Category: Education

Kids Fly a Kite for Science

Campers from NatureBridge Science Camp fly a kite over the former Lake Aldwell, with a camera attached to the flyline.
Campers from NatureBridge Science Camp fly a kite over the former Lake Aldwell, with a camera attached to the flyline.

Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe youth collected data for the U.S. Geological Survey by flying a kite over the Elwha River this summer.

As part of a science-based summer camp focusing on the Elwha River restoration project, the kite was collecting data about the ever-changing Lake Aldwell delta. The red kite had a small digital camera attached to the fly line, set up to take pictures of the ground below every three seconds.

The USGS is collecting aerial photos to document the rapidly changing deltas of the Elwha River during removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, said KC Nattinger, a field science educator with NatureBridge, a Lake Crescent-based science education camp.

“It’s a great project for the kids since it allows them to participate in a science experiment in an area that they are culturally tied to,” Nattinger said.

In addition to flying kites, the kids took water quality samples, explored old tree stumps and driftwood, and learned about the tribe’s cultural ties to the river.

Klallam language teacher Harmony Arakawa talked about rediscovery of the tribe’s creation site. It had been under Lake Aldwell reservoir for a century until the Elwha Dam was removed last summer, draining the reservoir.

Arakawa talked about the site and its purpose. Tribal members would go on spirit walks to the creation site, first bathing themselves in the river and Olympic Hot Springs and then walk to the creation site seeking a vision.

Wendy Sampson, another Klallam language teacher, told the kids they are in the middle of history and are collecting stories that they will share with future generations.

“You kids are part of history,” she said. “You were some of the last kids whose picture was taken in front of the Elwha Dam before it came down.”

The stories passed down by older generations explaining how the river has changed has been backed by the science taking place on the river recently, Sampson said.

“These stories aren’t just stories,” she said. “We’re seeing evidence of the stories that our elders have told us.”

Hibulb Cultural Center Lecture Series, Lizzie Krise

Join us this evening at 6 p.m. at the Tulalip Hibulb Cultural Center, where Language teachers Michelle Myles and Natosha Gobin will share a presentation about Lizzie Krise, who was the first Tulalip elder to work with Linguist Tom Hess in the sixties to record the Lushootseed language. She told some short stories that many of our students and former students are familiar with, and there are some great stories that have come to us about things she did to help childen, both her own grandchildren and children, from the tribe.HCC LectureSeries_web

Muckleshoot Indian Tribe makes $25,000 gift for UPS scholarships

By , The Suburban Times

TACOMA – University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce a $25,000 gift from the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe that will help provide scholarships for Native American students pursuing their education at the national liberal arts college.

This is the first grant to Puget Sound by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, which shares the college’s ambition to provide young people with broad access to a quality education that serves as a foundation for a successful career. The $25,000 gift will be allocated in scholarships to eligible Native American students attending Puget Sound.

“Young Native Americans in Washington have bold aspirations, but not always the family resources to ensure they can follow the paths they choose,” said Virginia Cross, chair of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. “We hope to encourage more of them to commit to a high-standard college education so they can enter civic and business life in positions that will be a boon to their community and serve as a model for other young people.”

Puget Sound has attracted a rising percentage of students from diverse backgrounds for the past two decades. More than 20 percent of freshmen students in 2012 identified as being from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education. In the 2012–13 school year, 55 Native American students attended Puget Sound.

To ensure that students can devote themselves to their studies, as well as take advantage of opportunities to participate in campus clubs, community work, and athletic and academic activities, Puget Sound currently offers financial aid to 94 percent of its students. Providing financial support for students is also a key target of the college’s current One [of a Kind] comprehensive campaign.

The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe places priority in awarding grants to organizations that address the unique local and regional issues faced by Native Americans. Awards range across areas including education, health, culture, arts, the environment, community advocacy, and communities of color.

Oglala Sioux Tribe Endorses Teach For America

Tribal Council Passes Resolution in Support of Organization’s Efforts to Expand Educational Opportunity for Native Students in South Dakota

Source: Teach For America

PINE RIDGE, S.D., September 3, 2013—The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed a resolution announcing its formal support of Teach For America-South Dakota corps members and alumni in their efforts to advance Native student achievement in the state.

