For a short month, February 2017 packs a big punch of events for the PLACE.
For the second year in a row we start back the girls-to-women and the boys-to-men programs. From February through April the program will focus on providing much needed tools for our tribal youth to be successful as they grow into adults. Each week will be packed with guest speakers who are positive, successful individuals working in our tribal entities. We will be helping our tribal youth complete job and college applications, college grants, host mock job interviews, as well as instructing them on how to handle personal finances.
As we celebrate and commemorate Black History Month, some of the major influential events and individuals we will highlight include the Freedom Fighters, Rosa Parks and the Underground Railroad. We will also take a look at the many African American inventors.
February 13 is World Radio Day and we will celebrate why we love and need it. This is a day to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together. We will be bringing our tribal youth together by K-PLACE.
February 14 is Valentine’s Day. We will be celebrating with the tribal youth by having a valentines dinner and dance. Also in February we will kick off our Mardi Gras celebration.
Also to shake the cold we will have a staff chili cook off. The tribal youth will be the judges.
In conjunction with the Get Native Program from January, we will continue our native wellness program. We will touch on native vision and understanding your purpose in life. We will also focus on 10 ways to become a better person.
As we keep with developing healthy eating and exercise practices, our Get Fit Program will find fun ways of staying active. We will have a hula hoop contest, whiffle ball and volleyball.
In the Get Smart Program our tribal youth will learn about healthy heart and healthy dental practices, while we will host guest speakers from our CPN Healthy Heart Program. We will also have guest speaker Amanda Chapman from the CPN House of Hope, who will discuss understanding teen dating violence. To finish up our Get Smart Program, Sun., February 26 kicks off the NASCAR season with the Daytona 500. We will have the Place 500, which is four weeks of learning about Pine Wood Derby.
In week one, youth will learn the rules. Week two will allow the youth to build and design their derby kits. In week three, youth will present their cars for inspection before the week four main event, where youth will have a Pine Wood Derby PLACE 500 Race.
If you would like to learn more about our programs, please reach out to me at thomas.lehman@potawatomi.org or call us at 405-214-5110.