S moke S ignals
june 1, 2014
General Council briefed on Chalkboard Project
Chronic absenteeism is
‘the enemy’ to Native
student achievement
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The take-home message, said
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Director Kathleen George at the
May 18 General Council meeting
held in the Community Center,
is that chronic absenteeism for
Tribally enrolled students in the
Oregon public school system is “the
enemy.”
In 2013, the Community Fund
funded an analysis of how Trib-
ally enrolled students are perform-
ing in the public school system.
ECONorthwest and the Chalkboard
Project compared Tribal member-
ship rolls for seven of Oregon’s nine
federally recognized Tribes with
data provided by the state Depart-
ment of Education.
The most important finding,
George said, was that 28 percent
of Tribally enrolled children in
elementary school are chronically
absent, meaning they miss 10 per-
cent or more of days throughout the
school year.
The chronic absenteeism rate
increases to 31 percent for middle
school students and 43 percent for
high school students who are en-
rolled in Oregon Tribes.
“When kids miss, as you can
imagine, more than 10 percent of
the school year, their success in
school is greatly diminished and
that carries throughout their edu-
cation career,” George said.
“This, I think, is the enemy. …
We have to help change the culture
about how education is valued in
our families. We have to be sure
that every kid knows that school
is their path to success. We want
them there and we’ll do what it
takes for them to be successful. …
Every day counts. Our kids must
go to school consistently to have
successful futures, especially in
early grades.”
George said that the differences
between the seven Tribes that par-
ticipated, including the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde, were
negligible.
The study found that 67,172
Oregon public school students
self-identify as Native American
or Alaskan Native, but only 3,210
of those students are enrolled in
the seven federally recognized
Tribes in Oregon that participated
in the study. (The Coquille Tribe
Photo by Dean Rhodes
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Director Kathleen George briefs the
general membership on results from
The Chalkboard Project’s review of
how Native students are performing
in Oregon public schools during the
May 18 General Council meeting
held in the Community Center.
and Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw did
not participate.)
“The way Oregon collects data on
Tribal members has not allowed
them to see our kids within the
larger picture,” George said. “That
helped me see the problem that
Oregon Tribal education directors
were having … they were trying to
find a needle in a haystack of how
actually enrolled Tribal kids are do-
ing among 67,000 people who were
self-identifying.”
Other study findings discovered
that about 75 percent of Tribal
students attend schools in rural
areas or small towns and that 29.3
percent of Tribally enrolled stu-
dents attend the bottom 15 percent
of Oregon schools.
The study also found that only
55 percent of Tribal students in
elementary school met or exceeded
grade level in math in 2011-12 and
that number decreased to 44 per-
cent in high school.
However, Tribal students did
better in reading, with 66 percent
meeting or exceeding grade level
in elementary school, 55 percent in
middle school and 69 percent doing
so by high school.
Only 55 percent of Tribally en-
rolled students graduate high
school in Oregon in the minimum
four years and 59 percent graduate
in five years.
George also stressed the impor-
tance of education by displaying a
slide that showed people with more
education experience less unem-
ployment and earn more money in
their lifetimes.
“People with the lowest levels of
education are laid off first and re-
hired last,” she said.
Education Department Man-
ager Eirik Thorsgard said that the
Grand Ronde Tribe is reacting to
the study’s findings. Next school
year, the Tribe will be offering
increased tutoring for Native stu-
dents and Family Tutoring Nights,
Friends of Nixwa raise
$4,200 for bulletproof vest
Tribal member Veronica Gaston announced at the May 18 General
Council meeting that Friends of Nixwa raised $4,200 to purchase a
bulletproof vest for Tribal K-9 officer Nixwa, which is Chinuk Wawa for
“show me.”
Gaston said that one anonymous donor from Salem pledged $1,400,
which almost covered the entire cost of a vest for the Belgian Malinois.
Tribal donors included $1,500 from Dakota Whitecloud. Other significant
donations came from Portland resident Lou Nelson ($100) and Gary
Jones of Salem ($288).
Gaston also held numerous raffles during the meeting to give away
prizes to those who donated. The grand prize – a Pendleton blanket
– was won by Barbara Mercier.
Gaston said that about $2,000 of the funds will be spent to buy the vest
and the remainder will pay for any training or equipment Nixwa needs.
She is planning another Friends of Nixwa fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 2
p.m. Friday, June 13, in the Community Center. Lasagna will be served for
a donation and Nixwa will perform a demonstration, she said. Tribal Royalty
will make deliveries on the Tribal campus. People also can continue to
donate to Friends of Nixwa through the Tribe’s Finance Department.
“I plan on making another donation come per capita time,” Gaston
said. “This dog will be able to get anything it needs.”
Gaston said people interested in attending should RSVP by 3 p.m.
Monday, June 9, by calling her at 503-560-8217.
ATTENTION
If you are currently receiving or are in need of SNAP benefits,
Social Services provides an Oregon Department of Human Services
caseworker who comes to Grand Ronde twice monthly on Wednes-
days. The caseworker may assist with applications, updates, child
care, etc.
If you are in need of services, call 503-879-2034 to schedule
an appointment or you can reach Michelle Carmona at 503-879-
4523. n
as well as reach out to families of
students experiencing chronic ab-
senteeism.
“This is about the stability of
Tribal families,” George said.
The general membership also
received briefings from the Tribal
Veterans Special Event Board and
Tribal Royalty.
Veterans Special Event Board
Chairman Steve Bobb Sr. detailed
who currently serves on the board,
as well as members of the Tribal
Honor Guard and Veterans Royal-
ty. He said upcoming events involv-
ing the board include the Veterans
Summit and Marcellus Norwest
Memorial Veterans Powwow in
July, as well as a planned fundrais-
ing car show in September.
Royalty Coordinator Jackie Many
Hides, Junior Miss Grand Ronde
Iyana Holmes and Little Miss
Grand Ronde Kaleigha Simi briefed
the membership on their April trip
to the Gathering of Nations Pow-
wow held in Albuquerque, N.M.
The May 18 General Council
meeting also was the last for out-
going General Manager Mark
Johnston, who resigned to take a
job closer to his family in southern
Oregon.
He was gifted with a performance
to “You Raise Me Up” by Veronica
Gaston and received a necklace
from the Norwest family that was
presented by Marcella Selwyn.
Jonston’s last day with the Tribe
was Friday, May 23.
Kathy Werst, Dan Stroebel and
Jackie Many Hides won the $50
door prizes and Jade Unger won the
$100 door prize. Stroebel donated
his prize to the Veterans Special
Event Board and Many Hides do-
nated her prize to Royalty.
In addition, necklaces created
by Tribal Council member Jon A.
George and hand-painted light
switch plates donated by Gaston
were raffled off.
Bobby Mercier gave the invoca-
tion and he joined Brian Krehbiel,
Travis Stewart, Unger, Thorsgard,
George and Eric Bernando in per-
forming the cultural drumming and
singing to open the meeting.
The meeting also included three
hours of discussion after lunch
about Tribal enrollment issues.
The next General Council meet-
ing will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday,
June 29. Tribal Council nomina-
tions are the only item on the
agenda.
The video of the General Council
meeting can be viewed on the Tribal
Website at www.grandronde.org
under the Video tab. n