Post by Okwes on Apr 18, 2007 14:17:16 GMT -5
Not enough room for special programs Tribe plans `world-class'
K-12 school
MIKE ARCHBOLD; The News Tribune
Students start
the day Friday at Muckleshoot Tribal School with a drum circle in the
gym. The tribe plans to build a school on 37 acres east of Auburn before
2010. The students stood in a traditional prayer circle
at one end of the Muckleshoot Tribal School gymnasium and sang a
welcoming song.
They sang in the ancient Whulshootseed language that they are learning.
"Come in, my friend. Come in, my relatives," they intoned, as
other students accompanied on hand-held drums. Their voices filled the
gym.
The prayer circle is a daily starting ritual at the 23-year-old tribal
school, which offers both learning and immersion in American Indian
culture.
It is a place, as one staff member said, where students can be
Muckleshoot without fear of rejection.
Soon the school will grow, big-time.
The tribe has announced that, in partnership with the federal Bureau of
Indian Affairs, it will build a "world-class" school on 37 acres
of reservation land along State Route 164 east of Auburn. It will have
room to serve 500 students from kindergarten through high school.
Financial details of the partnership and the estimated cost of the
project were not released.
Joseph Martin, assistant tribal operations manager for education, said
the tribe's commitment is "substantial," which helped push
the school to the top of the bureau's list of projects.
The current school opened in 1984 in the tribe's community center.
Martin said it was never meant to be a school. Now with 146 K-12
students, there isn't room to provide special programs, especially
for high school students.
Portables surround the main building, fragmenting the campus. The school
has to close when community funerals are held in the gym.
Tribal members and leaders, parents and students have known a new school
was needed almost since it opened, Martin said.
Casino revenues have fueled the Muckleshoots' economic growth and
paid for new services for tribal members. Martin said 21 percent of
casino revenues are earmarked for education programs, from the
40-year-old Head Start Program to the three-year-old Muckleshoot Tribal
College.
Martin said the Tribal Council is reviewing proposals from three
finalists to design and build the school. Construction could start next
year, with doors opening for the 2009-10 school year.
He said the Tribal Council's goal is to make it the best American
Indian school in the country.
The plan calls for the campus to have separate elementary, middle and
high schools.
There will be two gymnasiums, a performing arts stage, vocational and
technical training shops, a cafeteria, sports fields, a media production
room, a photography lab and computer labs.
The school will field sports teams as a member of the Washington
Interscholastic Activities Association.
Martin said the vocational-technical area will include woodworking,
automotive, electronics and home economics.
"A lot of vision went into this school," he said.
Tribal leaders and students toured schools to get ideas. A group of
eighth-graders visited Northwest tribal schools and made a presentation
of what they saw and liked.
Bernard Baptiste, a retired educator and former principal of Hudtloff
Junior High School in Lakewood, has been principal of the Muckleshoot
Tribal School for three years. It has been his job to help prepare for
the transition.
Attracting native students to the new school will be a challenge, he
said, but one he believes they can meet once the school is completed and
parents get a chance to see what is offered.
There is a large pool of students from which to draw. Martin said that
as of 2004-05, there were 600 American Indian (200 of them Muckleshoot
tribal members of school age) and Native Alaskan students attending
Auburn schools and 85 (15 Muckleshoots tribal members) attending
Enumclaw schools.
The tribal school's enrollment is 80 percent Muckleshoot and
represents nine tribes.
"I can guarantee you will see smiles on their faces," Martin
said.
One parent already smiling is Alison Sanchez. She and her husband live
in Sumner, and she brings her 6-year-old son Reydyn to the tribal school
each day. She said their American Indian heritage is important to the
family and that they wanted their son to have that advantage.
"It's awesome," she said of the new school Reydyn will
attend. "It's really cool that they are doing that for the
kids."
