Teachers spend week learning about diversity

Fox and Thomas from Albuquerque, N.M and Mt. Baldy, Calif. respectively, were at Chadron State College last week to teach workshops regarding “Diversity Instruction in the Classroom.” The sessions focused on Native American and Hispanic literature and examined the integration of culture into core subjects.

Twenty-four teachers from across the state participated in the conference. They took a break Thursday night to watch local Native American dancers and drummers perform in the Mari Sandoz Heritage Center.

“The teachers are really getting into this,” said Fox “Each one has a different perspective on culture in the classroom, and the teachers from this area are very in tune with meeting the needs of Indian children.”

After the conference, the ideas proposed in the workshop discussions will be compiled into a book and CD that will be given to all the participants. As part of the program, the teachers were also given the option of registering for three hours of graduate credit from either CSC or Wayne State College.

Fox, a reading and Indian education specialist, is a Pine Ridge, S.D., native. She was the 1998 Indian Educator of the Year and has written a six-book series, “Creating Sacred Places for Our Children.”

She has been active in Indian education for more than 30 years and recently retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs after 24 years of service.

Thomas is an assistant professor of education at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., where she teaches multi-cultural classes. She is a nationally recognized Hispanic education expert and the former co-director for the Center of Language and Learning.

Fox and Thomas have worked together previously while lecturing at conferences, and co-designing a supplemental K-3 reading program for Indian children.

The conference was one of three taught by Fox and Thomas this year and sponsored by the Nebraska State Department of Education.