Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:WETCC students were provided TEK knowledge through Ojibwe language and culture courses and cultural immersion events and workshops thatincludecommunity members. TEK workshops and events provided by the Extension Educator include the following audiences: K-12 students and staff from public schools, charter schools, culture camps and after-school programs for youth, and adults from tribal colleges: White Earth Tribal Council,Ponemah Elementary, Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter, Fond Du Lac Ojibwe School, Duluth Public School's Missabekong Ojibwe Language Immersion Program and Lowel Elementary,Waubun School Forest,Naytahwaush Community Charter School,Cass Lake Bena School,Ponemah Round House,Callaway Boys and Girls Club,White Earth Tribal and Community College,Red Lake Nation Tribal College,University of Duluth,Red Lake Community Day, Madeline Island Snow Snake Festival, and Bemidji Snow Snake Races. Changes/Problems:New Extension Director and addedExtension Educator position. Change in focus and fundingfrom thegeospatial technologies (GST) computer training program for Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to enhaceTEK cultural activities, Ojibwe language, and food sovereignty through wild food foraging and traditional foods education. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Two (2) week immersive ceremony with Ojibwemowinspoken and taught. TEK ancestral teaching formaking and using a Bootaagan and Bootaaganak - mortar and pestel for pounding corn and wild rice into meal and flour. Scholarship for Extension Director to attend Symbiotic Aquaponics Course - Fall of 2020 Site visit to Food Farm and Fond Du Lac Community Garden to learn about soil health, cover cropping, growing methods, and storage - September 16, 2020 Great Lakes TEK 3-part Webinar series -June 2021 2020-21 Scholarship for a2-semester coursethrough the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Tribal Food Sovereignty 2020-21 Ojibwe Language Immersion Camp forLanguage Instructor 2021-22Food Sovereignty Symposium & Festival in Michigan How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extensions activities, goals, and/or outcomes are shared with 1)WETCC's Assessment Committee as part of the college's Work Plan and Assessment process,2) President's Monthly Report to the Boardof Trustees, 3) community interactions and discussions, 4) community distribution of produce Fact Sheet, 5) WETCC website, local Anishinaabeg tribal newspaper, and 7) Facebook page. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
2018-19 Goals 1: Hired instructor for 3 Ojibwe Language courses (Beginners 1, 2 and Intermediate). 2: Provided opportunitiesfor TEK carriers and first language speakers to teach students, staff, and community cultural teachings through a Spring Plant Walk and Wild Edibles workshop regarding cultural protocol of plant identification, harvesting, and Anishinaabe naming. 3: Purchased and began trianing of the GST computer training programforExtension Director (ED) and GIS/GPS Teaching Assistant. 2019-20 Goals 1:TaughtAnishinaabe Culture Class bothsemesters and continued TEK and language courses and teachings that include Bootaagan and Bootaaganak construction (mortar and pestle for grinding corn and wild rice into meal and flour) and Aazoodikaan (Traditional Ojibwe Story Telling)in Ojibwe Language and then translated into English during annual wild rice camp in September. 2:Funding opportunities for TEK carriers and first language speakers to teach students and staff in culturally appropriate ways. 2020-21 Goals 1:Continuation of language coures and curriculum development;(8) TEK and Ojibwe Language cultural sessions for students and community(hand drum teachings and construction; medicinal plant walk, plant I.D., naming and use; and medicine bags teachings and construction. Hosted(12) Traditional Thursdays for students and staff (Adaazookan's (Sacred legends) cultural teachings through storytelling, Ojibwe language and learning about medicines and their origins). Provided (3) TEK Traditional Food Foraging workshops forstudents, staff and community to learn seasonalforaging;(1) TEK teaching atWild Rice Camp; and (1) opportunity for three orators to share Adaazookaan (sacred teachings/story telling) during the Winter Camp. 2021-22 Goals (participants arefrom "Target Audience" measure) 2: TEK learning opportunities: Snow snakes (Gooniginebigoog), an annual outdoor activity of the western Great Lakes region beginning in November and lastinginto March or April. Includesceremony, oration of Legend of Awanikwe, constructing and decoratingsticks into snow snakes, building racetracks, andparticipating in races. 421 participants Wild Rice Camp, a 2-day campof learning Anishinaabe cultural teachings of how to process wild rice by cleaning green rice, sun-drying,parching over fire, and jigging and winnowingrice toremovehusks. 