Education Expedition (12-2-24)

The Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) has a series called "Education Expedition". The overall goal of this series is to highlight the positive things happening in public education. A few weeks ag,o we invited COSA to our campus to make a video that highlighted the events that took place during Indigenous Peoples Day (the project turned into more of an overall highlight of our Native programs and initiatives).

We would like to thank COSA for coming out to showcase some of the positive things that schools are doing around the state. Below you will find that article along with a link to the video or click here to go to their newsletter.

TRIBAL HISTORY, SHARED HISTORY REFLECTED THROUGHOUT WILLAMINA SD

"Our Education Expedition to Willamina School District in November was originally to learn about their recent celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day in October, but it quickly uncovered the deep work happening to embed tribal history and culture into the schools. A district of less than 1,000 students situated near Grand Ronde in Yamhill County, Willamina works closely with the local tribes to bring dual language, embedded SEL and cultural celebrations into every aspect of the school day. In the elementary school, Principal Cera Norwood stresses, “these aren’t just our kids, these are our kids, the tribe included...”. Tribal Attendance Promising Practices (TAPP) advocate Rebecca Arredondo adds that, while her title includes “attendance”, the real work is in creating a culture of belonging at school to address the root causes of chronic absenteeism. Together, Arredondo and Norwood have worked hard to uplift and celebrate the identity of their students and have recently secured funding for an additional TAPP advocate at the middle and high school levels to further this work."

Interested in hearing the full story? Watch the new episode on our YouTube channel here.