Summertime is here and school is out, but the students participating in the PLACE program continue to learn skills and about Native American culture. This June, the tribal youth will learn to experience several aspects of life.
With Family Reunion Festival coming up in June and Gathering of Potawatomi Nations in July, the youth were taught powwow etiquette, as they will be volunteering during these events. They will learn about the Great Plains cultures, how to do basic beadwork and how to build a wigwam as part of the GET Native Program.
Promoting health and wellness, we will keep the youth moving this month by visiting the Shawnee Splash Water Park, the pool at the CPN Wellness Center and FireLake Mini Putt.
The youth will learn basic archery and how to fish, including how to put a reel together and bait the hook. The youth will also compete against each other in a Celebrating Potawatomi Arts Contest.
Several trips are planned this month, including to the Martin Park Nature Center in Oklahoma City and The Toy and Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley. We will take a tour of the CPN Eagle Aviary, which most of the youth didn’t know we had.
Michael Jordan, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry at Oklahoma Baptist University, will be organizing time to work with the Raspberry Pi models, which are tiny computers used to teach the students how to code and explore computing.
If your child is interested in learning more about Native American culture or could benefit from our PLACE Program, please contact me at dgreene@potawatomi.org.