100participants Berry Camp,a 2-day camp learning Anishinaabe cultural teachingsof how to pick wild blueberries, makeknockersfor wild rice harvesting, fish and smoking fish, and winnowbasket making for wild rice processing.61 participants Sugar Bush Camp, taught through Anishinaabe TEK cultural teachings, participants learned how totap mapletrees, harvest sap water,cookinto a syrup and bottle. 33participants Student and community food sovereignty and food security needs inspired the development of a one-acre garden that produced2,035 pounds fresh produce; distrubution of259 shrubs and berry plants, 206 trees,5515 plant starts, and11,000 seed packets. 2022-23 No Cost Extension Extension Educator activities:(participants arefrom "Target Audience" measure) Snow snakes (Gooniginebigoog)948participants Telling the Legend of Awanikwe and Snow Snake Racing. 267 participants and 5 racetracks built Ojiwe Phenology,uses modern science of phenology infused with Ojibwe language, culture, history and stories to gain a broader understanding of the natural world andcross-cultural knowledge. 4-6 grade students from the Wauben School Forest participated inlearning sessions and outdoor activities 3 times a month over the course of the academic year. 67 participants Sugarbush 25 participants Story Telling: Creation story(Red Lake ICWA Program 62 employees, White Earth Tribal Council 85 Employees);Legend of Awanikwe - Ponemah Elementary 184 students, Red Lake School 6th grade 87 students; how Ojibwe got lacrosse 22 adults. 440total participants Indigenous Jurisprudence, 7th Generation Guardianship and the Rights of Nature, 2-day work group session examining and developing a framework that better integrates Indigenous values withnon-human relationships.10 participants Lacrosse -Naytahwaush community lacrosse event,WETCC, and Shooting Star casino. 50 participants Men's gathering - men from White Earth, Leech Lake and Red Lake gathered to integratecultural teachings and storytelling to help men better understand roles asfamily and community members. 85 participants Corn Husk doll making workshop andstorytelling about how the dolls came to be. 14 participants
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience: This proposal focuses on the need to preserve the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and associated language of the White Earth Nation and imbue this knowledge into a curriculum that is increasingly taught by adjunct instructors. The preservation and teaching of this knowledge is foundational to the College mission and a primary reason that the Tribe founded and continues to support it. Changes/Problems:COVID 19 continues to be a global epidemic that threatens the health and wellbeing of communities. We are careful in what we do to ensure the safety of our students, Elders, and community. Our Elders are the holders of our traditional knowledge and language, so we must remain diligent to ensure we do not jeopardize their health as there not many who are first language Ojibwe language speakers left. We did have a change with the resignation of our Cultural Coordinator who was also one of our Ojibwe'mowin Instructors. It was a good change considering he left to teach Ojibwe'mowin to our children at a local school. It did however provide a challenge to cover that class which we were successful in doing. We continuing to build the Ojibwe'mowin language program for WETCC.? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?? Professional Development Opportunities: Food Sovereignty Symposium & Festival in Michigan. This provided TEK learning opportunities in food sovereignty, Indigenous foods, Indigenous food systems, land-based systems, andIndigenous tools. COVID 19 is still present which impacts our opportunities to travel to engage in profession development opportunities. Although there may be opportunities to learn on-line, it becomes a challenge as most TEK is not necessarily appropriate through such technology. So, COVID is still very much a challenge today. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A Community Extension Service, Community Distribution Data Fact Sheet of the data detailed above regarding the Chi Gitigaan (Big Garden) was complied for the WETCC Website, Facebook and in the local Tribal Paper. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?? The plan is to provide TEK learning opportunities for our next generation. WETCC college students are invited to engage in the transference of TEK through teachings of Lacrosse, traditional food foraging, traditional cultural camps: Winter Camp, Sugar Bush Camp, Berry Camp and Wild Rice Camp. We also plan to teach Phenology with 4-6th grade students at the Waubun Elementary School which takes place in the woods year-round. This is critical to engage our youth in TEK learning opportunities so that they are exposed to our Anishinaabe Culture and Ojibwe'mowin at a young age to plant the seeds of knowledge so that when they become college students, we can build on that knowledge versus starting at beginner levels which is what we are experiencing. We also plan in the spring to plant the Chi Gitigaan (Big Garden) which was implemented when. COVID 19 started in 2020 to provide food to the Elderly Nutrition Program, Students, Community and the White Earth Child Day Care that is on the WETCC Campus and across the road with the White Earth Head Start Program. And the TEK Snow Snake Traditional game will be taught at various schools and Indigenous learning events to support the transference of TEK to students and communities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
