8
S moke S ignals
AUGUST 1, 2016
Meeting seeks Tribal input on Native Education plan
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
A wide range of educational all-
stars participated in an American
Indian/Alaskan Native Education
State Plan “kitchen table conver-
sation” held at the Tribal gym on
Monday, July 18.
Those invited to Grand Ronde
on behalf of the Tribal Education
Department, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education and Gov. Kate
Brown’s Chief Education Office
were asked to open a dialogue and
discuss strengthening everyone’s
understanding of how to improve
educational results for Native
students.
Among those present were Grand
Ronde Tribal Council members Jon
A. George, Brenda Tuomi, Denise
Harvey and Chris Mercier.
Tribal Education Department
Manager Leslie Riggs acted as the
host for the evening and Higher
Education Manager Bryan Lang-
ley, Early Childhood Education
Manager Angie Blackwell, Chinuk
Language Program Manager Ali
Holsclaw, Tribal General Manager
Dave Fullerton, Willamina School
District Superintendent Carrie
Zimbrick and Sheridan School
District Superintendent Dr. Steve
Sugg also attended.
The state was represented by
April Campbell, Grand Ronde
Tribal member and current adviser
on Indian Education to the State
Deputy Superintendent; Deputy
Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion Salam Noor; Lindsay Capps,
Chief Education Office and Policy
Adviser to Gov. Kate Brown; Ore-
gon Higher Education Coordinating
Commission Chief of Staff Cheryl
Myers; Teachers Standards and
Practices Commission Executive
Director Dr. Monica Ann Beane;
and Early Learning Division Equity
Director Lillian Green.
Oregon’s American Indian/Alas-
kan Native Education State Plan
was revitalized in 2015 after Camp-
bell assumed her current position
with the state. She put a team
of working Tribal educators and
leaders together to form the De-
partment of Education’s AI/AN Ad-
visory Panel and rewrote the plan
with input from all nine of Oregon’s
federally recognized Tribes.
The plan includes 11 state edu-
cational objectives with accompa-
nying strategies and measurable
outcomes that have been approved
by panel members from all nine
Tribes. The plan aligns itself with
the state’s education plan, includ-
ing the goal of raising attendance
figures for Native students.
The meeting in Grand Ronde was
the third in a series of 10 meetings
planned throughout Oregon this
year to hold community conversa-
tions about the AI/AN plan.
The first two meetings were held
in Warm Springs and Umatilla and
each of the Tribes in Oregon will be
visited. There will be a 10th meet-
ing in the Portland area.
George and Riggs performed a
welcome song and George provided
an invocation before a meal.
“It’s good to see you all here
in Grand Ronde. Welcome,” said
Riggs. “I would like to extend a
warm welcome to our partners with
the state. There has been a lot of
really hard work put into this plan
and it’s been a really good collabo-
ration.”
Riggs, who sits on the AI/AN Pan-
el, introduced Zimbrick and Sugg.
“I’m so excited to have these
representatives from the state
here with us today,” said Zimbrick,
whose children are Grand Ronde
Tribal members. “This has been a
passion of mine for so many years.
I’m excited to see a formal panel
put into place. I’m very thankful.”
Sugg, who has been with the
Sheridan district for three years,
said he is optimistic about seeing
the plan working in the near future.
“I’m glad we are working on a
formal plan that will benefit our
students,” said Sugg. “I look for-
ward to what is going to happen as
we move forward.”
Capps gifted George with salt
Ad created by George Valdez
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Willamina School District Superintendent Carrie Zimbrick, right, talks during
a small group conversation of the American Indian/Alaska Native State Plan
Convening held in the Tribal gym on Monday, July 18. Also taking part in the
conversation is Dr. Salam Noor, Oregon Department of Education’s deputy
superintendent of Public Instruction, behind Zimbrick, Tribal Education
Department Manager Leslie Riggs, next to Noor, and Melissa Dubois, director
of the South Metro–Salem STEM Partnership.
and coffee for Tribal Council from
Gov. Brown.
“It’s really an honor to be here
this evening with all of you,” said
Capps. “I’m really looking forward
to the opportunity to get to know
this community, your assets and
strengths, and the work that you
are doing to support students. We
appreciate your hosting us tonight.
“We are here to listen. I’m here
because the Chief Education Office
has been tasked with the devel-
opment of the state plan and to
convene those conversations with
Native communities. This is your
plan and this is our plan to imple-
ment together.”
Capps said that the protocol
around the meetings and commu-
nity conversations was based on
the government-to-government
relationship between the state and
Tribes.
“It’s not the first plan, but more
importantly it’s the plan we are
moving forward with to implement
with purpose and deliberate action,”
said Capps. “This is important work
for us all to be focused on.”
Capps said Education Northwest
Senior Adviser Matt Eide is some-
one who is close to the plan.
Eide explained how the meeting
would work and what the objectives
were. He said a discussion would
take place to outline the Tribe’s
strengths, needs and educational
priorities.
Eide added that the objective is
to create opportunities for state
agencies to partner with the Tribal
community on important education-
al issues identified by the Tribe.
“We’re here to engage in a dia-
logue that ends up in public knowl-
edge,” said Eide. “That’s what we’re
going to try to accomplish today.
What I hope will happen will be
this continued dialogue between
the state, the district and the com-
munity. One of the potentially
powerful things about this model
is we get district representatives
and community members together
to begin having these conversations
and to begin to think about how we
can work together to make sure our
kids have the best chance.”
Eide said the hope would be to
come away with a list of next steps
and the support necessary to sus-
tain the community conversations.
Eide’s organization provides sup-
port to the Oregon Department of
Education and it is hoping to bring
all involved stakeholders together
in the 10 conversational meetings
throughout the state before the
plan moves on to the next steps.
“The fact that this plan is making
progress is because of the work of
April Campbell and the fact that
it is supported by the Chief Edu-
cation Office,” said Eide. “There is
high level buy-in and support for
the plan.”
Before Eide separated attendees
into small groups to continue the
discussion, Zimbrick and Sugg
said how much they appreciated
everyone’s efforts to support the
educational plan. Eide said break-
ing everyone into small groups to
further the conversations was in-
tentional because it gave as many
opportunities as possible to as
many different people to express
their thoughts.
“I want the plan to make sure we
are supporting our teachers so they
can do the best job they can for our
students,” said Zimbrick.
Sugg said he supports the plan
because it makes everyone better
at their jobs.
“One of the main objectives (out-
lined in the plan) is professional
development and helping our staff
become culturally responsive,” said
Sugg.
Eide said that he believes the
plan will be successful because
the state is supportive of the work
being done by Campbell’s office. He
said the key is the way in which the
state is showing that support.
“One thing that I really appre-
ciate about the plan and the ap-
proach the state is taking really
wanting to partner with Tribes to
sort out what is the way forward as
opposed to coming in and imposing
a system on a community because
they think they know the best way
forward,” said Eide. “I think there
is real value in elevating the role of
the Tribe in this partnership. Hope-
fully, these conversations are a step
toward helping that happen.”