Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience of the College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education has and continues to be the underserved populations of the Menominee Reservation and surrounding Tribal Communities. The Department utilizes its Tribal Extension funding to assist with youth programming, professional development and skill development for community members, to be better prepared for the workforce, financial education and literacy and nutrition education. As of May 9, 2014, the department has held a total of 96 workshops with 1,776 participants and 4,381 workshop hours. Audiences have included middle school age to high school, elders, those seeking employment, those looking to improve themselves in their current position and those looking to start a business. Settings for instruction have included classrroms at the college, field work that has included going into the Menmominee forest to learn about the woods and the timber industry, going directly into classrooms at local schools and brown-bag one hour sessions for quick education on topics that can assist people on a daily basis. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One of the biggest accomplishment of the program has been the collaboration that occurred between the college, the local job training program/TANF and a local business on the Reservation that employees many of the Tribes members. The Menominee Tribal Enterprises which oversees all aspects of the Tribe forestry and lumber industry contacted the college about the need for trained sawyers in the woods. They indicated that the logging crews in the woosd were in great need of trained sawyers in order to complete the contract for cutting timber and with the current lack of trained sawyers there is several million board feet not able to be cut and brought to the sawmill, which also impacts production at the sawmill. This in turn led to working with the local Job Training Program/TANF to identify individuals who might have an interest in working in the woods and who currently were not employed. The group developed a curriculum that was used to certify these individuals on being a sawyer, but we also to the program one step further and developed a 6 week program that also included the history of the forest, tree identification, financial literacy, personal success strategies, CPR/First Aid and basic math. This provided a much more rounded program that will help to not only make the individuals experienced sawyers, but also successful employees. As stated previously, we now have an improved relationship with the local county extension office, and through that partnership, we have been able to expand our ability to provide other trainings and workshops we previously did not have the resources for. We have conducted healthly lifestyle workshops on; fitting exercise into a busy lifestyle, fatty foods:reading labels, synthetic marijuana, couponing, portion awareness, stress management and staying on track during the holidays. Other noteworthy workshops and trainings that have occurred over the last nine months include; Annual Goal Setting for the Menominee Tribal Legislature, Sexual Abuse and How to Respond, 2014 Will Caravan through a partnership with Wisconsin Judicare-free Will preparation was provided to community members, and a Finance Bowl, which was a competition between 6 local high schools relating to finances, credit and banking. The winner of the competition goes on to a state competition. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results of the workshops and trainings are tabulated from evaluations that are filled out at the end of the sessions. This is then shared with the department and the instructor to learn what worked well and what areas needed improvement. This data was also shared with the partners who were requesting the training to make sure they felt they were getting the desired outcomes they were looking for. In addition, the local Tribal Newspaper covers many of our stories and reports on what was learned and the number of people in attendance. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The program is currently writing for funding for a new four year cycle. Based on that opportunity, the Department of Continuing Education took it upon itself to evaluate the program and look at how the community can best be served. Staff sat down and pulled together comments and resources from community members, past workshops and needs of the community. A Land Grant Strategic Plan was developed with input from staff throughout the college as well as faculty. Based on that the new four year program was established with updated and new goals and objectives. We think there is great opportunity to partner with our local county extension office now that it is located on the Keshena campus of the College of Menominee Nation. We are looking to expand our offerings in healthy living, healthly diet, healthy cooking, gardening, healthy traditional gathering and cooking and food sustainability. We are also going to continue to assist community members with financial assistance through small business entrepreneur training and financial literacy.