? 1. Providing support for the existing faculty and courses. Objective 1a: Maintain existing faculty for the period of the grant to teach existingcourses. Report: Anishinaabe Culture Course was taught each semester for this grant reporting period. Class size varies from 10-18 students. Ojibwe'mowin class was being taught by the Cultural Coordinator who resigned shortly after the semester started as he took a position at the local K-12 school to teach Ojibwe'mowin to the children. This class was picked up by another faculty member to teach for the remainder of the semester. Objective 1b: Fund faculty development opportunities for the period of the grant thatallow the ED to expand her: • TEK and language knowledge • Work towards the credentials for teaching GST courses and building a GSTcertification program. Report: There was not much of an opportunity for faculty development for the director who teaches Anishinaabe Culture Course or the Ojibwe'mowin Faculty instructor during this time. These opportunities are rare for faculty in such positions at Tribal Colleges due the nature of Anishinaabe Culture and Ojibwe'mowin are not a mainstream professional development offering. GST credentials - Per Erin Riley's approval, this has been changed. This change was due largely because the previous director of Extension Service with which this grant was written for resigned from the college in late 2018, and what this course was intended for was not offered at the college and nor was this potential course being developed to be offered at that time. 2. Funding opportunities for TEK carriers and first language speakers to teachstudents and staff in culturally appropriate ways. Objective 2: Provide funds for instructional materials, field trips, and other experientiallearning opportunities to support the ES curriculum. Report Snow Snake Traditional Games teachings TEK through this game by understanding our relationship to Mother Earth and our responsibilities to her and all of creation as we are inter-dependent upon all that exist for our survival. This TEK Snow Snake Game was almost lost until the Extension Educator had taken the time over the years to learn about the game and to also teach it. This game has been taught during this reporting period: NayTahWaush School with 35 students participating Bemidji Lake Indigenous TEK learning eventwith 15 community participants Madeline Island Indigenous TEK learningevent with 130 participants for the game and 40 participants for the teachings Duluth Public School with 55 student participants and 8 staff Cass Lake Bena School with 65 student participants (5-8th grade) Fond Du Lac School with 18 student participants University of Duluth 85 participants Callaway Boys and Girls Club with 10 participants Traditional Camps:These camps are also funded under the Capacity grant, the Director and Extension Educator's time in this grant hascontributed to the success of these camps including our teaching or supporting the various activities offered. We are not double reporting data as it is demonstrating our time to these TEK events. Wild Rice Camp- Two-day camp with100 participantslearned through Anishinaabe cultural teachings of TEKhow to process wild rice by cleaning green rice, drying it in the sun, parching over a hot fire, jigging the rice to get remove the husk and winnowing the rice to remove the husk in the wind and then bagging the rice to share with camp participants. Berry Camp- Two-day camp with 61participants learned participantslearned through Anishinaabe cultural teachings of TEKhow to pick wild blueberries, making wild rice knockers for wild rice harvesting in the fall, fishing, smoking fish, Winnowing basket making for wild rice processing, These are TEK tools and preservation practices of the Anishinaabeg people. Sugar Bush Camp - The Extension Educator's camp was held with a total of 33 participantslearned through Anishinaabe cultural teachings of TEK. Participants learned how to make offerings to the Maple trees, tap the trees, harvest the sap water from the trees, how to cook it down to syrup and bottle it. The syrup was shared with the participants. Winter Camp - Cancelled due to COVID 19 as the WETCC campus closed down and classes went on-line with staff teleworking from home for a month. In response to COVID 19, the Community Extension Service department