Jemez Pueblo Creating Education Endowment

In partnership with the New Mexico Community Foundation, the Pueblo of Jemez is creating an education endowment to ensure that any pueblo member who wants to go to college can.

The endowment, named the Jemez Pueblo Foundation Fund, will be a permanent pool of money that will be managed by the NMCF, a press release issued yesterday by the pueblo stated.

The goal is for the pueblo to raise $50,000 in one year. The NMCF, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will match half of what the pueblo raises at $25,000 if the pueblo reaches its goal by Aug. 20, 2011.

The endowment is being kicked off today with a fundraising drive at the Walatowa Visitors Center. The pueblo plans to create a tribal employee giving program as well as solicit area businesses to raise money. The Jemez Health Board and Health Department will kick off the drive with a $25,000 initial investment toward the fund.

“Every year approximately six college-bound students are denied funding because we do not have enough money for all of them,” Pueblo of Jemez Governor Joshua Madalena said in the release. “However, education is a priority, and this endowment will open new doors and provide some great opportunities for our people. It will also help support some of our innovative educational programs.”

The Jemez Pueblo, a non-gaming tribe, will become the second tribe in New Mexico and the 16th in the nation to establish an endowment, according to a report on Native American philanthropy by the First Nations Development Institute.

For information about the Jemez Pueblo Foundation Fund or to make a donation, go to www.nmcf.org/POJEF.

National Indian Education Association Selects New Executive Director

On July 6, the National Indian Education Association, the nation's largest Indian education organization, announced that its board of directors has selected Colin Kippen to serve as its new executive director.

Kippen currently serves as executive director of the Native Hawaiian Education Council, which assesses and coordinates innovative education programs for Native Hawaiians and makes policy recommendations to governmental entities to improve the education and well being of Native Hawaiians.

Kippen has also served as senior counsel to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs; deputy administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in charge of protecting and expanding Native Rights; chief judge of the Suquamish Indian Tribe in Washington and appellate judge for several other tribes in Washington and Oregon; and trial attorney and prosecutor in King County, Wash. He is also a former member of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation and Act (NAGPRA) Review Committee, including serving as its chairman.

“Colin Kippen has been a long time friend of the Association, and we welcome his passion and enthusiasm for providing a long time voice for Native education,” NIEA President Patricia L. Whitefoot said in a press release.

Be Heard at Upcoming Indian Education Listening Session

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will be conducting a listening session to discuss priorities and recommendations for Indian education on March 3 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., according to a press release from the National Indian Education Association. There will be a focus on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and its application in Indian Country.

NIEA encourages participation, either by attending the session or by submitting comments, as these observations and recommendations will be used to ensure that tribal priorities for improving educational opportunities for Indian students are part of the discussions surrounding national education reform.

Comments can be submitted no later than March 31 to: Denise Desiderio at denise_desiderio@indian.senate.gov or via fax at (202) 228.2589.

Have questions, email NIEA: membership@niea.org.

Actress Leaves Indian College Fund $100,000

The late actress Bea Arthur left $100,000 to the American Indian College Fund for the Bea Arthur Scholarship Fund, according to a press release issued by the Fund.

Arthur, who died last April at the age of 86, may be known best for her roles as Maude in the television show Maude and Dorothy in Golden Girls, but she is also pretty famous for her generosity toward those in need.

"She believed that education was the key to empowering people to have faith in themselves and to overcome the hardships and injustices in their lives," said her son, Matthew Saks.

The Fund will match Arthur’s estate gift up to $100,000 for all new donations.

"Thanks to Bea Arthur and her vision, American Indians across America will have the opportunity to earn a college education, giving them, their families, and their communities hope for a better future," said Richard B. Williams, the Fund’s president and CEO.

Supporters can give by mail, donate online at www.collegefund.org or call 1-800-776-386 from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (MST).

Choctaw Nation Launches Online Scholarship Database

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has launched an online database to provide its youth and their parents with access to scholarship information.

The database, custom-designed and provided through an exclusive partnership with Reference Service Press, offers information on tens of thousands of scholarships that are open to Choctaw students.

Choctaw members receive free access to the database on the tribe’s Scholarship Advisement Program (SAP) Internet Web site, located at www.choctawnation-sap.com.

College Football Star Rolls Out Health Program to Native American Kids

College football star Myron Rolle, in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior, is rolling out a program to DOI-funded schools that will educate Native American students on important health issues as well as engage them in outdoor physical fitness activities.

Click here to read more on American Indian Report.

Scholars Program Prepares Cherokee Students for College

The Cherokee Nation has teamed up with the Oklahoma Scholars Program to help Cherokee students prepare for their future, the tribe announced in a press release.

The Oklahoma Scholars Program is a high-impact, low-cost program that starts with placing business leaders into eighth grade classrooms to share with students the benefits of completing the Scholars Program, such as college preparedness, special recognition for academic achievements and being a stronger candidates for financial aid and scholarships.

Students achieve the Oklahoma Scholar designation by completing the Scholars Course of Study, a specific sequence of academic courses in math, science, language arts and social studies.

The program is offered to all students but is especially aimed at students who might take the path of least resistance if not encouraged to do more. The Cherokee Scholars Program was designed to increase the percentage of Cherokee high school graduates prepared to enter college by encouraging them to take more demanding classes during high school, the release said.

To qualify, students must be a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, must have completed the Scholars Course of Study and have passed each course with a minimum of a 2.5 GPA.

University of Wyoming Offers Grad Courses in Native American Education

The University of Wyoming is now offering a graduate certification program to prepare teachers working with Native American students, the Casper Star-Tribune reported this week.

The five-course program, which started as a pilot earlier this year, is being taught by professors Tim Rush and Angela Jaime. Open to all teachers, it teaches educators how to include Native American culture and history in their curriculums. It was developed with input from tribal leaders and educators.

"These courses really open up eyes on how to teach Native American students," Marty Conrad, a teacher who completed the pilot course, told the Star-Tribune. "There are some differences. Some people don't know that."