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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1970)
2 THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS STRESSED BY SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD Superintendent Gunderson, Members of the Student Council, student body, distinguished guests, friends,- ladies and gentlemen: I am a former Chemawa student. During the time that I attended this school, we were taught subjects that were then considered essential. Most ly having to do with how to present yourself in meeting with and working with people. In addition to that we were required to take only the related .subjects. For example, a machinist or a mechanic was required to take mathematics and mechanical drawing in addition to the required subjects. Now, today as I stand before you, there are many things going through my mind. The Superintendent, the faculty and all the employees work so hard for the benefit of the students enrolled here. I would assume that in order to effectively operate this school, you must have an organizational structure, one that tends to spread the responsi bilities to various departments, for closer supervision by that department, and to enable that department to better carry out their responsibilities with the authority delegated to them, which is always subject to review by the immediate supervisor. And I would also assume that the faculty, shop instructors, and the counselors are handicapped for various reasons. That is they cannot do the quality of work they would like to have done, if they had the necessary funds and the facil ities to do it with. Now, I have outlined the organiza tional structure that was in effect during my time here. It allowed for pin-pointing of responsibilities in the chain of command. And I have also mentioned the materials needs which also existed then. Now, so much for the primitive h is tory. T pdayw e are faced with an entirely different world - a competitive world. The curriculum of today’s schools must be updated to meet the present day needs. During the next three days that we, the members of the Advisory Board, will be visiting with you, please feel free to discuss with us the limiting factors that you are facing on the day to day operation of the school. I am speaking of 36 years ago that I attended this school. My heart is with Chemawa and always will be. I would like to see this,.school to be an Accredited school - high school level. And any other expansion and construc tion needs should also be considered by the Advisory Board. In order that we come up with strong recommendations, we will need your cooperation. I cannot promise any significant results at this moment. Once started-, it is half completed, but we are speak ing of the most important asset that we have - you.- We cannot stop now. Thank you for your kind attention. Olney Patt, Jr. Thank you, Mr. Moderator, faculty, school staff, fellow board members, and students of Chemawa. Indeed, I feel very honored to be selected as a member of the Chemawa Advisory School Board, and sincerely feel it a special privilege to serVe with the other board members, school staff, faculty, and you, the students. So, during my term in this capacity as board member, I will, with the other members, to the best of my ability, endeavor to help better your education and the school of Chemawa, as a whole. Now with the few moments that I have been allotted, to relay my mes sage to you, and to relate the dire need of a fine and commendable edu cation by our Indian children of today in this-our great nation, the United States of America. As you can all see, in this highly competitive “ Space Age World” of today, there is hardly any more room in well-paid jobs and positions for the high school dropout or the low-grade average high school graduate. So, with that in mind, I would like to tell, or urge you, to do your level best while going through high school here at Chemawa. Because, with what knowledge and education you will leave with from here after your gradua tion, will be the deciding factor for your future livelihood and furthering your education to compete for better and higher paid positions. I know, and we all know, by the law of averages that all you students here will not be able, or willing, to go on to higher education. So again, I would like to further urge those of you that will come unde'r this category, to at least try to keep up on your school work assignments and studies, so that when you do gra duate from here, maybe with not a high grade point but with an average grade point. Because, when you get put in this world to assume your responsibilities as a young adult and citizen, you will find that even the vocational trades will require from any and all applicants a high school diploma with a good or average grade point, then you might be considered, at the same time, .you will have to outdo the other appli cants. And from then on, your educa tion and knowledge will be tried and tested time and again for promotions and raises in pay. But I guess as Indians, no matter from where or what tribe we come from, we all have the same thing in common. With a few exceptions, this is the lack of proper education and a need of real soul-rending understanding from our non-Indian neighbors. So you must, as a student, learn and take in all you can to educate yourselves completely, so that you can help yourselves, one another and mainly your people back home. And strive, and keep on striv ing to compete and out-do those non understanding, non-Indian neighbors, at their own game, with their own edu cation for their man-made world, in order,that we may survive and exist,a little longer, like our ancestors d id ., So, at this time, I will make a request, that we all combine our ef forts and give our undivided coopera tion to each other so that we may accomplish our goals and reach our highest expectations for our children and their education. Now, in closing, I would sincerely ask of you students, from our genera tion to your generation, regardless of how much education you consume, please don’t let all this education over-shadow or let you forget your ancestors, heritage, cultures and tra ditions, since time immemorial, and remember always that we are the only people in this country who can say and prove these words about our an- cestorial backgrounds - “ since time immemorial” . I thank all of you for your attention. Leonard Tomaskin
