Grant aims to support the education and well-being of Alaska Native students

The latest round of federal grants to support Alaska Native students and their education will invest more than $35 million in efforts to recognize students’ unique experiences.

The 28 U.S. Department of Education grants announced Sept. 2 allow Alaska Native organizations, school districts, and “entities in Alaska governed primarily by Alaska Natives” to be part of the Alaska Native Education Program. . Over the past decade, the program has funded projects that recognize “the critical role that Alaska Native languages ​​and cultures play in the educational success and long-term well-being of Alaska Native students.”

Alaska Native students living in the state’s most rural communities often have fewer resources to support their education than non-Native students. But over the past decade, the Department of Education has funded exchange programs, language immersion projects, and heritage curricula to improve outcomes for Alaska Natives.

For example, past grant programs have funded state sister school exchanges.Ed Students from urban areas like Anchorage visit rural Indigenous communities and learn about Indigenous culture By participating in activities such as skinning otters, turning seal intestines into raincoats, and combing musk ox skins into wool. In a 2019 report, students who participated in the program told Education Week that it gave them a new understanding of both their own culture and a culture different from theirs.

Recipients of this year’s grant can use the funds to support the development of curriculum and educational programs that address the needs of Alaska Native students, as well as science and math student enhancement programs. The department also allows recipients to spend money on educator training, early childhood programs, and parent outreach.

For example, the Silaska Heritage Institute, a Native Alaskan conservation nonprofit in Juneau, aims to create culturally responsive STEAM education for middle school students, to “localize and transform” teacher and administrative preparation programs, and to expand doubling. Received $8.8 million in four separate grants. It provides linguistic pathways for Tlingit culture and language, and supports learning about Zad Kil, Smalgyaks, and Ringit ancestry.

The Department of Education recently conducted tribal consultations that included multiple listening sessions with Indigenous leaders to ensure that projects funded through both the American Rescue Plan and the Alaska Native Education Program are well supported. Did. According to the news release, the department specifically asked native readers how the agency “meaningly improves reporting procedures, technical assistance, and recruitment of reviewers.”

The federal government has allocated $85 million in American Rescue Plan funding to Alaska Native organizations and entities governed primarily by Alaska Natives.

In a statement about the grant program, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said, “All Alaska Native students living in rural and remote villages, regional centers and urban centers are committed to quality, culturally sensitive education. They should have access to quality educational opportunities.”