Reaching a struggling demographic

Teacher's learn about Native American education

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Story Published: Jun 20, 2009 at 12:18 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jun 20, 2009 at 12:18 AM PDT

By Matt Loveless

LEWISTON - They're reaching out to the students they say need it the most.

About 40 teachers were in the Williams Conference Center at LCSC Thursday, wrapping up four days of Native American education. Idaho Indian Education Committee Chair Bryan Samuels said for one week each summer, it's time to teach the teachers.

"It's reinforcing the commitment of teachers to work in a classroom, to improve their skills, to address cultural issues," said Samuels.

Along with the instruction, the program provides food and a jet boat trip. But it's all about how to reach a struggling demographic, especially locally, in the Lapwai School District, where Samuels is an administrator.

"Test scores for our native students are one of the lowest in the state of Idaho, the ISAT test," said Samuels. "That continues to be one of the driving forces for educators throughout the state."

Samuels said while that's a focus of the event, the goal is to keep the topics relevant for all students.

Lapwai native Brenna Terry was in attendance. The non-traditional student just graduated from LCSC and is here looking for things to use in her classroom.

"There are a lot of success stories, and a lot of ways that we can have understanding of the Native American student, and that they have a lot of challenges that we can help the student overcome and inspire that student," said Terry.

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