Visit+to+BIA

== == = Mr. Lassos and Calvin Pohawpatchoko Present to BIA Director of Indian Education =

On December 9th, Mr. Lassos and Calvin Pohawpatchoko, our PhD student, presented in Washington DC. They met with Keith Moore, National Director of Indian Education at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Calvin has been working on a long term vision for Native Americans and hopefully this opportunity to present his ideas will be beneficial on a grand scale.

Mr. Lassos met Sue Burgard of the South Dakota Department of Education while in Atlanta at the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) conference last month. After talking about many issues related to the education of Native Americans, Sue made the invitation for Mr. Lassos and Calvin to present to Keith Moore, the former Director for Indian Education in South Dakota and current national director. Among the topics Mr. Lassos and Sue discussed in Atlanta were Calvin's vision for Native American co mmunities, the combining of technology and culture as the way to engage and empower Native Americans, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science workshop that Calvin and Mr. Lassos helped facilitate.

This summer ten Native American high school students from the Denver Metro Area, including students from East, South, and the Denver Center for International Studies spent two weeks at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. During the workshop, these students made recommendations as to how to make the Native American exhibit more interactive. In addition to the technology component of the workshop, these students had the opportunity to hear from recruiters from local universities, members of the American Indian College Fund, and PhD students from the University of Colorado.

Focusing on learning styles and research, as well as having the opportunity to share cultural items through talking circles were key components of the workshop. The students' ideas for touch screen technology was presented to museum curators and donors. Each student learned a lot about possible careers and about themselves and their own potential. The museum is currently considering the students' input and has put their suggestions into their budget for the upcoming year. Click below for a brief Power Point of some of the students' work at the Museum Workshop:



Calvin and Mr. Lassos also had the opportunity to meet with Edwin Schupman of the National Museum of the American Indian.



