
“We would like to spread these blessings on a regular basis, reaching out to other local schools, reaching out to the various tribal business buildings, our seniors and elders, to show that we all love and care for one another and that simple reminder can change someone’s day for the better, and carry those blessings with them wherever they go.”
How would you like to see them grow and become a common occurrence?
“We also want to create positive signs for our addicts, including weatherproof flyers giving them direction to resources to get clean. We all know where the drug houses are and we can post signs around there. We all know and love an addict, and want to save them. Tough love works sometimes but a silent reminder that someone is loved and has a choice is worth the attempt if it saves someone from walking up to the door of a dealer or down a road to use.”
Was this part of Natural Leaders?
“This was not a part of Natural Leaders, but I knew that the parents involved in Natural Leaders would be more than happy to help. When I shared Trisha’s post and mentioned I wanted to create signs for our community, I had some community members who wanted to be a part of it. Yvonne Williams, Eliza Davis and I spent a Friday night making the first set of signs. I made the remaining signs and put out a call to anyone who was interested to join us at the school.”
Looked like there were three Heritage students taking part in the rally.
“Yes, Yvonne Williams brought her two oldest kids, Roselynne Jablonksi and Nate Williams along with another Heritage student. Our young ones look up to our older high school students. It means a lot to have them participate and support the younger generation.”
