Blends
Technology Curriculum With Native American Tradition
TAMA
NEWS-HERALD - The fulfillment of a long-envisioned advancement for
education will be celebrated during a day-long grand opening of
the new Meskwaki High School addition to the Settlement school this
Friday, Aug. 21. The Meskwaki Tribal Council and Board of Education
will be joined by federal and state government and educational leaders
in ribbon cutting and other activities.
Meskwaki
School Superintendent Jerry Stephens told The news Herald earlier
this year, I see this as a great opportunity for the (Meskwaki)
Tribe to control their educational destiny and have students learn
whats needed to be successful in the world at-large and within
their own culture. He said last week first-year enrollment
is expected to be about 100 high school students in grades 7-12.
Elementary enrollment hadnt been determined yet, he said.
The
108,000 sq. ft. two-story building has been two years in the making.
Knudson Construction, Iowa City, was the general contractor. Belle
Plaine Nursery was the landscaper.
Tours
of the building will be offered and viewers will see cutting-edge
educational features blended in design with Native American customs
and traditions. The $22 million addition was financed with 80 percent
Tribal funding and 20 percent from the federal Bureau of Indian
Affairs.
The
original school building at this site opened in 2001. Since then,
there have been high school graduating classes in 2008 and 2009
with high school age students sharing the building. The 2001 building
replaced the 1937 wooden frame Sac and Fox Day School.
The
new addition features 18 new classrooms with advanced learning technology
built in and an aim for teaching and preserving Meskwaki culture.
Stephens
said there is a cultural focus on custom, tradition,
regalia, tribal government and language. Display cases scattered
in the educational wings are stocked with both items relating to
Meskwaki history as well as school spirit and sports teams.
Just
some of the features are adjoining metal and wood crafting labs,
computer-aided drafting (CAD) classroom, technology and science
labs, cultural classroom and life skills classroom.
Stephens
said curriculum additions this year are a business program and woods
and metal technology. Enhanced science and math programs are
in the future, he said.
A
1, 000-seat capacity gymnasium with stage and a varsity sports program
are also part of the new high school. The gym features a college-regulation
size floor, Stephens said.
The
Meskwaki Warriors eight-player football and the girls volleyball
teams have a full slate of games scheduled for this fall.
The
volleyball team is competing in the Iowa Star Conference with home
and away games scheduled. The football team will play an all on
the road schedule in the opening year of competition.
School
statement of purpose: The Meskwaki Settlement School exists
to prepare students to be responsible, independent life-long learners,
preserving the language and culture of the Meskwaki Tribe. By working
together in a safe environment, students will grow culturally, intellectually,
emotionally, physically and socially.
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