S moke S ignals
august 15, 2014
11
Summer internships keep Tribal youth busy
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
This year’s summer interns
worked hard, learned a lot and
accomplished much as part of the
annual Summer Youth Employ-
ment Program.
Some youth finished the program
– 160 hours over six weeks – early.
The program was flexible enough
that others took time off for Youth
Education programs, for example,
and were able to work another week
at the end to make up the time.
Such was the case with intern-
ships in the Collections Program
under Exhibits and Archives at
Chachalu Museum and Cultural
Center.
Micah Rogers, 15, Kaylene Barry,
14, and Isaiah Holmes, 14, worked
for a week at the program’s end.
Collections Specialist Veronica
Montano, who managed the trio of
interns, was amazed at how much
they accomplished.
“They were a very
big help on the Veter-
ans Summit and pow-
wow,” she said. “They
bagged up 300 to 400
packages of beading
material. They also
worked on basket
cleaning, organizing
the shelving units
and putting artifacts
on the shelves. They
identified all of the
collection’s stone artifacts.
“They were able to get me pretty
far ahead on artifact identification,
so now I’m ahead five months. They
actually did what I had scheduled
for six months in the short amount
of time (scheduled for four weeks)
they were here.”
With all that, the interns also
completed a photo scanning project
Shasta
Administrative
Services is pleased
to announce the
launch of our new
website which
enables participant
engagement,
provider
collaboration and
improves efficiencies
through tracking and
reporting. Access
to your benefit
information is
available 24/7.
Izaya Towner makes change for a sale while working as a summer youth
employee at Grand Ronde Station on Friday, Aug. .
Jasper Lillard washes dishes at
Grand Ronde Station’s Long Bell
Diner while working as a summer
youth employee on Friday, Aug. .
for four donated photo albums. “It
came out to around 1,000 photos,”
Montano said.
The Collections Program brings
in college interns during the school
year, but Montano said she would
take back any of this year’s three
interns for next summer’s Youth
Employment program.
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At the Long Bell Diner at Grand
Ronde Station, Izaya Towner, 15,
a sophomore at Aloha High School,
stayed in town with his grand-
mother, Sharon D’Agostino, so he
could participate.
He worked outside serving pro-
pane and restocked shelves inside.
He washed windows and did gen-
eral cleanups among his duties.
“I can’t really complain,” Towner
said. “I’m making money and hav-
ing fun.”
This was Towner’s first year as
a summer youth employee, and
now he intends to return next year,
maybe with a new experience. He is
interested in riding along with the
Tribal Police Department, and on
the other end of the spectrum maybe
working in the day care program.
“Kids are fun to be around,” he
said.
Jasper Lillard, 17, a junior at
Willamina High School, also par-
ticipated in the program last year.
He washed dishes in the kitchen
of Long Bell Diner both years, and
will again next year. He likes the
work, he says.
“It’s cool doing this,” he said. “I
really like it.”
“Within a few days they get com-
fortable with their job and their
co-workers and become a valued
part of our team,” said Opal Hale,
manager of Grand Ronde Station.
“Our goal is to train our summer
youth to complete job-related tasks,
but more importantly to teach them
exemplary guest service.
“An example that happened this
summer was I had suggested to one
of our summer youth to ‘quickly’
approach our customers with an
urgency to help them, with a nice,
welcoming smile on their face. A
few days later, I was told this sum-
mer youth employee had received
two $20 tips in one day for his guest
service. It is a very rewarding expe-
rience employing our Tribal youth
in the summer intern program.”
Matayah Holmes and Justin
Fasana, both 15, worked in the
Cultural Education Outreach pro-
gram.
“They worked really hard and
did a great job,” said Kathy Cole,
Cultural Education and Outreach
Program manager. “We tried to
give them a variety of tasks that
would teach them about the many
projects that our program provides
for the Tribe.
“We had them looking at and
learning about some of our cul-
tural artifacts, grinding pigment,
carving, gathering cattail, helping
with the Culture Camp for K-5 and
creating objects. We wanted them
to learn more about their culture
and also come away with completed
projects.”
“It was good” for Holmes, who
will be a freshman next school year.
This was his first time as an intern.
Last year, he participated in the
Canoe Journey to Quinault.
This summer, Holmes and Fasa-
na wrote Chinuk Wawa words in
books for pre-school children. The
project also had them using colors
to help the younger ones learn the
language. They also put Chinuk
Wawa words on magnets with the
same intent in mind.
“I would pick the same internship
next year,” Holmes said. “I liked it
where I worked. I thought it was
interesting.”
Thirty-one Tribal youth interned
in 18 Tribal departments.
The jobs were advertised by the
Tribe’s Human Resources Depart-
ment in Smoke Signals and the
youth had to apply for the jobs that
interested them.
The positions paid $9.10 an hour.
The program is operated through
the Tribe’s Youth Education Pro-
gram.
“We had a great Summer Youth
Employment Program,” said Tim
Barry, program manager for Youth
Education. “Many learned valu-
able skills and received on-the-job
training.”
This year, three professional de-
velopment days focused on financial
savings, work readiness and college
preparation, he added.
Member Registration
Instructions
1. Go to www.shastatpa.
com and click on
Member Login.
2. Accept license
agreement.
3. Input your Participant ID
number (located on your
Member ID Card)
Help wanted
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s 477 Employment and Train-
ing Program and Land and Culture Department have resources that can be
utilized along with community members who have a passion for gardening
or want to learn the art of agriculture. If you are a Grand Ronde Tribal or
community member and want to be a part of the planning, preparation and
cultivation of the Tribal garden and orchard site for this year’s planting sea-
son, contact Barbara Gibbons at 800-242-8196, ext. 2135, or e-mail barbara.
gibbons@grandronde.org.