Courtesy photo
Hand drum made by Joe Scott
Courtesy photo by William Whitehead
James Foster, Jazzy Metcalf, Levi Lancaster, Trenton Reeves, Ryan Pool, Hannah
Garcia, Colton Burr and Kumu Tseshani. Not pictured: William Whitehead, who
took the photo, and Larry and Mary Parker.
Congratulations, Baby! You worked
hard all year to reach your goals! This is
your second year on the Newport Cheer
Squad, this year being chosen as the New-
port JV Cheer Captain! So proud of you!
Lovies, Momma
Natural Resources
Department
Contractors List
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If your company would like to
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requests for bids/proposals for any
of the services listed below, please
contact Natural Resources Manager
Mike Kennedy at 541-444-8232 or
800-922-1399, ext. 1232, to be put
on the appropriate list.
Tree Planting
Precommercial Thinning
Hazard Tree Removal/
Tree Trimming
Mechanical Brush Cutting
Logging Road Construction/
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Concrete Construction
Statistical Analysis
Macroinvertebrate Identification
Water Quality Monitoring/Analysis
Students take trip to Yucután, explore Mayan culture
By Joe Bailor, Media and Technology
Teacher, SVECA
The end of May found eight students
from Siletz Valley Early College Acad-
emy (SVECA) embarking on a nine-day
educational tour of the Yucatán Peninsula
in Mexico.
Jazzy Metcalf, James Foster, William
Whitehead, Colton Burr, Levi Lancaster,
Hannah Garcia, Trenton Reeves, and
Ryan Pool were led by SVECA teacher,
advisor and math guru, Kumu Tseshani.
These students worked very hard dur-
ing the school year to raise the necessary
funds and keep their grades up for the
opportunity to study Mayan archaeology
and culture up close.
The group was led by a local Mayan
archaeologist as they toured Mayan ruins,
pyramids, cenotes (underground caves
with water) and a local wildlife refuge.
The archaeologist, Juan Muna, was gifted
with a bone and shell necklace made
by Tseshani.
The group visited the following areas
on the Yucatán Peninsula of southeast
Mexico – Valladolid, Ek Balam, Ria
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•
Siletz News
•
July 2015
Lagatos Biosphere Reserve, Chichen Itza,
Cenote Ik Kil, Mayan village of Yachuna
(and Mayan school), Uxmal, Kabah,
Mani, Muna, Oxcutzcab, Coba, Puerto
Morelos Marine Reef Reserve and Tulum.
“The snakes and crocodiles scared the
poop out of me! But I loved the wild mon-
keys and beautiful birds we saw. Kumu
even caught the most poisonous snake in
Mexico and tossed it off the path so we
would not get bit! Our guide was scared,
but Kumu was not!” said Whitehead.
The group experienced a taste of the
local culture by having a meal with a local
Mayan family, who was gifted with a hand
drum made by teacher Joe Scott, and took
part in a ceremony with a Mayan shaman.
“The shaman was a key part for
me, an eye-opening step in my own
spiritual journey. I loved it. When Kumu
Tseshani and I had the honor to present
him an eagle feather, it just about made
me cry. The shaman was so honored,”
said Metcalf.
Visiting a Mayan school
Perhaps the entire trip could be
summed up in the group’s visit to a local
Courtesy photos
Jazzy Metcalf
holds a crocodile
(left). The Siletz
group donated
school supplies
and other items
to children at a
Mayan school
(below).
Mayan school, to which the group donated
soccer balls, basketballs, rulers, protrac-
tors, markers, pencils, colored pencils,
erasers and solar-powered calculators.
“(It’s) amazing that the kids were
more excited to be gifted pencils and
school supplies than they were about the
soccer balls and basketballs. It made me
rethink my priorities,” said Burr.
Foster was equally blown away, saying,
“It is eye-opening that these kids have no
electricity or supplies, yet still managed
to blow the United States away in math
testing. Just shows how much we take for
granted. We live in a low-income commu-
nity, but this is true poverty, very humbling.”
The group felt this was a great privi-
lege to take a little piece of our commu-
nity and exchange it for a double dose of
Mayan education and cultural experience.
Thanking the community
The students also thank the com-
munity for its help with fundraising for
this trip – Big thanks to Kumu Tseshani,
Christy Linden, Jen Metcalf and Cheryl
Hurley! Also much gratitude to many
organizations, including Muggley’s Bowl-
ing, Georgia-Pacific, Newport Cinemas,
Flippin Chicken, Cobblestone Pizza,
Little Chief, Safeway, Cash & Carry, the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians,
Oregon Coast Glassworks, Wilkison
Video, Newport Candy Shoppe and Adeo
Home Care.
Without your help, the trip would not
have been possible!
Tseshani and many other SVECA
students have been considering the next
cultural education trip for 2016.