TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS
Program Funds Big Dreams for Students
by Greg Bolt of The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore. (reprinted with permission)
Grant: The UO launches a challenging education program aimed at preparing American Indian students as teachers
Misty Moceikis went all the way
through school in Eugene without ever
having a teacher she could really
identify with.
It’s not that she didn’t have good
teachers, it’s just that none shared her
American Indian heritage. But now
Moceikis is helping change that.
She’s one of the first graduate
students in a new teacher training
program at the University of Oregon
aimed at ensuring Native American
teachers aren’t so few and far between.
Working with a consortium of nine
Pacific Northwest tribes, the UO’s
College of Education recently received
a $1 million federal grant to launch the
innovative program, believed to be the
only one like it in the country.
“I went all through school without
a Native teacher,” said Moceikis, who
is of Coquille heritage. ‘‘I just think that
can bring so much to a classroom. For
Native students, it can bring a positive
Residents Win TV Sets
The Siletz Tribal Housing
Residents Organization meeting in
December had three Christmas gift
winners who received their own TVs.
TV winners were Wylie Eddings
(32”), Maria Westervelt (27”), and Tony
Blomstom (19”). Two DVD players
also were given away.
The conference room at the Siletz
Indian Housing Department (SIHD)
was filled with expectant and hope
ful winners, including lots and lots
of children, a few babies, and many
eager residents.
All of the children received gifts.
Several movie tickets were given away
and of course, the TV sets were given
to three lucky residents.
Maria Westervelt displays her new
27" TV set.
Wylie Eddings was
the big winner of the
32 " TV set.
10
□. Siletz News
□
February 2003
role model and possibly give them an
incentive to become a teacher
themselves or further their education,
and for non-Natives it can give them a
whole different perspective.”
It’s known as the Sapsik’wala
program, and it’s designed to help
overcome some of the social and
financial obstacles faced by what is
typically the smallest ethnic group in
college classrooms, whether students
or faculty.
Sapsik’wala (pronounced sap
seek-wash-la) is a Sahaptian word
meaning “teacher.”
The grant will be used to pay tuition
and educational expenses for about 20
American Indian students, along with
a stipend to help with living expenses
and a child care credit. The idea is to
bring the students in as a group so they
don’t feel so isolated on a campus with
few Indian students and make it
financially possible to bring family
when they come to Eugene.
“The budget is designed spe
cifically to accommodate the lifestyle
of Native people,” said Az Carmen, who
coordinates
Native
American
recruitment and retention for the UO
admissions office and is a member of
the Chickasaw tribe. “Very frequently,
when we come to school we bring our
families with us.”
And the nature of the teacher
training program can make that
difficult. The demanding mix of
graduate-level classes and student
teaching often leaves little time for a
job to help pay expenses - Moceikis
had to quit hers to have time for school
- and can strain family connections.
“When you bring in a group of
students to a campus like this that
is primarily white, you want to give
them a little more support so you
can graduate all of your students,” said
Pat Rounds, assistant coordinator
of the middle/secondary teacher
education program in the UO College
of Education.
Twenty students may seem like a
small number for a $ 1 million grant, but
the program’s aim is to offer as much
support as possible to get more Indian
teachers into schools in Oregon and
elsewhere. And with only about 100
Indian teachers licensed in Oregon, 20
is enough to make a difference with its
first class. “In one fell swoop, that will
increase the number of Native teachers
by 20 percent,” Rounds said. “We need
teachers who represent diversity and
can be good role models.”
The idea seems to resonate with the
American Indian community.
Carmen said she’s been getting five
calls a day for two weeks from people
interested in the program, even though
news of it has only filtered out through
Internet word-of-mouth.
And getting into the program isn’t
easy. It’s for students who a\cady have
their bachelor’s degree and want to
enter the intensive, master’s-level
program that leads to a teaching
certificate. Applicants will have to meet
minimum grade-point requirements, do
well on three separate admissions tests,
and also show financial need.
Supporters plan to seek renewal of
the grant and track down other sources
of money in hopes of keeping
Sapsik’wala going. In time, they see the
UO as assuming a lead role in preparing
American Indian teachers.
With an estimated 12,000
American Indian students in Oregon’s
K-12 schools, Moceikis isn’t the only
one who will grow up without ever
having an American Indian teacher.
Carmen had the same experience, but
she said it isn’t only Native students
who benefit from teacher diversity.
“Any person of color changes the
dynamic when they teach in a majority
school,” she said. “They will bring
awareness to their classes of a culture
that is different from what others bring
to it.”
Moceikis, who has a bachelor’s in
educational studies, already has begun
her teacher training program and will
step into the Sapsik’wala program
winter term. She hasn’t decided where
she wants to teach once she completes
the program, but hopes she can inspire
kids wherever she goes.
“I’m open to anything,” she said.
“I would love to be that positive role
model for kids.”