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News Article Encouraging Tribal Youth To Consider Higher Education Written by Anne Ravana from Maine Public Radio On this weekday morning a group of Colby College students is visiting the Indian Island School. Two of the college students are giving a group of fourth and fifth graders their first lesson in philosophy. Colby junior Emily Pavelle gives instructions as senior Kris Ortiz looks on. They say the purpose of the exercise is to give the children a basic introduction to what goes on inside the buildings on a college campus. "So there's really no right answer for something like this. And this is kind of what philosophy is like," Pavelle tells the students. "And it's still fun to discuss it, right? That's something we would do in a Colby classroom. It's important to know that college is fun, even when you're doing the academic stuff." "I think the kids have been really receptive to us, it's harder a little bit with the older ages, some of our activities aren't as cool to them. But I think in general a lot of them have heard 'college.' We hear a lot at the end, 'Oh, I want to go to Colby.'" says Ortiz, a native Hawaiian who says she knows what it's like to be a minority student at a prestigious private college in Maine. "It hasn't always been easy, but I think that I'm a better person for it. It's definitely helped me develop my own understanding of race and my own personal development so it's been really good for me. I've learned a lot." The students watch a promotional video about life at Colby College, where Native Americans make up less than 1 percent of the student body. That statistic also applies to Bowdoin and Bates. The Maine Indian Education office is in the process of updating its statistics on how many Wabanaki youth are graduating from high school, and how many are going on to college. They say that historically, the high school dropout rate was higher than the state average, but in the past three years, it's been at or below the state average. "We know that Wabanaki kids tend to not matriculate to college as frequently as other population groups," says John Dieffenbacher-Krall, Director of the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission. "In part what the Colby students will do is part of an integrated program to help Wabanaki kids see themselves as going to college, to demystify it for them, make them comfortable and help them to aspire to it." Sitting on the rug with her friends is Selena Neptune-Bear, a fifth grader at Indian Island School. She remembers when the Colby students came last year, and says she and her friends are already talking about college. "We've talked about college before and like what classes we plan to take and like if we're going to go to college and stuff. Most of my friends are going to go to college. A lot of my friends like have like really big jobs they want to do, like me, I want to be a pediatrician, but I'm not sure, so...I'm only in fifth grade." Ty Robertson, guidance counselor at Indian Island School, says it's never too early to talk to children about college, both at school and at home. "I think it's important to introduce students to all types of colleges, both public and private, because we have a lot of talented students here and they should look at going to the college of their choice," he says. "And usually there's money to be found, there's scholarships. I think they should have high aspirations and many choices, not be limited to just public schools." There are 34 tribal colleges and universities in the U.S., but none in Maine. According to the American Indian College Fund, American Indian students are often more successful at tribal colleges and universities because those schools infuse traditional tribal culture into the curricula and settings. "We find that the retention rate is higher among students that attend tribal colleges because of the collaborative and encouraging learning environment that American Indians experience in their cultures. If an American Indian student were to attend a mainstream institution, typically they would encounter a highly competitive system, competition to get the best grade and that kind of thing," says Dina Horwedel of the American Indian College Fund. Meanwhile, at the Indian Island School, Selena Neptune Bear says her family is encouraging her to attend the college of her choice. "My mom, like, she didn't go to college so now she's in college again. So she tells us to go to college before you have kids and have a family and stuff because it's really important to have an education." Later this spring, Wabanaki high school juniors and seniors will visit the Bates, Bowdoin and Colby campuses and learn more about the admissions process.

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