February 15, 1998
Education
5
Dropping In and Dropping Out
By Gayla Tulensru,
Adult Education Coordinator
Have you heard the invitation, "My house is lo
cated at the bottom of a cliff, drop in sometime?"
Sometimes dropping in sounds more dangerous than
dropping out, especially if you are talking about
high school completion. By the way, I am told the
term "early leaver" is the politically correct term
for "drop outs." Whatever you call it and how
ever you look at it, dropping out affects dropping
in. Most early leavers want to finish their require
ments but don't realize how challenging it is to add
GED or high school completion classes to their busy
lives. Many people are nervous or uncomfortable
about going back to school. Some people just keep
putting it off, figuring they will do it later. For
anyone who wants to finish their high school re
quirements, the following tips may be helpful:
Call your local college, library or school to see
if classes are located in your area.
Decide if you are going to finish your high
school credits or earn a GED. (An education coun
selor or coordinator can work with you on this.)
If you have work schedule or child care con
flicts, check your options. Perhaps the instructor
can offer workable suggestions.
Attend classes as much as possible; there is a
correlation between success (completion) and class
attendance.
You will need to spend time studying, so set
study times for yourself and study. Most people
study best without a lot of interruptions.
Stop putting it off and DO IT! Your success
can create better job and education opportunities.
It sets an impressive example for your children.
Speaking of dropping in, I would also like to
address our Adult Education office policy. We are
glad to serve people when they drop in, but please
be aware that appointments and meetings may have
already been scheduled and we may not be avail
able. If you call ahead and make an appointment,
this will help you avoid being inconvenienced.
Please be aware there are also some services such
as testing and tutoring that need to be scheduled.
Change in work schedule: Due to client requests
for extended hours, the Adult Education Coordi
nator work hours have been changed to 10 hour
days Tuesday through Friday, starting February
17. This means that I will be available during
evening GED classes and by appointment from 5
to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Mondays
are also available by appointment in the event of
client schedule conflicts. For additional informa
tion, please call 1-800-422-0232 or 879-2282.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION CLASSES
Our Parenting and Anger Management Classes
ended February 7. At the time of this writing, we
have had 9 out of 32 participants who signed up
for the class attend. While we have had a very
positive response from these students, there is a
concern about the low attendance. In an effort to
improve our services and communication, I will
be conducting a survey to identify what factors af
fect attendance, schedule, childcare conflicts, etc.
ATTENTION SALEM
We will be ending our Moccasin Making classes
in Eugene on February 28 and are looking at start
ing a class in Salem in March if enough adult CTGR
members respond. So far, people for Grand
Ronde and Portland classes have signed up, but I
have not received any response from the Salem
area. Please let me know if you are interested in
attending a Salem class. Current plans are to move
the Grand Ronde classes to March. I will have
specific dates and information in the next Smoke
Signals.
DRUM MAKING CLASSES
Registration is open for Drum Making classes
for the Grand Ronde, Salem, Eugene and Portland
areas. Please call and let us know if you are plan
ning to attend one of these classes. The instructor
is Clifford Latta and the supplies are included for
CTGR members ages 16 and above.
SITE VISITATION ,
If you live outside of the Grand Ronde area and
would like to meet with me, I will be at the follow
ing sites for visitation:
Portland: Tuesday, February 24 from 11:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Tribal Area Office, 1110
S.E. Alder St.
Salem: Wednesday, February 25 from 9:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m. at Chemeketa Community College,
4000 Lancaster Drive, Building 2, GED Classroom.
GED CLASSES IN GRAND RONDE
Classes are co-sponsored with Chemeketa Com
munity College, and are held on Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. Classes with JoAnn
Leathers will end on March 17 for spring break
and begin again on Tuesday, March 31. Classes
are open to the community and additional tutoring
is available for members of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde by scheduling an appoint
ment by calling 879-2282.
