Post by Okwes on Dec 9, 2005 8:39:35 GMT -5
Grant to jump-start school years for Native American children
By TERRY WOSTER
twoster@midco.net
Article Published: 11/29/05, 9:04 pm
PIERRE – A $13.8 million “gear-up” grant program will give as many as 1,700 Native American students in South Dakota a summer jump on schoolwork, the state coordinator of Indian education said.
Keith Moore said the six-year initiative that starts next summer targets Native American students from tribal, Bureau of Indian Affairs and public schools. The summer program is intended to immerse the students in academic subjects they’ll face in their next school year.
The short-term goal is to improve test scores and school attendance, Moore said.
The long-range goal is to have Lakota, Dakota and Nakota children go through middle school and high school believing they can go on to college or a technical institute.
“What we’re really trying to do is gear them up for higher education,” said Moore, who joined the state Education Department earlier this year. “Many of these homes don’t have any example of college graduates. They don’t talk about college. It isn’t even an option. And it can be.”
The $6.9 million U.S. Education Department grant must be matched with money or in-kind contributions. The state and a consortium of schools will provide the match, Moore said.
The focus will be on Native American students in grades seven through 11. After seventh grade, for example, students in participating schools will take two weeks of classes in eighth-grade courses at their local school.
Same thing after eighth grade.
When students reach ninth, 10th and 11th grades, the summer immersion program will be six weeks long and will be on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City.
“They’ll also immerse in their culture, different aspects of the culture,” said Moore, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “A good thing about the high school program is, we’re getting them on a college campus, they’ll be meeting college professors, staying in college dorms as they work on courses for the next year.”
Read more in Wednesday's Argus Leader.
By TERRY WOSTER
twoster@midco.net
Article Published: 11/29/05, 9:04 pm
PIERRE – A $13.8 million “gear-up” grant program will give as many as 1,700 Native American students in South Dakota a summer jump on schoolwork, the state coordinator of Indian education said.
Keith Moore said the six-year initiative that starts next summer targets Native American students from tribal, Bureau of Indian Affairs and public schools. The summer program is intended to immerse the students in academic subjects they’ll face in their next school year.
The short-term goal is to improve test scores and school attendance, Moore said.
The long-range goal is to have Lakota, Dakota and Nakota children go through middle school and high school believing they can go on to college or a technical institute.
“What we’re really trying to do is gear them up for higher education,” said Moore, who joined the state Education Department earlier this year. “Many of these homes don’t have any example of college graduates. They don’t talk about college. It isn’t even an option. And it can be.”
The $6.9 million U.S. Education Department grant must be matched with money or in-kind contributions. The state and a consortium of schools will provide the match, Moore said.
The focus will be on Native American students in grades seven through 11. After seventh grade, for example, students in participating schools will take two weeks of classes in eighth-grade courses at their local school.
Same thing after eighth grade.
When students reach ninth, 10th and 11th grades, the summer immersion program will be six weeks long and will be on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City.
“They’ll also immerse in their culture, different aspects of the culture,” said Moore, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “A good thing about the high school program is, we’re getting them on a college campus, they’ll be meeting college professors, staying in college dorms as they work on courses for the next year.”
Read more in Wednesday's Argus Leader.