students Archives - Page 6 of 7

Marysville students learn culinary skills at School House Cafe

By Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The School House Cafe at Totem Middle School has undergone a few changes this year, as former Seattle chef Jeff Delma makes his way through his seventh year of coordinating the student cooks in the kitchen.

“We’ve got a new paint job and a new look, but we’re not done touching it up just yet,” said Delma, who credited Brian Murrill as one of the key contributors to the student-run restaurant’s mid-school year renovations.

“It’s made the School House Cafe a nicer place to eat at,” said Ariel Williams, a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, who hopes to pursue cooking as a career.

“It has been looking a little worn down,” said Natalie Vinson, a senior at the Marysville Getchell High School Bio-Med Academy, who also comes from a family of cooks, but is more interested in cooking as a hobby.

“We already offer gourmet food from high school students,” said fellow Bio-Med Academy senior Ian Wahlgren, who enrolled in the program because “I want to learn how to cook so I can live on my own.”

Regular patrons will also notice a new menu at the School House Cafe, complete with its own blend of coffee. Vista Clara Coffee of Snohomish has created the “Caffe’ Diem” blend for the local student-run restaurant, offering what Delma described as a “deep, dark and beautiful” flavor. Likewise, while familiar favorites such as the house-smoked barbecue pulled-pork sandwich, paninis, and fish and chips are still available, they’ve been joined this year by new selections such as the spicy shrimp wrap, which bundles crispy shrimp, lettuce, tomato and spicy mayo in a flour tortilla.

While Wahlgren rates the spicy shrimp wrap as his own first choice to order, Williams is more partial to shepherd’s pie, and Vinson prefers the simplicity of the School House Cafe’s salads.

“I would come here on my own time even if I wasn’t working here, because the food is just that good,” Vinson said.

“Plus, the people are as friendly as they can be,” Williams said. “We’ve all made new friends here.”

Indeed, even though many students go to different schools, or different Small Learning Communities, they all agreed that their close-knit working relationships at the School House Cafe remind them that they’re all part of the same Marysville school community.

“It doesn’t feel like coming to class when you come here,” Wahlgren said.

Which is not to say that culinary education isn’t emphasized during students’ hands-on experiences at the School House Cafe, since Delma has also been throwing middle school students into the mix.

“They’re only here for relatively short periods, but it gives them a taste of what it’s like, and increases their awareness,” Delma said. “We don’t want incoming high school freshmen to get lost in the shuffle.”

The School House Cafe has even started incorporating a new culinary curriculum from ProStart into its lessons, by focusing on industry specific-skills training, and working with the Washington Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association.

“This connection offers our program a direct pipeline to hundreds of professionals, who are available for mentor relationships, career and education advice, as well as professional, hands-on guest instruction,” said Donneta Spath, the Marysville School District’s Career and Technical Education Director. “This partnership will also allow Chef Delma to share ideas, information and teaching strategies with hundreds of schools across the country, via online forums and databases.”

As valuable as these programs and benefits are to the students and the community overall, perhaps the most important aspect of the School House Cafe to its customers is how well it serves them as a local restaurant.

“I used to come here all the time,” said Betty Berger, whose workplace was previously located adjacent to the School House Cafe. “They were so very nice to me. When I had a leg injury, they even brought my meals to me. It’s been years since I came here regularly, but with as good as the food is, I’ll be bringing my girlfriends back with me tomorrow.”

The School House Cafe is located at 1605 Seventh Street, on the south side of Totem Middle School, and is open from 12:15-1:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. Senior citizens are encouraged to ask for a 10 percent discount. For more information, call 360-653-0639.

To place an order for “Caffe’ Diem” coffee — either whole bean, ground or decaf — contact Wendy Hodgins by phone at 360-657-0982 or via email at wendy_hodgins@msvl.k12.wa.us.

Boeing Has Jobs for STEM Students

BoeingThe Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing seeks Native business to partner with and Native students who could be potential Boeing employees. — Boeing
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing seeks Native business to partner with and Native students who could be potential Boeing employees.

Gale Courey Toensing, 12/26/13, ICTMN

Jonathon GreyEyes has one word of advice for Native students interested in pursuing challenging, satisfying and well paid careers: STEM.

