S moke S ignals
april 1, 2014
education Department sets goals, outcomes
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Tribal Education Depart-
ment plays a big part in the qual-
ity of life and standard of living of
Tribal youth.
“It has an overwhelming amount
of influence on helping Tribal
members become and stay self-
sufficient,” said new Education
Department Manager Eirik Thors-
gard, who took the reins at the
department on March 24. “It sets
the stage for success in later edu-
cation.”
“Education assists the member-
ship by offering services, programs
and funding for Tribal members
from kindergarten through col-
lege,” said Higher Education Man-
ager Bryan Langley, who was
acting director of the department
since September.
“Tribal Council placed a high
priority on education and we are
fortunate that it has had the fore-
sight to create endowments that
hopefully will be able to support all
of the Education programs in the
future. We want our members to
be successful and education plays
a key role in this success.”
With the charge of preparing
today’s youth to become tomorrow’s
Tribal leaders, Education works
with a number of other departments
in accomplishing its mission.
Education is the lead agency
helping members of the Tribe
learn skills and earn the range of
certificates and degrees that will
help the Tribe’s people. Supporting
this mission are the Tribal Housing
Authority, Social Services, Land
and Culture and Vocational Reha-
bilitation departments. The Tribe’s
Public Affairs Department also is
assisting with the communications
piece.
Setting the stage for the de-
partment’s future direction are
results from 2013’s Chalkboard
Project study, released in January,
that was the first comprehensive
study into existing conditions that
Oregon’s Tribal students face and
how they perform in the state’s
educational system.
According to the Chalkboard
Project’s webpage, “The findings
show that 75 percent of Oregon
Tribe-enrolled students live in
low-income households, almost one-
third are enrolled in underperform-
ing schools and nearly 50 percent
are attending rural schools. These
conditions, along with other factors,
have led to significant achieve-
ment gaps among Oregon’s Tribal
students relative to their peers in
the state. For example, Oregon
Tribe-enrolled third-grade students
have a 5.1-point gap in reading as
compared to their peers. In math,
Tribal-enrolled eighth-graders had
a 4.7-point gap.”
The analysis was conducted by
ECONorthwest and commissioned
by Spirit Mountain Community
Fund and the Chalkboard Project.
Seven of nine Oregon Tribes par-
ticipated in the study.
The Education Department is
“still in the planning stages of
how to move forward and address
the issues the study brought up,”
Langley said. “But it is clear that
while many of our kids do very well,
a very large portion of our Native
students are not being well served
by the Oregon education system
and the work of the Tribe and of
the state must rapidly evolve to bet-
ter support our children,” Langley
CTGR Fish Distribution
Natural Resources Department
Fish Lab
47010 SW Hebo Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
(503)879-2424
GRAND RONDE LIVING and ENROLLED
TRIBAL MEMBERS
Must show current photo I.D.
St. Michael’s Catholic Church will hold a Rummage Sale from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. Friday, April 4, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5.
For more information, contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. n
Friday, April 18, 2014 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
All salmon must go in preparation of more fish. Once the salmon is gone, it is gone.
Unfortunately, we are unable to deliver to the satellite offices this distribution.
Indian Fair set
for May 10
If picking up for others, a signed release form will be required!
No early or late pickup
Fish will NOT be mailed
If you have any questions please call the Natural Resources
Department at 503-879-2424.
Elders will have a special line established to expediently fill their requests. To ensure this,
only Elder orders will be filled using this line. Thank you for understanding and
consideration of others.
2014 Salmon Distribution Release Form
give
Signature of Tribal Member:
programs come with the support of
other departments.
The teaching of Tribal histo-
ry and culture, for example, has
moved into high gear through the
Land and Culture Department,
while Education has participated
in a big way.
The program created 50 cultural
activities last year, almost one ev-
ery week. The activities opened the
door to language, drum and dance
for 23 students.
Among the department programs
is one that comes through the Tribal
Housing Authority. The Student
Rental Assistance Program has
provided “great resources for Tribal
member students attending college,”
Langley said. “The cost of attending
college continues to increase each
year. We encourage students to seek
out any additional resources that
students can obtain without taking
out loans. Getting through college
with little to no debt is a great ad-
vantage to members moving toward
self-sufficiency.”
Partnerships with 18 state and
Chemeketa Cooperative Regional
Library Services libraries provide
Grand Ronde students access to
countless new resources. Partner-
ships also were forged with Willam-
ina and Sheridan school districts,
boards and local governments.
The department has engaged in
“a roll out of all programs, services
and budgets to accomplish the Stra-
tegic Plan and the Tribal mission,”
said Langley.
The department evaluates educa-
tion programs each year to see if
programs and services are meeting
the needs of the membership. When
needs are unmet, the department
“looks for creative solutions to ad-
dress those needs,” said Langley.
The goals and accomplishments
are tied to the 2010 Strategic Plan
adopted by Tribal Council, and
to the Tribe’s movement toward
performance-based budgeting be-
ing implemented by the executive
team.
General Manager Mark John-
ston leads the effort, supported by
Leno and Planning Director Rick
George. n
st. Michael’s plans Rummage sale
Thursday, April 17, 2014 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
I
added.
“I consider this interTribal part-
nership that our own Spirit Moun-
tain Community Fund helped
coalesce to be the next really impor-
tant policy initiative for Oregon’s
Tribal governments to step up and
work together with Oregon and the
federal government,” said Assistant
General Manager Chris Leno.
The Education Department
also offers educational services,
programs and funding for Tribal
members from young mothers and
infants, from kindergarten through
college.
“We want our members to be
successful and education plays a
key role in this success,” Thorsgard
said.
Financial support and other kinds
of education assistance have expand-
ed in the last year. Basic computer
training began assisting students
working toward General Education
Development certificates last year.
GED services are heading toward
completely online programs in the
years ahead and the Education De-
partment is working toward prepar-
ing its students for the change.
Funding for summer study for 19
full-time college students has been
made available by Tribal Council and
implemented by the department.
Library use has increased to
more than 6,200 visits, 2,100 for
computer use, and two cultural
exhibits, developed and managed
by the Education Department,
were displayed through October of
last year.
Department employees created
the first fourth-grade Tribal his-
tory lesson curriculum that meets
Oregon benchmarks and standards
for the public school system. It went
live at Willamina in the 2013-14
school year, ushering in an era of
bringing local Native history to
public classrooms. Seventy-eight
children, including 10 members of
the Tribe, participated.
Next school year, the curriculum
will be made available to all dis-
tricts statewide. Plans call for ap-
propriate curricula to be available
for all grades by 2018.
Many of the Tribe’s education
, Roll Number
,
permission to pick up my salmon.
Date:
“Sharing Our Culture, Educating Our Community” is the theme
for an Indian Fair set to occur from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, May
10, at the National Guard Armory, 541 S.W. Coast Highway, in
Newport.
The Indian Fair is sponsored by the Siletz Tribal Arts and Heritage
Society in cooperation with the Siletz Tribal Culture Department.
Displays of regalia, baskets and other art forms will be available
for viewing. A wide array of items created by Native artists and
crafts people will be for sale and Indian tacos will be available to
purchase. For more information about the Indian Fair, call 541-
351-8663.n