Cultural Connections January 2023 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 halfway through the 2022-23 school year. ESU 2, our
Tribal partners from the Omaha and Winnebago Tribes and our school district partners Bancroft-Rosalie,
Emerson-Hubbard, Homer, Lyons-Decatur, Oakland-Craig, Pender, and Tekamah-Herman continue to
provide culturally relevant student opportunities, supports, and educational choice for Native American
students and their families.
Project Director Dr. Chris Stogdill continues to work closely with the schools and partners and visits each
of the sites regularly. He also has been attending student and school events.
2022-23 school year highlights include:
- 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. - Beading session at Bancroft-Rosalie after school program led by Homer Community School
Success Coordinators Will Maxwell and Sam Kluver. - Continued Lunch & Learns at Homer Community School
- Brule performance on December 18, 2022 at the Sioux City Orpheum where Brule performers
were accompanied by the Sioux City Symphony. 37 students attended. - Two (2x) Food Sovereignty Workshops with Chef Anthony Warrior
(Muscogee (Creek) Nation) at Bancroft Rosalie and Homer Community
School. - Development of a student leadership group for Cultural Connections has begun. Project staff
have met as follow up for the ten students who attended the National UNITY Conference in
Minneapolis as they begin to develop and share their opinions and their voice in the schools and
community. They are scheduled to meet monthly (either in person or via Zoom) starting early 2023. The students will identify a service learning project (to be completed by the end of this
school year) and recruit additional Native American students from local schools. This service
learning project will be the first of many over the next few years as students develop their
leadership and community service skills. - The first high school students (this year) have completed their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) courses and materials and are preparing for their certification test.