Okay, it’s really four words—science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Those are the areas of study students should focus on in order to move ahead in the 21st century global workplace, GreyEyes says.

GreyEyes, a Navajo Nation citizen, is a small business liaison officer for the massive, multinational Boeing Company, the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Boeing also designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. In short, the company is involved in everything that flies and/or uses technology, which is to say just about every business and employment opportunity in the global marketplace.

Grey Eyes says STEM is the smart career path for Native scholars. (courtesy Jonathon GreyEyes)

As a small business liaison officer, GreyEyes works to increase small and diverse business participation in support of the Boeing’s company goals and objectives. As a Native American, he tries to engage Indian country as much as possible by seeking out not only small Native-owned businesses for Boeing to partner with, but also Native students who are potential Boeing employees.

“My responsibilities primarily are to maximize opportunities for small businesses of any type to participate [in] Boeing’s activities,” GreyEyes told Indian Country Today Media Network. “Now, being Native American, I’ve tried to seek out Native American companies to participate in the different research, primarily research and development.”

Boeing and other large companies that receive government contracts actively recruit employees in the Native American community, GreyEyes said. “There’s lots of opportunity in just about any field in which somebody would want to work. For most jobs a college degree is going to be required. I think across the board—not just in the Native American community, but in any group that you want to look at. We’re seeing a decline in [students pursuing] the STEM fields…and so I would encourage students (and I’m encouraging my own children) to focus on these areas where they have an aptitude and an interest because there’s a lot of opportunity in [these] fields.”

One of the ways he seeks out both small Native-owned businesses and Native students is through the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, whose mission since 1977 has been to substantially increase American Indian and Alaska Native representation in the STEM fields—as students, professionals, mentors, and leaders, according to its website.

A young visitor to Boeing’s Future of Flight tour.

The AISES national conference is one of the big annual events that Boeing supports every year. The company interviews and hires new employees there. “It’s very important to Boeing to give everybody an opportunity to participate with Boeing either as an employee or as a subcontractor—and, fortunately, that’s why people like me have a job maximizing opportunity!” he said. GreyEyes is a lifetime member of AISES as a Sequoyah Fellow. The program was named in memory of Sequoyah, who perfected the Cherokee alphabet and syllabary in 1821, resulting in the Cherokee Nation becoming literate in less than one year, according to the AISES website. “In this spirit, AISES Sequoyah Fellows are recognized for their commitment to AISES’s mission in STEM and to the American Indian community. They bring honor to AISES by engaging in leadership, mentorship, and other acts of service that support the students and professionals in the AISES family,” the site says.

What GreyEyes does at Boeing, essentially, is match jobs to businesses. He looks at the scope of work that the company intends to subcontract and then provides the program manager with as many opportunities and alternatives in terms of small businesses that can provide the services. “In the area of research and development it’s typically very specialized. I don’t get involved until it’s [a job] over $650,000—that’s a government threshold for requiring a subcontracting plan—so that would be a small contract and some of the large contracts would be in hundreds of millions of dollars.”

GreyEyes said he loves his job and the most exciting thing is the variety of projects the company pursues. “I always tell people I’m living in a Star Trek world. Some of the contracts that we’ve won just stagger the imagination. I’m always amazed at the types of things we research. We have thousands of investigative researchers researching anything you can imagine,” he said.

Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. (Boeing)

One of Boeing’s recent innovations was the development of the Standoff Patient Triage Tool—an instrument Homeland Security dubbed as technology “to boldly go where no medical responder has gone before.” The wireless gizmo can detect a person’s vital signs—including whether a person is alive or dead—remotely from up to 40 feet away. The original intent was for battlefield use, but like other inventions developed for war the tool has numerous civilian applications including at fires, car crashes, mass casualties and other disasters.

Boeing has a number of programs that benefit its employees, including a program that pays employees to get graduate degrees, GreyEyes said.

There is a Native American affinity group to support the sizeable number of Native employees in the company, GreyEyes said. The group is organized regionally and nationally and is involved in all aspects including recruiting and mentoring Native students. “They might be showing them what life is like at a large corporation, helping them understand why education is so important and how it’s going to benefit them when they come to a large corporation like Boeing.

