BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION

Reality at Hopi
New Teacher Explains Her Decision to
Set Up Shop at Second Mesa Day School
The Hernandez family moves
into employee housing (top) at
Seocnd Mesa Day School on the
Hopi Reservation in Arizona. The
kitchen (above) is a gathering place
for husband Edgar, 12-year-old
Esmeralda, two-year-old Selina,
and mom Esmeralda. The family,
including six-year-old Alyssa, poses
outside their new home (right).
I completed two semesters of teaching
practicum to get my degree this year from
New Mexico State University. After that,
I knew I wanted my own classroom. I had
a teaching offer from Irvine, Texas, where
housing is expensive. But when I spoke
with two people from Second Mesa Day
School at the April Career Day at NMSU,
they said they needed classroom teachers. I
remembered a professor had advised me that
I should be prepared to go where there was a
need for teachers–that I’d be happier where
I was truly wanted. That’s when I knew I
wanted to teach at Second Mesa in Arizona.
Both my husband’s and my family are
from Anthony, N.M., and we have a house
about a half hour outside of Las Cruces. So
my husband, Edgar, and I left the kids with family and we drove to Second
Mesa for my interview. We thought the area was really beautiful, and Edgar
met some people at the local store, and he said, “they
were really nice.” We drove by the employee housing
neighborhood at Second Mesa, and the homes were
pretty much like our house in Anthony. And the rent
was about the same as our mortgage. Second Mesa
made things easier by providing the housing.
So when they offered me the job, I
accepted. Our families were really upset
because we were moving. It was hard to leave
our families and our pets behind, but we like
it here so far. Our kids are used to living in
the country.
I am really excited to finally be teaching
after many years working in an office. Edgar
is disabled but will be working online to get
his master’s degree and maybe his doctorate.
He says he’d like to teach someday. ­­
– Esmeralda Hernandez
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY - INDIAN AFFAIRS
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
1011 INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD NW, SUITE 332
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87104
BIE Youth Leadership
is Smokin’ at Haskell
Youth Leadership Challenge Looks to 2010
Some of the 63 secondary school students from 29 tribes who
participated in the BIE’s first Youth Leadership Challenge, held this
summer at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan.,
reported that the week-long program would make an even greater
impact if it were longer. In response, BIE officials have scheduled
next year’s Challenge at Sequoyah High School in Oklahoma and are
considering extending the program over two weeks.
The Challenge is intended to enhance the leadership skills of the
American Indian students who are selected to attend. It equips them
with the decision-making tools to address opportunities and problems
they encounter in Indian Country and in everyday life, which will, in
turn, strengthen their tribal communities.
Information regarding next summer’s Youth Leadership Challenge
will be available in early 2010.
American Indian comedian/rapper Jason
“Smoke” Nichols performs at the BIE’s Youth
Leadership Challenge at Haskell Indian Nations
University this summer.
see back page
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
Adding 19 Schools Takes System of Support Nationwide
The success of the System of Support pilot program at 29
schools in the Navajo Region has prompted the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) to expand the program to another 19 BIE-funded
schools across Indian Country during the 2009-2010 school
year. Intended to assist schools that are not making “adequate
yearly progress,” System of Support focuses on leadership to
manage effective instructional programs, which include special
programs such as BIE READS! and Math Counts, and builds an
organizational culture that supports continuous improvement.
During the past school year, System of Support schools reduced
the percentage of K-3 students needing intensive instructional
support in reading by 11 percent and increased the percentage of
K-3 students reading at grade level by 17 percent.
“System of Support has shown great promise. Leaders have
gotten ‘on board’ with the effort,” said BIE Interim Director Kevin
Skenandore. “Our plan to scale up reflects this success.”
Third Graders
Excel in BIE’s
Program
Schools
Third graders from schools
participating in BIE special
programs, such as Reading
First and BIE READS!,
are more proficient on state
assessments compared to all
3rd graders in all of the BIEfunded schools.
21st Century After-School Grant Program
Wilderness Camp Inspires Wabanaki
Students to Write From a Traditional Mindset
Participants enjoy a midafternoon break.
Echo Hawk Hears
Employee Housing Request
Attracting and retaining top teachers at BIE-funded schools can
be aided by improving the condition of employee housing at the
schools, according to a report given to Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. Echo Hawk (back row, middle) met with
managers of the Bureau of Indian Education this summer to review
top education issues, including the need for hiring and keeping
qualified teachers throughout Indian Country.
