Inside - Seminole Tribe of Florida

The Seminole Tribune 9 April 7, 2006Felix DoBosz(L-R) President Moses Osceola, Chairman Mitchell Cypress, Brighton Council Representative AndrewBowers, NFL All-Pro Jason Taylor, Tampa Liaison Richard Henry, Ft. Pierce Liaison Sally Tommie.Seminole ‘Hit the Books’ with Jason TaylorBy Felix DoBoszHOLLYWOOD — On a beautiful March 27afternoon, under the old Council Oak Tree, theSeminole Tribe of Florida in conjunction with MiamiDolphins all-pro defensive end, Jason Taylor spoke toFelix DoBoszMiami Dolphins # 99 Jason Taylor happy to sign autographs for fans.more than a hundred students bused in from the BigCypress Ahfachkee School.Taylor is the president of the foundation thatbears his name. He said he is a huge supporter of familyvalues and pursuing educational goals for youth.Chairman Mitchell Cypress supports this view, togetherthey made a united effort to motivate and encourageTribal youth to “Hit the Books.”According to Jason Taylor’s FoundationSpokesperson Seth Levit this programis an educational campaigndesigned by Chairman MitchellCypress to further promote theimportance of education. The maingoal and objective of this programis to motivate Tribal youth to continuetheir education through highschool and beyond.The “Hit the Books” tourwith Chairman Cypress and JasonTaylor will consist of pep rallygatherings with students and theirparents at Tribal reservations thatfocus on the importance of education.The program aims to signupTribal students to participate in“Hit the Books” campaign.Each participant of theprogram will be monitored by theTribe’s Education department.Student’s that sign up will receivespecial recognition from theChairman’s Office and JasonTaylor as they reach certain educationalbenchmarks while enrolledin school.Ft. Pierce Liaison Sally R. Tommie was thehost speaker at the event under the shade of the OldCouncil Oak Tree.Preschool Rewarded by Local March of DimesBy Emma BrownBRIGHTON —The Okeechobee March ofDimes and the SeminoleHealth department hosted areward day for the BrightonPreschool students for raising$1,800. The money wasraised to support March ofDimes and the March ofDimes Walk of Americacoming up in Okeechobeeon March 18.Each preschoolstudent was given a piggybank to keep at home forone week so that parents,friends and they could droploose change into it. Afterone week each bank wasreturned and the money wasturned over to the March ofDimes.In one week thekids raised the $1,800,which made a huge impressionin the hearts of theMarch of Dimes staffers and preschoolers at the bubble station.March of Dimes staff. As areward, the March ofDimes staff brought a mini wonder walk to the kids.Since the children are too young to actuallyphysically walk a long distance, mini fun stationswere set up for them to walk between. There was adance station, a hula hoop station, and a bubble stationfor the kids to enjoy. The kids really enjoyed their dayand deserved it for the special heartfelt deed that theyhad done to help boys and girls their own age.The Seminole Tribe is a big supporter ofMarch of Dimes and has groups that participate in thewalks each year. Contact your local Health departmentfor more information.Emma BrownEmma BrownConner Thomas gets the hula hoop moving.Emma BrownThe hula hoop station was a hit with Sadie Rico.Emma BrownHand in hand kids got down at the dance station.Seminole preschool students raised over $1,800 in their piggy banks for the March of Dimes.File PhotoTribal citizen Summer Leigh Tiger attendsUniversity of Miami, majoring in psychology,and hopes to attend Law School.Emma BrownA University of MiamiStudent’s DreamBy Linda Iley, Higher Education AdvisorBeing in University of Miami (UM) is achievementenough. And for Summer Leigh Tiger, a senior student,she is looking forward and working towards agreater achievement.She intends to graduate with a degree in psychology,with a minor in chemistry and biology by end ofsummer 2006 term. Originally, she was planning to be adoctor. However, she is now finding that the law professionis more challenging. By the fall term of next year,she will be in law school.Summer is someone who works well under pressureso she would love the challenge and pressure thatthe legal environment offers. She puts a high expectationon herself, but she respects others who have their ownpace and their own choices. In school, she is doing verywell as an above-average student, considering the factthat she was out of school for two years.She laughs about going back to school and findingout that her classmates are much younger. She gainedinsight after her hiatus by realizing that education andexperiencing life together puts her in a stronger and betterperspective.For her, school is important and she is gratefulto the Tribe for the education program that is helping herachieve her dream. She hopes that she will one day beworking for the Tribe in the Legal department. KnowingSummer, she would make that dream come true!