Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1990)
Page 2 EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT JUNE 15, 1990 f i Department of Education Mission and Goals MISSION Provide the Warm Springs community with comprehensive education programs that promote dignity and self-worth, through early childhood, daycare, higher education and vocational education programs. GOALS 1. Clarify staff and committees roles and responsibilities. 2. Report employee(s) have the skills necessary to complete student andor adult job skill, career, academic and aptitude assessments. 3. Report that tribal members in junior high and high school receive quality group or individual career counselinginformation. Students help other students . Joel Martinez sees himself as a positive role model for students in the Madras Building Blocks Pre school. He helps the young stu dents build self-esteem as a teen tutor. "I know how important that is," says Martinez. Madras High School students work at the Building Blocks Pre school daily, receiving class credit. Martinez isn't doing it just for credit. He says, MI want to help lit tle kids." The Building Blocks Preschool Program is funded through the Oregon State Department of Edu cation and Oregon State Depart ment of Mental Health. Building Blocks addresses the needs of children with learning disabilities by enrollment of non-dclaycd child ren as role models. Teen tutors are evaluated by the Program's teachers. Besides work ing with children the MHS stu dents must prepare a lesson plan and implement it. Developing a positive attitude by Siphronla Coochise When a child proercsses from kindergarten to high school they go through many changes throughout the years. At the grade school level, Dawn Smith, who works with students from the kindergarten through the fifth grade, sees the importance of helping students develop positive attitudes about themselves which will help them achieve their goals throughout their school career and their whole life. During this stage in a child's life Smith works with students who have not yet learned how to deal with their feelings; Students who sometimes choose to hit other individuals who have made them feel bad about them selves. She tries to teach them that there are better ways of dealing with problems and getting the point across than a punch in the nose. She likes to give them the tools to cope with what is goingto one day happen in their life, help ing them deal with the situation and see tnat they do have choices other than hitting others who make them feel bad. Smith shows the students what is acceptable and what is not. She shows them their various options they have available when they choose to succeed in school, listen and abide by the rules around them. Smith states, "They don't see themselves successful in the future or open their vision about Indian people in professional jobs." She tells them that they can be whoever they want to be. She explains to them that although "they are the product of their parents, regardless of how they were raised, they still have the choice to be who they want to be in the future." At this stage in life young stu dents think they are the only indi viduals with feelings. They have not yet learned that everyone has feelings and they are a part of a unit of people. In order to help them with these situations Smith teaches one-half Continued on page 4 Teachers attend workshops Research shows that teachers who perceive students as low achievers interact less frequently with those students and are less supportive than they are with perceived high achievers. Many teachers are unaware that their perceptions influence their actions toward students in the classroom. They do not realize they expect students who dress well to do better, that girls are expected to do better, that Caucasian stu dents are expected to do better. Teachers interacting less with these students explain their behav ior as showing concern for stu dents. They say they do not wish to embarrass low achievers so they avoid calling on these students in the classroom. Students perceived as low achievers in turn realize they are not expected to know the material in class and they know they won't Continued on page 4 Graduation requirements change The graduation rcuuiremcnts for Madras Sr. High school com mencement exercises have changed from the past years. 1 he new walk through policy was adopted Sep tember 25. 1989 and became effec tive with the class of 1990. Seniors not having adequate credits to graduate will no longer be allowed to participate in commencement exercises. The board believes that gradua tion is a meaningful and important attainment in the process of gain ing an education. The diploma is given by District 509-J and admits them into further schooling and or the world of work. According to the new District Policy students must uphold aca demic standards, verify minimum competence of reading, listening., reasoning, speaking, writing and computing. Ihcy must also verify minimum completion of a stand ard curriculum. The school board sets requirements for graduation and authorizes the establishments of rules and procedures to carry out the requirements, and tfiey believe that those individuals who do not fulfill these expectations should not have the privilege to walk down the same walk-way as the ones who work hard to com plete all they need to graduate. The requiremcnis are to obtain 24 cred its 1 5 of which are required classe the others from elective courses. it t 7 V 1 i -A . - . 