{"id":8935,"date":"2023-01-12T09:16:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T15:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=8935"},"modified":"2023-01-12T09:16:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T15:16:17","slug":"students-get-a-boost-from-uwms-american-indian-education-program","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/students-get-a-boost-from-uwms-american-indian-education-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Students get a boost from UWM’s American Indian education program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Elizabeth Hennessey chose to specialize in American Indian education in part because she wanted to learn more about her own background and help other American Indian students learn more about their shared heritage. (UWM Photo\/Kyle Bursaw)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jason Dropik is a school administrator working on a school superintendent certification.<\/p>\n

Holly Lebeck, a junior, is earning an education degree in social studies, preparing to work with fourth- through eighth-grade students.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Hennessey, also a junior, is pursuing a degree in English education, with a focus on middle school.<\/p>\n

All three of these UWM School of Education students are benefiting from funding and support through an Electa Quinney Institute program designed to prepare American Indian teachers and administrators. The program, Leaders from the Good Land: Electa Quinney Indian Education Development, began more than a dozen years ago with funding from the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Bureau of Indian Education.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Jason Dropik, who is head of school at the Indian Community School in Franklin and a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, said he felt it was important to continue to enhance his skills as an administrator and leader. (UWM Photo\/Elora Hennessey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Currently, a fourth round of funding is supporting three administrators and five future teachers, including two from UW-Superior, and a sixth is about to start. \u00a0(In the most recent grant period, UWM received two grants \u2013 $1,044,850 for preparing teachers and $358,533 for preparing administrators.)<\/p>\n

Dropik, who is head of school at the Indian Community School in Franklin and a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, said he felt it was important to continue to enhance his skills as an administrator and leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are not enough American Indian principals and education leaders throughout the country, so being able to continue my education to follow that path to show people what\u2019s possible was important to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dropik earned his undergraduate degree from UWM\u2019s School of Education, with support from the American Indian education grant.<\/p>\n

Lebeck said she felt she was destined to become a teacher for American Indian students. She enjoyed playing school with her younger brothers but didn\u2019t know much about her heritage growing up.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Holly Lebeck didn\u2019t know much about her heritage until she started doing genealogy research after her father, who was Potawatomi, passed away. (Photo courtesy of Holly Lebeck)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That changed when she began doing genealogy research with her mother after her father, who was Potawatomi, \u201cwalked on.\u201d (She explains American Indians use this term for those who have passed on, reflecting the belief that death is not final and \u201cour ancestors continue to live and influence us.\u201d) \u00a0She started digging into her family history on her dad\u2019s side. \u201cI really began to feel this connection with my ancestors. I felt like they were telling me, \u2018Don\u2019t forget me.\u2019 I feel like I was led here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hennessey, a member of the Stockbridge Munsee tribe, always wanted to be a teacher and was encouraged by others. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty much the only thing I ever considered doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One reason she chose to specialize in American Indian education was to learn more about her own background and help other American Indian students learn more about their shared heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be open to helping other students, especially if they are in my situation where they may not look native or feel confident in their nativeness,\u201d Hennessey said.<\/p>\n

Five-year professional development awards<\/h3>\n

The program provides<\/a>\u00a0five-year professional development awards, with a possible one-year extension. It is designed to support up to three years of training and two years of induction services to help students obtain education licenses and job placements, as well as retain American Indian educators in the field. Students who receive the funding are expected to work in American Indian schools or in districts with a high proportion of American Indian students.<\/p>\n

The institute\u2019s namesake, Electa Quinney, is recognized as Wisconsin\u2019s first public school teacher. A member of the Stockbridge-Mohican tribe, she taught American Indian and white children in a one-room log school that opened in 1828.<\/p>\n

The support is important to the students in the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thankful for the opportunity,\u201d Dropik said. With work and a family \u2013 he and his wife have three children, ages 12-20 \u2013 there were barriers to continuing his education. \u201cWithout that, I might have not been able to take on that learning and experiences that were part of my journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Program provides security<\/h3>\n

Lebeck, who has three children, said the program provides security. \u201cThe money is helping our family be able to not stress about how I will continue learning,\u201d Lebeck said. \u201cIt gives us that sense of security.<\/p>\n

\u201cElecta Quinney is very supportive of my path,\u201d she added. \u201cEach student\u2019s path and each student\u2019s major is different. The staff at the institute always say, \u2018What is your path and what can we do to support you,\u2019 rather than saying \u2018here\u2019s what we want you to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really important, especially during COVID,\u201d Hennessey says of the support she received when she found online classes challenging. \u201cIt really lifted a huge burden off of me. Even if I struggled, they made me not afraid to struggle, which is really, really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharing cultural background<\/h3>\n

Being able to share their cultural background is important to the students because that was something they didn\u2019t always have when they were in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up, I felt it was very much not something you talked about,\u201d Hennessey said. \u201cMy family didn\u2019t want people to ask me questions I couldn\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dropik remembers struggling with his identity when he started high school. \u201cI looked different from others I grew up around.\u00a0 My ninth-grade year in high school I didn\u2019t have teachers or administrators who could help me with that, so I struggled academically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebeck, who is studying the Potawatomi and Ojibwe languages at UWM, is also sharing her heritage. She has reconnected with her father\u2019s family, who live on a reservation in Oklahoma. Her children transferred to the Indian Community School and now take part in powwows and learn traditional crafts like moccasin making and designing ribbon skirts. \u201cWe do a prayer ceremony in the morning. It\u2019s a nice way to be ready for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dropik\u2019s son, who was valedictorian of his eighth-grade class at the Indian Community School, has had a different experience than his father. \u201cHe was able to take language classes I didn\u2019t have when I was growing up,\u201d Dropik said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great example of what\u2019s possible when you have structures and systems and support and an understanding of who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Kathy Quirk<\/a><\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/students-get-a-boost-from-american-indian-education-program\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Dropik is a school administrator working on a school superintendent certification. Holly Lebeck, a junior, is earning an education degree in social studies, preparing to work with fourth- through eighth-grade students. Elizabeth Hennessey, also a junior, is pursuing a degree in English education, with a focus on middle school. All three of these UWM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[107],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-8935","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-milwaukee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/8935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=8935"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=8935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}