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education, has once again surpassed its goal of 500 public sector employees, 200 private sector employees and 100 community members, with its total participants to date of 1,776 and 96 workshops. By the end of this grant period, the program will have easily surpassed 2000 participants. Not only has the college worked with departments of the Tribes and the Counties to learn about the needs, but we also look at the students at the College of Menominee Nation to determine the skills that are needed to be successful in college and we try and offer those resources to the youth before they enter the college. In order for community members of a high poverty area to try and bring themselves back up to a living income, they also need to learn how to best utilize the resources that they are currently bringing in. We are working on this in a number of ways through financial literacy programming at all age levels, cost saving tips and techniques, and utilizing computer software to manage your budget. We are also providing many more resources to the community as they pertain to food, nutrition and healthy living. Menominee County which shares boundaries with the Menominee Reservation ranks 72 out of 72 counties in the State of Wisconsin in health statistics. The high poverty and poor nutrition tend to go hand in hand as it can be very expensive to eat healthy. We have been working with the Menominee County/Nation Extension office cooperatively to provide cheap and healthy alternatives to the high fat and carbohydrates that are consumed. The department through its partnerships and connections with local agencies and businesses has been able to meet needed trainings and workshops based on what is being asked for from a job training aspect. We have provided requested training to tribally owned businesses like the Menominee Casino-Hotel, Menominee Tribal Enterprises, which is the local sawmill on the reservation, as well as small business owners who also employee many Tribal members. In addition we have been able to provide requested training to the Menominee Tribal Department of Administration to all tribal employees as well as the Forest County Potawatomi Tribal Clinic.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience of the College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education has and continues to be the underserved populations of the Menominee Reservation and surrounding Tribal Communities. The Department utilizes its Tribal Extension funding to assist with youth programming, professional development and skill development for community members, to be better prepared for the workforce, financial education and literacy and nutrition education. As of May 9, 2014, the department has held a total of 96 workshops with 1,776 participants and 4,381 workshop hours. Audiences have included middle school age to high school, elders, those seeking employment, those looking to improve themselves in their current position and those looking to start a business. Settings for instruction have included classrroms at the college, field work that has included going into the Menmominee forest to learn about the woods and the timber industry, going directly into classrooms at local schools and brown-bag one hour sessions for quick education on topics that can assist people on a daily basis. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One of the biggest accomplishment of the program has been the collaboration that occurred between the college, the local job training program/TANF and a local business on the Reservation that employees many of the Tribes members. The Menominee Tribal Enterprises which oversees all aspects of the Tribe forestry and lumber industry contacted the college about the need for trained sawyers in the woods. They indicated that the logging crews in the woosd were in great need of trained sawyers in order to complete the contract for cutting timber and with the current lack of trained sawyers there is several million board feet not able to be cut and brought to the sawmill, which also impacts production at the sawmill. This in turn led to working with the local Job Training Program/TANF to identify individuals who might have an interest in working in the woods and who currently were not employed. The group developed a curriculum that was used to certify these individuals on being a sawyer, but we also to the program one step further and developed a 6 week program that also included the history of the forest, tree identification, financial literacy, personal success strategies, CPR/First Aid and basic math. This provided a much more rounded program that will help to not only make the individuals experienced sawyers, but also successful employees. As stated previously, we now have an improved relationship with the local county extension office, and through that partnership, we have been able to expand our ability to provide other trainings and workshops we previously did not have the resources for. We have conducted healthly lifestyle workshops on; fitting exercise into a busy lifestyle, fatty foods:reading labels, synthetic marijuana, couponing, portion awareness, stress management and staying on track during the holidays. Other noteworthy workshops and trainings that have occurred over the last nine months include; Annual Goal Setting for the Menominee Tribal Legislature, Sexual Abuse and How to Respond, 2014 Will Caravan through a partnership with Wisconsin Judicare-free Will preparation was provided to community members, and a Finance Bowl, which was a competition between 6 local high schools relating to finances, credit and banking. The winner of the competition goes on to a state competition. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results of the workshops and trainings are tabulated from evaluations that are filled out at the end of the sessions. This is then shared with the department and the instructor to learn what worked well and what areas needed improvement. This data was also shared with the partners who were requesting the training to make sure they felt they were getting the desired outcomes they were looking for. In addition, the local What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The program is currently writing for funding for a new four year cycle. Based on that opportunity, the Department of Continuing Education took it upon itself to evaluate the program and look at how the community can best be served. Staff sat down and pulled together comments and resources from community members, past workshops and needs of the community. A Land Grant Strategic Plan was developed with input from staff throughout the college as well as faculty. Based on that the new four year program was established with updated and new goals and objectives. We think there is great opportunity to partner with our local county extension office now that it is located on the Keshena campus of the College of Menominee Nation. We are looking to expand our offerings in healthy living, healthly diet, healthy cooking, gardening, healthy traditional gathering and cooking and food sustainability. We are also going to continue to assist community members with financial assistance through small business entrepreneur training and financial literacy.