“Raises Good Children”

Sunny Day Real Bird

At age nine, Sunny Day Real Bird’s Indian name was bestowed by her community’s elders – Akbaaiiwishe-Itchish, a Crow Apsaalooké name that means “raises good children.” It’s clear that Sunny Day has lived up to that name, dedicating her life’s work to improving educational outcomes for Native students as both a teacher and administrator.

While an elementary teacher on the Crow Apsaalooké reservation in Montana, Sunny Day learned of the Sapsik’ʷałá program for Indigenous teacher education at the University of Oregon College of Education. Though the move far away from her family in Montana with a young son was a difficult transition, she credits her Sapsik’ʷałá cohort “family” with making it possible to complete the program. The COE’s emphasis on data-driven education, together with what she learned in the Sapsik’ʷałá program about Indigenous education, equipped her to serve in leadership positions later in her career. While teaching math, she also joined the Bureau of Native Education, consulting to make policy and funding recommendations to improve Indigenous student retention and performance.

Based on her experience with evaluating and crafting data-driven education policy and feedback from her colleagues, she decided to pursue a career in administration, earning a second master’s degree in the Indian Leadership Education and Development program at Montana State University, Billings.

After graduating, Sunny Day served as the Director of Indian Education in Ronan School District before attaining her current position as the director of the Native American Achievement Center at MSU Billings. She is excited to be able to use her position to be an advocate for Native American students at MSU, working strategically to recruit and retain them. “I see my current role and my education as tools to help make a difference for Native American students,” she said. “We need more Native representation at the table when we’re discussing the future of our children’s education.”