SILETZ NEWS
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Vol. 39, No. 5 May 2011
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Siletz Tribe sponsors successful youth film program premiere that ‘rocks'
The obvious: Students listen to their fellow students about prescription drug and gang awareness
By Natasha Kavanaugh
Seven years ago a collaboration
between Lincoln County, the Lincoln
County School District and the Northwest
Film Center formed the Lincoln County
Youth Film Program, which combines
education with the art of filmmaking.
Each year, students at local schools
write, produce and direct broadcast
quality television, short films and other
public service announcements.
This year, participating schools
included Career Tech, Siletz Valley, and
Newport, Taft and Toledo High.
On April 13, the Seventh Annual Lin
coln County Youth Film Program premiere
featured the Prescription Drug Awareness
Project (DAP) and the Gang Awareness
Project (GAP). Lincoln County Commis
sioner Bill Hall served as emcee.
Hall opened the premiere by thanking
the program’s major sponsor this year, the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and
extending a thank you to Tina Retasket of
the Siletz Tribal Council.
He then showed a montage of previ
ous productions that included a variety of
messages through the years.
Savannah Worman, a student at Siletz
Valley School, played the role of a mother
of a teenage girl with a promising future
who hopes to attend college. She called
her daughter to let her know she had been
accepted to college, but her daughter
ignored her call. Later, she discovered
her daughter had been shot over wearing
rival gang colors.
“I had a lot of fun playing my part. It
was sad to go through,” said Worman, sad
in the sense of how realistic these films
portray today’s teen struggles.
Schools are able to participate thanks
to the Partnership Against Alcohol and
Drug Abuse (PAADA), which provides
Photo by Natasha Kavanaugh
Students at Siletz Valley School who participated in the Lincoln County Youth Film Program include (1 to r) San Poil Whitehead,
James Stewart, Chayson Metcalf, Bo Johnson, Tyler Putman, Jake Westbrook, Nevin Gilkes, Kylie Childs, Richard DeAnda,
Savannah Worman, Lorrie Syms (teacher), Sierra Warren, Aislyn Cox and Joseph Williams.
the substitute teachers that allow the
teachers to work more closely with their
students on this project.
Over the years, participating schools
have included Career Tech High School,
Eddyville Charter School, Newport High
School, Siletz Valley School, Taft Middle
and High Schools, Toledo Middle and
High Schools, and Waldport High School.
Previous projects include the Meth
amphetamine Awareness Project , the
Tsunami Awareness Project, the Underage
Drinking Awareness Project and the Drug
Awareness Project.
Some final products have even been
shown on Oregon television stations and
in other states, as well as in Canada and
Italy. One has been featured on ABC’s
World News Tonight.
In closing, the teachers were pre
sented with trophies for their projects.
As Siletz School teacher Lorrie Syms
accepted a trophy, she gestured to her
students and said, “You rock.”
Hall wrapped up the premiere with,
“Indeed, you do rock.”
Participants in this year’s program
include (Siletz Tribal members in bold):
Career Tech: Titiana Banks, Tabbatha
Burke, Jenny Dollar, Levi Henry, Chan
telle Kolb, Shayleen Logan, David
Pahukoa, LeAnn Riebe, Scott Robertson,
Daniel Sears and Amber Wolfe. Teacher
- Chris Thompson
See film premiere on page 5.
Tribe receives $300,000 grant from EPA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Money will help Siletz Tribal Energy Program install solar panels, heating atTillicum Fitness Center
By Diane Rodriquez
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians has received a $323,305 grant
from the Environmental Protection
Agency to install solar panels and solar
water heaters at the Tillicum Fitness Cen
ter, provide home energy audits and con
tinue its efforts to educate the community
about energy efficiency and conservation.
The grant is part of the EPA’s Climate
Showcase Communities program, which
awarded $8.8 million to 22 communities
across the country to implement strategies to
reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
The grants will help communities
reduce these emissions while also improv
ing waste management, energy efficiency,
energy production, transportation and
land use management.
The grant will be carried out by the
Siletz Tribal Energy Program (STEP). First
it will conduct a greenhouse gas inventory,
then it will establish a reduction target,
develop a plan to achieve these reductions,
implement the plan and report the results.
One way STEP will strive to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated
1,189 metric tons from now through Janu
ary 2013 (the length of the grant) is by
installing solar photovoltaic panels and
solar water heaters at the fitness center. It
will conduct a study on the feasibility of
using the heat captured by the solar panels
to heat the building. These improvements
are projected to reduce energy costs at
the fitness center by 42 percent annually.
Additionally, STEP will increase its
outreach to the Tribal and local commu
nity on ways individuals can reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions. All of these
improvements should help STEP achieve
its goal of reducing area greenhouse
gas emissions by 12 percent by the end
of 2012.
STEP is a Tribal energy manage
ment program that works with federal,
state and local partners, Tribal members
and others to learn about and implement
the conservation of natural resources. Its
goal is to empower Tribal members to
maintain healthier, more livable homes;
control utility costs; and conserve natural
resources. It provides education and assis
tance for home weatherization, conserv
ing energy and preventing lead poisoning.
These current grants from the EPA
follow 25 that were awarded in 2010.
Overall, it’s estimated that by 2014 the
projects will:
•
•
•
Reduce more than 167,000 metric
tons of greenhouse gas emissions
annually
Save more than $13 million per year
in energy costs
Improve people's health and welfare
by improving indoor and outdoor air
quality, increasing walk-ability and
reducing household energy bills
For more information, contact STEP
at 541-444-8271 or 800-922-1399, ext.
1271; or step@ctsi.nsn.us. Find STEP on
Facebook by searching for Siletz Tribal
Energy Program.