Education a priority for Band, education director

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Education a priority for Band, education director
Cook County News-Herald

Anna Deschampe, the director of the Education Department for the Grand
Portage Band, is excited about developing good education programs for
the students and the community.

Joan Farnam
Feature editor

Anna Deschampe is a busy woman. This friendly, soft-spoken Cook County
graduate with a great sense of humor has been heading up the Education
Department of the Grand Portage Tribe since November and has already
made her mark.
The programs that the Reservation Tribal Council (RTC) sponsors on the
reservation as well as at both ISD 166 and Great Expectations Charter
School are growing and expanding rapidly, offering new opportunities and
experiences for students of every age who live in Grand Portage.
"Education is very important," Deschampe said last week as she
talked about her job and its impact on the community. "It brings a
sense of pride and accomplishment in the children. We want to support
them in every way."
Take for example, the higher education scholarship program the band
sponsors. It's a full scholarship for a school of their choice for
band members and their descendants. The only requirement — the
institution must give accredited degrees.
Students have really taken advantage of this program, Deschampe said,
attending everything from four-year colleges to vocational schools
around the nation and Canada. In all, 46 band members and 76 direct
descendants are on higher ed scholarships now, she said. Band members
also get living expenses paid by the tribe as well as food and housing
stipends.
It's a great program, she said, and she used it herself to go to
college, graduating from St. Olaf with a bachelor's degree in
sociology and anthropology.
Her duties as director of the Education Department include overseeing
the scholarship program as well as the K-12 programs the Band supports
and a number of different community projects.
For example, Deschampe works with Cook County Higher Education with
students who are interested in distance education. It doesn't matter
whether they are Band members or not, she said.
The K-12 program is quite extensive. Two cultural coordinators, Sam
Musqua and Douglas Gagnon, are on staff as are three academic tutors,
Roger James, Lena Santo and Carolyn Higgins, and the Native American
student advisor, Beth Gagnon. Rosemary Jensen is the education
specialist who works with the higher ed scholarship as well, she said.
The tutors work with Native American students at school, helping them
with reading, writing and math primarily, she said.
In all, the tutors are available for the 32 elementary students at
Sawtooth Elementary School, 16 at Grand Portage Elementary and 10 at
Great Expectations school and the 60 students attending Cook County
Middle School and High School, she said. Not all live in Grand Portage.
Other programs supported by the Band is an Ojibwe language class taught
at the high school and a special scholarship to help junior and senior
students and their families make college visits before they enroll.
And new this year — a Native American student organization for
middle and high school students. Beth Gagnon is coordinating the
project, she said, and there's been a lot of student interest —
and excitement — about it. "We'd like to see the group bring
cultural activities into the schools in Grand Marais," she said.
"We want to put it in the kids' hands."
The Reservation Tribal Council has a huge commitment to education, she
said, and it's reflected not only in students' interest, but in
the community's as well. She said programs put on at Grand Portage
Elementary School, for example, draw standing-room only crowds of
parents, grandparents and community members to honor the students.
The Johnson O'Malley Program is a good example. "Hundreds turn
out," she said. "We honor the graduates and the seniors get a
gift. But all the students are recognized."
The mini-powwows held once a month on Fridays are popular, too, she
said. "It's a really good chance for the kids to see that
we're supporting them. Everybody brings cultural teachings to the
kids. They love being around them for the day."
Parents and grandparents are also active on the Local Indian Education
Committee, which includes a member of the tribal council and a teacher
as well as students. Members are elected for a two-year term.
"All our programs and our initiatives go through the LIEC,"
Deschampe said. "They're really good and give us a broad
community perspective. The RTC usually follows their
recommendations."
Deschampe also coordinates the summer mentor program for youth, which is
an eight-week program for students to work at a variety of locations on
the reservation for 20 hours a week. It keeps them busy, teaches them
new skills and puts some money in their pockets —a good deal for
everyone, she said.
All of this might sound intimidating, but Deschampe has taken it all in
stride. After all, she agrees with the RTC — education is the key to
everything.