planted an acre garden to meet the needs of our students and their families including our community members and especially our Elders who are faced with food insecurity. According to the Hope University Institutional Report for the White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC), they found through a survey with our students that they had the highest food insecurity, home insecurity and homelessness than all other surveyed 2-year institutions in the country. This report came out in February 2020 when in March 2020, COVID 19 global pandemic was announced to the world. TEK is taking care of our people through food sovereignty initiatives. We have continued this work since by teaching student interns and staff how to plant, maintain, harvest, preserve, cover cropping and soil health while helping to distribute fresh produce into the community. Chi Gitigaan (Big Garden) This was teaching food sovereignty through TEK and culturalpractices. 2,035 of fresh produce grown and distributed to the community, WETCC students and the Elderly Nutrition Program 259 Shrubs and Berry plants distributed to the community Food Forest 126 Trees distributed to community programs 80 Tress panted on the WETCC campus Plant Starts distributed to community 5,515 Seed Packets distributed to community 11,000 3. Funding GST training for the ED and other staff to build capacity for a futureGST certification of completion program. Objective 3: Fund the training of a GIS/GPS Teaching Assistant as additional supportand capacity-building for future programming. Report: Per Erin Riley's approval, this has been changed.
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience: The targeted audience is WETCC students to learn TEK knowledge via Anishinaabe Culture class,Ojibwe Language 1, Ojibwe Language 2class's and TEK teaching opportunities on campus and within the community, including inviting community members to participate in the transference of traditional ecological knowledge. Changes/Problems:As a small institution, we often face staff turnover which at times can be set back as it requires time needed for on boarding and then to acclimate to their job roles. This grant was written before I became the director which makes it difficult to deliver in certain areas as it was written for the previous directors' professional development. I am steadily improving upon the delivery of grant goals and objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I did attend the Great Lakes TEK 3-part Webinar series in June. I also received a scholarship to take 2 semester 1 Credit courses through the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Tribal Food Sovereignty. Language Instructor attended a weekend Ojibwe Language Immersion Camp. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We provide monthly reports to the Council of Trustee of the WETCC which is also available to all staff to review.We are happy to honor any request for further dissemination of these results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Increase TEK learning opportunities for WETCC students and staff,utilize Traditional Elder's when it is safe to do so and have the Ojibwe Language Curriculum completed. Increase training and professional development opportunities for faculty.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1a: Anishinaabe Culture Class has been taught each semester through the reporting period. In addition, (2) Ojibwe Language Courses were taught each semester during this reporting period: Beginning Ojibwe Language 1 and Ojibwe Language 2. Ojbjective 1b:TEK and language knowledge Due to covid, spending time with Traditional Elders was not an option to protect the precious knowledge keepers which we are unfortunately losing to quickly. It was decided to not to risk their life during these times.Some telephone calls were made, but there are teachings and knowledge that can only be shared in person. It was planned for me, Faculty of Anishinaabe Culture and Faculty of Ojibwe Language to attend the Food Sovereignty Symposium and Festival in Michigan, but again, COVID cases were rising, and this faculty development opportunity was cancelled. I did attend the Great Lakes TEK 3-part Webinar series in June. I also received a scholarship to take 2 semester courses through the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Tribal Food Sovereignty. Objective 1b:Work towards the credentials for teaching GST courses and building a GSTcertification program. Per Erin Riley's approval, this has been changed. 