Idaho Indian Education Summit set for June 12-13 at LC State

LEWISTON – Panel discussions, presentations, breakout sessions, speakers, a jet boat trip, and tours and presentations at the Nez Perce National Historical Park are all a part of the Idaho Indian Education Summit that will take place June 12-13 at Lewis-Clark State College.

This year’s summit has the theme of “Tribal Traditions: Designing STEM Through Place, Language, and Purpose.”

The focus of the Idaho Indian Education Summit is to help educators identify strategies and obtain knowledge they can use in the classroom to promote equitable learning practices for American Indian students. The event is put on by the Idaho State Department of Education.

Anyone attending must register for the event, which costs $100 not including the jet boat ride. Continuing Education Credits are available for $50 through LC State for those who attend both days. Breakfast and lunch will be sponsored both days.

Monday’s events will be held in the Williams Conference Center (WCC) and Activity Center West (ACW) on the LC State campus prior to a jet boat ride at 5-7 p.m. offered for $75 by Beamers Hells Canyon Tours.

Here is a breakdown of the Summit agenda, subject to change, for the two days. For full descriptions and details visit www.lcsc.edu/event-services/summer-events/idaho-indian-education-summit.

MONDAY JUNE 12

• 7:30-9 a.m. – Registration and check-in at WCC lobby.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. – Networking breakfast sponsored by the Nez Perce Tribe, WCC.
• 8:30-9 a.m. – Welcomes by Bob Sobotta, chairman of the Idaho Indian Education Committee; Debbie Critchfield, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Andrew Hanson, senior vice president/vice president for Student Affairs at LC State. Performance by Nez Perce Lightning Creek Drum Group. Flags presented by Lapwai Veterans Association. WCC.
• 9-10:15 a.m. – Education Leadership Panel. Moderator: Juan Saldena, Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Panel: Linda Clark, Idaho State Board of Education president, Critchfield, Hanson, Dennis Becker, dean and professor of natural resource policy at the University of Idaho. WCC.
• 10:15-10:30 a.m. – Break sponsored by University of Idaho.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. – Keynote Speaker Sammy Matsaw “Indigenous Knowledge, Shoshone-Bannock Teaching and Newe Daigwape.” Matsaw will discuss how Land Pedagogy overlaps with Tribal Ecology, with one informing the other towards what it means to learn from the land and waterways. WCC.
• 11:50 a.m.-12:05 p.m. – Welcome. Sam Wheeler, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. WCC.
• 12:15-1:15 p.m. – Lunch Keynote Speaker Marissa Spang, Indigenous Education Research at American Institutes of Research. “Reclaiming how Public K-12 Indigenous Students are Counted: Implications for Tribal Sovereignty and School Districts.” WCC.
• 1:30-2:30 p.m. – Breakout sessions:
• • “Use State Educational Plans to Drive Improvement.” ACW Room 133. Presenter: Alison Henken, office of the State Board of Education.
  • Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP) as an educational system change; Orientations and tools for supporting Native Student well-being in K-12.” ACW Room 134. Presenters: Vanessa Anthony-Stevens and Jessica Matsaw, University of Idaho.
  • “Money for Idaho Students to Stay in Idaho.” ACW Room 135. Presenters: Jenni Kimball, office of the State Board of Education, and Sherawn Reberry, Idaho Workforce Development Council.
  • “Indigenous Water Geographies: Engaging Hydro-social Cycles & Territories to Explore Water Knowledge, Relationship, and Governance at Northern Cheyenne.” ACW Room 136. Presenter: Shanny Spang Gion, visiting tribal scholar, University of Idaho.
• 2:30-2:45 p.m. – Break, sponsored by North Idaho College and College of Western Idaho.
• 2:45-4 p.m. – Breakout sessions
• • “Building Stronger Bridges to Career Technical Education.” ACW Room 133. Presenters: Jennifer Pope and Dona Orr, Idaho Division of Career Technical Education.
  • “A classroom management tool: The Idaho Wellness Journal. ACW Room 135. Presenters: Johanna Jones, Lynn Bohecker, Jessica Henderson, Hailey Martinez.
  • “Supporting Educator Growth Through the Evaluation Process and Alignment to the Nez Perce Cultural Standards.” ACW 136. Presenters, Joyce McFarland, Nez Perce Education Manager, and Kathleen Shoup, Office of the Idaho State Board of Education.
• 4:30-7 p.m. – Narrated jet boat activity. ($75 and space is limited).

TUESDAY, JUNE 13

• 8:30 a.m. – Vans leave the LC campus for the Nez Perce National Historical Park
• 9 a.m. – Arrive at the Nez Perce National Historical Park Center. Grab N’ Go breakfast sponsored by the LC State Native American Club.
• 9-9:30 a.m. – Welcome. Linda Clark, Idaho State Board of Education president and Harry Slickpoo Jr., Hiteemenwees Research Library.
• 9:30-11 a.m. – Tours of Nez Perce National Historical Park Research Center and the Nez Perce Seasonal Rounds.
• 11-11:30 a.m. – “Of One Heart,” The Nez Perce story.
• 11:30 a.m.-noon – “Think, Make, Create.” Presenter: Danielle Scott, University of Idaho Extension Educator.
• Noon-1:30 p.m. – Lunch at Spalding Park. Sponsored by the Nez Perce Tribal Youth Council.
• 2 p.m. – Load vans and return to LC State. End of summit.

For more information on the summit, contact Bob Sobotta, director of Native American, Minority & Veterans Services at LC State, at [email protected].