Category: Education

Source: ICTMN

Stanford University freshman Mark Berger isn’t exactly sure what he wants to major in just yet, but that’s ok. The university doesn’t require that he make that decision until the end of his sophomore year.

“I don’t know what I want my career to be but I’m interested in science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] education for Native and other minority students,” he told Indian Country Today Media Network.

Right now, Mark is enjoying exploring his many options, both in the classroom and out, at the university in Stanford, California.

The 19-year-old Oneida Indian Nation member is looking into joining Stanford’s chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society as well as the Model United Nations program. He’s also interested in a program where university students travel to San Jose to tutor Native grade school students.

“There is a tremendous amount of opportunities at Stanford and I am going to explore as much as possible until I find what interests me the most,” Mark said.

He’s not new to Model United Nations programs either. While a sophomore at Manlius Pebble Hill School in Dewitt, New York he won an international award for delegate excellence while in Montreal, Canada for a Model U.N. event. He traveled all over North America with the program as well and served as undersecretary general for his school’s Model U.N. conference during his senior year.

“I helped coordinate and plan a conference attended by over 300 delegates from upstate New York,” he said.

And upstate New York is where his heart is and where he plans on coming back to, regardless of what career he ends up pursuing.

He has always been involved with his tribe and doesn’t plan on stopping just because he decided to move across the country to attend college.

Mark has been involved with the Oneida Nation’s Youth Work Learn Program since he was 13 and has spent the last three summers working at Four Directions Productions as an intern.

“Working at Four Directions has been an amazing opportunity that has allowed me to work with many talented people on a variety of projects,” Mark said. “As an intern I worked closely with the cinematography department where I helped film footage of the PGA Tour, the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, and a variety of documentary pieces for the Oneida Indian Nation. I was also able to learn a little bit about computer animation from the animation department at Four Directions Productions, which works on turning Oneida legends into short animated films. It ultimately sparked my interest in how technology can be used in education and cultural preservation.”

His advice to other Native American students is to “take school seriously and give one hundred percent in everything you pursue,” he said. “Also go to the library and read a lot of books about whatever you’re interested in. The ability to teach yourself, no matter what the subject, is an incredibly valuable skill and being a strong reader is the keystone to that skill.”

Jerry Cornfield, The Herald

OLYMPIA — Leaders at Everett and Edmonds community colleges are about to receive a little extra state aid to improve academic programs and restore jobs eliminated during recession-driven budget cuts.

Edmonds Community College will get $712,430 over the next two years and EvCC will receive $697,065 during the same period.

This money is part of a $37 million increase for Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges in the state budget. On Wednesday, the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges on Wednesday approved how those dollars will be distributed among the colleges.

“It’s really beneficial to everyone,” said Marty Brown, executive director of the state board. The extra dollars make up roughly 1.3 percent of the operating budgets at the campuses in Edmonds and Everett.

EvCC President David Beyer welcomed the increase after four years of cuts that totaled almost $9 million.

“The Legislature’s decision to restore some of those cuts is greatly appreciated by students, faculty and staff, as we prepare to welcome thousands of students who will take classes fall quarter,” he said.

EvCC has not decided how it will spend the money.

A top Edmonds Community College official said he was “very thankful” the state board agreed to allocate the money using the same formula used when they had to make cuts. It meant Edmonds received more because it had taken deeper cuts.

Kevin McKay, EdCC’s vice president for finance and operations, said the money will be used to help balance this year’s budget, restore “very critical” positions and deal with neglected infrastructure needs.

Specifically, he said the college is looking at adding staffing to serve veteran students, students with disabilities and students utilizing the tutoring center. They intend to hire another security officer and will look at upgrading resources in the library and computer labs.

“These dollars directly impact our students and their educational experience,” he said.

Higher education emerged in the prolonged legislative session as an issue on which Democrats and Republicans could agree: They wanted to put in more money and bar tuition increases and they did both.

Lawmakers understood the damage to students of four years of budget cuts and double-digit tuition increases, said Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said.

“Our overall goal was to get the colleges and universities back to normal baseline funding after several years of severe budget cuts without further raising tuition,” he said.

Backpacks, school supplies, and fun – August 29th at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary from 11a.m. – 6p.m.

The distribution is open to Native American students in the kindergarten through 12th grade that are enrolled Tulalip tribal members or other Natives enrolled in the Marysville School District. Tulalip tribal I.D. and/or tribal affiliation verification required for all.

For more information contact:

Jessica Bustad, 360.716. 4902 or jbustad@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Doug Salinas, 360.716.4909 or dsalinas@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Marysville School District

School offices will open to serve families the third week in August.  Call 360-653-7058 for information.