FALL 2009
VOL 2, NO. 2
writers’ project funded in part by the Bureau of Indian Education’s
Learning Centers Grant Program. “Before I went to writers’ camp, I
BIE Chief of Staff Spike Bighorn conducts a workshop teaching
communications and presentation skills to students.
The session “How to Handle Stress” includes relaxation training.
Passamaquoddy linguist Roger Paul tells a traditional story to students
attending the Wabanaki Writers’ Project this summer while 16-year-old
Mary Ann Silliboy, Mi’kmaq, makes notes on her laptop.
continued inside center
BIE Summer Institue
Honors Educators
Huckleberries Get a Second
Chance at Lac Courte Oreilles
Some 1,300 educators attended the BIE
Summer Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., in
June, where Employees of the Year were
honored.
Science students at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe
High School in Wisconsin are working with
the U.S. National Arboretum to reestablish
an endangered plant––the box huckleberry
Gaylussacia brachycera, a slow-growing
groundcover 4 to 18 inches tall with shiny
evergreen leaves and red new growth.
Last fall, students in Science Teacher
Michael Heim’s class obtained from the
National Arboretum offsets of six vigorous
box huckleberry clones or genetically identical
individuals––a cross-section of the species’
Lac Courte Oreilles Juniors Marissa
genetic diversity. The students first set up
Quagan (left), Rachel Yanez and
a suitable growing medium for the plants;
Shaurice Roby (all Anishinabe) plant
then they grew them in a school greenhouse
huckleberries in the woods behind the
over the winter. In May, they planted the
high school.
huckleberries, along with hardwood cuttings of each of the clones, in a mixed
pine and hardwood forest behind the school.
The students will be evaluating the adaptability of the box huckleberries
to regional environmental conditions and providing the staff at the National
Arboretum with data on the plants’ cold-hardiness, disease resistance, vigor,
drought tolerance, fruit set, palatability and self-sowing––to hopefully find one
day a box huckleberry seedling established wild in Wisconsin.
Elementary Teachers: Richard Hall, Blackwater
Community School; Meredith Martin, Fond du
Lac Ojibwe School and Francine Tom, Kin Dah
Lichi I Olta.
Middle School Teachers: Scott Buckles, Gila
Crossing Community School; Linda Yellow
Boy, Pine Ridge School and Jessica JelleBegay, Rocky Ridge Boarding School.
High School Teachers: Dara Weller, St.
Stephens School; Dawn Autaubo, Riverside
Indian School and Vernida Casuse, Wingate
High School.
Residential Educator: Louise Naranjo, Santa Fe
Indian School; Brad Spears, Jones Academy
and Cody Workman, Richfield Dormitory.
Elementary Principals: Darrel Stierwalt,
Mescalero Apache School; Gloria CoatesKitopoulus, American Horse School and
Virginia Jumbo, Crownpoint School.
Middle School Principals: Lucy Dafoe, Chief
Leschi School; Jodi Richards, American Horse
School and Tim Nelson, Baca Community
School.
continued from cover
Students Inspired to Write
From a Traditional Mindset
the structure of Wabanaki languages: Abenaki, Penobscot
the author of Malian’s Song.
Mary Ann Silliboy finds an isolated writing spot
along the banks of the Penobscot River (left)
and later reviews her work (above) with Bruchac.
An Abenaki Friendship Dance (below), led by
Bruchac, inspires Silliboy’s verse.
Roger Paul (left) teaches 17-year-old Watie Ethan Akins, a member of
the Penobscot Tribe, to dig out sap from a spruce tree. The gum can be
chewed to soothe a sore throat or an upset stomach, said Paul, who is
the 21st Century After School Coordinator at Indian Island School.
Verbs Activate Creativity
sense of identity. They know who they are,” he said. “Then they are thrust
Nike Backs Wellness
Pilot for Northwest Schools
BIE and Nike are joining to create a pilot project aimed at improving BIE
student wellness and assisting students in making healthy lifestyle choices.
The pilot will involve the 10 schools served by the Seattle Education Line
High School Principals: Felisa Gulibert, Santa
Fe Indian School; Sharon Mousseau, Oneida
Office and will likely include some informal health and wellness competition
Nation School System and Brian Dillon, Many
between schools, with Nike supplying incentives for the winners. Also,
Farms High School.
Nike will provide a setting at its Washington headquarters for training the
participating schools’ staff who are involved in physical education and health
instruction.
