(NAME-MCE) Education conference addresses Indian issues

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Education conference addresses Indian issues

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20080723_11_A5_spancl461357
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
*Stephen Sroka:* "Let's put kindness back in schools," the award-winning
educator said. "If you don't get to the heart, you don't get to the head."



By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
7/23/2008
Last Modified: 7/23/2008  3:00 AM

 Hundreds of American Indian educators, school administrators, parents and
even some students from around the country headed to Tulsa this week for the
24th annual National Indian School Board Association and Association of
Community Tribal Schools summer conference.

The conference at the Southern Hills Marriott hotel runs through Wednesday
and features several discussion groups and workshops, ranging from creative
ways to teach American Indian youth to understanding Bureau of Indian
Education organization.

Nearly 300 people are attending the event, said Carmen Taylor, executive
director of the National Indian School Board Association.

A major focus of the meeting is understanding the federal No Child Left
Behind law and how it affects tribal schools, which have had to shift focus
from culture, art and language toward testing.

"The intent this year was to get people thinking about not only No Child
Left Behind, but what is happening in our tribal communities," Taylor said.

"Yes, schools should be held accountable, but we're forgetting some really
important things in our community. We're taking the heart and soul out of
education. We have reduced everything to a test score and statistic.
Education is more than a test score and statistic."

Monday's keynote speaker, Stephen Sroka, an award-winning educator and
author, spoke of hardships and problems faced by students in Indian schools,
but also of ways to reach them.

"Around the country, there are children being left behind, but in Indian
Country, the dropout rate is near 70 percent," he said. "Native youth are
the most at-risk youth. These are not kids being bad; these are cries for
help. When they cry for help, we punish them."

Education should have a kindness-based approach to students, and old methods
of teaching may not necessarily work for students today, Sroka said.

"They want someone who cares for them, not someone who is only looking for a
paycheck," he said.

"Let's put kindness back in schools. If you don't get to the heart, you
don't get to the head."