A Multicultural Sea In A Ocean Of Suburbia

A Multicultural Sea In A Ocean Of Suburbia
80 Cultures – 400 Students – 90% Bilingual – One Campus

Spread across 88 acres just to the south of downtown Riverside is one of the most unique high schools in the Inland Empire. Consisting of about 450 students and their 45 teachers is Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California, one of four federally funded Native American, Off Reservation Boarding Schools (ORBS), still remaining in the western United States.

Over 80 Native American cultures are represented by the students who come together on this campus from as far away as North and South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska, bringing together their languages and culture to this “home away from home.” Even those students who arrive at Sherman Indian High School from as near by as Long Beach, California bring their native cultures.

90% of the students at Sherman Indian High School are bilingual, speaking their native language as well as English. In addition to their native language, they bring their native cultures from tribes as diverse as the Apache, Oglala and Rosebud Sioux, and Lakota.

Most of the students who leave the Riverside campus return to their reservations to find work on or close to their reservations, while many join the Peace Corps. As Assistant Principal Carl Davis stated, “ I can see in them a personal growth and I know that it has made a difference and a chance at independence.”

Far away from home

For many of the students attending Sherman Indian, this is their first experience away from home. While many Americans have their first away from home experiences when they go off to college, Native American students begin their journeys at a much earlier age, some as early as elementary school age, when they attend these federally funded boarding schools.

For them, keeping in touch with their families can present a challenge, but modern day technologies, including cell phones and email, can keep them connected to their homes. Typically, students from the same tribe will form bonds of friendship and support to help them through their new experiences. Regardless, they all know they are here for the same reason – to get an education and hopefully prepare them for higher education and a chance at a good job back home.

The students at Sherman Indian live on campus. But, just as any school, Sherman Indian is closed for a winter recess and, of course, is closed for the summer. During these breaks, students return home to be with their families. While at home for the summer, it is hoped that students attend summer school to minimize the loss of academic skills when far from the support systems of the Sherman Indian campus.

Ancestral cultures and modern technology unite

For most non-Native Americans, a basket weaving class could be considered a less desirable elective class. However, at Sherman Indian, Loren Sisquoc weaves together the multiple cultures of the students through the use of basket weaving. By doing so, Sisquoc can help to explain the similarities as well as the differences of the Native American tribal cultures through the form and function of the baskets. In the process, the meanings and relevance of the various animals and symbols and their relation to their oral traditions can be intertwined so that each student not only receives a deeper personal connection to their own culture, but a further understanding of the multiple cultures of their fellow students.

How can a school with over 80 diverse cultures illustrate language, music, and social interaction not only amongst themselves but sharing all that with their families back home on the reservations? Just as any high school creates its annual yearbook, so too Sherman Indian creates a yearbook, but with a technology twist. For the past three years, Sherman Indian has created a video yearbook that is burned on a CD for distribution to the students and their families through which they can share their experiences. The yearbook is totally student generated, and not only illustrates how they experience their lives through their culture, but can also show off the same things any high school student would be eager to share – dances, sporting events, and other special occasions. Being “high tech,” the students are eager to sign up to be part of the production process.

As with most high schools these days, technology related classes are expanding. Enrollment is consistently growing for their graphics classes and basic technology skills classes. Many of the teachers are now incorporating multimedia presentations in their classes, encouraging students to expand their technology skills as they move through their high school experience.

Academic program

Sherman Indian has a standard high school academic track, however, the school experiences a few unique challenges. Students arrive on campus from their native reservations with a wide range of reading and math skill levels. The teaching staff at Sherman Indian needed to develop a system by which all students would be able to move up to a consistent skill level in math and reading. They do not have an on-site reading specialist, nor is there a Resource Specialist Programs (RSP) or Special Day Class (SDC). One tool that has found great success with the students is the Accelerated Reading Program. Teachers have seen 6 month to 2-year advances in reading skills when students use the program. After-school support, dedicated reading time, and student study groups keep the academic skill levels growing throughout the school year.

Study time outside the school day is built into the residential program. There are study groups in the dorms, which all students are expected to attend. After dinner, students attend workshops to assist them in independent living skills once they return to their reservation. As most non-Native American families expect their children to live away from home in their college years, Native American families encourage their children to develop independent living skills when they attend one of the boarding schools like Sherman Indian. When they return home, they are expected to be well on their way to independent living, and the “house staff” who supervise the dorms provide instruction and encouragement for living alone.

Sherman Indian has a four-year course of study. However, it is typical that students do not complete their high school education in four consecutive years. Due to personal, family, or tribal issues, students occasionally need to return home for a length of time, only to restart school the following year.

