SpllyayTymoo
July 13,197»
P»s«,9
Trio will assist students in exploring careers
Dropouts, mainstream stu-
dents (those who plan to attend
school this fall) and recent high
school graduates now have the
opportunity to uncover their
true aspirations and figure out
a life plan. A new tribal pro
gram, Career Exploration, has
been developed to aid those
who need help setting up goals
and objectives for their lives.
Director of the program
Chuck Lone Wolf, who is half
Kiowa, says those working for
the program “are not teachers,
but facilitators and coordina
tors” of the program. “We’re
here to help students set goals
and objectives, and to build up
their self-confidence so they
feel they can do anything.”
identified the need for such a
program when he was a high
school counselor five years ago.
According to statistics, 90 per
cent of the youth intend to live
and work on the reservation
and there is a 50 percent non
completion rate at the high
school. Both of these factors
led to the . development of the
career exploration program,
according to Calica.
Lone Wolf attributes the
high dropout rate to impracti
cal subjects being taught in
school. “There are many sub
jects that are not often used in
the working world, such as for
eign languages, algebra and
Trigonometry.”
Lone Wolf anticipates 30 to
60 students* under the program
during the school year which
will include on-the-job train
ing, interviews, testing and
some classroom instruction
depending on the individual
needs. The students will be
working not only within the tri
bal organization, but job sites
will be arranged in the com
munity as well. Community
role models will be chosen so
that the students will have a
well-rounded introduction to a
variety of careers.
Tribal education director
Charles Calica stated that he
The program operates on
three levels. It will (1) improve
basic skills, such as reading,
writing and other skills learned
in high school, (2) establish
ad u lt survival skills and
increase knowledge of culture,
tribal history and government
and federal and Indian legisla
tion and (3) establish and
improve job skills. “The only
way a person learns job skills is
to be on the job,” says Lone
Wolf.
The program will be working
closely with the school district,
parents, job site and students to
help insure success and good
communication. Culture will
CAREER EXPLORATION- Wendell Jim left, Theresa Katchia, center and Chuck Lone Wolf, right
are all working fo r a new tribal program, the Career Exploration program. The program will help
young adults make life plans and set goals and objectives for themselves.
play an important part in the
education as the elders will be
working with students.
Lone Wolf says he “would
like to see the Career Explora
tion program expanded in'
scope to work very closely with
college students to gain rele
vant summer employment and
academic skills they need to
work for the tribe. Job skills are
just as important as that college
degree.”
Program assistant Theresa
Katchia, student coordinator
Wendell Jim and Lone Wolf
are presently actively seeking
eligible students. If you are
interested, they can be reached
at the Adult Learning Center at
553-1428.
Wilderness experience may help troubled teens
The old Schoolie Ranger
Station has not been used for
years. But its secluded setting in
the woods next to the Warm
Springs River appears ideal for
the Tribes’ new wilderness
program.
Evidently the concept of a'
wilderness program sounded
worthwhile to the National
Institute of Drug Abuse. Warm
Springs was awarded $64,000
for the program, the only new
NIDA grant offered in the
United States this year. This
amount has been beefed up
with a 20 percent matching
grant from the Tribes, making
a sum of $85,000 available for
the program.
The Wilderness Program is
being set up to deal with
troubled youth—kids who’ve
been in and out of trouble with
law—kids with problems, and
kids who need placement, said
alcohol and drug program
director Steve Bekofsky. He
noted that the program will
also offer an alternative to a jail
situation.
Ten kids at a time will be
accepted into the on-going
program for a period of 90
days. “We’ll offer Outward
Bound-type activities such as
hiking, hunting and fishing,
and horse and cattle-raising,
said Bekofsky. “ T hrough
accomplishment and a new
sense of Vesponsibility we hope
to help raise their self-esteem
and sense of okayness,” he
explained.
With a goal of starting the
wilderness program at the first
of August, a couple has been
hired to serve as residential
supervisors at the ranger
station. Don Moccasin, an
Assiniboine from Montana,
an.d B ev erly S n o w a re
enthusiastic about the program
and pleased with the natural
setting.
But it’s a bit too natural right
now. The house needs windows
and doors and there is not a
stick of furniture in the place.
Repairs and general cleanup
are still being taken care of by
YCC crews who have already
replaced the roof, torn out
rotting floors and cleared the
area of litter and debris.
Don and Beverly envision
the place as ev en tu ally
b e c o m in g a lm o s t s e lf-
sufficient. Since there is no
electricity, they are discussing
ways of devising equipment to
harness solar and wind power.
Beverly said they are hunting
around for a wood heater and
wood stove, but that the Tribal
Council has asked them to get a
refrigerator which can be run
off a propane generator.
no TV’s and no radios, with the
exception of a two-way radio
for emergencies.
“We’re all going to get an
education out there, that’s for
sure,” remarked Don. They
want to make the kids aware of
ecological concerns and teach
them respect for Mother Earth.
And they say that parental and
community involvement in the
program will be crucial. “The
parents need to know what’s
going on in order to play a
supportive role,” they said.
“And the involvement of the
elders will be important,” they
noted often.
They feel that this pilot
project has a good chance of
succeeding. They will be
working to change a lifetime of
negative feelings which they
believe plagues each child they
will be working with. “We see
unlim ited possibilities for
everyone,” they conclude.
They noted that there will be
CHECKING THE SEWER LINE - YCC crews have been busy evicting rats and bats from the attic
of the Schoolie Ranger Station and performing general clean-up duties in preparationfor the Tribes'
Wilderness Program scheduled to begin A ugust 1. The workers even located the sewer line and dug it
up by hand.
Spilyay Tymoo Photo by Rangila
BACK TO NATURE - The residential supervisors fo r the
Wilderness Program are enthusiastic about the natural setting
and feel the program has good potential to work. D on Moccasin
and Beverly Snow will work with 10 kids at a time on a 90-day
basis. The four counselors working with them will be Fred Muniz,
Austin Smith, Robert Vanderbeck and Mark McKenzie.
Spilyay Tymoo Photo by Rangila