“In addition, our goal is to get
parents and grandparents of our
students involved with healthy
lifestyle choices and overall
wellness,” said BIE Interim Director
Kevin Skenandore. “Nike already
is working with the Indian Health
Service on fostering wellness in
American Indian communities,
Tuba City Boarding School Fourth Grade Teacher
and with the eventual expansion of
Emerson Begay demonstrates the application of
the Nike-BIE pilot, we can create
At Nike headquarters in Washington, Sam McCracken,
mathematics principles during a problem-solving session
General Manager of Nike’s Native America Business
at the June BIE Summer Institute held in Phoenix. Begay, a consortium that will work to
(left), and BIE Interim Director Kevin Skenandore
who has been teaching at Tuba City for more than 20
improve the health of BIE school
examine Nike’s new line of N7 footwear, designed
years, said he will utilize some of the problem-solving
students and tribal communities
exclusively for distribution this fall in Indian Country.
activities he learned in Phoenix during his math instruction
throughout Indian Country.”
at Tuba City.
The dance was about Friendship
And connection to become one
Yes, it was funny but at the same time interesting
The rattles that made music that spoke to us
with every shake and every movement
The singing that I did not understand
but enjoyed singing
- Mary Ann Silliboy
Sixteen-year-old
Tasheena Sapiel (above
right) and writers’ project
Writer-in-Residence
Margaret Bruchac lead
a canoeing day trip on
the Penobscot River.
gkisedtanamoogk
(right), a writers’ project
coordinator, takes a
canoeing break to
visit about writing with
13-year-old Rae-Anne
Mitchell, a member of the
Penobscot Tribe.
Wabanaki languages are verb-oriented. Nouns
are either animate or inanimate, capable of action
or inaction (i.e., standing still is itself an action,
one of not moving). Thinking in a Wabanaki
way empowers writers not only to develop a new
verb tense (where seemingly static objects may
be considered animate) but to grasp the use of
language as an active and creative force.
- Margaret Bruchac
Night sky,
lit with the stars...
Sights are finite...
But thoughts are infinite...
Water roars, rushes; Water whispers.
Listen,
it’s there.
-Seneca Love
Fourteen-year-old Seneca Love,
a member of the Penobscot Tribe,
writes in the attic bedroom of the
Ambajejus Boom House on the
Penobscot River and later reads
his work to project members
assembled on the porch of the
Boom House, which once served
as home for itinerant log drivers.
Leveraging Project Support
via BIE’s 21st Century Program
Using a base of financial support from the Bureau of Indian
Education’s five-year U.S. Department of Education 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Grant Program,
Wabanaki Writers’ Project Coordinator Vicky Akins, Penobscot,
has leveraged additional financial support for the writers’
project. Last year, BIE funded about half of the cost of the
writers’ project, while this year Akins was able to reduce BIE’s
share to around 40 percent, as other supporting agencies
joined in or increased their funding.
Tribe, agreed: “We share a belief, a culture,” she said. “It’s comfortable.”
BIE Summer Institue
Honors Educators
Huckleberries Get a Second
Chance at Lac Courte Oreilles
Some 1,300 educators attended the BIE
Summer Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., in
June, where Employees of the Year were
honored.
Science students at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe
High School in Wisconsin are working with
the U.S. National Arboretum to reestablish
an endangered plant––the box huckleberry
Gaylussacia brachycera, a slow-growing
groundcover 4 to 18 inches tall with shiny
evergreen leaves and red new growth.
Last fall, students in Science Teacher
Michael Heim’s class obtained from the
National Arboretum offsets of six vigorous
box huckleberry clones or genetically identical
individuals––a cross-section of the species’
Lac Courte Oreilles Juniors Marissa
genetic diversity. The students first set up
Quagan (left), Rachel Yanez and
a suitable growing medium for the plants;
Shaurice Roby (all Anishinabe) plant
then they grew them in a school greenhouse
huckleberries in the woods behind the
over the winter. In May, they planted the
high school.
huckleberries, along with hardwood cuttings of each of the clones, in a mixed
pine and hardwood forest behind the school.
The students will be evaluating the adaptability of the box huckleberries
to regional environmental conditions and providing the staff at the National
Arboretum with data on the plants’ cold-hardiness, disease resistance, vigor,
drought tolerance, fruit set, palatability and self-sowing––to hopefully find one
day a box huckleberry seedling established wild in Wisconsin.