Academic challenges

Because many students find it necessary to return home before the end of the school year, academic progress can be slower than for the typical four-year program high school student. Once home, students may not have the academic support needed to be successful on an annual basis to keep them advancing on a steady course. As such, the administrative staff at Sherman Indian is looking at possible options for students to continue their studies when these unforeseen circumstances cause a return to their reservation. Many times the home reservations are not as local to freeways and large towns where students can obtain classes to continue their studies. Many find it difficult to even find quality tutoring. With the advances in current technology and more funding going to the outlying reservations, many of the more remote reservations now have access to satellite dishes to connect to online resources. Sherman Indian is in the process of looking into the possibility using these new technologies to provide distance-learning opportunities to those students who find it necessary to return home for a part of the school year. Once distance learning can be implemented at Sherman Indian, students who find it necessary to return home for a portion of the school year will be able to keep in touch with Sherman Indian staff obtaining academic support as well as a connection to their teachers and their friends at school.

Another challenge evident on this unique campus is the rate of graduation. With the coming and going of students, high school program completion is an ongoing concern. Each student who does graduate from Sherman Indian does so with the full contingent of high school A-H graduation requirements. Approximately 25% of the graduating students go on to study at colleges and universities. Many attend the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, though some attend nearby California Baptist University, literally a stone’s throw from the Sherman Indian campus. With the discontinuity of the program for many students when they return home, providing distance-learning opportunities could greatly increase the graduation and college-going rate for students.

Yet another challenge for the program is the academic year. With many of their local schools and colleges already in a summer school term when they arrive back on their reservations for their summer break, many students are unable to enroll in a local summer program to expand their skills. Staff and administration at Sherman Indian are looking into the feasibility of an extended school week in order to have a shorter school year. As the students are full time residents on campus, it may be possible to extend the school week through Saturday. By doing so, students would be able to finish the year sooner than the typical high school student, allowing them sufficient time to return home and enroll in various summer school programs.

Cultural shock

For some students, Sherman Indian is the first experience away from home for an extended time. Some may come from a small town or reservation, to a city the size of Riverside with a population nearing 300,000, just an hour’s drive from booming Los Angeles. Some may come from knowing a handful students their own age to meeting 500 other high school students. Even though larger in size than their typical home experience, the living situation in small dorm groups helps to keep the experience from being too intimidating. Programs and activities are well planned and supervised by the dorm staff to provide typical teen-age experiences to the students. Weekend activities could include anything from supervised trips to the mall to an outing at one of the larger local amusement parks.

While at Sherman Indian, those with artistic talents are sharing elements of their cultural heritage by painting murals on the walls in the hallways. Using a combination of depictions of Native locations and traditional images, students become aware of the icons that are important in their ancestral cultures.

Sports, too, play an important role with the students at Sherman Indian. Interestingly enough, once again Native cultures become part of the student culture. It is not surprising to see at a football game a group of students performing a Native dance in which sage is used to provide protection and a victory to the football players before they “go to battle” on the gridiron.

While the idea of boarding schools may seem somewhat foreign to the general public, Native Americans for generations have had the opportunity to attend boarding schools. Some students attending Sherman Indian have had parents, grandparents, or other relatives attend a boarding school as part of their educational experience. This is a result of agreements between the U.S. Government and various tribes to provide an educational opportunity that may not be available on tribal lands. Many Sherman Indian students have relatives or tribal members who have attended Sherman Indian itself. Many relatives and tribal members believe that their students “Need a successful educational experience to be successful.”

Most students easily assimilate into the educational culture of Sherman Indian. With the experience of meeting a large mass of fellow students in their own age group, it is easy to form friendships among the student population. Most commonly, students from the same tribe or general geographic location group together to form a personal peer support group. And, because of the great mix of Native American cultures on campus, the students are eager to learn about the cultural differences and similarities across tribes. A common belief in many Native American tribes is to bring its members toward a common goal. At Sherman Indian, the students work together for a common goal, knowing they are there for the opportunity to get a good education.

When asked what he would like to share with all who read this, Assistant Principal Carl Davis replied, “I’d like everyone to know these kids are really cool. We have a wonderful diversity in our students, and they all work it into their personal lives.”

My thanks to Assistant Principal Carl Davis for his time in sharing Sherman Indian High School with others and me. (Photographs courtesy of Jody Oliver, CTAP) © 2006 by Gregg Legutki, RIMS CTAP

Sherman Indian Museum

On the west end of the campus along Magnolia Avenue in Riverside is the Sherman Indian Museum. Through the work of museum curator Lorene Sisquoc, the Sherman Indian Museum chronicles the school from its beginning in 1901 to the present, with photographs, artifacts, and Native American art. Included in the collection are the contents of the time capsule placed in the original cornerstone set in 1901 – including the dated cornerstone itself. For more information on the museum, go to:
http://www.shermanindianmuseum.org/