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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Schools to incorporate Indian culture into more classes

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 9/18/10

American Indian culture, history and language could soon be threaded throughout the curriculum at ISD 2142 schools thanks to a federal grant.

Indian Education Director Lowana Greensky told the …

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Schools to incorporate Indian culture into more classes

Posted

American Indian culture, history and language could soon be threaded throughout the curriculum at ISD 2142 schools thanks to a federal grant.

Indian Education Director Lowana Greensky told the school board on Monday that the district will share in a four-year grant awarded to the Cloquet School District. Dubbed Project CBAI (Culture-Based Arts Integration), the purpose is to assist American Indian and non-Indian students in grades K-8 in St. Louis County schools by enhancing their interest, understanding, enthusiasm and performance in standards-based arts education, language arts, mathematics and science.

The University of Minnesota is also a partner in the effort, which will bring local resources such as tribal elders, artists, crafters and linguists into the school. Grant funds can also be used for field trips and a portion (about $7,000) of Greensky’s annual salary will be paid from the grant for coordinating the program in St. Louis County School District.

Greensky said the program is being introduced this year in the Tower-Soudan and AlBrook schools, which were chosen at random, but will ultimately benefit all schools in the district.

Project CBAI is designed to serve as a model for developing culture-based curriculum that promotes sensitivity and cultural awareness of American Indian societies among all teachers and students, as well as familiarity with the historical and contemporary work of present and past Native artisans.

Greensky said, in turn, it could lead to improved scores in Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment testing in math and reading by making the subjects more relatable to students. “The idea is to show students how those subjects can affect their lives outside of the classroom,” she explained.

In other business on Monday, the board:

‰Heard from Superintendent Charles Rick that a deadline for using biomass grant dollars awarded to the district is approaching. The district received a total of $584,750 ($300,000 from the Iron Range Resources Agency and $284,750 from Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development). The plan is to use the funds to reduce heating costs at the Babbitt-Embarrass and Tower-Soudan schools.

Rick said he would see if the deadline can be extended for the grant dollars. If not, the district could proceed on equipment purchases. Otherwise the grant dollars would have to be returned.

• Hired the following probationary teachers: Maria Strom as a Spanish language teacher at Cherry School; Timothy Rand as a physical education/health instructor at Orr; Benjamin House as a special education teacher at Orr; Trudy Halverson as a business and media instructor at Orr; Scott Process as a media and technology/business teacher at Cotton; Kathleen Niska as a kindergarten teacher at Cherry; Chelsea Blomberg as a health, business and art instructor at Cook; and Kelly Chick as a media and elementary special education teacher at Tower-Soudan.

•Accepted the resignations of Tower-Soudan secretary and teaching assistant Kathy Zavodnik, Tower-Soudan instructional aide Jeanne Jensrud and AlBrook bus driver Dennis Wyrum.

•Hired Bret Wardas as a bus driver, Carrie Erickson as an assistant cook and Jessica Hagolin as a health assistant, all at the Cook School.

•Hired Linda Tindell as a van driver at Orr School.

•Approved a recommendation to hire Robert A. Astleford as the assistant football coach at Orr School.

•Recalled tenured teachers Bernadine Kantola (Learning Readiness at Cook) and Todd Olson (Orr).

•Eliminated the instructional aide position held by Tammy T. Smith at AlBrook School.

•Approved an agreement with Mesabi Range and Technical Community College for concurrent enrollment. The cost for college equivalent courses offered during a semester has increased from $1,400 to $1,600.

•Heard a report by Kevin Abrahamson on work done during the summer to improve the curriculum and prepare teachers. Abrahamson distributed a sheet outlining most of the steps taken during the summer, including an application to the state’s Q-Comp program, which is designed to reward teachers who meet performance standards. Abrahamson said about 85 percent of the staff had put in time during the summer.

•Met in a study session prior to the board meeting with Dale Larson, who worked in Human Resources for St. Louis County. Larson talked about interviewing candidates and avoiding discrimination pitfalls by being consistent in the questions posed.

The board is scheduled to hear a presentation on superintendent searches by a representative of the Minnesota School Boards Association on Sept. 22 and expects to post the job opening following that presentation. Current Superintendent Rick is retiring in January.

ISD 2142, Indian education