Elementary Teachers: Richard Hall, Blackwater
Community School; Meredith Martin, Fond du
Lac Ojibwe School and Francine Tom, Kin Dah
Lichi I Olta.
Middle School Teachers: Scott Buckles, Gila
Crossing Community School; Linda Yellow
Boy, Pine Ridge School and Jessica JelleBegay, Rocky Ridge Boarding School.
High School Teachers: Dara Weller, St.
Stephens School; Dawn Autaubo, Riverside
Indian School and Vernida Casuse, Wingate
High School.
Residential Educator: Louise Naranjo, Santa Fe
Indian School; Brad Spears, Jones Academy
and Cody Workman, Richfield Dormitory.
Elementary Principals: Darrel Stierwalt,
Mescalero Apache School; Gloria CoatesKitopoulus, American Horse School and
Virginia Jumbo, Crownpoint School.
Middle School Principals: Lucy Dafoe, Chief
Leschi School; Jodi Richards, American Horse
School and Tim Nelson, Baca Community
School.
continued from cover
Students Inspired to Write
From a Traditional Mindset
the structure of Wabanaki languages: Abenaki, Penobscot
the author of Malian’s Song.
Mary Ann Silliboy finds an isolated writing spot
along the banks of the Penobscot River (left)
and later reviews her work (above) with Bruchac.
An Abenaki Friendship Dance (below), led by
Bruchac, inspires Silliboy’s verse.
Roger Paul (left) teaches 17-year-old Watie Ethan Akins, a member of
the Penobscot Tribe, to dig out sap from a spruce tree. The gum can be
chewed to soothe a sore throat or an upset stomach, said Paul, who is
the 21st Century After School Coordinator at Indian Island School.
Verbs Activate Creativity
sense of identity. They know who they are,” he said. “Then they are thrust
Nike Backs Wellness
Pilot for Northwest Schools
BIE and Nike are joining to create a pilot project aimed at improving BIE
student wellness and assisting students in making healthy lifestyle choices.
The pilot will involve the 10 schools served by the Seattle Education Line
High School Principals: Felisa Gulibert, Santa
Fe Indian School; Sharon Mousseau, Oneida
Office and will likely include some informal health and wellness competition
Nation School System and Brian Dillon, Many
between schools, with Nike supplying incentives for the winners. Also,
Farms High School.
Nike will provide a setting at its Washington headquarters for training the
participating schools’ staff who are involved in physical education and health
instruction.
“In addition, our goal is to get
parents and grandparents of our
students involved with healthy
lifestyle choices and overall
wellness,” said BIE Interim Director
Kevin Skenandore. “Nike already
is working with the Indian Health
Service on fostering wellness in
American Indian communities,
Tuba City Boarding School Fourth Grade Teacher
and with the eventual expansion of
Emerson Begay demonstrates the application of
the Nike-BIE pilot, we can create
At Nike headquarters in Washington, Sam McCracken,
mathematics principles during a problem-solving session
General Manager of Nike’s Native America Business
at the June BIE Summer Institute held in Phoenix. Begay, a consortium that will work to
(left), and BIE Interim Director Kevin Skenandore
who has been teaching at Tuba City for more than 20
improve the health of BIE school
examine Nike’s new line of N7 footwear, designed
years, said he will utilize some of the problem-solving
students and tribal communities
exclusively for distribution this fall in Indian Country.
activities he learned in Phoenix during his math instruction
throughout Indian Country.”
at Tuba City.
The dance was about Friendship
And connection to become one
Yes, it was funny but at the same time interesting
The rattles that made music that spoke to us
with every shake and every movement
The singing that I did not understand
but enjoyed singing
- Mary Ann Silliboy
Sixteen-year-old
Tasheena Sapiel (above
right) and writers’ project
Writer-in-Residence
Margaret Bruchac lead
a canoeing day trip on
the Penobscot River.
gkisedtanamoogk
(right), a writers’ project
coordinator, takes a
canoeing break to
visit about writing with
13-year-old Rae-Anne
Mitchell, a member of the
Penobscot Tribe.
Wabanaki languages are verb-oriented. Nouns
are either animate or inanimate, capable of action
or inaction (i.e., standing still is itself an action,
one of not moving). Thinking in a Wabanaki
way empowers writers not only to develop a new
verb tense (where seemingly static objects may
be considered animate) but to grasp the use of
language as an active and creative force.
- Margaret Bruchac
Night sky,
lit with the stars...
Sights are finite...
But thoughts are infinite...
