Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/381166
Feature uation when her life took a detour; she married and had three children. Now in the process of adopting her grandniece, who has lived with her for years as a foster child, Carmelo is close to completing her bachelor's degree and hopes to be accepted into the master's program at Hum- boldt State. Her goal is to help Native American students succeed and to make sure educators learn culturally appropriate ways to work with Native American students in their classrooms. "Historical mistrust is a real obstacle to student success," she observes. "It limits students' ability to form effective and supportive relationships with educators and administrators." Helping students thrive Carmelo sees her job of 15 years as a combination of educator and social worker. Her duties as a Title VII Indian education coordinator are vast. An abbreviated version: "I prepare applications for grant funds, with accompanying budgets and narratives for submission to federal and state agencies. I prepare, maintain and coordinate fiscal records for the Indian Education Program; ensure electronic transfer of funds to appropriate accounts; maintain fiscal and evaluation data; prepare and submit reports to federal and state agencies. I am a liaison between the district and Indian community; represent the district in meetings with Indian Education Par- ent Committee, Indian Tribal Councils and Indian Community Service Agencies, and maintain liaison between parents and school staff. I make home visits as needed." And there's also tutoring, providing vocational and career guidance to Indian youth, hunting down scholarships that might be available to Native American high school graduates, admin- istering aptitude tests to youths, reviewing student progress, providing counseling services, and teaching weekend classes on how to make sacred Native American regalia. "Each day is different and unique. We are constantly planning and collaborating for our next year. Our Indian Education Program is a support system. We are aunties, uncles, resources, teaching hands, listening ears, a voice, a tutor, a mentor, a helper. We are there for the students and families." The rewards, too, are vast, she says. "Having a student come back and tell me how thankful they are that I helped them with some aspect of their education is very heart-massag- ing. So is giving a student a gift of a graduation cap that I beaded. I know how hard it has been for that student to overcome life's obstacles while trying to graduate high school. I am honored that the Creator has blessed me with this opportunity to serve my Native people." Native American youth in crisis Accord- ing to the 2010 U.S. Census, California has the largest American Indian population of any state. But Native American students have a disproportionate educational achievement gap when measured against their peers, notes Carmelo, citing a report, "The State of Native Education," finding that Indian students have experi- enced little to no improvement in academic achievement while other minority groups have shown improvement, and that the gap between American Indian and white students is in fact rising. American Indian and Alaska Native students have the highest dropout rate of any subgroup in the country "Look for lifestyles in literature," advises Carmelo. "Asking these students to recreate the missions is like asking Jewish students to recreate the showers in concentration camps," Carmelo muses. "Could you imagine? You might say that it is culturally inappropriate." 36 www.cta.org