After introductions of the 30 people at the meeting, Bob
gave an update on what has happened since the last meeting. He
shared about
the school board meeting that many from this group attended last
month. We
were allowed to present a letter to the board that was well received.
Everyone
agreed it was a good first step. The next school board meeting is
January 21st
at 5:00pm at the high school in the library. We hope to have
continued
representation to show our involvement.
Our two main topics of discussion for the evening were
creating questions to be submitted to the superintendent interview team
and to
write a letter to be sent to the paper that informs the community of
our
continued involvement and steps forward.
At this point, we have
several people who will be involved in the interview process, but not
sure at
this point exactly how they will be able to contribute. As they
learn more,
they will let us know. We
decided to submit questions that fall under the 4 focus areas we have
been
working on: AODA, Youth, Parents and Racism. Please send your
input to Bob
Kovar about the questions. We started making a list of questions,
but know
that there are other good ideas out there. If possible we would
also like to
provide an introduction to our questions to share with the
superintendent
candidates our desire to be involved and to be a resource for him.
- What is the new
superintendent going to do to recognize the different cultures
represented in the community?
- What is your experience
and training in cultural competency? What would you do to ensure
that it is covered?
- What will you do to ensure
cultural competency among staff and teachers?
- If there were two equally
qualified teachers applying for a job, an Indian and a non-Indian,
which would you hire?
- How do you involve
parents, especially those disenfranchised from the education system?
- Would you support ILI and
other organizations that are involved with the students? How
would you show your support?
- What forms of prevention
and intervention programs have you been involved with in the past in
relation to different issues? What do you think is
effective?
- When you inform staff of
effective disciplinary issues, what do you suggest? What do you
think works well? (This question could be linked with the
prevention/intervention question)
- Question about advocacy
- Question about AODA.
Since the meeting, we have found
out that the process for
submitting questions into the interview process is closed-so while we
will not
be able to directly have these questions represented during the
interview
process, we certainly can keep these questions alive for our first
meeting with
the new Superintendent.
We decided to write a letter to the paper to share with the
community what we have been working on and our continued
involvement. A letter
to the paper will be read by many people and is a good way to get the
word
out. We want the letter to let people know we are here to help
and to be a
resource. Our hope is to write several letters with a specific
point to each
of them. The effects of this group are far reaching. There
are people who
support what we are doing, even if they are unable to attend the
meetings.
There are people who look to this group to lead. We need to
continually be
communicating with the community to share with them what we are doing
to take
steps forward and ways for them to be involved.
Ideas for areas to work on:
- The recent study of the
high school will be sent out for everyone to have a chance to read
it. It was suggested that we look at the recommendations from the
report and pick several of them to work on next. They are
concrete objectives that we could join in with to show the community
that we are working to bring about change. Click here for a copy of the
study report.
Some have commented
that parts of the study may not be “good research”, but regardless of
how the report was done, it still paints a picture of what is taking
place. We need to focus on what we are going to do to make a
difference. It is important to be involved with the students to
build their self-esteem. We can never bring an end to racism and
other issues that students face, but we can support them and build them
up so they are better equipped to face the challenges that will come
their way.
- Bring in speakers from
different cultures to speak in schools and to adult groups.
- Curriculum at schools: is
there a way to bring in tribal members to help teach about treaty
rights, sovereignty, etc.
- Tour of Casino for people
to see what really takes place. That there are more non-Indians
working there and the amount of money that leaves the reservation and
goes to the surrounding communities.
- It was suggested to have
an all school cultural competency in-service training. One of the
group members is checking with a trainer from a cultural center down in
Madison who provides trainings for schools. Realizing that it is
difficult to find time for teachers to have the opportunity to learn
more about other cultures when they already have so many
responsibilities. The group thought an in-service would be the
best way to share with the teachers and staff. Cultural
Competency includes a staff that represents the cultural make-up of the
student body, a curriculum that addresses the cultures and a visual
representation of culture throughout the school.
- The movie Spirit Bear was
recommended for people to watch as a good movie.
Upcoming Events: Monday
January 21st,
“White Privilege”: How does it affect the relations between Indian
and non-Indian Communities? A presentation by Dr. Peggy McIntosh,
Wellesley
College, and Ernie St. Germaine, Lac du Flambeau. It will
begin at 7:00pm at
the Northwoods Unitarian Universality Fellowship, 8625 Peggy’s Lane in
Woodruff. Refreshments will be served.
Next Community Meeting: Tuesday, February 5, 2007.
Place to be decided.
