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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2001)
Smoke Signals 6 AUGUST 1, 2001 no Heart. Sliara Mini wo ernefit Tribal Memmbers Weedimig aura Tribal member Bryan Langley brings a variety of experience to the job. By Justin Phillips He has always done it for the ben efit of Tribal members. Improving the lives of individuals is something that Tribal member Bryan Langley is very good at. Langley has a new office in the Education department under the guidance of Marion Mercier, Educa tion Director. He graduated from Western Bap tist College with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and has worked with the Tribe for the last 10 years. Langley has worked with Social Services and the Housing Authority before accepting his current position as the Short Term Training and Continuing Distance Education Spe cialist, or in short, Program Coordi nator. "I basically work with Tribal mem bers who are going back to school on a part-time basis pursuing a degree," said Langley. "I also deal with Tribal members in short term train ing. It could be from a CPR class to conferences, workshops to job en hancement or skill development." Tribal members who work at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Casino or Tribal members who live virtually anywhere in the world also access Langley's program. "The neat thing about the program is that it is available to Tribal mem bers who live anywhere," said Lan gley. "We actually have Tribal mem bers that access the program from another country. They attend a school where they are at and they just provide us with copies of receipts that they paid for the classes or they have the college send the invoice di rectly to us. " One thing we (the education staff) want to ( stress is that the Education t! 1 J department is there to assist . I I Tribal members with the .. r I education process." 1 'r . , Bryan Langley KijJ j The Education department can pay expenses for undergraduate students up to $800 per term or quarter and for graduate students up to $1,600. Langley also coordinates the online classes through Chemeketa Commu nity College and Portland State Uni versity. Langley handles the program's sat ellite classes as well. "The classes are on-site at Chemeketa (located in Salem) and they broadcast it to the location where students are at," said Langley. "There is also a microphone there and the students can also participate in the class while it's going on." Along with his many duties help ing students, Langley will also be working on the Education department's website. "Hopefully on there we will have all of the program applications," said Langley. "We want to have a fairly extensive web page so they can get different college and financial aid applications." One important goal of Langley's is to update the current program poli cies and procedures. "I want to increase the awareness for Tribal members to access the pro gram," said Langley. "Most of the people who access it are fairly local. I want to provide courses that Tribal members are interested in. One of the ways to do this is with a survey. I know people are probably surveyed to death around here, but it will be just to find out what classes people need and want, either on-site here or other locations. One of the things I want to pursue is to see if there is enough interest in developing some budgeting classes or additional fi nancial management classes." Langley said he would also like to focus on the Elders. "Recently there has been a few El ders that have been attending some classes," said Langley. "Not to pur sue a degree or anything, but for personal enrichment." Langley said the education staff is here to help people. "One thing we (the education staff) want to stress is that the Education department is there to assist Tribal members with the education pro cess," said Langley. "Even if that means sitting down and helping with filling out the applications or deter mining what their interests are or whatever their needs are, we are Straight as an Arrow Family man finds time to perfect his archery skills. By Justin Phillips During his spare time, Bryan Langley likes to bow hunt. Langley and friend Shonn Leno are finishing up an archery range that will be open behind the Tribe's Natural Resources building. "We built it because we both bow hunt and we needed a place to shoot," said Langley. Langley has been a bow hunter for 12 years now. "I like it because it's challenging," said Langley. "It's not as crowded as rifle hunting anymore." The archery range will be open to the community and participants will have to sign a waver form and have to follow rules and regulations to be able to use the range. Participants will be presented with a sticker that indicates their completion of the wavier form. He said he loves spending time with his wife, Rhonda and his three chil dren, Bryanna, 6, Kara, 5 and Brayden, 2. The family just moved from Dayton to Lincoln City. - , , . , ,t s s willing and able to assist Tribal mem bers in that process.? Mercier likes the idea of having Langley on board. "We are very pleased to have Bryan working in the Education division," said Mercier. "He brings a lot of ex perience in working with Tribal pro grams; a lot of knowledge working with our Grand Ronde people. We know that he will do a fantastic job." s, . n to m St ' in 1 i if f "That Was Sweeeet" - Youngster An thony Cook (left) finishes just ahead of David Hofenbredl on the Tsunami Slide which just one of the many play areas for kids at the Wellness and Den tal department's Summer Safety Extravaganza held on Friday, July 13. Kids got to crawl through Winston the Whale, brave the Iceberg Challenge and risk it all on the Titanic Adventure Slide. Summeir Safety Extravaganza J?" f ..... M A "I'm Going Back For More" Little ripper Michael Mercier looks like he wants to try the Tsunami Slide again. 4 Learning Katherine Warren Steffensmier (left), Jorden George and Tami George learn about the effects of tobacco on their dental health from Den tal Hygienist Sheila Blacketer. Photos by Justin Phillips