Teach For America recruits, trains, and develops recent graduates and professionals to teach in urban and rural public schools, including some that are tribally operated under grant or contract with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and some that are BIE-operated. During the 2012-13 school year, 510 Teach For America corps members taught in Nativecommunities in South Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council resolution states in part:

Oglala Sioux Tribal Council supports Teach For America corps members and alumni in their efforts to build a truly effective movement through building local partnerships with students, families, local educators and with other organizations to eliminate educational inequity thus bridging the opportunity gap.

The resolution cites rigorous research studies that demonstrate Teach For America corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. Additionally, it recognizes the organization’s effort to strengthen its culturally responsive teaching training to better fit the needs of Native students.

The resolution also encourages other tribal governments and school districts serving American Indian students to strengthen their partnership with Teach For America.

“We are proud to support Teach For America as an ally in the critical effort to help Native students realize their full potential through excellent educational opportunities,” said council representative Kevin Yellow Bird-Steel. “The students in Pine Ridge classrooms right now will be the future tribal, state, and national leaders.”

Teach For America−South Dakota has been partnering with schools on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations since 2004. This year, more than 40 new Teach For America teachers will be teaching in reservation schools on Pine Ridge, Rosebud and for the first time Standing Rock and Lower Brule.

“We want the work of our corps members to be directly aligned with the visions and goals of the tribes, communities and families with whom we partner,” said Jim Curran, Teach For America− South Dakota executive director. “It means a lot to have formal support from the Oglala Nation.”

In 2010, Teach For America launched its Native Alliance Initiative to provide an additional source of effective teachers in Native communities and advance student achievement in Native schools.

“Education in Native schools is about the community. Teach For America is incredibly grateful for this support from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Government,” said Robert Cook, managing director of the Native Alliance Initiative and enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. “This partnership will allow our corps members and alumni to have a more meaningful impact with students.  It is a symbol of the alliance needed to help all students reach their full potential.”

About Oglala Sioux Tribe

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border. Today it consists of 3,468.86 sq mi (8,984.306 km2) of land area and is the eighth-largest reservation in the United States, larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. This fall, 11,000 corps members will teach in 48 urban and rural regions across the country, while 32,000 alumni will work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook  and Twitter.

Getting Smart: Arizona State Hires 5 New American Indian Scholars

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Arizona State University has added five American Indian scholars in the fields of law, social transformation, American Indian studies, and social and family dynamics.

University President Michael M. Crow said the appointments are examples of how ASU is committed to diversity the school’s recognition of social responsibility.

“As I said in my inaugural speech 11 years ago, Arizona State University will gather and empower a large cohort of scholars focused on American Indian culture and social and economic issues,” Crow said in a release announcing the five new scholars. “The presence of a critical mass of scholars encourages constructive dialogue and the evolution of a given sphere of inquiry. It is all the more essential in a developing field such as American Indian Studies.

“We will encourage scholars from a spectrum of disciplines to offer different perspectives. Teaching and research related to American Indian culture has been underway at Arizona State University for decades but the American Indian Initiative is proving transformational in the development of the field, and confirms the university’s commitment to programs that are socially relevant.”

New faculty include:

Professor Robert J. Miller, an Eastern Shawnee citizen, comes to the Sandra J. O’Connor College of Law from the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. He’ll teach civil procedure, Indian law classes and a new class focusing on economic development for tribal nations and Indian peoples.

Professor Robert J. Miller (Arizona State University)
Professor Robert J. Miller (Arizona State University)

Professor K. Tsianina Lomawaima, of Mvskoke descent, comes to the School of Social Transformation from the University of Arizona. Her teaching interests include U.S. Indian policy history, indigenous knowledge systems and research issues in American Indian education.

Professor K. Tsianina Lomawaima (Arizona State University)
Professor K. Tsianina Lomawaima (Arizona State University)

Tennelle L. Marley, a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, is an American Indian Studies assistant professor and will teach Introduction to American Indian Studies. American Indian health and health policy, sociology of health, sociology of American Indians and qualitative research methods are her areas of expertise.