“In addition, through AISES we talk students through all stages of their education from middle school on through graduate school, and we try to get them tied in to particular people at Boeing who might be good contacts for when they’re ready to look for employment and then at events like the AISES national convention where we have several people doing active hiring and interviewing on site—members of the affinity groups are involved in all those stages, and it’s not part of their job it’s just something they do on top of it because it’s important,” GreyEyes said.

Once people are employed at Boeing, the affinity group brings everyone together to talk about what life is like there and whether any issues the affinity group should raise need to be addressed. “It’s just general support for each other,” GreyEyes said.

To view the range of job opportunities at Boeing, log onto its website at Boeing.com and click Careers on the menu bar.

Lessons of Our Land Curriculum Launched During Heritage Month

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Learning about Native history and culture doesn’t need to be relegated to one month of the year. Though the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) thought Native American Heritage Month would be a good time to release its Native American land curriculum website for pre-K and K-12 classrooms.

“The launch of this website in November coincides with National Native American Heritage Month and the approach of Thanksgiving—for many public school teachers, the only time during the school year they will discuss Native American history in their classroom,” said ILTF President Cris Stainbrook in a November 18 press release. “We would invite all of them to look through the curriculum and choose at least one grade-appropriate lesson to replace the old worn out story of the Pilgrims, and perhaps think about adding one other lesson the week after Thanksgiving.”

The Lessons of Our Land curriculum is designed to be incorporated into a number of subjects and is adaptable to include the history and culture of a region’s Indian nations. The curriculum has so far been successfully implemented in 105 tribal schools, public schools and colleges in eight states.

Lessons of Our Land’s components meet state standards in many core areas, such as history, art, civics, mathematics, science, geography and language arts. To see what lessons are available, visit LessonsofOurLand.org.

“All about students and student success”

Hoban Retire TulalipNewscom from Brandi Montreuil on Vimeo.

Pioneer of education programs at Tulalip retires

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Tulalip − After 37 years of service for the Tulalip Tribes, Maureen Hoban retires from a career dedicated to education. Through creativity and insight, she developed grant funded programs tailored to the needs of the membership to facilitate their success. Making many friends throughout her career, all of whom praise her can-do attitude and great humor, she leaves a legacy of multiple education programs that cater to a diverse student base, ranging from early childhood learning to post high school academia and training. The October 24^th celebration, which was a surprise for Hoban, was held in recognition of the time and service she has given to this community.

Raised on Mission Beach, Hoban feels that Tulalip has been a part of her entire life. Although her pursuit of education and a career at Everett Community College (EvCC) took her away from the reservation, she returned to Tulalip in 1976 to form the head start program; now the Tulalip ECEAP program. She quickly began creating other education programs, continually seeking out and writing grants to procure the funding. The programs she started were geared towards making tribal members qualified for work.

“Education had to follow the economy. Whatever jobs were available, that’s what we trained for,” said Hoban, continuing with a humorous anecdote about the first training offered at Tulalip. “I came to Tulalip shortly after the Boldt Decision. People were getting ready to go fishing again, and there were many who didn’t know how to work the nets. And so, one of the first trainings that we offered, in a partnership with EvCC in the late 70s was called networking. Our grant money came from [Washington] DC, who thought we were on the edge of technology. Immediately they sent out two men in suits

Maureen Hoban.Photo/Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News — Maureen Hoban.
Photo/Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

to look at our program. When they arrived at the class they found us hanging nets and were perplexed. ‘What are you doing?’ they asked. ‘Well…we’re networking,’ I said. By the end of the day they had rolled up their suit pants and were knee high in water on the beach, pulling nets in with the students.”

Hoban has a unique ability to pinpoint a need and meet it with a program that is beneficial beyond its end. Networking, though no longer in existence, continues to benefit Tulalip fishermen.

Stemming from economic needs, Hoban went on to develop Project Salmon, the predecessor of Tulalip Heritage High School, to allow high school students to finish the fishing season without falling behind. As the economy progressed, and other opportunities became available, she shifted the programs she developed from training to academic disciplines.

Susan Loreen of Edmonds Community College recalled how Hoban worked with students, ushering them into education, continually supporting them throughout their academic careers.