Earn your HR Management
Certificate in Grand Ronde
To gain an understanding of personnel functions
and the Human Resources (HR) environment.
Three required and three elective courses for a
total of 108 class hours.
Emphasis will be on key concepts and practices,
building theories, practical skills and networking.
Credit optional. Additional cost of $70 per
course: 2 credits per course, passfail.
Course offered in Grand Ronde at Spirit Moun
tain Casino Human Resources building.
Total cost per person: $1450.
Required 54 Class Hours:
Management of Human Resources. The course
provides a broad exploration of the current prac
tices and theories of human resources management.
You will examine the relationship between the HR
department and the rest of the organization, and
focus on acquiring techniques for improving ser
vices provided by HR systems.
Compensation: This course provides an over
view of base pay compensation. It will acquaint
you with the principles of pay systems, how pay
systems change according to the organization's
needs, and demonstrate how information is ob
tained and used to ensure effective pay delivery.
Basic Principles of EEO. An overview of Equal
Opportunity (EEO) law and theories of unlawful
discrimination. You will explore basic principles
of EEO through readings, discussion, and presen
tations. This course is customized to include the
Tribal Laws that directly apply to the Confeder
ated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.
Elective Courses 54 class hours:
Benefits. This course focuses on the practical
issuers of benefit design and administration. Spe
cial attention is given to organizational and cul
tural factors in the workplace that affect benefit
plans. You will study legal requirements, costing,
national health care and the integration of benefits
with other employer programs.
Recruitment and Selection. This course pro
vides an exploration of issues involved in the re
cruitment and selection of employees. Emphasis
is on establishing procedures that ensure your or
ganization will attract high-quality candidates, while
maintaining degree of job-relatedness, accuracy in
matching people to jobs, and compliance with EEO
requirements and the Tribal Preference Act.
Counseling, Conflict, Communication. This
course is designed to help you enhance you practi
cal skills in communication, counseling, and con
flict resolution. You will learn techniques to use
both personally and professionally, and practice
how to address real-life situations. This course also
provides tools for you to take back to your organi
zations, including sample policies, personality in
ventories, and materials to use in teaching these
communication skills to others.
Dates offered on a Friday (2 hours); Saturday
Sunday (each 8 hours) for a total of 18 hours each
course offered. Dates may very pending instruc
tor schedules. April 24-26; May 29-31; July 17
19; August 28-30; September 25-27; October 23
25. Times offered: Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.;
Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance for each class
in order to receive the HR certification. If indi
viduals need to take only a few of the courses of
fered to complete their certification program they
may register with Portland State University and
attend course offered at the Grand Ronde site.
Enrollment is limited, early registration is encour
aged. To register please contact 879-2350, ext.
3834 no later than Friday, March 13, 1998.
Scholarships available for Higher Ed students
REMEMBER to apply to the Higher Education
Program or the Adult Vocational Training Pro
gram on or before March 1, 1998 if you plan to
attend school full time Spring Term 1998. Con
tact the Education Program for an application.
199899 Academic Year Federal Financial Aid
applications are due to the Education Program
by February 15, 1998 for continuing students.
So far only 6 of the 75 students have submitted
copies of the application.
Many of the scholarship applications have
deadline dates of March through April so if you
are planning to apply for scholarships, you need
to be aware! Some applications are available at
the Tribal Education Office, call Marion Mer-
cier at 879-2 284 for more
information. Tribal Education Trust Fund Schol
arship applications are available now and are due
by April 30, 1998. Students are encouraged to
apply early so the application can be reviewed
for completeness before routing to the selection
committee. Call the Education Program to re
quest an application.
The Grand Ronde Tribe offers the following
scholarships: Undergraduate, both full-time and
part-time; Adult Vocational Training, both full
time and part-time; Graduate, both full-time and
part-time; Eula Petite Memorial Scholarship, full
time, Education Students at Junior Level;
Raymond Carlton Memorial Scholarship, full
time. Computer Studies.