Assistant Professor Tennelle L. Marley (Arizona State University)
Assistant Professor Tennelle L. Marley (Arizona State University)

Michelle Hale, an assistant professor, will teach tribal governance, federal Indian policy and Introduction to American Indian Studies within the American Indian Studies program. She is Laguna, Ojibwe, Odawa and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Her areas of expertise lie in tribal governance and leadership, public policy, economic development and the Navajo government.

Assistant Professor Michelle Hale (Arizona State University)
Assistant Professor Michelle Hale (Arizona State University)

Monica Tsethlikai, an enrolled member of the Zuni people of New Mexico, joins the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics from the University of Utah. She will teach statistics and courses on child development as an assistant professor. Her research explores the cultural and contextual factors that affect function development and memory processes in middle childhood and early adolescence.

Assistant Professor Monica Tsethlikai (Arizona State University)
Assistant Professor Monica Tsethlikai (Arizona State University)

 

“These new faculty become part of a cohort of scholars who have already positioned ASU as a leading academic institution in matters related to American Indian culture and its implication in the context of the broader American culture,” said Executive Vice President and University Provost Elizabeth D. Phillips in the release “They will continue to expand our scholarly expertise in critical intellectual areas as well as provide our students with a vast array of knowledge and experience.”

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/09/18/meet-5-new-american-indian-scholars-arizona-state-university-151300

Educational Book on Traditional Wild Rice Gathering Now Available

Fun Games and Activities for all ages.
Fun Games and Activities for all ages.

Source: Native News Network

ISABELLA INDIAN RESERVATION – The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe’s Environmental Department is pleased to announce the release of a book entitled, “Manoomini-miikaans –The Wild Rice Road.”

The informative book was created in a way that provides respect for natural resources, such as wild rice and a connection to Mother Earth through the Anishinaabe language.

The book is filled with fun games and activities for all ages and tells of two children on their way to an annual traditional rice camp on the Saginaw Bay.

Funding for the book came from the US Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act, Section 106 and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funding. The Tribe’s Environmental team collaborated with other departments such as Anishinaabe Language Revitalization, Tribal Observer Graphic Designer, students and teachers from the Saginaw Chippewa Academy and Ziibwing’s Center for cultural and language correctness.

“I’m very proud of our internal departments who came together to produce the book. Wild rice as always been one of our traditional foods and is making a big comeback to the Saganing Bay area with the help our Environmental Team,”

stated Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Chief Dennis Kequom, Sr.

The Tribe will be distributing 10,000 copies of the book to local schools as a supplement to language curriculums, as well as libraries, conservation groups and educational organizations. If you would like to request copies, please call the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe’s Environmental Department at 989.775.4014.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan is based on the Isabella Indian Reservation in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

Area students named to Dean’s List at U.W.

 

Source: The Marysville Globe

Students from the Marysville/Tulalip area have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Washington for Spring 2013 Quarter.

To qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must have completed at least 12 graded credits and have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (out of 4). Students are notified that they have achieved this distinction when they receive their grades for the quarter.

The students are listed alphabetically by hometown.