“She was always all about students and student success,” said Loreen.

Hoban looked critically at the needs of students, speaking to them about their individual needs and showing students how they could help themselves, in turn making them determined in their endeavors.

“This is one lady you don’t want to let down, because she truly supports your education,” said Jay Napeahi, a former student that benefitted from the college programs Hoban brought to Tulalip. She encouraged him to continue with his education, showing him all that he stood to benefit. He, like many others Hoban interacted with, became the first of his family to finish college.

Today, Tulalip offers many options for adult education including NACTEP, dive training, CDL training, welding, GED courses, and higher education, in addition to continuing programs such as ECEAP and Early Head Start.

Hoban has a heart for people, not just at Tulalip, but all those she interacts with. She is humble about the work she accomplished, never seeking credit or glory, and always looking for what we can work towards next. Even at her retirement celebration, a day meant to honor her career, she spoke with humility.

In her closing remarks, Hoban said, “We are all here to pay it forward. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Helping to advance our community in whatever way we can has always been the focus of my career. I learned to be resilient from the people at Tulalip, who never quit no matter what their circumstance is. It is that tenacity we share that make these programs possible and successful.”

Kathleen Sebelius: New Initiatives To End Bullying

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released the following statement about new initiatives to end bullying in schools across the country.

October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month—when individuals, families, schools and communities across the nation help to raise awareness about bullying prevention. Bullying remains a widespread problem with nearly 30 percent of adolescents in the U.S. reporting some experience with bullying, whether as the victim, the bully or both. An infographic developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration highlights important facts and information about bullying prevention. We know that there are a number of emotional effects that can result from bullying such as depression and anxiety. There are also physical effects as well, like headaches and stomachaches, and sleep problems. In a special supplement of the Journal of Adolescent Health supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, we see how researchers continue to investigate the complex relationship between bullying and suicide.

But help is available. I am very pleased to highlight a number of exciting activities and initiatives that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be launching during Bullying Prevention Awareness Month.

Media Guidelines for Bullying Prevention

Media coverage of social issues can have a widespread impact on how communities understand and address problems. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has developed media guidelines conveniently located in the newsroom of stopbullying.gov. This guidance offers help to journalists, bloggers, and others to engage in responsible reporting on this important topic.

Later this month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will release a mobile app for parents to help start conversations with their children about bullying. This app will be available for both Android and Apple platforms.

Bullying Prevention Training Center

This revamped section of stopbullying.gov provides a one-stop-shop for training materials for educators and community leaders. These new materials, developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration, will be available in late October in our training section on stopbullying.gov.

Successful bullying prevention can’t happen alone! We work closely with the Departments of Education, Justice, and Agriculture, and others, through the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention; including supporting stopbullying.gov, which continues to be an excellent resource for bullying prevention information.

We are collaborating with these offices to support youth engagement. Across the country, youth are encouraged to talk about bullying by organizing bullying prevention social and educational events through youth organizations in their communities. Youth can report back on these activities through our Tumblr page.

The Department of Education has issued guidance in the form of a Dear Colleague letter that provides an overview of school districts’ responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to address bullying of students with disabilities.

With all of these resources available, it’s a great time to consider how you can help raise awareness about bullying and take action to stop it. Find out the latest policies and laws that are in your state. Teens can find inspiration by visiting our Tumblr site. Tell us what you are going to do by engaging on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. And follow along with Bullying Prevention Awareness Month Activities at #StopBullying13.

“A Cheyenne Odyssey” – Engaging students in the exploration of U.S. history

By Toyacoyah Brown, powwows.com

THIRTEEN Productions in association with WNET launched their third interactive game in the Mission US series which immerses players in U.S. history content through free interactive games. The third mission features Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy whose life is changed by the encroachment of white settlers, railroads, and U.S. military expeditions. As buffalo diminish and the U.S. expands westward, players experience the Cheyenne’s persistence through conflict and national transformation.

“‘A Cheyenne Odyssey’ is the first game to present the Northern Cheyenne perspective on real events our people experienced,” said Dr. Richard Littlebear, President of Chief Dull Knife College and advisor to the project. “However, this is much more than a game about the high and low points of our history. It teaches students how to make decisions and how to live with the consequences of those decisions, just as one has to do in real life.”

