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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2007)
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Education is the focus of my report this month. In addition to briefly com menting on Van Peters’ report about Siletz Valley School that appeared in the April issue of Siletz News, I would like to review what has happened to the educational level of the Siletz Tribe since we were restored 30 years ago. SVS Progress and Problems - The First Year In the April issue of Siletz News, Van Peters, administrator of Siletz Val ley School, reported that, “The students did great and the school met Annual Yearly Progress as required under the No Child Left Behind Act and also re ceived a ‘Strong Rating' from the Oregon State Department of Education." However, Peters also reported, re gretfully, that an organization of Toledo community members called Save Our Schools (SOS) had submitted a proposal to the state Legislature to create a school district, separate from the Lin coln County School District, which, according to Peters, would negatively impact both Siletz Valley School and Eddyville Charter School. I won’t restate the reasons why the proposal would be detrimental to the tribe’s educational objectives and pro grams. Peters already has explained those reasons in his April article. I do think it’s important, however, to remind our readers of the crisis our tribe and the Siletz community faced and the fierce struggle we were en gaged in when we learned that Siletz School was doomed to be closed. For the sake of our children and the future of our tribe, the Tribal Council and the Siletz community mobilized to save Siletz School. It was out of that desperate struggle that our charter school was born. This is the first year that Siletz Val ley, which includes the high school, has been in full swing. It’s doing very well, with all test scores higher than the state average. My hope is that there are no nega tive impacts if SOS is successful in its desire to establish a separate school district. Without disparaging in any way SOS’ basic intent, my hope also is that SOS members will bear in mind what the Siletz Tribe and the Siletz com munity have had to endure in estab lishing the charter school. We trust SOS members will not want to jeopardize the goodwill that has been built be tween our communities. Tribal Higher Ed, AVT, and Adult Ed Programs The question is often asked: Is the Siletz Tribe making any progress in our education programs? Are Siletz students really graduating from high school and going on in significant numbers to col leges, universities, and adult vocational institutions? The answer is definitely - Yes! To understand what's happened - education-wise - to our tribe, all we Delores Pigs ley need do is go back to what our tribe was like when we were restored. The Siletz Tribe’s Reservation Com prehensive Plan, published in March 1984, gives us a clue: The report states: The 1978 SERA Report found 24.8 percent of the 855 surveyed left high school prior to completion and that very few of the tribal members are involved in any form of technical training or enrolled in four-year colleges, negative school-related experiences turn a sig nificant number of people away from seeking further education, and many people reported a poor background in the basics necessary for higher educa tion. The conclusion is that the funda mental lack of funds necessary to com plete a prospective student's education combined with little or no career guid ance are negative experiences that cur tail the student’s education. The Siletz Tribe's 1992 annual re port reported 22 students enrolled in higher education and 18 in adult vo cational schools. Significant progress has been made since that annual report. In a period of just 15 years, instead of just 22, the tribe currently has more than 160 stu dents enrolled in colleges and univer sities and instead of just 18 in adult vocational schools, there are now more than 50. This remarkable increase can be attributed to the fact that students have greater positive school-related experi ences, stronger backgrounds in the basics for higher education, and greater access to financial resources. The dramatic increase also can be attributed to strengthened family ties and support, and skillful guidance and assistance by our capable staff. Education has been a high tribal priority ever since we were restored and is reflected today in numerous pro grams that promote education, i.e.: An endowment fund in which we invest a substantial amount of gam ing revenues annually to the fund, with only the interest used for higher education purposes Issuing to every Siletz household a computer for the informational and educational enrichment of all tribal members Providing every higher ed student with a laptop to facilitate his/her education The Tribal Youth Employment Pro gram under which we offer mean ingful employment and motivation to high school students The Summer Employment Program for college students Annual awards recognition at which college graduates are recog nized and honored Stipends for certain levels of achievement from kindergarten through high school The Tribal Council also has talked about specifying and offering full scholarships to students in certain high priority trades and degrees. We aren't there yet but soon will be. The Mentor/Protege Program under which current employees of Chi nook Winds undergo training to become managers Oregon Coast Community College Finally, I would like to mention that I have been invited to be this year s Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC) graduation speaker. For those of you who may not be familiar with this relatively new. small but unique community college, it s headquartered in Newport, Ore., and its district encompasses all of Lincoln County. In addition to Newport, the college has satellite facilities in Lincoln City and Waldport. The college has approximately 3,000 students and a faculty of 45. It's unique in that OCCC has the only aquarium science program in the United States. It presently holds classes in tempo rary facilities, but voters passed a $23.5 million bond levy in 2004 that has made possible the planning and con struction of permanent college facilities. We. members of the Siletz Tribe, who have experienced the pangs of growth over the past 30 years, from virtually nothing to what we have today, can empathize with the pangs being expe rienced today by the officials and fac ulty of OCCC. We wish them well, j Congratulations to all the students who graduate this year! Restoration Committee Working on 30th Anniversary Celebration by Tina Retasket The Tribal Council has appointed a committee to work on this year’s Resto ration Celebration. As you may already know, this year marks the 30th anniver sary of Restoration. The committee is working on many events leading up to the Restoration event in November. If you have any photographs of people or events that are significant to pre- or post-restoration, we would like to make a copy of them. Please bring your photos to the Public Information office in the admin istration building in Siletz. Diane or Laurel will scan your photo, ask you who the people are in the picture and what the event is, and return the photo to you. They will forward the copies to the com mittee and you will have the original. We appreciate everyone’s assis tance in this event and hope to use as many pictures as possible to show the recent history of the Siletz Tribe. Most Often Requested Numbers Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Salem Area Office Salem Finance Office Portland Area Office Eugene Area Office Springfield Siletz. Tribal Head Start Contract Health Services (CHS) Siletz Community Health Clinic Siletz Alcohol and Drug Chinook Winds Casino Resort Chemawa Health Clinic Bureau of Indian Affairs Web Site June 2007 • 1-800-922-1399 503-390-9494 1-888-870-9051 503-238-1512 541-484-4234 541-747-0161 I-8OO-628-572O 1-800-648-0449 1-800-600-5599 1-888-244-6665 1-800-452-7823 I-8OO-323-8517 www.ctsi.nsn.us Siletz News • 3
