The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Department of Education provides several opportunities for Tribal members and those pursuing academic goals, including a six-week paid internship with the Tribe. This summer, CPN hosted 19 interns, each bringing a variety of unique skills, experiences and goals and made valuable contributions during their internships. Here are profiles for some of CPN’s 2024 summer interns.
The eighth annual CPN College and Career Fair will be held at FireLake Arena on Wednesday, September 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This event is free and open to all!
Please join us for our Dgwaget (Fall) Virtual Talking Circle on September 19 featuring a presentation by Tribal member Kabl Wilkerson.
Whether they’d completed high school or college, Citizen Potawatomi Nation celebrated its recent graduates with a graduation celebration and lunch.
The CPN Department of Education held the second annual Coming into the Circle event, a program designed to introduce high school students to the Tribe’s language, history, cultural practices and resources.
Submissions for the 2024 Juneteenth Art Contest are now being accepted. The contest is open to any student grade 4 through 12 at any school. Winners will be selected from 4th through 8th grade and 9th through 12th grade age groups.
Rachel Watson, a member of the Navarre family, was named director of the CPN Department of Education at the beginning of 2024. Watson attended Oklahoma City Public Schools, then completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma, where they majored in history and minored in German. At the University of Pennsylvania, Watson received a CPN scholarship to help cover some of the costs as they earned a master’s degree in Education, Culture and Society.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation awarded the 2023 Michael John Kennedy Scholarship to Bourassa family member and University of North Carolina student Casimir Szupica. Now a senior, Szupica is studying geology with plans to graduate in the spring and commission into the United States Army as a second lieutenant in the chemical corps.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation hosted the Tribal Education Departments’ Forum (TED Forum) at the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in November. Representatives from a variety of tribes and organizations presented information to educators from around the state, offering insight into what sort of services and opportunities are available for schools and Indigenous youth.
CPN High School students are invited to join us for a day of learning about CPN history, culture, traditions as well as the many resources available to students. Spots are limited, so be sure to register early!