Content for “A Cheyenne Odyssey” was developed by historians and educators at the American Social History Project (ASHP)/Center for Media & Learning, a research center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, in close collaboration with representatives of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe at Chief Dull Knife College , a community-based and tribally-managed institution located on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana. Dr. Littlebear and his colleagues consulted on educational content, scripting, design, and casting for the game.

To find out more about the game and how to play visit the Mission US website

Native students ready satellite for space

Jenna Cederberg, Buffalo Post

Salish Kootenai College students are a part of a team that will soon launch the first “CubeSat” satellite into space.

Physics student Cory Drowatsky tests CubeSat in what he describes as “moment of inertia” with assistance from computer engineering student Zach DuMontier. (Photo by Lailani Upham/Char-Koosta News)

Char-Koosta News reporter Lailani Upham reports about the work the students are doing at SKC’s Division of Sciences.

CubeSats are small “low cost” satellites in the shape of a cube 10 centimeters in size used by universities, government agencies, and private businesses to orbit the earth to produce images utilizing solar power.

The SKC CubeSat selection is one to be proud of as the tribal college’s satellite design matches building and design along with big name colleges such as Cal-Berkeley, Notre Dam, Texas, MIT, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

CubeSats are effective opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in space flight missions and NASA recognized the importance of the next generation of space scientist and engineers through build and design of the mini-satellites at their higher education institutions.

The CubeSat is set to go to space sometime in 2014.

The design is complete and the SKC team is working on the stages of testing equipment.

The aim of the project is to motivate and prepare Native students to go into careers at NASA centers, as NASA contactors, or attend universities performing NASA-sponsored research.

Created By Students: Play the First Shoshone Language Video Game

A screenshot from "Enee," a student created Shoshone language video game. — A screenshot from “Enee,” a student created Shoshone language video game.

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

When given an assignment to use modern technology to teach the Shoshone language and culture in an entertaining way, students from the Shoshone/Goshute Youth Language Apprenticeship Program, or SYLAP, at the University of Utah came up with a computer game called “Enee.”

Enee in Shoshone means “scary, fearful, frightening, oh!” and it’s a fitting title for the dark and edgy aesthetics of the game play, which according to a university press release were inspired by filmmaker Tim Burton.

The game is based on traditional Shoshone stories. The game’s main character, Enee, lives in the past and is thrown into some of those stories.

“Working with Shoshone youth on this project has shown me that games can do more than just entertain,” said Zeph Fagergren, master’s student in the university’s Entertainment Arts and Engineering program, in a release. “‘Enee’ is more than a game, it is a tool to help people keep their culture alive and well. Using the video game format makes it possible for to anyone to learn the Shoshone culture and language.”

Playing the game does require basic understanding of Shoshone because there is no English used in the game.

“I think it is great we can incorporate our traditional culture with modern technology,” said Cora Burchett, a student in SYLAP and one of the three game developers. “‘Enee’ carries on traditions that my grandparents taught me, and I believe that is very important to my future.”

The development team wanted to bring some of the traditional Shoshone stories to the modern world because they aren’t being shared like they used to be.

“‘Enee’ demonstrates that the Shoshone language and culture has a place in the modern world,” said Marianna Di Paolo, director of the Shoshoni Language Project and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Utah. “Developing ‘Enee’ was a great example of the goals of the language project: to open the doors to higher education for young Shoshone people and also help them see they don’t have to give up on their language and culture to do so. In fact, just the opposite is true.”

To play the game, which continues to be tested and developed, visit TheEneeGame.com.

American Indian College Fund Receives $310,000 from USA Funds

Source: Native News Network

DENVER – The American Indian College Fund is excited to announce it has received a total of the $310,000 from USA Funds.

USA Funds, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, has provided $200,000 for American Indian scholarships for 200 students attending a tribal college and university and $110,000 to sponsor the American Indian College Fund’s Flame of Hope Gala and provide marketing support for other scholarship fundraising efforts. USA Funds has supported the College Fund for more than a decade.

