The Dora Reed Crew

We stopped by on our way out of town on Friday to say goodbye to our friends at Dora Reed, especially the kitchen crew with whom we work closest. The many, many kindnesses these folks show us each year are never forgotten.

Indian Country

A map of the United States labeled in the Cherokee language:

On Sacred Ground

In addition to our work at Head Start and the Kituwah Academy, we try to make sure to see as much of the beautiful cultural sites in and around the Qualla Boundary that we can. This picture is of our visit to the Kituwah Mound, one of the most sacred places for the Cherokee nation.

Kelly the Cake Artist

On our second day on the Boundary there was a function at the Dora Reed Center for parents and local health professionals. We were asked to put icing on a cake for the luncheon and to write a greeting on the cake. Only ASU senior Kelly Roth was brave enough to do the writing, and I think she is still mad at me for joking that she had misspelled the word "health." Turns out some jokes can cause minor panic attacks.

Tsalagi (Cherokee) Teaching Materials

One of the great things to see at the Kituwah Academy and the new campus of Cherokee Central Schools is the number of teaching materials being produced in the Cherokee language. The photo below is of a text on the solar system written for students at the immersion school.

Sarah and Kids

ASU senior elementary education major Sarah Hayes with her students at New Kituwah:

Teaching at New Kituwah

One of the highlights of this year's Cherokee Spring Break has to be our work with the New Kituwah Academy. The teachers and administrators there were so incredibly welcoming to us all. Even with the language barrier, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work in the classrooms there. In the photo below, Sarah is shown teaching a math lesson. She did an incredible job--so much so that the folks there have told us that App State students will always be welcomed among their students.

Cherokee Princesses?!

I guess they do exist!

Obama report in Cherokee

A neat piece of student work from the Kituwah Academy. 

Visiting the New Kituwah Academy

On Tuesday we were given a tour of The New Kituwah Academy--the language immersion school here on the Boundary. This is truly one of the most inspiring places in Cherokee because of the remarkable work being done here to save the language. When here I always think of a line from a Robbie Robertson song speaking of holding on to heritage: "they don't preserve the old ways, they live it." That is certainly true at this place, where children from birth to fourth grade are immersed in the Cherokee language and tremendous teachers work with them and guide them.

A recent study showed less than 200 fluent Cherokee speakers remained, and that the overwhelming majority of these were over the age of fifty. That helps illustrate how important the work done in this school really is.

Our Arrival

Part of the tradition of the Cherokee Spring Break is to stop just before we arrive on the Qualla Boundary for a photo at the "most photographed view in the Smokies." On Sunday we kept that tradition alive and stopped for this great shot!

Almost There!

We are less than two weeks away from heading out for our sixth annual Cherokee Spring Break! This year we will again be working at the Dora Reed Head Start center, and we will also get to work for the first time at the Kituwah Academy--a Cherokee language immersion school. I am very excited about the group I have going with me this year: Appalachian State seniors Kelly Roth, Sarah Hayes, Kimmon Miller, Kelsey Byrd, Katie Mosse and Lauren Wawrzyniak. It's going to be a great week!