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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2005)
Smoke Signals 5 Tribal Youth Spent Summer At The Governance Center In Grand Ronde Students worked two shifts to get real world experience. OCTOBER 1, 2005 By Jack Ham, Smoke Signals Intern The Summer Youth Program was created by Tribal member Lisa Leno and the Tribal Council about six years ago. The program was created for the purpose of providing experience as well as a summer job for students ages 14-18. The differ ent jobs are in departments includ ing grounds keeping, Recreation, Smoke Signals, the casino and Education. 1 fp.yNZl iK ( 7! This year, there were 48 students who participated in the program, each working in a department. Each student has a supervisor and a handbook to help them gain ex perience for the real world. The in terviews began in early June, and the jobs began on July 6 with the employee orientation. The orienta tion started with telling everyone who was working where. The ori- Division said that her department's intern "has helped everyone with some kind of project." She also said she would "absolutely" recommend the summer youth program to any one who hasn't signed up before. "We learned from him," said Smoke Signals' Editor Brent Merrill, referring to Jack Ham (me), an intern in the Public Information Office. iffis mr itim 'iim U&MuUmfr 'iifa sEtfft$giii&& Sharona Jackson worked in the Planning & Policy Department entation outlined the basic guide lines, dress code, safety tips, the mission statement, the vision state ment and the ten commandments of computer comfort. On July 7, the actual work started. Student employees re ported at 8 a.m. for the morning shift and ended at noon. The after noon shift started at 1 p.m. and ended at 5 p.m. Students partici pating in the summer youth pro gram are paid $7.25 an hour, 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. But like other employees, students can work over time, and take days off when needed. Trinity Minahan, College Coun selor and Advisor in the Education All the interns in Education did everything she told them, when she told them," said Marie Heimburg, Youth Education Supervisor. "And sometimes it wasn't very nice things, either," she added, referring to times when her interns had to clean out the shed. In the Planning & Policy office, Grants Developer Bob McElderry said, "I used to think not very much of (the program), but after having Sharona Jackson (as an Intern), I look forward to next year." McElderry also said he would rec ommend the summer Youth Em ployment Program to any youths who hadn't done it before. On Friday, August 19' there 1 . fLft1 i .1 Wf- Vi Chantae Fechtner helped in the Public Information Department was a luncheon in which students received awards for hard work and accomplishments, while their su pervisors stood and told everyone how much their interns had ac complished. This year, we had 50 applications. Out of those, 48 qualified. Only one student quit working, and only two were terminated. Out of 50 appli cations, 45 successfully completed the program a finishing rate of 90 percent. Hopefully, that rate will be even higher next year. Tribal Youth Get To See New York City Up Close And Personal Three high school interns work at the American Museum of Natural History. By Jack Ham, Smoke Signals Intern Over the summer, the Youth Edu cation department sent Tribal mem bers Hope Lafferty, Ashley Bedortha and Alicia Selwyn to New York City. They worked as Tribal interns in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Adult Education Program Coordina tor from the Education Division Joanne Carr chaperoned for the first 1 1 days. Mentorship Coordina tor Denise Harvey took the spot of chaperone the second 11 days. In the Museum of Natural His tory, the Tribal Interns worked with h f I J V The Statue of Liberty other high school students. The in terns and other Tribal members who came along on the trip visited the famous Tribal meteorite, Tomanowos. The Interns took the opportunity to give Tribal Elders Betty Lam bert, Patsy Pullin, Kathryn Harrison, Pat Allen and Ruby Golden a tour of museum exhibits. The trip to the Museum also gave Interns an opportunity to learn from keynote speakers, tours and workshops. Keynote speakers in cluded Research Associate John Flynn, Ph.D.; Associate Professor of Seismology and Geophysical Edu cation at Washington University, Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D.; and The Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Workshops in the Museum in cluded observation activities in the Hall of North American Birds with Jay Holmes and "How can we use Cultural Artifacts to Teach and Learn Science? with Jennifer Adams. Both are instructors at the museum. The students were included in classes designed to help teach his tory and science, said Harvey, but they were most taken with the courses on culture. Throughout the museum the in terns viewed a tour of "Behind the exhibits of the museum," with Su san Klofak and Yumiko Iwasaki, also instructors at the museum. "The museum is really a teaching tool," said Carr. This was the first time Carr vis ited New York with the Tribe. In i " , .r '.',1 . ''f " "1 I k V v.- fa i r ' : ,.Jr V 1 .... ,' f . :4-y 1., v ..... I f ;J J I rtifhfff1-' '"" J " '---'-''-'w:i'J 1 n 1 1 1 11 Time Travelers Tribal members Ashley Bedortha, (1 to r) Hope Lafferty, Alicia Selwyn and Adult Education Program Coordinator Joanne Carr sit on the steps of the National Museum of the American Indian Washington, D.C. 1969, Carr lived in New York. "I was invited to Woodstock, but I missed it," said Carr referring to the days of the late 60's. Among the other activities, the interns enjoyed a Yankees baseball game, watched Macy's fireworks shoot off from the East River on the Fourth of July, stopped at a mall in New Jersey, saw the Broadway show, "All Shook Up," and visited Central Park where John Lennon's Memorial Strawberry Fields is lo cated. "(Alicia Selwyn) really took that in," said Carr. Selwyn is a fan of John Lennon. "It was really meaningful to her," said Carr. "It also represented her view of peace. You learn so much about yourself when you travel." Pre-requisites for interns inter ested in a trip to New York City in cluded being involved with the activities that Youth Education of fers, keeping their grades up and writing an essay. Youth Education picked the candidates for the trip. The interns also wrote essays in support of their applications, and the winners earned the opportunity to visit New York City. "It is interesting that the three girls grew up (together), but did not go to the same schools," said Carr. "They were so well connected." t 3 c c s I
