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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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."
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