UA News

Tohono O'odham Community College is funding a program to prepare American Indians to serve as K-12 public school teachers or administrators.

Nine American Indian graduates of The University of Arizona's College of Education will begin their professional careers as teachers or administrative leaders on the Tohono O'odham Nation or in schools with high American Indian enrollment thanks to a program funded by Tohono O'odham Community College.

Kim Black (Navajo), Kelly Fowler (Navajo) and Denise Osif (Salt River) graduated with bachelor's degrees in education. Ron Stiffarm (Pueblo), Anne Lopez (Navajo), Sandra Alvarez (Tohono O'odham) have received master's degrees in educational leadership. Alison Perez (Lumbee), Candi Running Bear (Navajo) and Tanya Suydam (Tohono O'odham) received master's degrees in special education.

These nine graduates are part of Project NATIVE III, a program run by Tohono O'odham Community College with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The college entered into a partnership with the UA in 2000 to recruit and prepare American Indians to serve as K-12 public school teachers.

Project NATIVE III, is the third project started with the grant monies.

Project NATIVE I and II funded undergraduate studies with grants totaling $1.7 million awarded to Tohono O'odham Community College in 2000 and 2003.

In 2006, the college was awarded a $3.5 million dollar grant to launch Project NATIVE III. The program's goal was to expand the undergraduate partnership to include a new focus to increase the number of American Indian graduate students to earn a masters degree in educational leadership, which prepares them to work as K-12 administrators.

The grant includes funding for tuition, books and other financial support such as a stipend to help the future teachers or administrators pay for school expenses.

"Through Project NATIVE, the college is building a strong group of educators who possess both cultural fluency and recognized expertise in their fields," said Olivia Vanegas-Funcheon, president of Tohono O'odham Community College. "I'm especially proud that with these new graduates we will extend Project NATIVE III to the fields of special education and educational leadership."

"The partnership with Tohono O'odham Community College is helping the UA College of Education to address the extreme shortage of American Indian teachers in Arizona," said Sandra Lucas, the masters degree director of Project NATIVE III.

Lucas, who is a member of the Lumbee tribe, moved to Arizona from North Carolina and upon doing research on American Indian administrators in Arizona was surprised by how few their number were within the state.

Lucas oversees the recruitment and development of the Project NATIVE III graduate students, which includes students pursuing master's degrees in educational leadership and special education.

She and Camille Yaden, director of Project NATIVE III's undergraduate student teacher preparation and teacher preparation/educational leadership program, help to recruit and provide networks, mentoring, educational tools for success, certification and job placement assistance at schools with American Indian students.

"All three of our education undergraduates already have jobs," Yaden said, noting the signficance of placing those mid-year, when open jobs are harder to find.

"We have many Tohono and Yaqui students who have gone through Project NATIVE I and II and are so pleased that several have gone on to Project NATIVE III and will obtain masters degrees," Yaden added.

For example, Alvarez, one of the graduating masters students was a Project Native I student from the program's first cohort. She move on to take a leadership role in educaiton.

Two other students who are Yaqui and who participated in Project NATIVE II are enrolled in Project NATIVE III and are on their way to completing master's degrees.

Although the program is funded through Tohono O'odham Community College, enrollment is open for any American Indian students interested in the program.

Running Bear, a Navajo from Window Rock, Ariz., is one of the Project Native graduate students. She earned a master's degree in special education on Saturday. She enrolled in the program in the fall of 2007 after hearing of the program two years after graduating with a degree in psychology from Brigham Young University.

She has always had a strong interest in special education.

"This is a great program. If you want to help your people, there is no better way than to become a teacher and help raise the younger generation."

"The program also helps other populations in that we can share our knowledge of our culture with them," Running Bear added.