Native American Programs

The purpose of Epic’s Native American Programs College and Career Services is to support Native American students in their journey toward a successful and fulfilling transition into higher education or the workforce. The following resources are on a first-come, first-served basis without an income cap.

Indigenous Endeavors is open to Title VI students in grades PreK-12. However, students wishing to compete in the AISES STEM Competition must be in grades 5-12.

Advisors: Stephanie Hilliary, stephanie.hilliary@epiccharterschools.org and Jay Hester, jay.hester@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

NASO is open to all students in grades 9-12 who are interested in connecting with other Native American students, have student leadership opportunities and engage within their Indigenous communities.

Weekly meetings held on Wednesdays via Zoom.

Advisor: Asa Thompson, asa.thompson@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

Open to students in grades 9-12, the Whole Health and Wellness Club is a place where students can gather weekly to discuss and learn how to cultivate good mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. We will discover lifelong skills, including self-care, healthy coping habits and what to do if the student or someone they know is in crisis. This serves as a safe space, where students can share and connect with others. The club is a project of the Student Engagement team.

Weekly meetings held Tuesdays and Wednesdays via Zoom.

Advisor: Ryan Fowler, ryan.fowler@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

Next Generation of Native Leaders is open to Title VI students in grades 6-12. This organization will assist students in becoming better leaders, nurture their talents, and promote collaboration and innovation.

Weekly meetings are held on Fridays at 10 a.m. via Zoom.

Advisor: Kylee Montgomery, kylee.montgomery@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

Jr. NASO is open to students in grades 6-8. Students will have a chance to embrace Native American culture and identity while also getting to meet other Native students.

Weekly meetings are held on Fridays at 2:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Advisor: Kylee Montgomery, kylee.montgomery@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

Epic's Native American Club lets students in grades 4 and 5 meet with other Native students while learning about traditional homelands, traditional clothing, notable natives and language.

Weekly meetings are held Thursdays at 3 p.m. via Zoom.

Advisor: Amy Winterbottom, amy.winterbottom@epiccharterschools.org and Jay Hester, jay.hester@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

The Warrior Book Clubs are for Pre-K-3 students to engage and interact with each other while listening to Indigenous-themed and authored read-aloud books.

PreK- grade 1, weekly meetings are held on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. via Zoom.

Grades 2 and 3, weekly meetings are held on Thursdays at 1 p.m. via Zoom.

Advisor: Walter Kerrick, walter.kerrick@epiccharterschools.org

Registration Link.

The success of our program relies heavily on family involvement. Monthly Zoom meetings occur to present our upcoming events and seek input on how to best support every student.

Meeting dates at 6:30 p.m.

Joy Harjo is one of the most influential Native authors of the "Second Wave" of the Native literary renaissance. She is a member of the Muscogee Nation and a native Oklahoman. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has earned a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and a master's of fine arts (MFA) from the University of Iowa. From 2019 to 2022 she served as the United States Poet Laureate.

Joy Harjo has spent her life dedicated to art. According to her memoir, Crazy Brave, she grew up in Eastern Oklahoma, near Tulsa, and began writing poetry in the eighth grade. By the age of sixteen, she was enrolled in the IAIA, and moved to New Mexico to study art. There she discovered painting and fell in love with the art form, finding it a freeing way to express herself. After leaving the IAIA she enrolled at the University of New Mexico as a pre-med student but soon changed her major to art. She changed her major once more before graduating, this time to creative writing. Her first book of poems, The Last Song, was published in 1975. In 1978, she earned her MFA from the University of Iowa. She began teaching at the IAIA in 1978. She has taught at Arizona State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Arizona, the University of New Mexico, UCLA, the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast Low Residency MFA Program, The University of Illinois and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Throughout the years she has published thirteen anthologies of poetry, one play, four works of non-fiction and three children's books. In addition to being a poet, author, and artist Ms. Harjo also plays the saxophone and has released seven albums. She has won too many awards and honors to be listed here (seriously it's impressive, google it), but among the many honors she has earned, are three Oklahoma Book Awards, induction to the National Women's Hall of Fame, the Native American Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, not to mention being named the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate. One place many of our readers may be most familiar with her is from her cameo in the hit show Reservation Dogs as the gas station manager, where Elora works.

Her writing comes from her heart and her life. Her writing is warm, honest, moving and sometimes even painful. Her work is always beautiful. Harjo's poetry often reflects her thoughts on womanhood, and reflects her idea that "poets have to be inside somewhere, or the poem won't work."

This can be seen in her poem, Granddaughters:

I was a thought, a dream, a fish, a wing

And then a human being

When I emerged from my mother's river

On my father's boat of potent fever

I carried a sack of dreams from a starlit dwelling

To be opened when I begin bleeding

There's a red dress, deerskin moccasins

The taste of berries made of promises

While the memories shift in their skins

At every moon, to do their ripening