Osiyo- Hello, and welcome back to school!!

This is my 21st year as an educator in the Bethel School District. I taught 15 years in Jr. High/Middle School as a LAP Reading Specialist. I also taught some PE, 8th Grade History, and was lucky enough to have had the chance to teach an elective class that focused on cultural diversity-Native Studies. As a graduate from Bethel, I was also a part of the Title VI program growing up. I am thankful for my experiences and connections made while a student here. It gives me great pride to be able to give back to our community now as a teacher in this role. I look forward to working with our students and families this school year.

My name is Amy Hales and I grew up on the Lower Elwha Reservation among the ʔéʔɬx̣ʷaʔ nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm̕, the Klallam People. I’m currently the North End TOSA for TITLE VI Native Education here at Bethel School District. This is my 6th year as a certificated teacher but I have worked in education for 15 years. I have a background in teaching K-12 Special Education and Preschool.

Greetings! This is my first year in the Bethel School District. I have the pleasure of overseeing our Native Education Department, as well as our Title/LAP programs districtwide. This will be my 27th year in education. Prior to coming to Bethel, I served in many roles including teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in the Puyallup School District. For the past three years, I also served as Director of Special Services at Chief Leschi Schools. I’m excited to work with our Native Education team to support our students and families. I look forward to the feedback that we receive in order to build our program to be the best that it can be!

If you are interested in participating in the Indigenous Parent Committee (IPC). Email one of our staff Rachael Barger at rbarger@bethelsd.org or Amy Hales at ahales@bethelsd.org

RSVP to this event and get 1 raffle ticket

Show up to the event and get 3 additional tickets

Multiple prizes will be given out at the Family Gathering! 😀

Nisqually Tribal Language Team will be hosting a Lushotseed Bingo on February 28th, we will send more info soon!

Our program is constantly growing! We are so excited to be able to continue to see not just student growth but growth within our district as we support our students, staff, and community.

Because of this growth and collaboration we have had to modify our services for our elementary students. What that means is that we will be serving our elementary schools 1x a month. However, by us doing this we are adding in additional opportunities at the schools for us to connect and collaborate with staff to provide school wide learning. We hope that this collaboration will help us to create a better sense of belonging for our Native students. Additionally we are planning field trips for elementary students.

Upcoming Field Trips are:

January- Native Teachings at the Puyallup Youth Tribal Center for 4th and 5th grades

March- TBD

April- Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for 3rd and 4th grades

Other Upcoming Collaborations:

November- Native American Heritage Month Display at Rocky Ridge Elem. and Elk Plain

November- Character Assembly at Clover Creek Elem.

December- Holiday's Around the World at Centennial highlighting Salmon Homecoming

Currently we are visiting our Middle Schools during their advisory time. We hope to increase time when available for one-on-one and smaller group support at each of our middle schools, based on student need.

Additional things we are doing with our Middle Schools:

• Since Time Immemorial Collaboration for 7th and 8th grade. 6th grade currently does not have any lessons aligned to be taught.
• Assembly Planning - MMIW with 2 schools, Boarding Schools Recognition and Honouring with 2 schools, and Fish Wars with 2 schools
• 8th grade some students are participating in Native American Youth Leadership Academy
• Field Trips-
• March-TBD
• Nisqually Wildlife Refuge "Eye on Nature" in April grades 6th and 7th

At this time we are serving our high schools 1x a week. We hope to increase time when available for one-on-one and smaller group support at each of our high schools, based on student need. Our focus with the students is to break down barriers, create a sense of belonging, and connection at the schools.

Days and Times at each school are:
Graham Kapowsin - Fridays during 2nd period

Spanaway Lake- Mondays during advisory

Bethel - Mondays from 7am-11:30am

Additional Things we are doing at our High Schools:

• Since Time Immemorial Collaboration for grades 11th, 12th
• Planning Heritage Fair Collaborations
• Bethel High School MMIW Awareness
• College and Career exploration Day for Native Students
• April - Cedar Grad Cap Weaving
• Field Trips:
• Native American Youth Leadership Academy for 9th-12th we have 22 students participating from our schools
• March-TBD
• Fire Summit for 9-12th grade students to South Sound Community College

We have 22 students in grades 8th - 12th who were selected to participate in our Native American Youth Leadership Academy. The students will go 4x during the school year to the Puyallup Youth Tribal Center to participate. NAYLA's forcus is Unity, Mentoring, Leadership, and Culture. There are 17 total school districts participating and 193 students.

NAYLA is sponsored by the Western Washington Native American Educators Consortium.

Our staff participated in the Bethel School District College and Career Fair. We hope to create awareness for college opportunities and scholarship options available. Our program has partnered with the American Indian College Fund and used Native Pathways booklet.

ahales@bethelsd.org

253-800-2393

253-307-6453

rbarger@bethelsd.org

253-800-2394

253-307-5865