“USA Funds has been a key partner with the American Indian College Fund. Their support helps to ensure that American Indian students with great financial need have the opportunity to earn a college education, enriching their lives and those of their families, while allowing them to contribute to the betterment of their communities,”

said Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership with USA Funds to increase access to a college education for Native people.”

“A postsecondary education not only benefits the individual, but the society as a whole through increased tax revenues and charitable giving, to name just a couple of the many benefits,”

says William D. “Bill” Hansen, USA Funds president and CEO.

“USA Funds continues to support the American Indian College Fund because no other organization provides greater scholarship support for Native American students as they pursue their postsecondary education dreams and work to improve the quality of life for themselves and the communities in which they live and work.”

$100,000 Awarded to 18 Native Students Pursuing Health Degrees

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

The American Indian College Fund announced that the United Health Foundation’s Diverse Scholars Initiative has awarded copy00,000 for scholarships to 18 academically deserving Native students pursuing health or health-related degrees.

The scholarships were announced at the fifth annual Diverse Scholars Forum, which brings more than 60 scholarship recipients to Washington, D.C., July 24-26 to celebrate the scholars and inspire them to work toward strengthening the nation’s health care system. This year’s event gives these future health care professionals the opportunity to meet and interact with members of Congress and leaders from a variety of health care fields.

Five scholarships will be awarded to New Mexico tribal college students attending Navajo Technical College; five scholarships will be awarded to Arizona tribal college students attending Dine College or Tohono O’odham Community College; four scholarships will be awarded to students attending Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, or the University of Arizona; and four scholarships will be awarded to students attending San Juan College-Farmington, University of New Mexico-Albuquerque, or Western New Mexico University.

According to the American Medical Association and Association of American Medical Colleges, the number of multicultural health professionals is disproportionately low when compared to the overall population. For example, while about 15 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic/Latino, only 5 percent of physicians and 4 percent of registered nurses are Hispanic/Latino. About 12 percent of the population is African American, yet only 6 percent of physicians and 5 percent of registered nurses are African American.

Given the changing demographics in the United States and the volumes of people entering the health care system due to the Affordable Care Act, there is an even greater need for a more diverse health care workforce.

Research shows that when patients are treated by health professionals who share their language, culture and ethnicity, they are more likely to accept and adopt the medical treatment they receive[1]. Increasing the diversity of health care providers will reduce the shortage of medical professionals in underserved areas, reduce inequities in academic medicine and address variables — such as language barriers — that make it difficult for patients to navigate the health care system.

The scholarships announced today are part of United Health Foundation’s Diverse Scholars Initiative, which has provided nearly $2 million in scholarships this year through partnerships with organizations like the American Indian College Fund. The initiative aims to increase diversity in the health care workforce by supporting promising future health professionals.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to support these exceptional students in their efforts to achieve their educational goals and work to improve our health care system,” said Kate Rubin, president of United Health Foundation. “The Diverse Scholars Initiative helps these scholars fund their education, and gives them an opportunity to learn from one another and interact with experts who are leading the way in improving patient care.”

“The American Indian College Fund is thrilled to continue its partnership with the United Health Foundation. Inequity in health care combined with the highest rates of diabetes, cancer, and other serious diseases have created a vital need for Native health care professionals across Indian Country. These scholarships will help train the next generation of Native healers,” said Dr. Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

For more information about the Diverse Scholars Initiative, visit www.unitedhealthfoundation.org/dsi.html.

About the American Indian College Fund

With its credo “Educating the Mind and Spirit,” The American Indian College Fund is the premier scholarship organization for Native students. Created in 1989 to provide scholarships and support for 34 of the nation’s tribal colleges, the Fund receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators, including the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, and received its third consecutive four-star rating from Charity Navigator. It provides more than 4,200 Native students with scholarships annually.

About United Health Foundation

Guided by a passion to help people live healthier lives, United Health Foundation provides helpful information to support decisions that lead to better health outcomes and healthier communities. The Foundation also supports activities that expand access to quality health care services for those in challenging circumstances and partners with others to improve the well-being of communities. Since established by UnitedHealth Group [NYSE: UNH] in 1999 as a not-for-profit, private foundation, the Foundation has committed more than $210 million to improve health and health care. For more information, visit www.unitedhealthfoundation.org.