All Day Kindergarten News

Thanks to increased funding from the legislature, the Marysville School District is able to offer all day kindergarten classes to students who attend the following schools:  Quil Ceda/Tulalip, Liberty, Shoultes and Marshall.

We will continue to offer tuition-based all day kindergarten at the following schools:  Allen Creek, Grove, Kellogg Marsh, Pinewood and Sunnyside.

We are thankful for this increase in funding for targeted schools and look forward to the day that the state will fund all day kindergarten at all of our schools!

If you have questions, please call 360-653-0818 or your local elementary school office after they officially open on August 20 at 9:00 am.  Here’s to a great 2013-2014 school year!

Are you ready?  The start of school is just around the corner!  Here are some important things to know:

• The first day of school is Wednesday, September 4th
• Schools will be open to serve families by Tuesday, August 20
• Bus schedules will be mailed out to all families mid- August in the annual Back to School Guide – watch for the guide in your mail!
• A “general” school supply list is available HERE to get the year started.  Schools may have their own lists that will be available when schools open on the 19th and / or posted on their school web page
• If you are new to Marysville, registration forms are available online, or at your child’s neighborhood school for grades K – 8 (after August 19).  Grades 9 – 12 register at the District Office, located at 4220 80th Street NE, Marysville, or call Tami Wilson at 360-653-0871.  For more information about schools in Marysville, call 360-653-7058.
• Remember to Register to Vote!

By Alysa Landry, ICTMN

A medicine man once told Mark Sorensen that true education can heal.

That counsel rang true for Sorensen, principal and co-founder of STAR Charter School, a small school near Flagstaff, Arizona, that serves a 98-percent Navajo student population. Sorensen has spent 37 years working in Indian education, and the medicine man’s advice echoed Sorensen’s philosophies in and out of the classroom.

“I’d like to see our education system heal rather than punish,” he said. “When we listen to wise people and make education better, that’s what really matters.”

Sorensen likes curriculum that integrates academic standards, real-world skills and community service. Students at STAR, which stands for Service To All Relations, are challenged to participate in projects that teach math and English basics while moving them out of the classroom and into the community.

The 130 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade engage in projects like farming, recycling and producing videos that document Native traditions or current events.

At STAR, the first solar-powered charter school in the U.S., teachers no longer focus on scores and punishments. Instead, they concentrate on what Sorensen calls “authentic assessment.”

“Our thinking is that if we can introduce projects that have to do with food or energy or recycling, that’s an indication of a deeper philosophy and students are empowered to do service,” he said. “It helps the community, families and the school. We’re trying to teach them that it’s a privilege to be able to respond to community needs.”

Students at STAR Charter School near Flagstaff, Arizona, work together on a puzzle. (STAR Charter School)

That’s why Sorensen is embracing the Common Core State Standards, curricula that focus on skills that are relevant in the real world while preparing students for college and careers. Forty-five states have adopted Common Core State Standards, including all three of the states that contain parts of the Navajo Nation—Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The standards, unveiled in 2010, were designed to allow schools to develop more in-depth and specific curricula.

From a Native perspective, these standards can help level the playing field, said RiShawn Biddle, communications director for the National Indian Education Association.

“We have far too many of our students who are not graduating,” he said. “They don’t complete high school and don’t go to college. Knowledge is power and an education is key to being successful in the knowledge-based economy of today.”

According to the NIEA, 69 percent of Native freshmen will graduate from high school within four years. Nationally, the rate is 78 percent and 83 percent for Anglo students. While other minority groups are closing the achievement gaps, it stays constant for Natives, the NIEA reports.

All 34 tribally controlled schools on the Navajo Nation are adopting Common Core State Standards, said Kalvin White, program manager for the Office of Diné Science, Math and Technology.

For areas like the sprawling, 27,000-square-mile Navajo reservation, the new standards mean consistency for students, White said.

“This will benefit the Navajo Nation because we are in three states, and all three states will be aligned to the same content,” he said. “We will no longer be dealing with three different standards in three different states.”

Common Core State Standards can also boost the presence of traditional values and languages in classrooms—and in Native communities, Biddle said. Teachers can incorporate Native knowledge through nonfiction reading or projects like those at STAR, meeting students’ academic and cultural needs.

“In addition to having academic knowledge, they need to understand their culture,” Biddle said. “When our students are highly educated, they can be future leaders and defenders of culture that our tribes need.”

In 2012, only 33 percent of STAR students passed the Arizona standardized test in math and 44 percent passed in reading. Statewide, the average was 65 percent in math and 79 percent in reading.

The nine teachers in this school that prides itself on small class sizes and an emphasis on Native tradition are hoping the switch to Common Core State Standards helps improve performance.

“What I’d love to see here is more authentic testing of Native students,” Sorensen said. “I would like to see them demonstrate what they know while they’re doing something for their communities.”