2. Funding opportunities for TEK carriers and first language speakers to teachstudents and staff in culturally appropriate ways. We provided (8) TEK and Ojibwe Language cultural sessions for students and community members including their children as TEK is also the transference of traditional knowledge to our children.Subjects were; Medicine walk and learning how to identify plants, how to culturally collect them and how they are used as medicines, Ojibwe Language introduction, using medicines to make tea, especially with covid present, how to make salve from medicines and shared recipes, hand drum making, hand drum sticks, receiving cultural teachings of the hand drum, feasting them and learning a song in Ojibwe language, traditional tobacco making, sewing of their medicine bags and receiving cultural teachings of it use and how to use Ojibwe language in their prayers. We co-hosted with WETCC Customized Ed and participated in (12) Traditional Thursdays that included Adaazookan's (Sacred legends) cultural teachings through storytelling, Ojibwe language and learning about medicines and their origins.These sessions were specific to WETCC Students and Staff and was delivered via zoom due to WETCC campus closing due to Covid and transferred all classes online. (4) Change of Season's ceremony were done for WETCC students and staff, with cultural teachings, Ojibwe language and understanding of why this done each season. (1) Water ceremony was done.This is done in the Spring of each season, and cultural teachings, Ojibwe language and song is taught for this ceremony. (3) TEK Traditional Food Foraging was offered to students, staff and community including their children to learn how to forage for traditional foods during the seasons of Spring, Summer and Fall as these foods are not ready to be harvested until then, such as berries, mushrooms, rosehips, cat tail reeds, wild onions, parsnips, etc. (1) We provided TEK teachings during the Wild Rice Camp, it is during this time that the teachings of Mahnomen (Wild Rice) are taught.It is through these traditional gatherings that TEK is transferred from generation to generation as they have always been. (1) We provided for (3) three Orators to share Adaazookaan (sacred teachings/story telling) during the Winter Camp.It during the Winter that these take place as they cannot be taught until the snow is on the ground. Objective 2: Grant funds were used to support these experiential learning opportunities and through collaboration with the WETCC Customized Ed program. We also have been doing curriculum development for Ojibwe language.There is no standardized Ojibwe Language Curriculum at any TCUs in our area.The Ojibwe Lang., faculty at the different TCU's all have different approaches which impacts the acquisition of the language for students.For example, a student could transfer from one TCU to another and go into the Ojibwe Lang., class, and have no consistency in the levels of the language or learning patterns which then impedes their language acquisition and proficiency level.We have been meeting with an Ojibwe Elder who is a language speaker to help with the development for the Ojibwe Lang., curriculum for WETCC which we hope other TCUs would consider as a template for their Ojibwe Language Courses. 3.Funding GST training for the ED and other staff to build capacity for a futureGST certification of completion program. Per Erin Riley's approval, this has been changed. Objective 3:Per Erin Riley's approval, this has been changed.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience is WETCC students to learn TEK knowledge via Ojibwe Language class and TEK teaching opportunities on campus, including inviting community members to participate in the transference of traditional ecological knowledge. Changes/Problems:I was hired as director of the Extension Department in October of 2019 and have been in this position for a year. This was a challenging transition as the department had recently hired the Extension Supervisor and shortly after I started, the Extension Educator and Gardner was hired, so we had a lot to acclimatewith the grant and map out grant activities and with each other. I reported year the complexity of this grant as it was basically written for the previous director, Kim Anderson and her specific professional development. With Erin's approval, we are able to broaden the professional development for this position and specific to me. The other problem was the development of a GST course. How the college operates is that our strategic plan guides our work and our budgets, which is based on data that supports programs being introduced. There is no data that supports the introduction of a GST course. With our new strategic plan that is in development has the potential to support this course along with the support of the Academic Dean and new Science Faculty that can help with the development and delivery of it. COVID-19 impacted our capacity to deliver grant goals, objectives and outcomes as the college closed campus March 16, 2020 and did not open until the end of June of 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?? Bootaagan and Bootaaganak, which is a TEK ancestral teaching of carving mortar out of a birch tree using tools and fire and teaching how to pound corn and wild rice into meal and flour. These ancestral food processing tools can last within a family up to 