Marysville

Vicente Aberion, junior

Dominic Alhambra, freshman

Angela Ament, senior

Jake Blackman, sophomore

Blaine Bowman, senior

Casey Brown, senior

Stephen Calkins, freshman

Courtney Coombs, junior

Kyle Daggett, junior

Thomas Esser, senior

Mathew Featherstone, junior

Katelyn Frazier, senior

Claudia Furmanczyk, junior

Gabriel Gribler, senior

Alyssa Grisham, sophomore

Jade Hanson, senior

Nicholas Harris, sophomore

Reed Headrick, sophomore

Brian Hecox, senior

Samuel Hipp, senior

Tara Howes, senior

Eric Huswick, senior

Sam Josephsen, junior

Mikko Juan, sophomore

Emily Krueger, junior

Mikaela Lance, junior

Alicia Malavolti, senior

Aleksandr Melnik, senior

Taylor Olsen, senior

Gerard Pascual, sophomore

Cierra Purdom, sophomore

Joshua Rasmussen, senior

Brian Ronk, senior

Andy Sandhu, senior

Tyler Smith, senior

Zachary Smith, junior

Minh Ta, sophomore

Riley Taitingfong, senior

Ashley Tande, freshman

Nina Tran, junior

Alex Troupe, junior

Lakrista Vantrece, sophomore

Kate Vavrousek, junior

Hailey Zurcher, junior

Tulalip

Amanda Koerber, senior

Nicholas Marshall, junior

Marysville students return to school

Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe
MARYSVILLE — No matter how many years of first days of school students, parents and teachers have experienced before, it can still be an adjustment, as families found at both Marysville Middle School and Liberty Elementary this year.“It’s all new stuff,” laughed Angela Courier, as she and her husband Richard got their daughter Kailye checked into sixth grade at Marysville Middle School on Wednesday, Sept. 4. “It’s completely different from elementary school. There’s all different school supplies. You need to make sure you’ve got your information together beforehand.”While fellow moms such as Meridith Rosevelt reviewed their own children’s paperwork in the packed main office of Marysville Middle School, Rosemarie Running Water of Tulalip filled out forms to transfer her daughter, Maeliha Matta, to Totem Middle School to be with her friends.

For at least two families at Liberty Elementary, barely more than a block west of Marysville Middle School, this year marked a particularly unique transition.

Art Noriel Castillo entered fifth grade at Liberty Elementary this year, but his father, Arturo Castillo, had to show up early to complete all his paperwork since they just recently moved to the area from Saipan.

“We came here because the schools here are very good,” said Arturo Castillo, as Art Noriel Castillo deemed math his favorite subject.

Monika Little has taught second grade at Liberty Elementary for 19 years, while her husband Richard has taught fourth- and fifth-grade classes at Liberty for 16 years, but this year marked their daughter Maya’s entry into first grade at the school.

“This school already has such a community feel for us,” Monika Little said. “The only difference now is, at various school functions, we’ll be doing double-duty as parents and teachers.”

“We’ve really embraced the culture of this school,” Richard Little said. “What better way to do so than to bring our daughter here?”

Maya Little confidently asserted that she had “no worries” about starting first grade, and like Art Noriel Castillo, she looked forward to studying math in class.

Since the first day of school was the same day for elementary schools and middle schools in Marysville this year, Tammy Hildebrand had already dropped off one child at middle school that morning before introducing her daughter to her second-grade teacher and her son to his fifth-grade teacher at Liberty Elementary barely an hour later.

“I’ve had lots of coffee today,” Hildebrand laughed.

“I still get excited jitters on the first day of school, and I’ve been through 10 principals here,” laughed Karen Wright, a third-grade teacher who’s been at Liberty Elementary since 1984. “I was one of the younger teachers here when I started out, and I stayed here because I love this school and I love our families. I’ve got second-generation students now, whose parents were children in my class, and they’ve heard all the stories. Even the high school kids will come back and remember the places where they sat in my room.”

While third-graders don’t have nearly the amount of nervousness that younger kids do about the first day, Wright still needs to guide them back into the groove of studying, as they’re united with friends they might not have seen all summer long. Wright herself spent her summer studying the Common Core State Standards and acquiring new texts for her students.

“The curriculum has gotten more challenging over the years, and the expectations of state testing are more demanding now, but the kids are basically the same as they’ve always been,” said Wright, who praised the support of her fellow teachers and school staff members. “The kids are just great. I never wanted to become a principal, because being a teacher here is just great. Except for one year in England, I’ve taught in Marysville my whole career, and of those years, I’ve taught at Liberty for all but my first year, when I was at Shoultes. I love it here.”

For Liberty Elementary first-grade teacher Karen Robinson, this year served as a first day of school in more ways than one, since it was also her first day of teaching a class of her own.

“I was a substitute teacher for three years before this,” said Robinson, who credited her own fourth-grade teacher with inspiring her to enter education. “I thought she was so cool, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up.”

Robinson’s biggest challenge in preparing her own classroom was figuring out how it should be laid out, since she was accustomed to coming in as a substitute and working within other teachers’ setups for their classrooms.

“In the end, I went with openness,” Robinson said. “I wanted to be able to see all the kids, and to see them learning.”

While Lucas Walker, one of Robinson’s first-grade students, had already attended Liberty Elementary for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, his first day was still a bit difficult for his mom.

“I let him walk to school by himself, because he’s a big boy now,” Shelly Walker said. “It’s sad that he’s growing up so fast. He’s not my baby anymore.”

Watch the slideshow here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marysvilleglobe/9713212416/