Cultural Connections October 2024 Update:
Cultural Connections, ESU 2’s US Dept. of Education’s Demonstration Grants for Indian Children and
Youth Program’s Accessing Choices in Education is now well into the 2024-25 school year. ESU 2, our
Tribal partners from the Omaha and Winnebago Tribes and our school district partners Bancroft-Rosalie,
Homer, Lyons-Decatur, and Oakland-Craig continue to provide culturally relevant student opportunities,
supports, and educational choice for Native American students and their families .
The Cultural Connections team continues to be Project Director Dr. Chris Stogdill and long-time Bancroft
Rosalie school counselor Ronda Ras.
Highlights include:
• Last school year Cultural Connections served 247 American Indian students in project schools.
• There have been 609 total service requests serving 794 students since the portal went live. In the
past federal grant year (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) there were 251 total requests.
• Cultural Connections has contracted with Homer Community School and Bancroft Rosalie
Public School for the schools to provide mentoring, tutoring, and student success services .
• Literacy resources and additional culturally relevant home resources purchased and distributed
to the districts.
• As part of our 2023-24 kick off there were events in Bancroft-Rosalie, Emerson-Hubbard,
Homer, Lyons-Decatur, Oakland-Craig, Pender and Tekamah-Herman. These were attended by
34 parents, 45 students and nine school district administrators.
• Beading and ledger art workshop at the Neihardt Center February 17, 2024.
• Food sovereignty workshop with Chef Anthony Warrior at Oakland Craig Elementary School
where students from participating districts learned traditional recipes.
• The Cultural Connections/Neihardt Center Summer Workshop was held June 18 – 20 at the
historic John G. Neihardt Center in Bancroft. Ideas and resources were recommended by the
parent advisory committee. The 48 students gained knowledge and cultural experiences.
• Forty-eight students examined Native heritage and explored various career pathways as a part of
a field experience to the Kiewit Luminarium in Omaha, June 21.
• Tribal Standards of Care: History, Culture, & Healing when Working with Native, Indigenous,
& Tribal Populations Webinar—June 24, 2024
• Another student completed their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) courses and passed the
certification test.
We are off to a great start for the 2024-25 school year and are looking forward to upcoming activities in
the schools celebrating Native American Heritage month in November 2024