Muckleshoot education: Head Start program youngsters Muckleshoot Tribal
School K-12 students Muckleshoot Tribal College students Full
scholarships to any college GED program students
K-12 school
MIKE ARCHBOLD; The News Tribune
Students start
the day Friday at Muckleshoot Tribal School with a drum circle in the
gym. The tribe plans to build a school on 37 acres east of Auburn before
2010. The students stood in a traditional prayer circle
at one end of the Muckleshoot Tribal School gymnasium and sang a
welcoming song.
They sang in the ancient Whulshootseed language that they are learning.
"Come in, my friend. Come in, my relatives," they intoned, as
other students accompanied on hand-held drums. Their voices filled the
gym.
The prayer circle is a daily starting ritual at the 23-year-old tribal
school, which offers both learning and immersion in American Indian
culture.
It is a place, as one staff member said, where students can be
Muckleshoot without fear of rejection.
Soon the school will grow, big-time.
The tribe has announced that, in partnership with the federal Bureau of
Indian Affairs, it will build a "world-class" school on 37 acres
of reservation land along State Route 164 east of Auburn. It will have
room to serve 500 students from kindergarten through high school.
Financial details of the partnership and the estimated cost of the
project were not released.
Joseph Martin, assistant tribal operations manager for education, said
the tribe's commitment is "substantial," which helped push
the school to the top of the bureau's list of projects.
The current school opened in 1984 in the tribe's community center.
Martin said it was never meant to be a school. Now with 146 K-12
students, there isn't room to provide special programs, especially
for high school students.
Portables surround the main building, fragmenting the campus. The school
has to close when community funerals are held in the gym.
Tribal members and leaders, parents and students have known a new school
was needed almost since it opened, Martin said.
Casino revenues have fueled the Muckleshoots' economic growth and
paid for new services for tribal members. Martin said 21 percent of
casino revenues are earmarked for education programs, from the
40-year-old Head Start Program to the three-year-old Muckleshoot Tribal
College.
Martin said the Tribal Council is reviewing proposals from three
finalists to design and build the school. Construction could start next
year, with doors opening for the 2009-10 school year.
He said the Tribal Council's goal is to make it the best American
Indian school in the country.
The plan calls for the campus to have separate elementary, middle and
high schools.
There will be two gymnasiums, a performing arts stage, vocational and
technical training shops, a cafeteria, sports fields, a media production
room, a photography lab and computer labs.
The school will field sports teams as a member of the Washington
Interscholastic Activities Association.
Martin said the vocational-technical area will include woodworking,
automotive, electronics and home economics.
"A lot of vision went into this school," he said.
Tribal leaders and students toured schools to get ideas. A group of
eighth-graders visited Northwest tribal schools and made a presentation
of what they saw and liked.
Bernard Baptiste, a retired educator and former principal of Hudtloff
Junior High School in Lakewood, has been principal of the Muckleshoot
Tribal School for three years. It has been his job to help prepare for
the transition.
Attracting native students to the new school will be a challenge, he
said, but one he believes they can meet once the school is completed and
parents get a chance to see what is offered.
There is a large pool of students from which to draw. Martin said that
as of 2004-05, there were 600 American Indian (200 of them Muckleshoot
tribal members of school age) and Native Alaskan students attending
Auburn schools and 85 (15 Muckleshoots tribal members) attending
Enumclaw schools.
The tribal school's enrollment is 80 percent Muckleshoot and
represents nine tribes.
"I can guarantee you will see smiles on their faces," Martin
said.
One parent already smiling is Alison Sanchez. She and her husband live
in Sumner, and she brings her 6-year-old son Reydyn to the tribal school
each day. She said their American Indian heritage is important to the
family and that they wanted their son to have that advantage.
"It's awesome," she said of the new school Reydyn will
attend. "It's really cool that they are doing that for the
kids."
Muckleshoot education: Head Start program youngsters Muckleshoot Tribal
School K-12 students Muckleshoot Tribal College students Full
scholarships to any college GED program students