Water roars, rushes; Water whispers.
Listen,
it’s there.
-Seneca Love
Fourteen-year-old Seneca Love,
a member of the Penobscot Tribe,
writes in the attic bedroom of the
Ambajejus Boom House on the
Penobscot River and later reads
his work to project members
assembled on the porch of the
Boom House, which once served
as home for itinerant log drivers.
Leveraging Project Support
via BIE’s 21st Century Program
Using a base of financial support from the Bureau of Indian
Education’s five-year U.S. Department of Education 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Grant Program,
Wabanaki Writers’ Project Coordinator Vicky Akins, Penobscot,
has leveraged additional financial support for the writers’
project. Last year, BIE funded about half of the cost of the
writers’ project, while this year Akins was able to reduce BIE’s
share to around 40 percent, as other supporting agencies
joined in or increased their funding.
Tribe, agreed: “We share a belief, a culture,” she said. “It’s comfortable.”
BIE Summer Institue
Honors Educators
Huckleberries Get a Second
Chance at Lac Courte Oreilles
Some 1,300 educators attended the BIE
Summer Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., in
June, where Employees of the Year were
honored.
Science students at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe
High School in Wisconsin are working with
the U.S. National Arboretum to reestablish
an endangered plant––the box huckleberry
Gaylussacia brachycera, a slow-growing
groundcover 4 to 18 inches tall with shiny
evergreen leaves and red new growth.
Last fall, students in Science Teacher
Michael Heim’s class obtained from the
National Arboretum offsets of six vigorous
box huckleberry clones or genetically identical
individuals––a cross-section of the species’
Lac Courte Oreilles Juniors Marissa
genetic diversity. The students first set up
Quagan (left), Rachel Yanez and
a suitable growing medium for the plants;
Shaurice Roby (all Anishinabe) plant
then they grew them in a school greenhouse
huckleberries in the woods behind the
over the winter. In May, they planted the
high school.
huckleberries, along with hardwood cuttings of each of the clones, in a mixed
pine and hardwood forest behind the school.
The students will be evaluating the adaptability of the box huckleberries
to regional environmental conditions and providing the staff at the National
Arboretum with data on the plants’ cold-hardiness, disease resistance, vigor,
drought tolerance, fruit set, palatability and self-sowing––to hopefully find one
day a box huckleberry seedling established wild in Wisconsin.
Elementary Teachers: Richard Hall, Blackwater
Community School; Meredith Martin, Fond du
Lac Ojibwe School and Francine Tom, Kin Dah
Lichi I Olta.
Middle School Teachers: Scott Buckles, Gila
Crossing Community School; Linda Yellow
Boy, Pine Ridge School and Jessica JelleBegay, Rocky Ridge Boarding School.
High School Teachers: Dara Weller, St.
Stephens School; Dawn Autaubo, Riverside
Indian School and Vernida Casuse, Wingate
High School.
Residential Educator: Louise Naranjo, Santa Fe
Indian School; Brad Spears, Jones Academy
and Cody Workman, Richfield Dormitory.
Elementary Principals: Darrel Stierwalt,
Mescalero Apache School; Gloria CoatesKitopoulus, American Horse School and
Virginia Jumbo, Crownpoint School.
Middle School Principals: Lucy Dafoe, Chief
Leschi School; Jodi Richards, American Horse
School and Tim Nelson, Baca Community
School.
continued from cover
Students Inspired to Write
From a Traditional Mindset
the structure of Wabanaki languages: Abenaki, Penobscot
the author of Malian’s Song.
Mary Ann Silliboy finds an isolated writing spot
along the banks of the Penobscot River (left)
and later reviews her work (above) with Bruchac.
An Abenaki Friendship Dance (below), led by
Bruchac, inspires Silliboy’s verse.
Roger Paul (left) teaches 17-year-old Watie Ethan Akins, a member of
the Penobscot Tribe, to dig out sap from a spruce tree. The gum can be
chewed to soothe a sore throat or an upset stomach, said Paul, who is
the 21st Century After School Coordinator at Indian Island School.
Verbs Activate Creativity
sense of identity. They know who they are,” he said. “Then they are thrust
Nike Backs Wellness
Pilot for Northwest Schools
BIE and Nike are joining to create a pilot project aimed at improving BIE
student wellness and assisting students in making healthy lifestyle choices.
