St. Scholastica receives $1.28 million grant for American Indian teaching program

The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, has received a new four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support its Ojibwe Language and Culture Education (OLCE) program. Only 11 such grants were awarded nationally in 2009.

The $1.28 million grant is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Indian Education. It will support 12 American Indian 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 grant will provide students with tuition support as well as a monthly living stipend.

Applications for participation in the project are being accepted for Fall 2009 enrollment.

The project is open to undergraduate students with previous postsecondary education. Students will earn their bachelor's degrees and receive teaching licensure within three years.

"The purpose of the project is both to increase the number of fully licensed American Indian teachers available to serve schools with Native populations, and to prepare them to provide high quality education to American Indian youth," said Valerie Tanner, OLCE program director and assistant professor of education at St. Scholastica.

Eligible students will be enrolled in an American Indian tribe or are descendants of an enrolled member. As a condition of their participation in the project, students will work in schools with high Native populations following graduation.

Major project activities include classes focusing on American Indian and multicultural education; teaching resources supporting the integration of American Indian culture; history and language into the K-12 curriculum; and field placements and student teaching in schools with high Native enrollments.

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 new grant complements a 2007 five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition for a similar project that supports 10 Native and non-Native teachers interested in teaching in Native communities. Another grant, awarded in 2006 from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Indian Education, supports the Native Teachers for the Seventh Generation program, which allows Native students the opportunity to earn a bachelor of arts in education with a K-12 licensure from St. Scholastica.

To apply for enrollment under the new grant, or for more information about the OLCE program, contact Valerie Tanner at (218) 723-6014 or (800) 447-5444, ext. 6014 or vtanner@css.edu. Program information can be found at http://www.css.edu/OLCE.xml