130 years. There is a song and dance that accompany the teachings of this TEK tool. March 14-15,2020 AIHECAssociation of College and University Educators (ACUE) Microcredential in Promoting Active Online Learning Certificate Course - Summer of 2020 (WETCC College Academic Department paid for this for WETCC Faculty and Adjunct Faculty) Symbiotic Aquaponics Course - Fall of 2020 (This was a scholarship I applied for and recieved. ) Site visit to Food Farm and Fond Du Lac Community Garden to learn about soil health and cover cropping, growing methods and storage - September 16, 2020 Aazoodikaan (Traditional Ojibwe Story Telling) TEK during Extension Wild Rice Camp, September 12 & 13, 2020 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Community train the trainer was provided to participants to learn from start to finish their own Bootaagaan's then train another community member to make theirs. Future community trainings were planned but were cancelled due to COVID-19. The results of the AIHEC ACUE course have strengthened on-line teaching to accommodate COVID-19 Hy Flex learning opportunity offered to WETCC students to participate in-person or on-line. It was also in preparation for potential campus closure for fall semester. Community discussions regarding cover cropping as some have expressed that their gardens are not producing as it once did which is due to planting again and again in the same gardening plot versus having an alternative growing plot next to their original one to give time for the soil to recover and potentially grow a cover crop at that time. The Aazoodikan was heard by 40+ participants including myself to understand Anishinaabe Culture and the importance of such traditional knowledge of transference with all participants present. Symbiotic Aquaponics will help inform future planning at the WETCC for food security planning. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have had a new science faculty start this Fall Semester of 2020 along with a new Academic Dean. It will be with this team that we would plan the feasibility of GST class to be offered in which this grant with Erin Riley's approval to support an Adjunct Faculty to provide this course originally planned. We also plan to strategize how to utilize zooms to provide TEK teachings with Elders and we would like to move Extension Coordinator's from this grant once we provide for the 10% in another grant so that we can provide that 10% to support Ojibwe Language Adjunct time to teach TEK in Beginners Ojibwe 1 and Beginners Ojibwe 2 courses currently offered at WETCC. Further TEK and professional development opportunities will be pursued.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Providing support for the existing faculty and courses. Objective 1a: Anishinaabe Culture Class has been taught each semester during this reporting period. As discussed with Erin Riley, I teach TEK via Anishinaabe Culture and not through Ojibwe Language. Objective 1b: TEK and language knowledge: Bootaagan and Bootaaganak, which is a TEK ancestral teaching of carving a mortar out of a birch tree using tools and fire and teaching how to pound corn and wild rice into meal and flour; Aazoodikaan (Traditional Ojibwe Story Telling) was also told in Ojibwe Language and then translated into English. Work towards the credentials for teaching GST courses and building a GSTcertification program. This has been changed with Erin Riley's approval and planning to pay an Adjunct to teach this course. 2. Funding opportunities for TEK carriers and first language speakers to teachstudents and staff in culturally appropriate ways. We did provide for Aazoodikaan (Traditional Ojibwe Story Telling) during Extension's annual Wild Rice Camp in September 2020. COVID-19 impacted this deliverable. Objective 2: Provide funds for instructional materials, field trips, and other experientiallearning opportunities to support the ES curriculum This was not completed as I became the director of Extension Service October 1, 2019 andCOVID-19 caused the college to close campus March 16, 2020. 3. Funding GST training for the ED and other staff to build capacity for a futureGST certification of completion program. This deliverable has been changed per Erin Riley's approval. Objective 3: Fund the training of a GIS/GPS Teaching Assistant as additional supportand capacity-building for future programming. This deliverable has been changed per Erin Riley's approval.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience for this reporting period are WETCC Students through class courses offered at the college for TEK restoration. 