College receives grant for Ojibwe language and culture program (fwd)

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College receives grant for Ojibwe language and culture program

The College of St. Scholastica
8/1/2007
http://www.businessnorth.com/pr.asp?RID=2386

DULUTH - The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth has recently received a
new five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support its
Ojibwe Language and Culture Education (OLCE) program.

In announcing the grant earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar called
the program a “good investment,” saying that it helps ensure “that our
teachers are ready for the challenges in today’s classrooms.”

The $1.19 million grant is administered by the Department of Education’s
Office of English Language Acquisition. It will support 10 students who are
interested in teaching and working in the American Indian community.
Students will major in elementary or secondary education and in Ojibwe
language and culture education. The dual-major program takes five years to
complete. The grant will provide students with tuition support as well as a
monthly living stipend.

The financial support is open to native and non native students. However,
students must be interested in working in a school with a high native
population.

“We find that there are many teachers working with the native communities
who do not have an understanding of the history, culture or value systems
of the students in their classrooms,” said Valerie Tanner, OLCE program
director and assistant professor of education at St. Scholastica.
“Graduates of the OLCE program will not only be able to better understand
and communicate with native students, they will also be able to educate
non-native students about the American Indian community.”

The grant will also provide ongoing training to a cohort of 12 area teachers
each year, serving a total of 60 teachers over the grant period. In
addition, the grant will continue to support the integration of American
culture, history and language into Duluth Public Schools' K-12 curriculum.

The project will be implemented in collaboration with the Gigashki’ewizimin
ji gikenjigeyang (We Are Powerful When We Have Knowledge) Consortium, which
is dedicated to promoting American educational access, achievement and
success. Consortium members will meet regularly throughout the grant period
and will help with field placements, cultural components, recruitment and
program evaluation.

The recent grant complements another received by St. Scholastica in 2006.
Funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Indian Education
supports the Native Teachers for the Seventh Generation program. This
program allows native students, with two years of previous college
education, the opportunity to earn a bachelor of arts in education with a
K-12 licensure from St. Scholastica.

Applications for fall 2008 are still being accepted. For questions about the
OLCE program contact Valerie Tanner at (218) 723-6014 or (800) 447-5444,
ext. 6014 or vtanner at css.edu. Program information can be found at
http://www.css.edu/x1598.xml.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest
colleges in the Midwest. The 2007 “America's Best Colleges” survey by U.S.
News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of
Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St.

Scholastica as one of the nation’s 100 “hidden gems” among U.S. colleges and
universities.