Tribal Attendance Pilot Projects support student success
From Education Update, Oregon
Department of Education, March 2017
Family advocates working as part of
ODE’s Tribal Attendance Pilot Projects
(TAPP) around the state met in Salem
(on) Feb. 16. Each had stories of success
to share about their program, aimed at
reducing the rates of chronic absentee-
ism among the American Indian/Alaska
Native population in the state.
Since improved attendance rates
reduce dropout rates and increase grad-
uation rates, supporting students in
attending class regularly has significant,
long-term benefits.
All agree that making school a wel-
coming environment is key.
“Connections are important,” said
Scott Smyth, who works with families
in the Burns Paiute Tribe in the Harney
County School District. “Families can
trust us and it feeds into the feeling that
school is OK.”
“Attendance is more than just saying
‘Here,’” Felicia McNair said. She works
with the Klamath Tribes in the Klamath
County School District. She added that
recognizing positive actions and letting
families see how missed days add up have
raised overall attendance by over 7 percent.
Jason Moore, North Bend School
District family advocate who works with
the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians, said home
visits can reveal problems that lead to
poor attendance.
Sometimes it’s as simple as provid-
ing an alarm clock for a family. He also
helped a mother create a chore chart for
her children so that they would be up and
out of the house on time.
Nearly every program had examples
of increased attendance rates not only
among American Indian/Alaska Native
students, but for all students in the schools
they serve. That’s important because on
assessments, chronically absent students
perform far below their peers with better
attendance and graduate at a far lower
rate as well.
They have to be in class in order to
learn and there may even be side benefits:
Mary Mueller who works with the Con-
federated Tribes of Siletz Indians as a
family advocate for the Lincoln County
School District, said the best part was
seeing one of her students win an atten-
dance award and then say, “I think I like
school now!”
An American Indian health focus at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
From OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
News
Knight Cancer physician Amanda
Bruegl, M.D., is leading an effort to
understand health issues among Ameri-
can Indian Tribes and communities in the
Pacific Northwest, with a special focus on
gynecologic cancer.
Throughout medical training, Bruegl’s
commitment to work with American Indi-
ans never faltered. As a member of the
Oneida and Stockbridge-Munsee Tribes,
she is one of two American Indian gyne-
cologic oncologists in the United States.
“When I was looking for a job,” she
says, “it was really important to me to do
something to advocate for Native Ameri-
can women’s health.”
She saw a need for that in the Pacific
Northwest.
“I was looking for places where there
was a significant Native American popula-
tion and the opportunity to do outreach,”
she says.
Now, with support and help from her
colleagues at the OHSU Knight Cancer
Institute and the OHSU Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bruegl has
started building relationships with Ameri-
can Indian Tribes in the Pacific Northwest,
especially through the Northwest Portland
Area Indian Health Board.
The board is an organization with
delegates from each of the 43 federally
recognized Tribes of Oregon, Washington
and Idaho. Its mission is to address mul-
tiple facets of the health and wellness of
American Indian people.
Bruegl has given talks about cancer
prevention and treatment to American
Indian groups and health providers, and
works with leaders and members of the
communities to share her knowledge of
Courtesy photo by OHSU/Fritz Liedtke
Amanda Bruegl, M.D.
Multicultural Student Union
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the disease. With her passion and personal
mission to reach out to the community, she
is also paving the way to help research-
ers learn more about American Indian
women’s gynecologic health.
Siletz News
•
April 2017
We appreciate your understand-
ing and willingness to help keep our
clinic tobacco-free and clean.
She is working to get approval for a
retrospective study on American Indian
women’s health, which will take a new look
at data that has already been collected,
focusing specifically on details on gyneco-
logic cancers in American Indian women.
“I think Native Americans are chroni-
cally overlooked in the health care system,”
Bruegl says. “So our unique issues don’t
get the attention they deserve.”
Bruegl says if her proposed study can
move forward, she will share the results
with American Indian communities. She
hopes health care professionals can then
work in concert with the communities to
help American Indian women prevent gyne-
cologic cancers – like cervical and endo-
metrial cancer – that are often preventable.
In the meantime, Bruegl is continuing
her outreach to American Indian commu-
nities by having conversations, building
relationships and sharing knowledge.
“For us to get to know each other, and
for community providers in clinic to be
able to simply text me about a case – ask-
ing ‘can I run this by you?’ – provides the
frontline care that is incredibly helpful for
both the patient and the providers treating
Native American women,” she says.