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education, has once again surpassed its goal of 500 public sector employees, 200 private sector employees and 100 community members, with its total participants to date of 1,776 and 96 workshops. By the end of this grant period, the program will have easily surpassed 2000 participants. Not only has the college worked with departments of the Tribes and the Counties to learn about the needs, but we also look at the students at the College of Menominee Nation to determine the skills that are needed to be successful in college and we try and offer those resources to the youth before they enter the college. In order for community members of a high poverty area to try and bring themselves back up to a living income, they also need to learn how to best utilize the resources that they are currently bringing in. We are working on this in a number of ways through financial literacy programming at all age levels, cost saving tips and techniques, and utilizing computer software to manage your budget. We are also providing many more resources to the community as they pertain to food, nutrition and healthy living. Menominee County which shares boundaries with the Menominee Reservation ranks 72 out of 72 counties in the State of Wisconsin in health statistics. The high poverty and poor nutrition tend to go hand in hand as it can be very expensive to eat healthy. We have been working with the Menominee County/Nation Extension office cooperatively to provide cheap and healthy alternatives to the high fat and carbohydrates that are consumed. The department through its partnerships and connections with local agencies and businesses has been able to meet needed trainings and workshops based on what is being asked for from a job training aspect. We have provided requested training to tribally owned businesses like the Menominee Casino-Hotel, Menominee Tribal Enterprises, which is the local sawmill on the reservation, as well as small business owners who also employee many Tribal members. In addition we have been able to provide requested training to the Menominee Tribal Department of Administration to all tribal employees as well as the Forest County Potawatomi Tribal Clinic.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for this grant continues to be the underserved individual of the Menominee Indian Reservation, the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe, and the Onieda nation. Menominee County which shares a boundary with the Menominee Reservation continues to have the highest unemployment rate of all 72 counties in the State of Wisconsin. There is a growing need for training in technology to help local community members stay up to date with the changing environment of today's workplace. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community also continues to struggle with a small land base and few jobs located on the reservation as well as issues with poverty. Finally the Oneida Tribe continues to look for ways to diversify their current economic status. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project continues to provide professional development, economic development, elder programs and programs for the youth. This has included job based training programs with 434 participants at 1,718.5 workshop hours. Types of training for this topic were, customer service, Emergency Medical Technician Basic Refresher course, OSHA 10, an inservice for science and math teachers on how to utilize engineering principals in the classroom, an employee meet and greet with a local contractor, Beginning Word, Beginning Internet, powerpoint, Intermediate Word, Real Colors Personality assessment, Microsoft Excel, Mavis Beacon Typing, and a course called Market Place which helps minority businesses learn how to market themselves and learn information on contracting with federal and state agencies. Participants for all of the mentioned training included community members, local professionals and government agencies form the Menominee Tribe and surrounding Tribes. American Heart Association CPR/AED/First aid Certification had 261 participants at 451.5 workshop hours. Teaching the community to learn CPR and First Aid is invaluable to a community that ranks 72nd out of 72 counties in the State of Wisconsin for health statistics. Certifications are granted in adult and child CPR, AED, CPR/AED, CPR/AED-R, CPR Adult, CPR-Adult-Infant-Child, CPR-Infant & Child, first aid, standard first aid, and standard first aid/AED. We have also sustained our financial literacy program that was originally funded via a special emphasis grant. We continue to keep up to date with the Building Native Communities Financial Literacy progam and utiize it with incoming students at the college. The original issue was students were obtaining their financial aid and not using it wisely, thereby running out of funds to complete their degree. The financial literacy program teaches them to develop a budget and spend wisely and how not to get involved with predatorily lenders for quick cash. Another program that has been sustained is the Menominee language program. This is a program for individuals who want to learn the Menominee language who have not before had the opportunity. This consist of what is called a language table where advanced speakers and beginners sit around a table and work with each other on developing the language. This brings pride and a sence of beloning to community members which also leads to incrased healthy activities. Upcoming training - the college is conducting a three part supervisory training in June on dealing with employees who have troubles at home. A professional human resource instructor is coming in to share thoughts and ideas on the topic. In addition to that technology courses will continue throughout the reservation and surrounding communities, as well as financial literacy classes and Menominee language. