California Tribe Envisions a Bright Future for American Indian Youth
The U.S. Department of Education awarded the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians a grant to address educational achievement of American Indian high school students throughout Los Angeles County.
EDUCATION – LEADERSHIP – CULTURE – SUSTAINABILITY
The TAMIT (Teaching and Mentoring Indian Tarahat) program is an education and leadership development initiative through community building, using non-traditional and traditional American Indian teaching methods while incorporating Indigenous values to:
TAMIT is the beginning of a modular program focusing on the educational growth of high school students from rising 9th graders to exiting 12th graders. The goal of the program is to foster a system change toward a future where American Indian youth obtain a college education. We will involve the community to provide tutoring and mentorship. After the 4-year support through the Indian Demonstration Grant, we hope to expand the program to create an educational pipeline from pre- to post- education through extensive partnerships with numerous sectors.
Based upon current evidence-based models across the country, TAMIT will provide a “safety net” of social services in addition to the 4 program elements of (1) academics, (2) college preparation, (3) leadership development, and (4) enhanced learning.
Beyond forming a college prep program, the Tribe is committed to system change in the L.A. Indian community. Rather than create 1 large tutoring center, the Tribe took an inclusive, comprehensive approach geared to empower all L.A. tribal communities through the development of partnership with American Indian organizations. Using education to foster a change toward healthy tribal communities, TAMIT proposes 5 key approaches to building a effective program including Sustainability & Collaborations, Community Engagement, Role Modeling, Family Involvement and Capacity Building.
Media Contact: Pamela Villaseñor: email – (818) 837-0794 ext. 206