'J . -.V , I . ' Hi i MM , - A 1 u . ' ""N n 1 Students in Madras Junior High science class dissect fish brought to them by Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery assistant hatchery manager Mike Paiya. COCC enrollment continues to increase The Central Oregon Commu- community, For the young adults G.E.D. (General Equivelency Di- nity College Adult Learning center to the adults that haven't gone to pioma), community college cours- has many programs to offer the school for many years. There are cs anj the Adult Basic Education. basicly three programs: The TheG.E.D. requirements are for COCC Class Enrollment Winter 1988-Wlnter 1990 (A C 0) "O 3 (A o u x E 3 z 200 j 190 - n 180 - A 170 - I ' Z0 160 - 150 - r 140 - 130 - 120 " 100 - 10 - I i l I I I 1 1 1 1 1 W-'88 S-'88 F-'88 W-'89 S-'89 F-'89 W-'90 S-'90 a person to be 16 years of age and older and not a high school grad uate, if 16 or 17 years old must be formally released from high school. Classes for GED are 3 days a week and two nights a week. The test will be on the last Wednesday of the month. A passing score must be 40 or more. There are five tests to take, Writing Skills, Social Studies, Science, Reading and Math. The tests will not be finished in one session. It generally takes two sessions to complete the GED. Failed tests may be retaken but only are allowed two retakes in a years time. The community Education class es are more the special interest classes. From Interpreting Dreams to tnglish and Math. I hese classes change f rom term to term. Adult Basic Education classes help students get their high school diploma if they are lacking one or two credits. Adult Basic Education also helps with GED preparation and with basic skills such as reading. The GED classes have risen from 17 people in 1988 to 79 in 1990, the Adult Education has risen from 25 people in 1 988 to 1 60 people in 1990. The credit classes have grown from 40 people in 1988 to 60 people in 1990. Approxi mately 250 per term attend special workshops that are conducted in the community. Term - Year Comm Ed ABE Credit Teachers increase skill Warm Springs Head Start program monitored Four women from various Head 14.1 8. They consisted of Susan Headstart in Ft. Thompson, South Start programs were recruited to Thompson, headstart director Dakota. Patti Meier, Community monitor Warm Springs from May from Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Health Director Specialist from ; IZZY Missoula, Montana. Verna Thomp son, Headstart director from Che rokee Nation of Oklahoma in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. And Mary Ann Deer, Education Coordinator from Seminole Nation of Okla homa in Holdenville Oklahoma. Washington D.C. had develop ed the idea to monitor the Head Start program. About 33 percent of Indian Programs are done a year. These peer reviewers hired by the national office review headstart offices to see if they are up to good standards. They check if they're clean and well taken care of. They interview the staff to see if they are qualified, the health consultant to see if they are checked regularly. The files on the children are checked as well as the staff to see how they are selected. The ladies are there to identify and strengthen the program in areas that need improvement. After the ladies are finished they must together write a report to Washington D.C. Then D.C. will contact the Warm Springs Head start Program to give them the results. Four workshops presented througout the 1989-90 school year provided teachers with an oppor tunity to increase their skills in working with Indian youth. Teach ers learned to better work with stu dents by gaining an understanding of the culture and by learning methods of integrating cultural concepts into the classroom. Coordinated by Geoff Bury, Central Oregon Community Col lege Warm Springs administrator, the workshops resulted from a co operative effort between the 509-J Jefferson County School District, Central Oregon Community Col lege, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, and the Region II Indian Educa tion Center at Gonzaga U niversity. Funding was provided by the Johnson O'Malley Committee and in-kind contributions. The four workshops discussed teaching strategies and attitudes of teachers. "Native American Myth ology and Symbolism: Teaching Strategies for Holistic Learning" focused on a unique way teachers can motivate Indian Children. The Culturally Related Academic Needs (CR AN) concept introduces teach ers to native mythology and sym bolism to improve student critical thinking skills and motivate learn ing. "Native American Student Atti tudes, Contemporary Issues, and Teaching Strategies that Work!", the second workshop, assisted teachers on instruction of Indian culture in the classroom. Teachers learned to guide pas sive learning into proactive learn ing by using the whole language approach in teaching at the third session. At the final workshop, teachers examined their own attitudes about educating Indian youth during a session titled, "Indian Student Suc cess Howcanl make a difference." During workshops teachers were asked to answer questions regard ing their teaching methods and attitudes. Most teachers felt they integrated culture in the classroom at the first workshop. After gaining information at the first session they then felt they were not using cul ture as much as they could in class room situations. At the third ses sion, as a result of the workshops, teachers stated they were trying to incorporate more cultural activities in the classroom. HeadStart program monitors were Susan Thompson, Patti Meier, Verna Thompson and Mary Ann Deer. The quartet spent four days observing the program, checking the children, staff and facilities. Education is smart thinking!
