Native Education Newsletter

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 10/10/2024 10:23 AM PDT

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Office of Native Education NEWSFLASH

October 10, 2024

Native Education | OSPI Website

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day
Introducing ONE's Newest Member, Bawaajigekwe Boulley
ONE Convenings
Legislative Updates
On the Calendar

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day

Indigenous Peoples' Day is October 14

Join the Squaxin Island Tribe and the City of Olympia in Celebration!

Monday, October 14 | 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Squaxin Park | 2600 East Bay Drive NE, Olympia

See the flyer for more information.

Check out this informative essay with educational links for Indigenous People’s Day: Unlearning Columbus Day Myths

Introducing ONE's Newest Member, Bawaajigekwe Boulley

Native Student Success Program Welcomes New Supervisor

Bawaajigekwe Boulley's Vision

As the Native Student Success Program Supervisor, I approach this role as a sacred responsibility to honor the rich traditions, voices, and brilliance of our Native students. I believe in the power of community and the strength we gain when we work together, drawing on the wisdom of those who came before us and the shared commitment to our children's future.

My vision is deeply rooted in collaboration and co-creation where each student, educator, and community member is empowered to succeed based on individual strengths, interests, and values.

Together, we will create pathways that honors what success looks like for our students and respects Indigenous ways of knowing. We will foster environments where our students will thrive academically, spiritually, and culturally. One of my mentors, teachers, and elders (Mavis Kingbird from the Ojibwe Nation) told me, "We know students are successful when they are happy and they love themselves."

I look forward to building partnerships across the state and learning with and from my colleagues in the Office of Native Education as we uplift Native students and all they can and are achieving.

I am honored and happy to be here. I look forward to seeing you. Miigwech. (Thank you.)

ONE Convenings

1st Annual Native Literacy Convening

Collaborative Effort Meant Successful Kickoff

The Office of Native Education (ONE) convened Native Literacy workgroup members, Tribal representatives, and educators from State Tribal Education Compact Schools (STECs) and school districts to engage in a professional learning event in May. This collaboration helped to support ONE's Native Literacy initiative.

Learn more about the Native Literacy Convening.

1st Annual Tribal Language Gathering

Statewide Representation from Tribes and Districts

Also held in May was ONE's Tribal Language Gathering, which included over 60 Tribal language/culture teachers from 14 Tribes and 24 districts/STECs across Washington. Many language families were represented.

Learn more about the Tribal Language Gathering.

1st Annual STEC Convening

Hosted by Lummi Nation

On August 14th and 15th, the Office of Native Education hosted in conjuncture with the Lummi Nation our first annual State Tribal Education Compact school convening. Over the course of two days we engaged in critical conversations relating the best education of our Tribal students around the State.

Highlighting this work were powerful addresses by Hayley Strom, Monique Bourgeau and Sui-lan Ho’okano. These Indigenous Educators helped focus our work and provided insight into best practices around Native Education. We are thankful to our partners in OSPI, BIE, and the Lummi Nation for making this an important first gathering of our STEC schools.

Legislative Updates

Fentanyl/Opioid

Tribal School Opioid Education Pilot Project

The grant is in its FINAL stages and will be available to STECs and Tribal operated before-and-after school programs to identify, develop, adapt, and implement a fentanyl/opioid prevention curriculum in the 2024-25 school year and share promising practices to offer curriculums statewide. This opportunity is available from the opioid abatement settlement funds and was in response to Tribal leaders' requests for curriculum to be in our schools.

JMLSTI Grants

John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial (JMLSTI) Training and Curriculum

With the passage of House Bill 1879 in 2024, Since Time Immemorial has been renamed the John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial (JMLSTI) curriculum. During this reporting period, ONE conducted JMLSTI trainings through conference workshops and district/school coordinated staff trainings reaching over 4,000 participants. As JMLSTI is a place-based curriculum, tribal education and/or culture specialists engaged in the planning and teaching of these training courses. Fifteen of our Tribal partners collaborated on joint JMLSTI trainings. Districts are developing systemic district-wide plans, in collaboration with tribal partners, to implement the curriculum.

The Office of Native Education also continues to collaborate with tribal education representatives with the implementation of integrating JMLSTI into all teacher preparation programs. Administrative preparation programs are also integrating JMLSTI into their courses.

We are excited to announce that a new Traditional Ecological Knowledge unit and lesson plans have been developed and will be populating the OSPI website soon. This unit will highlight our TEK partners and the utilization of a seasonal calendar that is front facing for educators to access and implement.

Native Literacy Workgroup

Funds have been appropriated specifically to address the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students identified as needing additional literacy supports. The Office of Native Education is charged to convene a Native Literacy Work Group which has a critical role in identifying solutions to the persistent over-representation of Native American and Alaskan Native students who are not reading at proficiency according to measures used by state of Washington and NAEP.

The work group will conduct Tribal consultations, develop best practices, engage in professional learning, and develop curricula and resources that may be provided to school districts and state-Tribal education compact schools to serve American Indian/Alaska Native students with appropriate, culturally affirming literacy supports.

The Office of Native Education has reached out to educators across the state to join the work group and will begin the work in late October. Read our Native Literacy Work Group handout for more information.

Tribal Language Grants

The 2024-25 Tribal Language Grants have been allocated to 30 districts across our state, representing 17 languages. As a reminder each grant can only be awarded after the district provides evidence of support from their Tribal partner, which allows us to continue to uplift the sovereignty of our 29 federally recognized Tribes.

In related news, we are in the process of hiring for a Tribal Language Program Supervisor. We are working through the interview step and will have the position filled by mid-November.

On the Calendar

WSNAEAC Meeting

The Washington State Native American Education Advisory Committee (WSNAEAC) will meet to discuss legislative planning and hear ONE program updates. The advisory meetings are open to the public. Visit our website for more information.

October 23 (virtual) | 10:30 am - 1:30 pm | Join on Zoom

G2G Relationships Training

Fall WACTA Post Conference Workshop

Government-to-Government Relationships Training is available at the Fall Washington Association of Career & Technical Administrators (WACTA) Conference.

Friday, October 18 | 12 – 5 pm
ilani Resort, 1 Cowlitz Way
Ridgefield, WA 98642

ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.

Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.

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