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The College of Menominee Nation Department of Continuing Education has again exceeded its goal of serving over 1000 people annually prior to the grant year ending. As of May 16, 2013, a total of 1,553 pariticipants have attended 122 workshops for a total of 4,122 workshop hours. This is accomplished by working and communicating with local government agencies and businsesses and learning what the needs of the community are. A wide variety of topics have helped to serve all facets of the population to include but not limited to, youth, elders, law enforcement, professionals, the under employed and the unemployed. There is a much greater awareness of the skills needed to be successful in job abilities and the need for that additional training when searching for a job. In addition there continues to be the strong need for financial literacy to assist individuals in getting control of their finances and learning how conserve and be responsible with spending the income they have. There also continues to be a need to keep the native culture in all aspects of the training and workshops that we conduct. By doing this we get local community members a way to identify themselves with what is being taught and how they can utilize it in their day to day life. a good example is the Menominee language classes that are taought. Menominees are proud of their culture and language and by being able to learn the language, it provides them with a positive feeling and a way to feel that they are impoving themselves. This leads to additional interests in improving ones self and a healthier view of life.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Department of Continuing Education (DoCE) wil again meet and exceed its goals for workshop attendance. DoCE has already served over 600 and will exceed the goal of 800 individuals by the end of the project year. A total of 612 community members/leaders participated as of May 15, 2011 for a total of 4,615 workshop hours. Based on this and the total number of trainings scheduled for the remainder of the grant period, we will most certainly exceed 1000. Examples of sessions held but not all include: 2010 Census Data Workshop - 7 participants for a total of 56 workshop hours. Staff from the Regional Census Bureau office in Chicago provided hands on training to Tribal departments and grant writers. This information is highly sought after as much of the available funding is based on these numbers. Job Based Training - 15 sessions were held with 213 participants for a total of 1,270 workshop hours. Participants included local community members, professionals, leaders and youth. Topics included; health care provider training, road construction training, law enforcement training, soft skills, Tribal law, Tribal leadership goal setting and conservation training. American Heart Association CPR/AED/First Aid Certifications -165 participants for a total of 528 workshop hours. Participants included local professionals, educators, and security guards, loggers, and Tribal housing employees. Certifications were granted in adult and child CPR, AED, CPR/AED, CPR/AED-R, CPR-Adult, CPR-Adult-Infant-Child, CPR-Child, CPR-Infant & Child, first aid, standard first aid, and standard first aid/AED. Upcoming Trainings - DoCE is planning on holding additional trainings that are a direct request of community agencies and departments in the remaining time of the project year. These will include but are not limited cultural based training, a series of law enforcement courses, leadership workshops, and also professional development for individuals currently enrolled in vocational rehabilitation. PARTICIPANTS: The DoCE has developed a unique relationship with the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Through this relationship joint workshops have been offered that cover multiple communities, thereby sharing the costs in order to keep participants coming. There has also been additional projects that are in the development phase the utilize this newly formed partnership. Secondly, DoCE is very excited to report that it has also formed a relationship with the UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension, and through this partnership a 4-H Youth Development Educator has been hired and is located at the College of Menominee Nation. This is very exciting to have a fulltime youth educator on staff and will open up many new doors in establishing youth programs at the college. TARGET AUDIENCES: Menominee tribal officials continue to express the need to improve the economic development opportunities for the Menominee community and members. Menominee County continues to have the highest unemployment rate of all 72 counties in Wisconsin. The people of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community strive to develop a stable economic base to raise their standard of living. Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin desires to provide comprehensive education/training programs that reach all aspects of the socioeconomic arena and promotes capacity building within the Tribe to result in a more stable tribal community. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
DoCE continues to train and certify a large number of community members and local employees in CPR/First aid. This has made the community much safer and also provides individuals with the feeling of accomplishment. This also helps the local emergency responders to be more effective and successful. A partnership has been developed with the local community resource center and together we are providing life skills training to their clients such as report writing, professional communication, automobile maintenance, and home maintenance.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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