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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2007)
February 1, 2007 Spiiydy Tymoo, W 31 th Springs, Oregon Pgge 2 High school teacher finds way to connect with Native students B y L e s lie M itts Spilyay Tymoo Dave McMechan/Spilyay The Fourteenth Annual Tribal Youth Art Exhibit is on display at the Museum at Warm Springs Changing Exhibits Gallery. The drum pictured above is by Damean Frank, and was chosen by the museum as the opening piece of the exhibit. The drum at right, by Jay den Sohappy, is among the many fine items in the exhibit, which runs through March. Leslie Mitts/Spilyay Project Graduation seeks donations The parents of the Madras High School Class of 2007 are in the process of planning the annual Drug and Alcohol Free Graduation Party. This year the event will be held June 9, gradu ation day. Each year efforts are made to partially finance the party through various fundraisers, w hich this year include the Homecoming barbecue, bottie drives, car wash and Blazer raffle tickets. However, for the party to be fully financed, the Project Graduation committee is asking the community for sup port. If you would like to be a part of this effort, donations can be made in the form of cash, gifts, gift certificates or food for the party. Any dona tion will be greatly appreciated. If vou would like to mail a J donation, please mail checks to Project Graduation, 762 NW Glass Dr., Madras, 97741. For further information, please call Janelle Pugh at 475-4418, or e- mail Janelle-e-p@juno.com. Toys-Tools-Housewares-Clothing-Crafts-Gifts- Your Bargain Connection Open Monday-Sat 9 : 00 - 6:00 A ll N e w A ll T h e T im e ! 7 1 7 S.W. 5 th St. M a d ra s Or. Native Pride Hats New Styles in stock! Still Only $ 5.00 http://www.theoutpoststore.com/ Toys-Tools-Housewares-Clothing-Crafts-Gifts- During his first day teaching at Madras High School, Mike B itorff didn’t know what to think of the students. A lot of the tribal members, he said, remained so quiet that he wasn’t sure why. “I guess it was a little intimi dating,” he said. It wasn’t until cultural liaison Foster Kalama explained that students were showing him re spect by remaining silent that he started to understand. “After I started getting over some of those things I guess I started to relax as a person and as a teacher,” he explained. Now the English teacher is one of many at Madras High School making an extra effort to ensure that students from Warm Springs are getting the best education possible. But while Bitorff has fond memories of many students, he can’t necessarily pick out any favorites. “There’s just so many students,” he said. He particularly enjoys help ing students use words to ex press things about their culture. “Anytime a student writes specifically about traditions or their culture I’ll keep that piece of writing,” Bitorff said. “In the future when I get out of teaching or retire or change jobs I’ll have something positive to look back on.” Bitorff aims to use the field of English to teach the students in various different ways. According to Bitorff, “Obvi ously I want them to be better readers and writers, but also critical thinkers.” “I really try to teach them that words are power,” he ex plained. In addition, he said, “I’d like to show them tljat hard work will pay off.” “I also like to teach my Na tive students that they live in a very unique situation and a very unique and beautiful place,” he added. That’s something that Bitorff hopes his students will embrace as they go through life— and something he understands is dif ficult to do after growing up in a small town in Illinois. In fact, B itorff ended up teaching in Madras four years ago after a chance meeting with a school official on a sidewalk. « After getting married, Bitorff and his wife traveled from cen tral Washington to visit his cousin in Bend. B itorff had recently com pleted his teaching certification and his wife had one semester left. Before they knew it, they were on their way to teach in M adras— som ething B ito rff said he is grateful for now. “I feel very blessed to be here and to be in this unique situation,” he said. Bitorff was also recently in volved in the Cultural Enrich ment Club for several years. He said he especially enjoys interacting with people from the They taught me how to be quiet too som e times. Sometimes you really have to be quiet to hear. ” Mike Bitorff English teacher Warm Springs community. “I like meeting the parents' and the relatives and the elders of the tribe,” he said. He gives a lot of credit to people like Kalama, his colleague Clark Jones and former teacher' George Talman. “Those guys taught me that' if you don’t develop a positive relationship with the kids then a., lot of them won’t do work fori you,” Bitorff said. But he also credits much of what he has learned as a teacher, in recent years to the students from Warm Springs that he has» worked with. > “If the Native students have- taught me anything, they have taught me that you really don’t know somebody until you’ve» spent some time with them,” he» said. “They had to trust me as a’ person before they could trust me as a te a c h e r,” B ito rff. added. “They taught me how to be quiet too sometimes,” Bitorff said. “Som etim es you really have to be quiet to hear.”