Confederated Umatilla Journal - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla ...

To our daughter,
Chrissy Hughes
Happy Birthday!
We love you, The family
Hours:
Mon - Fri:
9am - 5pm
Sat: - Sun:
Please call and
leave a message.
541-966-8336
Cayuse Country offers a unique array of
flowers arrangments, home décor
and specialty items!
Delivery Available
Native
Natural
Unique
Small Business Spaces Available for
Lease in New Wildhorse’s Hotel
Wildhorse Resort and
Casino will be leasing
two retail spaces in the
new hotel lobby.
Nixyaawii School seeks financial committment
from Tribes before making its case to Pendleton
MISSION – If Nixyaawii Community
School recieves a blessing and financial
commitment from the Confederated
Tribes’ Board of Trustees, then it will
take its argument for adding sixth, seventh
and eighth graders to the Pendleton
School District 16R Board in town.
Charter School Principal Tim Sprenger
was scheduled to make a presentation to
the CTUIR Board on Friday, March 4, to
provide justification for adding middle
school age students to the school on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Sprenger and other Nixyaawii supporters
attended a Pendleton School
District work session in February to make
an initial request to start school next fall
with estimated 30-36 additional students.
That would bring the Nixyaawii total to
about 80 students.
The Nixyaawii charter contract with
16R, renewed for the first time in 2009,
specifies a long-term goal of eventually
having a kindergarten through 12 th grade
school, but as currently written the contract
is limited to 9-12 grades. Any change
to the charter would require an amendment
to the contract, which would take
action from the Pendleton School Board.
Pendleton School District Board members
asked Sprenger to determine the
measure of support from the BOT before
returning with financial projections,
attendance and performance numbers,
staffing, statewide test scores, etc.
“We’ve been gathering that information
and we’ll share it first with the BOT
and then the Pendleton school board,”
Sprenger said. “We’ll make our presentation,
but we still need support from the
BOT. Without it the expansion won’t
take place.”
The Tribes contributed $215,000 cash
to Nixyaawii School in 2010, and appropriated
$275,000 in the 2011 CTUIR
budget.
“We’re at the point where need to next
step with the school,” Sprenger said. “It’s
going to take an investment from the
Tribes. We’re really hoping they see the
value in this school. We know we have
good support from the community.”
Nixyaawii conducted a survey of parents
of fifth, sixth and seventh graders,
basically asking a yes-or-no question
about whether or not they’d send their
child to Nixyaawii.
“The numbers were about what we expected
– about 12 kids a grade, so maybe
36 new students,” Sprenger said.
Sprenger said he will try to convince
BOT members as well as the Pendleton
School Board that Nixyaawii can offer a
new curriculum to students in the formative
middle school years.
“The years six through eight are a
critical time when kids that age seem to
Nixyaawii class to visit
Celilo Longhouse on
Portland field trip
MISSION – A Tribal History class
from Nixyaawii Community School
will attend the Ghosts of Celilo production
at the Newmark Theater in
Portland March 5. The trip will include
several other stops along the way.
Timur Gaston, the social studies
teacher at Nixyaawii, said activities
to round out the trip include a March
4 visit to the site of the once-roaring
Celilo Falls and the Columbia River
Discovery Center at The Dalles to
take in the “Liveways of the Columbia
River Salmon” exhibit.
The next day, students will visit
OMSI in the morning to see the
Ancient Egypt exhibit and then will
attend the play at 2 p.m. On the way
home they will be guests at the Celilo
Longhouse to hear the story of Celilo
and share a meal with elders.
Gaston noted that Thomas Morning
Owl, a Nixyaawii language
teacher, helped write Ghosts of
Celilo and has an acting part in it.
make the decision that either will benefit
them and they move forward, or make
the wrong decision and start having attendance
and performance problems,”
he said. “We feel like our focus on small
class size, the cultural, language and history
components, tie into a kid’s interest
and will keep them engaged in school.”
Sprenger said that if all goes well with
the BOT and the Pendleton 16R Board,
the students could start school in the fall
at Nixyaawii.
“It’s definitely our goal. We still have
time and can make it happen logistically.
We need to have decisions made though;
we need to move right along. If we hit a
month or two roadblock that might be
hard to overcome,” Sprenger said.
Wildhorse would like to
lease the space to
tribal member-owned
businesses that can
provide products and
services to the Resort
guests.
If you are interested in responding to the request
for proposal for the lease spaces, please contact
the Business Service Center at 541-966-1918.
Working together for the
development and expansion
of Native American-owned
small businesses.
46510 Wildhorse Blvd. Pendleton, OR 97801
541-966-1918
Stop by and see our new office!
New Listing on reservation
newer manufactured home in good
condition, large lot with newer shop 24’
by 36’. Good view of the mountains.
$182,500. (#10088985).
Great home in Echo right off
Freeway! Home is just like brand
new/built in 2006, 3 bedroom, 2 bath,
kitchen, 1.996 sq. ft. has granite countertops
- 16’ by 24’ shop with drive thru
doors. Price is $269,900. (#10079081).
#10088985
#9007363
Call Milne at 541-377-7787 #10079081
614 SE Court Avenue in Pendleton / Office 541-278-9275
18 Confederated Umatilla Journal
March 2011