Photo courtesy Watonga Public Schools / Facebook
Across many parts of the U.S., Native American students miss school at rates higher than the national average.
KLCC’s Brian Bull talked to one educator in Oklahoma, who’s worked to bring down absenteeism and truancy in her community.
Hollie Youngbear (Cheyenne Arapaho) works as the Watonga Schools Indian Education Director.
“I retired two years ago, but they couldn’t find anybody take my place, so I stepped back in and the school let me come back to work three days a week.”
Youngbear says her district’s absenteeism rate is the lowest in Oklahoma. She says she knows all the families and has come by to pick up absent students from challenging home environments.
“Parents who have drug problem or alcohol problems, and they just don’t get their kids up on time. I go out to the homes and pick them up, take them to school. You know, just work with the parents to get them to school.”
Youngbear adds that the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes also help with school supplies, class fees, and rewarding good grades and attendance.
Special programs also help students avoid trouble.
“They have ‘tradition, not addiction’, and they come in and meet with the kids every month and talk about, you know, not smoke or drink or vape.”
The tribal jurisdictional area for the Cheyenne-Arapaho has generations of families, some who were subjected to the boarding school system.
Besides the attempts at assimilation and abuse many encountered, Youngbear says this also may have caused challenges when some boarding school alumni started families.
“They never knew how to actually parent when they got out of school, and so if you don’t know how to parent, then you might not want your kids to go to school. It wasn’t a priority. I guess you could say.”
Youngbear’s advice to school administrators who may be dealing with absent Native students is to work with families, and try to get counselors or education directors from Indian education backgrounds.
“You know, have good grades, and lead them on the path to maybe go to college or vo tech or, you know, just keep ‘em motivated.”
Other challenges that can affect Native American attendance include racism, poverty, or lack of support services.
Does your insurance company make you
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
