The Chickasaw Nation provides a variety of educational resources, programs and services for Chickasaws of all ages. From infants to elders,
the tribe continues to enhance educational opportunities throughout the Chickasaw Nation.
Reading to a child and teaching a child to read are instrumental in childhood development. In 2009, the Chickasaw Nation partnered with the Dollywood Reading Program to provide free books to Chickasaw children. This program encourages parents to read to their children, helps children develop a love for reading and expands a child’s reading skills. Chickasaw children zero to five years of age can receive one book every month until the age of five. More than 240 children benefited from the Dollywood Reading Program in 2009.
High Reach curriculum, focusing on the foundation of childhood education, is also available to Chickasaw children ages three to five who are home schooled or do not have a pre-school program in their area. This curriculum served 25 children for fiscal year 2009.
The Head Start and child care departments continue to provide reading and learning opportunities for Chickasaw children. Through the Reading is Fundamental program, 1,044 books were distributed to the 256 Head Start students and more than 31,820 books were read during the 2008-2009 school year. During a two-week reading challenge called “Twice Upon a Time,” 3,766 books were read with 588 readers.
The tribe not only stresses childhood literacy skills, but healthy hygiene habits as well. In 2009, the Happy Smiles, Happy Teeth dental grant was awarded to Head Start through the American Dental Association. Happy Smiles, Happy Teeth enhances Head Start dental education by incorporating a dental home initiative plan. Through the grant, children learn dental practices to take home and establish long-term healthy dental habits.
The Head Start program also received a Head Start Body Start Play Space Grant. The grant is awarded to Head Start programs through the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play to emphasize the importance of physical activities, outdoor play and healthy eating habits for children and families. The grant assisted the Head Start program in the purchase of outdoor playground equipment conducive for productive physical play.
School-aged children from pre-school to high school, as well as adults, are provided with a number of educational avenues. During fiscal year 2009, the office of supportive programs assisted more than 7,800 students spending $653,419 on educational programs, services, supplies and events. Support programs include adult learning, public school programs and the science, technology and math program.
In 2009, 52 schools and 7,556 Native American students participated in the Johnson O’Malley (JOM) program. Through the JOM program, the tribe spent $418,419 on school supplies, tutoring, materials and other educational needs for Native American students within the Chickasaw Nation.
Focusing on academic excellence, perfect attendance and outstanding academic achievements, the Chickasaw Honor Club distributed more than 16,000 incentives and awards to Chickasaw students during the 2009 fiscal year.
The at-large tutoring reimbursement program was provided to 40 Chickasaw students totaling $230,000. The program assists Chickasaw students living outside the Chickasaw Nation boundaries to improve academic performance.
Through the school supply assistance program, $5,000 was used to assist Chickasaw students with requests such as summer school, tuition, books and specialized materials. School supply assistance funds were also used to provide special educational assistance to 185 students.
The Chickasaw Nation provided more than $11 million in scholarships, grants and incentives, assisting more than 8,300 Chickasaw students pursuing higher education. This assistance fulfilled many needs including tuition, books and supplies, clothing and laptops as well as incentives for maintaining quality grade levels and degree completion.
With the nationwide educational push to get children more involved in science, technology, math and engineering, the education division implemented a new department to provide additional programs for youth ages six to 18. The science, technology and math department consists of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotic and LEGO league programs that inspire learning through technology and engineering.
During the FIRST Robotic competitions in Oklahoma City and Dallas, the Chickasaw Nation Metal Mayhem team earned Imagery and Safety Awards for robot construction, creativity, team appearance and outstanding safety practices.
In its first year, the LEGO league program also participated in competitions and received recognition for outstanding projects and tournament play.
The science, technology and math department also conducts the Chickasaw Nation Aviation and Space Academy (CNASA) and environmental camp, as well as coordinating space academy trips to Huntsville, Ala., and Houston, Texas. In 2009, the department hosted the largest CNASA camp to date with more than 70 Chickasaw youth in attendance from Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Nevada and Georgia.
The division of arts and humanities offered teacher workshops, JOM art clubs and monthly alternative education art classes during fiscal year 2009. In addition to the Clemente Humanities courses offered at East Central University and Murray State College, arts and humanities conducted its first six-week Chickasaw Clemente Humanities short course in Spring 2009. Classes included Chickasaw language instruction along with exploration of history, traditions and culture of the Chickasaw people and compared those with other Southeastern tribes.
Reaching out to serve more Chickasaws, the division of education’s special needs program expanded its services to include Chickasaws of all ages during fiscal year 2009. This program reimburses disabled Chickasaws up to $500 per year for the purchase of extracurricular activity equipment and fees. Safety helmets, a bicycle modified for a wheelchair-bound rider and Special Olympics fees are just some of the ways this program benefits Chickasaws with special needs.
Other accomplishments:
- In May 2009, the Head Start program had 150 graduates from the Ada, Ardmore, Duncan, Madill, Sulphur and Tishomingo centers.
- Through the career technology program, 385 students were served, totaling nearly $850,000.
- The adult learning program assisted 269 adults through the GED program totaling $17,118.
- The school to work program assisted 84 Chickasaw students during fiscal year 2009. This program provides Chickasaws an opportunity to pursue full-time higher education goals while receiving on-the-job training with full-time pay and benefits.
- Through the Chickasaw Children’s Village, 59 students completed the 2008-2009 academic year.
- Through the Head Start sleep safe program, smoke detectors were installed in 62 homes during fiscal year 2009. To date, more than 410 smoke alarms have been installed through this program.
Chickasaw Nation Child Development Center
Providing child care services on a new level
On May 14, 2009, the Chickasaw Nation opened the doors to the newly constructed child development center licensed to accommodate more than 240 children six weeks to five years of age. With a fun-filled, town-like atmosphere, children enjoy hours of learning and playing in this state-of-the-art center built to bring child care to a new level.
The two-story child development center is a 26,728-square-foot learning center designed to enhance the developmental skills of children. The facility consists of age-appropriate classrooms, a cafeteria, a commercialized kitchen, a media room, an aerobic room, a staff computer lounge, indoor play areas, screening rooms and administrative offices.
The town-like atmosphere is known as Fun Town, USA. Town-like themes are settings for classrooms and workspace. Themes include the Fun Town Spa, Fun Town Police Station, Fun Town Fire Station, Jack Sprat Toy Company, Three Blind Mice Book Store, Curly Locks Barber Shop, Piggy Bank & Trust, London Bridge and much more. The nursery-rhyme highlights throughout the building help bring childhood imaginations to life.
The center is complete with street signs for hallways and physical addresses for each room. Each room has a mailbox to create an actual downtown feeling. The Chickasaw language is incorporated throughout the center through signage and murals that are used as cultural teaching tools.
Several distinct murals throughout the building provide visual and tactile learning tools for children. Because children learn through many mechanisms, the murals focus on touch by using a three-dimensional creation of textile art. Providing these textile murals helps children discover new avenues and learning skills during their formative years. The classrooms also feature SmartBoards that provide touch control of computer applications for interactive whiteboard learning.
To encourage teacher research for the most up-to-date teaching tools, the center is equipped with a teacher’s lounge with 12 computers. The center is also equipped with video monitoring systems in every classroom and indoor play area as well as access control safety systems installed on all the doors.
As children and education are top priorities within the Chickasaw Nation, the new child development center was developed to continue providing the highest quality of child care services for Chickasaws, Native Americans and community families. By providing the new child care center, the current school-age program more than doubled enrollment. This now allows additional classroom space in the existing child care facility to accommodate 100 school-aged children during summer, spring and Christmas breaks.
