Community partnership to help Native students

At the Kehtekaewak Farmer’s Market on Aug. 11, the College of Menominee Nation, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), Core Learning Exchange and Bowler School District will officially reveal a newly finished mobile construction lab, as well as showcase the programs, such as virtual reality, that are taking place.

NIEA received $500,000 and was one of 25 winners of the Catalyze Grant Challenge. The challenge aims to fund and share ideas that rethink the connections among K-12, post-secondary education and career for students in grades 6-12, with a focus on reaching students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

This project, “‘Building’ Career Pathways for Native Students,” is a middle school to post-secondary pathway that utilizes community resources and partnerships to build interest and credentialing for construction trades. The project is open to all students, but emphasizes utilizing the tribal college access to build a Native workforce for the Menominee, Oneida and Stockbridge-Munsee tribes.

The first year of funding has enabled the partners to:

• Build a mobile construction lab for hands-on practice for the schools, colleges or local partners who have projects for on-site training for students.

• Develop a council of partners that represent tribal and business in the region that have committed to this work through job shadowing opportunities and supplies.

• Include virtual reality headsets and courses for middle school students for exploratory simulations of careers.

• Implement middle and high school online curricula for career-connected learning in trade, IT, graphic design, health care and more.

CMN will kick off the festivities with remarks by Christopher Caldwell, president of the college; Diana Cournoyer, executive director of NIEA; and local and national project partners and supporters. This event will be livestreamed through media channels, and Catalyze funders will share the event as well.