Current Students

 

Sapsik’ʷałá Family Portrait – Staff and Cohort 2024

Resources for current students:

Meet our 2023-2024 scholars:

Anne Rants (Karuk Tribe): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

Hello! My name is Anne Marie Rants. I am a descendant of the Karuk, Shasta, and Alutiiq tribes (Ugashik Village) . I grew up along the Salmon and Klamath rivers of California, where place and people had a huge role in me wanting to become an educator. I graduated from Cal poly Humboldt Polytechnic University with my Bachelors degree in Child Development, with minors in American Indian Education and Women’s Studies. I have had the opportunity all throughout my life to be a part of a community and family that uplifted my education, so much so that I am wanting the opportunity to pay it forward by teaching and learning from new generations of this world. I am deeply passionate about learning, culture, language, advocacy, and using place-based pedagogy to inform my practice.

I am beyond grateful and excited to be a part of this year’s Sapsik’ʷałá cohort and part of the community here at University of Oregon Teach to obtain my teaching credential (elementary K-5th) and Masters in Education. Yootva! Thank you!

 

Julia Brown (Shoshone-Paiute Tribes): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

My name is Julia Brown. I am Paiute and Navajo and enrolled with Shoshone-Paiute Tribes located on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. I grew up in Ontario, Oregon, a small town in Eastern Oregon. The town has some cultural heritage and has continued to become more diverse. I am fortunate to be one of the few Native Americans that attended school there.

I earned my Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources with a focus in Fish and Wildlife at Oregon State University. I am currently in the Sapsik’ʷałá program and pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education.  

I want to teach children hard work and perseverance as I also understand the hardships and difficulties in higher education. Creating a better future and inspiring children to follow their dreams is what I want to achieve when I become a teacher. 

 

 

 

Kaelynn Simmons (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with English Language Arts and ESOL endorsements

łaxayam! Hello! My name is Kaelynn Simmons. I am an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and a descendant of the Muckleshoot tribe in Washington. I graduated with honors from Western Washington University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. I am a by-product of family and community teachings that centers spirituality, identity, and culture. These are the foundations of my early educational experiences and academic success.

I am a former college athlete that has spent the good part of my life and academic career honing the skills and passions for softball. Alongside support from our community, I have been able to organize softball camps for young tribal athletes in our community and extend a love for the game that has given me so much. It was through these efforts that I was first introduced to a teaching.

I developed this passion further through a summer internship with my tribe’s enrichment program providing cultural and academic activities for tribal youth on our reservation.  From 2022-2023 I was the Grand Ronde fellow with Financial Beginnings Oregon, a non-profit who provides inclusive financial education to youth and young adults. This fellowship gave me an opportunity to be in the classroom and work with local organizations to teach necessary financial topics to underserved youth across the state.

Through these experiences, I developed a motivation and career objective to serve youth in my community. I come from a line of educators in my family, whether teaching in academic, athletics, or cultural settings, I am excited to become the next generation of Native educators and feel very blessed to be a part of the Sapsikw’ałá program and excited to be in a supportive and like-minded community!

Nellie Sears (Iñupiaq): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

Haluuġivsi atiġa Upiyaq! Hello, my name is Upiyaq, and my English name is Nellie Sears. I am Thai, Oglala Lakota, and Iñupiaq, and an enrolled member of the Native village of Utqiaġvik. I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to Eugene, Oregon, for school. I graduated in 2023 from the University of Oregon with my Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Native American Studies and am now a proud Masters’s student in the Sapsik’ʷałá Teacher Education Program.

I am incredibly passionate about working with youth, and I hope to work towards creating safe spaces for students to thrive and feel empowered. My mission is to foster an inclusive learning environment that celebrates diversity by integrating Indigenous and land-based education into my practice. It is important to me that my future students can see themselves, their peers, and their stories in my teachings. I’m excited to learn and develop teaching strategies that will prepare me to support a future generation of leaders. The Sapsik’ʷałá Teacher Education Program is rooted in Indigenous resilience and rich knowledge systems. I feel so grateful to be a part of a community of powerful Indigenous educators that are eager to decolonize education. I am thankful for where I am and excited for where this journey takes me, Taikuuqpauraq! (Thank you)

Max Wilson (Osage Nation): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

Hello, my name is Max Wilson. I am a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Human Services and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

I want to become a teacher so that I can help students establish educational foundations that they can build off for the rest of their lives. I want my students to feel empowered to be themselves while developing positive educational identities.  I am excited and grateful to be a part of the Sapsikw’ałá Program because it’s an opportunity to learn about different cultures that that I wasn’t raised with. I look forward to incorporating what I learn into my teaching beyond the UOTeach program, and working with students who have diverse backgrounds that I can learn and grow from.

 

 

Faith Jacob (Yakama Nation): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

Shix̱ páchway! Ink nash waníksha Faith Jacob. I am from Wapato, a small town in central Washington. I am a descendent of the Yakama Nation. I was raised by a family of educators who have instilled in me the importance of learning from a young age. My upbringing on the reservation built a strong sense of identity as a Native woman. We were taught to respect the land, our elders, and ourselves. My own educational experiences inspire me to help shape the next generation of indigenous youth. Representation is crucial in schools and I strive to be the teacher I wish I had. Tribal elders have always emphasized the significance of culture, tradition, and language inside and out of the classroom. I was fortunate to be brought up around Ichishkiin speakers and partake in language revitalization efforts. Witnessing these passionate individuals at work has ignited a fire in me to be a part of something bigger than myself.