The pilot will involve the 10 schools served by the Seattle Education Line
High School Principals: Felisa Gulibert, Santa
Fe Indian School; Sharon Mousseau, Oneida
Office and will likely include some informal health and wellness competition
Nation School System and Brian Dillon, Many
between schools, with Nike supplying incentives for the winners. Also,
Farms High School.
Nike will provide a setting at its Washington headquarters for training the
participating schools’ staff who are involved in physical education and health
instruction.
“In addition, our goal is to get
parents and grandparents of our
students involved with healthy
lifestyle choices and overall
wellness,” said BIE Interim Director
Kevin Skenandore. “Nike already
is working with the Indian Health
Service on fostering wellness in
American Indian communities,
Tuba City Boarding School Fourth Grade Teacher
and with the eventual expansion of
Emerson Begay demonstrates the application of
the Nike-BIE pilot, we can create
At Nike headquarters in Washington, Sam McCracken,
mathematics principles during a problem-solving session
General Manager of Nike’s Native America Business
at the June BIE Summer Institute held in Phoenix. Begay, a consortium that will work to
(left), and BIE Interim Director Kevin Skenandore
who has been teaching at Tuba City for more than 20
improve the health of BIE school
examine Nike’s new line of N7 footwear, designed
years, said he will utilize some of the problem-solving
students and tribal communities
exclusively for distribution this fall in Indian Country.
activities he learned in Phoenix during his math instruction
throughout Indian Country.”
at Tuba City.
The dance was about Friendship
And connection to become one
Yes, it was funny but at the same time interesting
The rattles that made music that spoke to us
with every shake and every movement
The singing that I did not understand
but enjoyed singing
- Mary Ann Silliboy
Sixteen-year-old
Tasheena Sapiel (above
right) and writers’ project
Writer-in-Residence
Margaret Bruchac lead
a canoeing day trip on
the Penobscot River.
gkisedtanamoogk
(right), a writers’ project
coordinator, takes a
canoeing break to
visit about writing with
13-year-old Rae-Anne
Mitchell, a member of the
Penobscot Tribe.
Wabanaki languages are verb-oriented. Nouns
are either animate or inanimate, capable of action
or inaction (i.e., standing still is itself an action,
one of not moving). Thinking in a Wabanaki
way empowers writers not only to develop a new
verb tense (where seemingly static objects may
be considered animate) but to grasp the use of
language as an active and creative force.
- Margaret Bruchac
Night sky,
lit with the stars...
Sights are finite...
But thoughts are infinite...
Water roars, rushes; Water whispers.
Listen,
it’s there.
-Seneca Love
Fourteen-year-old Seneca Love,
a member of the Penobscot Tribe,
writes in the attic bedroom of the
Ambajejus Boom House on the
Penobscot River and later reads
his work to project members
assembled on the porch of the
Boom House, which once served
as home for itinerant log drivers.
Leveraging Project Support
via BIE’s 21st Century Program
Using a base of financial support from the Bureau of Indian
Education’s five-year U.S. Department of Education 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Grant Program,
Wabanaki Writers’ Project Coordinator Vicky Akins, Penobscot,
has leveraged additional financial support for the writers’
project. Last year, BIE funded about half of the cost of the
writers’ project, while this year Akins was able to reduce BIE’s
share to around 40 percent, as other supporting agencies
joined in or increased their funding.
Tribe, agreed: “We share a belief, a culture,” she said. “It’s comfortable.”
Reality at Hopi
New Teacher Explains Her Decision to
Set Up Shop at Second Mesa Day School
The Hernandez family moves
into employee housing (top) at
Seocnd Mesa Day School on the
Hopi Reservation in Arizona. The
kitchen (above) is a gathering place
for husband Edgar, 12-year-old
Esmeralda, two-year-old Selina,
and mom Esmeralda. The family,
including six-year-old Alyssa, poses
outside their new home (right).
I completed two semesters of teaching
practicum to get my degree this year from
New Mexico State University. After that,
I knew I wanted my own classroom. I had
a teaching offer from Irvine, Texas, where
housing is expensive. But when I spoke
with two people from Second Mesa Day
School at the April Career Day at NMSU,
they said they needed classroom teachers. I
remembered a professor had advised me that
I should be prepared to go where there was a
need for teachers–that I’d be happier where
I was truly wanted. That’s when I knew I
wanted to teach at Second Mesa in Arizona.
