Tribal Student Achievement and Relations
The Tribal Student Achievement & Relations team has had a busy month after initiating their strategic planning in late October. Unit staff have teamed up with the Comprehensive School & Improvement team to support schools through monthly site visits. Specialists visited Rocky Boy School, Box Elder School, and Dodson Schools during the first weeks of November. This month the American Indian Student Achievement Specialists kicked off their weekly state-wide office hours on Mondays between 3 pm and 4 pm via Zoom. The team has begun rolling out work around the Indigenous Whole Learner Relational Framework. Presentations were made to the Higher Education Consortium, the Montana School Counselors Association and at the High School Forum. TSAR staff also provided ongoing Restorative Practices support and offered a full-day training at the High School Forum. TSAR held its quarterly Tribal Consultation meeting this month and extends heartfelt gratitude to all those who attended. Staff also represented the OPI at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force. Finally, the RiSE youth have been busy as they begin planning for their 2025 annual RiSE Summit. Currently under discussion are the theme for this year, the logo and art, and the venue. Look for news in the upcoming months.
- Crystal Hickman and Michele Henson, Tribal Student Achievement Specialists
Culture and Language
Amba wašte!
We hope the year is going well! As students are settling in, many might have taken the Home Language Survey as they’re enrolling. We’re here to offer guidance for American Indian students identifying as speaking other languages at home or encourage educators to connect with local indigenous education leaders for best practices on placement and services. In addition, we have information on our Language and Culture webpage regarding Multi Lingual Learner supports: https://opi.mt.gov/Educators/Teaching-Learning/Indian-Education/Language-and-Culture#10531111851-multilingual-learner-support
We’re thrilled to continue our collaborations with Montana Digital Academy as they expand there Native language offerings, please give them a visit! https://montanadigitalacademy.org/ Additionally, tribes across the state have been partnering with Native Teaching Aids, based in St. Ignatius, to create learning material and they have several new offerings! https://nativeteachingaids.com/
We look forward to upcoming classroom visits and opportunities to share!
Pinamaya - Matt Bell
Tribal Student Achievement and Relations Director's Updates
Greetings! We are closing out the month of the "deer rutting moon" and beginning the month of "when the wolves run together" - Northern Cheyenne.
The TSAR Unit has been very busy this fall. The Director attended the 54th Annual National Indian Education Conference in October, the largest annual gathering of Indigenous educators in the nation. This year's theme was "Education Sovereignty: A Declaration of Change. The director also attended a pre-conference work session with the Indigenous Education State Leaders Network (ISLEN) a national group and community of practice for statewide directors and leaders that support Indigenous learners.
In late October School Improvement Director, Lindsay Mahoney, Senior Manager, Carrie Kouba, and Dr. Brooke Beaverheart Gondara, Tribal Student Achievement and Relations Director traveled to New Mexico to look at state models for education, strategies for tribal consultation, teacher professional development, attendance and student, family and community engagement and student achievement and healthy identities.
The team made two site visits to schools while there - Bernalillo School District and the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albuquerque. NACA is a national community school model charter school that began in 2006 and now has schools on two campuses K-12. The team also met in Santa Fe with representatives from the New Mexico Cabinet Secretary's offices and Indian Education and Affairs from the Public Education Department, Higher Education Department, and the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
The Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education (MACIE) met in October and November and worked on revising goals and electing officers.
The TSAR team participated in a two-day strategic planning session to align mission, values, and goals with current work, program,s and initiatives to guide our work.
The director presented to the Higher Education Consortium (HEC) in mid-November to a group of mostly teacher leaders and prep groups on restorative practices and the Indigenous Whole Learner Relational Framework.
Quarterly Tribal Consultation took place in mid-November and OPI is working to strengthen how it conducts this work with Montana's tribes with a government to government relationship that fosters empowerment and sovereignty for Montana tribes, school leaders, and educational systems in a usable, tangible, and authentic way. We are exploring ways to create more active participation and attendance and to more clearly define the roles and relationships within the tribal consultation process. - Dr. Brooke Beaverheart Gondara (Northern Cheyenne)
Photo Credit: (Brooke Beaverheart Gondara) Pictured are School Improvement Director, Lindsay Mahoney and Tribal Student Achievement and Relations Director, Dr. Brooke Beaverheart Gondara with New Mexico Lieutenant Governor, Howie Morales.
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