Native American 2nd grade students who are part of Norman Public Schools Indian Education program visit the College of Education at the University of Oklahoma .
in conjunction with this grant to host training sessions and curriculum development , and although the pandemic slowed progress , they are now nearing the final steps of transitioning the Native Kiowa speakers into teaching positions across the district .
“ It ’ s all about the partnerships to get the right resources to the right people ,” Harjo said .
Couldn ’ t Do It Without the Tutors Before she was the Indian Education student and family advocate , Patricia Valley was a tutor for a year starting in 2007 , and , reflecting on her time as a tutor , she said the need for more than just academic tutoring was immediately apparent . Many students were facing , and continue to face , barriers and struggles that require more than drilling spelling words or multiplication tables .
“ If you ’ re worried about food and shelter , you ’ re not going to be paying attention to social studies and what happened with the Declaration of Independence ,” explained Valley , who has a background as a licensed professional counselor and is a member of the Comanche Nation .
In her current role , Valley works to make connections with students and their families , especially when a student is struggling with low grades , behavior concerns or poor attendance . ( Her official title is dropout prevention assistant , but neither she nor her co-workers like the sound of that .)
“ You might as well be the tax collector coming to the house with that title ,” Valley joked . She explained that it can be easy to get stuck in what bulk statistics about dropouts say , but she has found looking beyond the stats and getting to know families and their struggles is key to helping the families and ultimately to students ’ success . And the tutors , who are often the students ’ first point of contact with Indian Education , are a critical partner in Valley ’ s work .
“ My job is only possible through all the tutors ,” Valley added . “ No way could I know all the ins and outs of the families without the tutors .”
Zachary Grimes , a member of the Muscogee Nation , has been tutoring for Indian Education for three years . He graduated from OU with a bachelor ’ s degree in microbiology and a minor in Native American Studies , and with a warm smile and soft chuckle , he described his tutoring work as “ crazy .”
“ It ’ s all over the spectrum . I work with students who are not that strong academically and those with 4.0 GPAs and higher , and so you really get to work with just about every scenario you can think of ,” Grimes said .
Valley also noted how important the tutors can be to high school students who are soon to be first-generation college students , describing how navigating applications , financial documents and more can be overwhelming , and that the tutors frequently help with the process .
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