Both my husband’s and my family are
from Anthony, N.M., and we have a house
about a half hour outside of Las Cruces. So
my husband, Edgar, and I left the kids with family and we drove to Second
Mesa for my interview. We thought the area was really beautiful, and Edgar
met some people at the local store, and he said, “they
were really nice.” We drove by the employee housing
neighborhood at Second Mesa, and the homes were
pretty much like our house in Anthony. And the rent
was about the same as our mortgage. Second Mesa
made things easier by providing the housing.
So when they offered me the job, I
accepted. Our families were really upset
because we were moving. It was hard to leave
our families and our pets behind, but we like
it here so far. Our kids are used to living in
the country.
I am really excited to finally be teaching
after many years working in an office. Edgar
is disabled but will be working online to get
his master’s degree and maybe his doctorate.
He says he’d like to teach someday. ­­
– Esmeralda Hernandez
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY - INDIAN AFFAIRS
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
1011 INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD NW, SUITE 332
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87104
BIE Youth Leadership
is Smokin’ at Haskell
Youth Leadership Challenge Looks to 2010
Some of the 63 secondary school students from 29 tribes who
participated in the BIE’s first Youth Leadership Challenge, held this
summer at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan.,
reported that the week-long program would make an even greater
impact if it were longer. In response, BIE officials have scheduled
next year’s Challenge at Sequoyah High School in Oklahoma and are
considering extending the program over two weeks.
The Challenge is intended to enhance the leadership skills of the
American Indian students who are selected to attend. It equips them
with the decision-making tools to address opportunities and problems
they encounter in Indian Country and in everyday life, which will, in
turn, strengthen their tribal communities.
Information regarding next summer’s Youth Leadership Challenge
will be available in early 2010.
American Indian comedian/rapper Jason
“Smoke” Nichols performs at the BIE’s Youth
Leadership Challenge at Haskell Indian Nations
University this summer.
see back page
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
Adding 19 Schools Takes System of Support Nationwide
The success of the System of Support pilot program at 29
schools in the Navajo Region has prompted the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) to expand the program to another 19 BIE-funded
schools across Indian Country during the 2009-2010 school
year. Intended to assist schools that are not making “adequate
yearly progress,” System of Support focuses on leadership to
manage effective instructional programs, which include special
programs such as BIE READS! and Math Counts, and builds an
organizational culture that supports continuous improvement.
During the past school year, System of Support schools reduced
the percentage of K-3 students needing intensive instructional
support in reading by 11 percent and increased the percentage of
K-3 students reading at grade level by 17 percent.
“System of Support has shown great promise. Leaders have
gotten ‘on board’ with the effort,” said BIE Interim Director Kevin
Skenandore. “Our plan to scale up reflects this success.”
Third Graders
Excel in BIE’s
Program
Schools
Third graders from schools
participating in BIE special
programs, such as Reading
First and BIE READS!,
are more proficient on state
assessments compared to all
3rd graders in all of the BIEfunded schools.
21st Century After-School Grant Program
Wilderness Camp Inspires Wabanaki
Students to Write From a Traditional Mindset
Participants enjoy a midafternoon break.
Echo Hawk Hears
Employee Housing Request
Attracting and retaining top teachers at BIE-funded schools can
be aided by improving the condition of employee housing at the
schools, according to a report given to Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. Echo Hawk (back row, middle) met with
managers of the Bureau of Indian Education this summer to review
top education issues, including the need for hiring and keeping
qualified teachers throughout Indian Country.
FALL 2009
VOL 2, NO. 2
writers’ project funded in part by the Bureau of Indian Education’s
Learning Centers Grant Program. “Before I went to writers’ camp, I
BIE Chief of Staff Spike Bighorn conducts a workshop teaching
communications and presentation skills to students.
The session “How to Handle Stress” includes relaxation training.
Passamaquoddy linguist Roger Paul tells a traditional story to students
attending the Wabanaki Writers’ Project this summer while 16-year-old
Mary Ann Silliboy, Mi’kmaq, makes notes on her laptop.
continued inside center
Reality at Hopi
New Teacher Explains Her Decision to
Set Up Shop at Second Mesa Day School
The Hernandez family moves
into employee housing (top) at
Seocnd Mesa Day School on the
Hopi Reservation in Arizona. The
kitchen (above) is a gathering place
for husband Edgar, 12-year-old
Esmeralda, two-year-old Selina,
and mom Esmeralda. The family,
including six-year-old Alyssa, poses
outside their new home (right).
