WyoFile: Program puts more Indian teachers in the classroom

A weekend at college is business as usual for the group of 24 working adults who gather at Wind River Tribal College Friday and Saturday. This afternoon, the class members present final performances in a class about using music to teach key concepts to preschool and elementary school students.

Although most of the students live and work on the reservation, they are enrolled at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, which will certify them for a Wisconsin teaching certificate. The students will then transfer their certificates to the state of Wyoming and teach at schools within their own community. The first 15 members of the group, who began studying in mid 2010, will graduate with Bachelor’s degrees in December.

An Indian Education Grant from the US Department of Education pays the cost of tuition, fees and books for each student. The original grant for the first 15 students totaled $990,000. A second group started school at WRTC this semester and will be financed with a grant of $960,000. They will graduate in 2015. Members of both groups took Fee’s course.

Lana Shaughnessy, the Department of Education program officer in charge of the project, said the department has given 23 such grants to institutions around the country, which train Native teachers and, in a few cases, school administrators. Since 2005, 1,451 people have completed the program or are currently on track to complete it, Schaughnessy said.