50 male students and 50 female students were to targeted population. Of the register students for Fall Semester 2018 for the Beginner Ojibwemown II for this reporting was 6 students, 4 female and 2 male. For Spring Semester 2019 for Beginner Ojibwemowin I were 10 students, 7 female and 3 male and for Intermediate Ojibwemowin a total of 5 students, 4 female and 1 male. Total students for this reporting period is21 with 15 female students and 6 male students. Changes/Problems:As stated in earlier, we have had staff changes that has impacted our department regarding the resignation of the Extension Director.With that said, the new Co-Curricular Director brings in years of non-profit management as having been the Executive Director and CEO of the tribal organization with experience in grant writing, program development and delivery, grant reporting and management.The Co-Curricular Director is also Adjunct Faculty who teaches Anishinaabe Culture, which is a mandatory core class for WETCC. The challenge with this new position for the new Co-Curricular Director is acclimating to the integration of the Culture Department and Extensions Department along with its staff to build and strengthen its working relationships. Another challenge would be strengthening this grant by ensuring it is sustainable with the goal areas. This grant appears to be about the professional development for the Extension Director, Kim Anderson. This is not sustainable with the amount of time and money which supported that. And when such an employee leaves, so does that knowledge and investment. It is crucial to ensure funds thatstrengthen these goal areas are sustainable within the institution so that should a key employee leave, the knowledge and its investment is institutionalized so that it can continue to grow. These are great challeges to have as it provides endless opportunities to grow and create more sound sustanable programming within the WETCC Extension program. As a new Director of theExtension department, it is a great challenge to report out on grantactivitiesthat I have not be exposed to, so I am doing my best with what I do have access to in regards to this grant report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?For this reporting period, Kim Anderson was provided professional development opportunityby attending a two (2) week ceremony which Ojibwemowin is spoken and taught in an immersion style learning methodology. This opportunity provided Kim Anderson the opportunity to strengthen her ojibwe language acquisitionskills by conversing with fellow second language learners of ojibwemowin such as herself and to sit with Elders who are fluent first language speakers. When ceremonies are conducted completely in ojibwemowin, it deepens the cultural understanding of the langauge as it is demonstrated with actions. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extensions goals, activities, experiences, and plans are shared within our college and Council of Trustees in our monthly reports, Institutional Effectiveness Plan and within our WETCC Strategic Plan updates. Photos on the Extension website, WETCC Website and WETCC Facebook page are often the most utilized methodology of dissemination the community responds to the most. Social media with Facebook is a useful tool and one that community members respond to the most. This has increased student and community interest in workshops provided and asked for. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Since the resignation of the previous Extension DirectorKim Anderson who resigned in August, the current Director, Lisa Brunner is reviewing the grant proposal and will be in contact with Erin Riley to revisit some of the goals outlined so that they can be more about expanding community work versus professional development of a director. Regarding GST/GIS, one potential plan would be to create the GIS Certification program for the college versus just two staff to be cost effective and for time management. Creating more learning opportunities for Ojibwe language and TEK by providing more learning opportunities through the college versus a professional development plan for just one person. Through this potential methodology, it would be wise to record the TEK Elders who share Anishinaabe stories,teachings and Ojibwe languageso that they can be shared in the classroom and archived in the College library.?
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Under Goal Area 1; Kim Anderson was maintained to teach Ojibwe Language classes.Ojibwemowin Beginners I, Beginners Ojibwemowin II and Ojibwemowin Intermediate classes were offered during this reporting period. Faculty professional development has been provided. Under Goal Area 2; Opportunities were provided for TEK carriers and first language speakers to teach students, staff and community cultural teachings through a Spring Plant Walk and Wild Edibles field trip/workshop. The TEK transference regarding cultual protocol of harvesting plants, their Anishinaabe names and how to identify them is rooted in Ojibwemowin language and cultural teachings. Under Goal Area 3; The GST computer training program has been purchased and both the ED and the GIS/GPSTeachingAssistant were in the process of learning through this program.
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