PECS school year kicks off with new gym, media center Education by Eileen Soler - September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 BRIGHTON — Open house for students and families of Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School featured a doubleheader celebration for the Brighton community and the entire Tribe. "It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen so many good things open up out here in our cow pasture," said Chairman James E. Billie before
Teens taste campus life Education by Eileen Soler - September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 TALLAHASSEE — Two weeks of cramped quarters, strict schedules and cold pizza gave 56 Florida teens a genuine taste of college life at some of Florida’s leading institutes of higher learning. "The dorm was good. The food was not so good. Being without parents? No problem," said Kyle Alvarado, 17, of
Ahfachkee School new principal to bring big changes Education by Eileen Soler - September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — Students at Ahfachkee School weren’t the only ones to start the 2015-16 school year at new desks. New principal Guy Cooper, uniformed on opening day Aug. 17 in khaki pants and blue polo shirt, greeted students with fresh optimism and a pleasant but firm attitude. One by one and
A Native American in Paris Education by Eileen Soler - September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 When Braudie Blais-Billie refers to home it begs the question "which one?" Blais-Billie, 22, can call "home" a few miles from the Hollywood Reservation, a flat in New York City where she attends Columbia University and an apartment in Paris where seven recent months of academic immersion added up to an
AlterNATIVE: How a Native-to-Native nonprofit is decolonizing education Education by Braudie Blais-Billie - September 2, 2015October 7, 2015 In 2013, a classroom full of Columbia University undergraduates started a nonprofit that could change the way Native American students connect across the nation. AlterNATIVE Education is a peer-education and mentorship initiative aimed at bridging the gap between Native American high school and college students. Its humble beginnings in the Columbia
Education incentives awarded to Brighton, Big Cypress students Education by Eileen Soler - September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 McKayla Snow, of Brighton Reservation, always looks forward to a guaranteed rush of personal pride she receives every summer thanks to the Tribe’s Education Department incentive awards. "It’s not just me who feels it. It’s every student who hears their name called and then hears everyone cheering for them because they
Summer work program offers youth real-world experience Education by Beverly Bidney - July 30, 2015 Thirty-nine teenagers are spending the summer working for the Tribe to gain real-world work experience thanks to the Education Department’s Summer Work Experience Program (SWEP). Through the program, which runs from June 15 to Aug. 7, SWEP participants wake up, clock in and work in departments as diverse as Cattle and
Teens learn how global warming impacts Tribes nationwide Education by Eileen Soler - July 30, 2015 SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Indian Country teens confronted a global problem during the first Inter-Tribal Youth Climate Leadership Congress at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center. The 89 high school students from 28 tribal communities that span the nation from the arctic Alaska North Slope to the steamy
Brody goes to Washington for president’s Gen-I gathering Education by Eileen Soler - July 30, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s push to improve the lives of Indian Country youth through his Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative advanced midsummer when Native teens and young adults united in Washington, D.C. for the first White House Tribal Youth Gathering. Seminole Tribe member Broden "Brody" Osceola Hagen, 16, of Naples, attended
Toddlers, babies to learn Creek with pilot language program Education by Beverly Bidney - July 30, 2015 BRIGHTON — A Creek language immersion program for children 4 months to 3 years old will begin Aug. 17 at the former Boys & Girls Club at Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School in Brighton. The pilot program aims to teach children Creek in a homey environment. Culture language instructors Alice Sweat and
