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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1978)
PAGE 2 AVGUST 25, 1978 At W.S. Grade School New Principal Will Break Down Walls by Sandy Rangila The youthful new principal at Warm Springs Elementary is already planning to break down the school walls. Michael L. Darcy, 35, will not be dismantling the school. The kind of walls he’ll be hacking: away at will be those that stand between the school and the com munity. Darcy feels strongly about broad community involvement in the school. “I’ll be seeking more parent input because par ents have an awful lot to offer in the way of methods that will be most effective,” says Darcy. “The problem is that many (parents) will not come forward on their own without an invita tion from the school. I would like to see the school offer that invi tation through communication, through visitations and in other ways that will make the parents feel welcome,” Darcy explained. He noted that the classroom teacher is the key to getting parents involved, and that this will be an area he will work on with the staff. “Parents need to be kept informed as to what’s going on,” he stressed. “The newspaper media also needs to be informed so all community members can be involved in the school,” he added. Darcy, who is half Tututnf— a Rogue River band, — feels the most important thing in working with Indian children is develop ing a sense of pride in selves and heritage. For that reason,he is looking for innovations which will help foster pride in heritage. For ex ample, he cites the Northwest Reading Lab programs, which were partially developed here, as something that could be used to better advantage. “Also oral skills could be sharpened through OUTSIDE THE WALLS _ New grade school principal Michael Darcy expects to be visible outside his office and help break down walls that exist between the school and the community. the use of their own legends,” observed Darcy. And Darcy said that being Indian himself makes him that much more interested in learn ing about the local customs and traditions. “I can’t see myself being able to relate to the kids if I don’t know where they’re coming from,” he reasons. Darcy does not want to get trapped “in the rut of taking part in only school-related activities.” He plans to attend community functions and events, and to share with and learn from the people here. Darcy is most anxious for people to know that he plans to maintain an “open door policy” for any parents or group that wants to see him. “I’ll be very happy to be available, with or without an appointment, to see people at any time,” he stresses. With his quiet warmth and easy manner, Darcy will bring a definite style to the principal’s office. He intends to get out from behind the desk and into the classrooms and onto the play ground. “So, when a student comes into the office it won’t be his first contact with me.” The greatest challenge Dar cy sees is that right now, stu dents are apparently going from an almost all-Indian school to a junior high that is mixed. “I would like to see more mixed contact-at a younger age,” says Darcy. “The outdoor school is an attempt at that, but it could be started much sooner so that the pne-week outdoor school experience is not the total experience prior to junior high.” Darcy will be seeking sug gestions from the staff and com munity on ways of getting pri mary-aged kids from Warm Springs and Madras involved together more often in programs at their level. « “I think it will be easier because Tony Miller, who is now the principal at Madras Ele mentary, agrees on the need for getting together,” says Darcy. Darcy appears eager for the school year to start. “The thing that will really be neat about working at Warm Springs is that here the people have made an attempt to keep their culture. intact,” he notes. In contrast, he explained that the coast Indians “lost a lot of their identifi cation.” They had to either assi milate or cease to exist.” “Just recently they’ve been trying to get some holds on their culture,” said Darcy. Darcy previously taught at Coos Bay where, out of 5000 students in the district, 350 were Indians. “The district is the fourth largest in Indian popula tion in Oregon,” he commented. Darcy is still familiarizing himself with this area, having met and been “impressed with some of the people from here.” He attended the Oregon Indian Education Association Confer ence at Kah-Nee-Ta earlier this year and met education leaders from Warm Springs. Mike Clements, chairman of the Tribal Education Committee is pleased with the choice. Cle ments said Darcy was recom mended for the job because he is young, part Native American, and has worked with a number of Indian programs in the Coos Bay area and with the Title IV pro gram. “He has both the back ground and experience in work ing with Indian youth,” said Clements. Darrel Wright, 509-J Super intendent, noted that Darcy has filled in at Coos Bay for the principal and that he has the training and experience for the job. Further, Wright said that he is impressed with Darcy’s warmth, sense of humor, and easy way of meeting people. It should be a comfortable situation for students, parents, and community, alike,” said Wright. Annual Reports cont'd employees form a border on the bottom of each page, looking much like a fluctuating line graph. The shiny cover features five tepees in a step pattern, symbolozing the growth of the Tribes. “Growth is the theme of this annual report,” the text explains on page 10. “Growth not only in people and products, but growth in the intangible but everpresent areas of cultural heritage, social responsibility and personal well being.” The consensus of employees Hatchery, cont’d been spending a great deal of his time cleaning and flushing clogged sprinklers lately, the result of the malfunctioning filter system in the domestic water supply. While other methods of filtration are being attempted, everyone looks forward to a new water system in the works“ * 5 CDS PHOTO for a facility to supplement the natural salmon and steelhead production in the Columbia and Deschutes River systems. The Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery began limited operation early this year with full production expected by 1980. Initially the hatchery will pro duce 400,000 spring Chinook fin gerlings and 140,000 steelhead smolts annually. The hatchery will also pro duce recreational rainbow trout for the Warm Springs and Uma tilla Reservations at the rate of 154,000 (8 to 10 inches in length) and 70,000 fingerlings a year. Total cost of the federally funded hatchery is $6.3 million. It is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and located on 55 acres of land leased from the Confederated Tribes. in the administration building is that the 1977 annual report is a considerable improvement over the previous year’s. The 197( report, which was not mad« available until October of 1977 was a first effort. “I haven’t talked with any one who does not like it,” saic Clements. She also said that general manager Ken Smith was “very impressed . . . tickled” with the 1977 report. The annual report was bud geted for $10,000 and the actual cost will probably be very close to that, said Jim Sizemore in accounting. Expected to come off the press in May, the report was delayed by the careful assembl ing of financial information. Next year’s report should arrive even earlier. Spilyay Tymoo J’S . Coyote News 1 SPILYAY TYMOO STAFF Managing Editor Sid Miller Assistant Editor Sandy Rangila Photographic Specialist/Writer Cynthia Stowell Reporter/Photographers Priscilla Squiemphen Donna Behrend Trainee Roger Stwyer FOUNDED IN MARCH OF 1976 Published bi-weekly by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. Warm Springs, Oregon 97761. Located in the Old Administration Building. Any written material to Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed to: . Spilyay Tymoo P„ O. Box 735 Warm Springs. Oregon 97761 Phone 553-1644 or 553-1161, Ext. 274 Subscription Rate $6.00 per year