I graduated from the University of Washington in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Communities, and Organizations. My year-long internship at Daybreak Star Preschool, located at the beautiful Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, imparted invaluable insights about indigenous early childhood education and culturally relevant curriculum. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Sapsikwala Program and cannot wait to grow as a student and a teacher. Kw’aɬanúu. Thank you!

Jack Risling (Hoopa Valley Tribe): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

He:yung. ‘A:whólye Jack Risling. Hello. My name is Jack Risling. I am an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe in rural Northern California and a descendant of the Quinault tribe in southwest Washington. I am a first generation college graduate who received my Bachelors degree in Child Development and a minor in American Indian Education from Cal Poly Humboldt in May of 2023. I am proud to say that I am currently a graduate student at University of Oregon and a part of the Sapsik’wala program. I was fortunate enough to be raised in my traditional homelands with a rich sense of culture and community. Taking these two factors into consideration, once I receive my degree, I will be teaching with and for Indigenous youth. I strive to reform Westernized education and rebuild it with an Indigenous curriculum that my students can relate and thrive in. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was old enough to talk and I am so eager to be in the final stages of accomplishing that goal. Ts’ehdiyah! (Thank you!)

Savanna Rilatos (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Social Studies and ESOL endorsements

Ch’ee-la, Savanna ‘vm-nvsh-shi. Hello, Savanna that way I am called.

I am enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, my tribal bands are Molalla, Galice Creek and Yamhill. I grew up in Siletz, surrounded by my traditions, culture, and people. I left my small community and went across the US to Brown University on a full ride through the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program. I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Arts in Ethnic Studies focusing in Native and Indigenous studies in 2023. I have done powerful work with my tribe’s youth council and some of the biggest youth organizations in the country such as UNITY as a peer guide and 25 under 25 recipient. I’ve gained a plethora of experience in education working in the Siletz Tribal pre-school, tutoring kids in Providence school districts, and serving as an advocate for 630 Native kids and their families as a Native Education (Indian Ed) Cultural Resource Facilitator. Through this work, mentorship, and relationship building I witnessed just how much Native educators with strong cultural ties are needed in the classrooms in our school districts. Indigenous professors such as Dr. Adrienne Keene a true matriarch, activist, and world renounce Cherokee scholar showed me just how valuable it is to see yourself within the education system and to have educators that value and affirm your identity and real-life experiences. I have also had many traditional, cultural teachers in my life that have molded me into the woman and mentor I am today and inspired me to pursue a career in education.

As an Indigenous educator, I will utilize my own community ties to build working, reciprocal relationships between staff and local nations. My positionality and expertise would allow me to teach our kids the core subjects from an Indigenous lens during school hours but also commit to hold spaces such as Native club to share cultural knowledge and make cultural arts such as regalia more accessible. Culture is prevention and putting it into the hands of Native kids creates identity and belonging within their schools. I have seen the true power in helping a student understand a hard lesson for the first time. AND I have seen the power of showing a student how to make their very first ribbon skirt, cutting their own leather to wrap their first dentalium necklace and wearing their very own moccasins for the first-time during rock your mocs week. Being someone that can shift the culture of the school in the classroom and beyond is invaluable.

Michaela Begay (Gila River): M. Ed. Curriculum and Teaching with Elementary and ESOL endorsements

Yá’áh’tééh! ShÍ ‘éí Michaela Begay yinishyé.‘Ádóone’é nishłínígíí ‘éí Deeshchii’ nii nishłį. Ketł’ahi ‘éí bá shíshchíín. Tó dích’ íi’ nii ‘éí dashicheii nááná. ‘Áshįįhí ‘éí dashinálí. Ṣ ʼap kaij! Añi an ap ce:gig Michaela.

Hello! I am Michaela Begay, and I am Animal O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Diné. I am from Farmington, New Mexico; but have been in Eugene, Oregon for the last 5 years. I graduated from The University of Oregon with a Bachelor’s in Family Human Services with two minors in Ethics and Native American and Indigenous Studies. I am currently a Master’s student in the insightful year-long UOTeach program alongside the Sapsik’ʷałá education program. I take great joy in staying connected to my languages and culture to feel closer to home and my identity, plus getting to now teach my son about his father’s tribes and mine to him. I have had several great teachers in my life from my family, community, and education. I knew I have always wanted to work with Native youth and give back to my tribe because of their support and guidance for myself throughout the years. I believe being a teacher would gift me the opportunity to help my community and youth. I want to be able to be an advocate, support, and teach Native students in the classroom. I strive to continue uplifting the importance of their traditions, language, and culture within the classroom and continue after leaving my class. I am now grateful I am part of two programs that will help and guide me to building a stronger community and educational foundation within my future classrooms. Ahé’héé! Nt’o wa ep m-ñe!

 

 

 

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