Principal and Superintendent Jonathan Braack speaks at the community forum.
By DANA HERNANDEZ
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School hosted a community forum on Tuesday, April 13 where SBHS School Board members, Becky Ingawanup, Tony Saiz, David Archuletta, and Sunshine Shepherd were present at the forum, along with FHBC member Ladd Edmo.
The goal of the forum was to let the community know what the school will be doing in the future. According to school Principal and Superintendent Jonathan Braack, the school will be redesigned with a different structure that enables students to receive a better education that is influenced with the Shoshone and Bannock culture as well as learning a trade and taking college credits.
Braack led the forum with a centralized question. What is a Sho-Ban graduate of the future and what does a Sho-Ban graduate look like? Braack stated that one of the concerns parents had was how their child could learn a trade because they were not interested in college and that not all students want to go to college.
Community member and SBHS alumni Jessica James said students need to be prepared for the workforce and that trades are needed but we shouldn’t shy away from academics and that partnerships are the best thing for our community. “I was the only student in my class that went directly to college and I wasn’t prepared for it. We need counselors to help students prepare for college,” said James.
School Board Chair Becky Ingawnup speaks.
Thalia Martin said we need the school to look appealing and that we need a safety net of life skills. “We didn’t have STEM when I was in school, but now there is STEM. It seems like things are changing for the better, we just need to keep going in that direction,” said Martin.
Braack then asked the audience, “what is the problem that you see with our school? Do you see any solutions? What is your advice?
Jessica James, said the students could use life skills classes and the school should have preventative work involved with the students because a lot of the students’ issues are social issues that trickle down from drugs and alcohol abuse.
Delverne Seaman said a lot of the students are in survival mode and that prevents them from learning. “When there is danger you cannot learn and I’ve had my own struggles so I understand where the students are coming from.”
Jessica Matsaw who has been teaching at SBHS for two years now said she believes a lot of students want to go to college, but they also feel overwhelmed by the thought of it. “We need someone to show the students what type of classes to take from semester to year,” said Matsaw. She also said she is the only tribal member teacher there that went to school to be an educator and SBHS needs more tribal teachers because there are tribal teachers out there, they just need to get them.
Tribal Youth Education Program Manager Jessica James talks as school alumni Talia Martin
looks on.
Guest speaker, Katie Denny who is the Purchase and Referred Care Manager for Tribal Health and Human Services shared a presentation about the type of degrees a student should get if they are interested in joining IHS/THHS. Some of those degrees were, nursing, data analysis, accounting, finance. Also, useful would be training and certificates in technical writing and healthcare management.
Braack said they are partnering with INL and ISU to bring trade and industrial training programs to SBHS that will allow their students to earn high school credit while completing these programs that allow them to go directly into the workforce. “We are remodeling two modular units that sit outside for our CNA program from ISU, it will be right here on our SBHS campus,” said Braack.
SBHS School Board Members shared some words. David Archuleta said that young people need to do the work and that the school is meant to open the doors for them. Becky Ingawanup said it was her goal to serve as a board member and that she has a vision that students will be hopeful. Tony Saiz said students don’t have to be a victim of their own environment. He came to Sho-Ban as a kid with no direction and eventually found it. As a parent, his sons came to Sho-Ban and Saiz said he thought all he had to do was send his kids to school. Saiz said, “parents need to be involved in their kid’s education and need to be into their work just as much as the kids are.” He said SBHS needs teachers who are educated and have a backbone. New board member Sunshine Shepherd said she couldn’t help but notice all the empty chairs and that they need to get the community involved.
Dr. LaNada Warjack ended the forum by stating parents need to empower their children when they’re young. She said she always felt like people didn’t want her to get an education, so she knew she had to get an education. She said “raise your children with everything positive. You don’t have to be rich to do that. Growing up we were poor, but we always said nice things to each other. When children are empowered they grow up to be strong against all the opposing forces.”