I completed two semesters of teaching
practicum to get my degree this year from
New Mexico State University. After that,
I knew I wanted my own classroom. I had
a teaching offer from Irvine, Texas, where
housing is expensive. But when I spoke
with two people from Second Mesa Day
School at the April Career Day at NMSU,
they said they needed classroom teachers. I
remembered a professor had advised me that
I should be prepared to go where there was a
need for teachers–that I’d be happier where
I was truly wanted. That’s when I knew I
wanted to teach at Second Mesa in Arizona.
Both my husband’s and my family are
from Anthony, N.M., and we have a house
about a half hour outside of Las Cruces. So
my husband, Edgar, and I left the kids with family and we drove to Second
Mesa for my interview. We thought the area was really beautiful, and Edgar
met some people at the local store, and he said, “they
were really nice.” We drove by the employee housing
neighborhood at Second Mesa, and the homes were
pretty much like our house in Anthony. And the rent
was about the same as our mortgage. Second Mesa
made things easier by providing the housing.
So when they offered me the job, I
accepted. Our families were really upset
because we were moving. It was hard to leave
our families and our pets behind, but we like
it here so far. Our kids are used to living in
the country.
I am really excited to finally be teaching
after many years working in an office. Edgar
is disabled but will be working online to get
his master’s degree and maybe his doctorate.
He says he’d like to teach someday. ­­
– Esmeralda Hernandez
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY - INDIAN AFFAIRS
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
1011 INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD NW, SUITE 332
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87104
BIE Youth Leadership
is Smokin’ at Haskell
Youth Leadership Challenge Looks to 2010
Some of the 63 secondary school students from 29 tribes who
participated in the BIE’s first Youth Leadership Challenge, held this
summer at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan.,
reported that the week-long program would make an even greater
impact if it were longer. In response, BIE officials have scheduled
next year’s Challenge at Sequoyah High School in Oklahoma and are
considering extending the program over two weeks.
The Challenge is intended to enhance the leadership skills of the
American Indian students who are selected to attend. It equips them
with the decision-making tools to address opportunities and problems
they encounter in Indian Country and in everyday life, which will, in
turn, strengthen their tribal communities.
Information regarding next summer’s Youth Leadership Challenge
will be available in early 2010.
American Indian comedian/rapper Jason
“Smoke” Nichols performs at the BIE’s Youth
Leadership Challenge at Haskell Indian Nations
University this summer.
see back page
BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION
Adding 19 Schools Takes System of Support Nationwide
The success of the System of Support pilot program at 29
schools in the Navajo Region has prompted the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) to expand the program to another 19 BIE-funded
schools across Indian Country during the 2009-2010 school
year. Intended to assist schools that are not making “adequate
yearly progress,” System of Support focuses on leadership to
manage effective instructional programs, which include special
programs such as BIE READS! and Math Counts, and builds an
organizational culture that supports continuous improvement.
During the past school year, System of Support schools reduced
the percentage of K-3 students needing intensive instructional
support in reading by 11 percent and increased the percentage of
K-3 students reading at grade level by 17 percent.
“System of Support has shown great promise. Leaders have
gotten ‘on board’ with the effort,” said BIE Interim Director Kevin
Skenandore. “Our plan to scale up reflects this success.”
Third Graders
Excel in BIE’s
Program
Schools
Third graders from schools
participating in BIE special
programs, such as Reading
First and BIE READS!,
are more proficient on state
assessments compared to all
3rd graders in all of the BIEfunded schools.
21st Century After-School Grant Program
Wilderness Camp Inspires Wabanaki
Students to Write From a Traditional Mindset
Participants enjoy a midafternoon break.
Echo Hawk Hears
Employee Housing Request
Attracting and retaining top teachers at BIE-funded schools can
be aided by improving the condition of employee housing at the
schools, according to a report given to Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. Echo Hawk (back row, middle) met with
managers of the Bureau of Indian Education this summer to review
top education issues, including the need for hiring and keeping
qualified teachers throughout Indian Country.
FALL 2009
VOL 2, NO. 2
writers’ project funded in part by the Bureau of Indian Education’s
Learning Centers Grant Program. “Before I went to writers’ camp, I
BIE Chief of Staff Spike Bighorn conducts a workshop teaching
communications and presentation skills to students.
The session “How to Handle Stress” includes relaxation training.
Passamaquoddy linguist Roger Paul tells a traditional story to students
attending the Wabanaki Writers’ Project this summer while 16-year-old
Mary Ann Silliboy, Mi’kmaq, makes notes on her laptop.
continued inside center