The students and I got to tour the Kituwah Academy this morning and it was amazing! The school is infant-2nd grade and is an all-Cherokee language immersion school. Mr. Gill Jackson took us around and allowed us to visit and 2nd grade class and a kindergarten class. Listening to those beautiful Cherokee children speak the language was thrilling, and watching the absolute joy in Mr. Jackson's face as he talked with them was inspiring. Mr. Jackson is from the Snowbird Cherokee community and did not speak English until he was 7 years old. He was a gracious and terrific host. Thanks to him and all the staff and faculty for making time for us. (And a special hello to my buddy Denise from the Dora Reed Center who now works at Kituwah--it was great to see you!)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Kituwah Academy
The students and I got to tour the Kituwah Academy this morning and it was amazing! The school is infant-2nd grade and is an all-Cherokee language immersion school. Mr. Gill Jackson took us around and allowed us to visit and 2nd grade class and a kindergarten class. Listening to those beautiful Cherokee children speak the language was thrilling, and watching the absolute joy in Mr. Jackson's face as he talked with them was inspiring. Mr. Jackson is from the Snowbird Cherokee community and did not speak English until he was 7 years old. He was a gracious and terrific host. Thanks to him and all the staff and faculty for making time for us. (And a special hello to my buddy Denise from the Dora Reed Center who now works at Kituwah--it was great to see you!)
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I am starting to feel the effects of going all day long! This trip has been so educational and inspiring! I am feeling a little tired, but I'm so excited about seeing all these wonderful new things that I'm just putting the exhaustion behind me.
ReplyDeleteThis morning, we got to sleep in a whole 30 minutes more, which was great!After we ate breakfast, we headed over to the Kituwah Academy. This school is a full immersion school where all the children and teachers only speak Cherokee. It is amazing the hard work this community is putting into preserving their culture. They almost lost the language because of past generation, but this academy is helping the Cherokee people save their language. We got to sit in on a 2nd grade class of a total of 5 students! I haven't seen a class that small since a Pre-K! It was beautiful listening to the children learn about measurement, but doing it all in Cherokee. After we sat in on the class, we toured the school more, where we went into the book making center. There are so few books written in the eastern Cherokee dialect that the school is being forced to write the books on their own. The school writes the stories on the students levels, then finds artists to illustrate the stories. It can take anywhere from 1-4 months to get a new book translated into Cherokee. I would love for the opportunity to work with this school one day because what they are doing is great.
After we spent the morning at the Kituwah Academy, we headed back to the Dora Reed center to help in the kitchen. The day ran as normal, helping set up for lunch, then cleaning up.
When we were finished at the Dora Reed center we headed to 2 different places. First we went to visit the grave of Dr. Bryants great great aunt. It is great to remember where we came from and the wonderful things the people in our lives have done. It is important to reflect that way on occasion.
After we went to the grave, we headed to Mingo falls. It was a little difficult getting up to the falls but once we were there it was beautiful! I love waterfalls! I loved being able to be outside on such a beautiful day. I would love to come back here again. This waterfall was amazing!
So far this trip had been educational and inspirational! I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip has in store!
It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I certainly enjoyed being there and have been thinking about the immersion school all week. I think what they are doing at that school is incredible! I think what you guys are doing is also incredible. You will never forget this experience.
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