Recent Grants for Uplifting Native Youth Success
Hello to all the friends of The Lillian Vallely Youth Foundation. Much has been happening through grants from the Foundation to help Native American children, so let’s get right to the report. First, LVYF gave a large grant to the Blackfoot School District to help inject life into the high school band program. It is somewhat unusual to see Native kids in band, but many, many of the band members are Native and need larger uniforms to “fit in”. This is an unusual grant for LVYF, however helping Native kids be represented in a successful marching band program has a tremendous upside for them and for the school. Second, a very small grant was given to Fort Hall Elementary School for an experimental, family education class that taught the difference between wants and needs, how to save, and much more. It was held at the school in the evening. The principal of the school and one of our board members, Merrick Carter, worked directly with the kids and the parents. Using games to help teach the concepts, it was a great success. There is more to come as a result of this trial run. Third, LVYF helped support all the fourth graders in a district to make a field trip to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Native and non-Native children learned side-by-side as traditional games, crafts, dancing, and history were taught by experiencing them. Afterward, impressive student essays were written about their experiences. Personally, I was amazed at the observation and insight these essays showed. Finally, we sponsored the Fort Hall Elementary, fifth-grade, graduation field trip to Boise again this year. The class is 95% native. Adam Smith, fifth grade teacher, organized a great trip that included students and some parents. They visited several educational and government sites in the state capital and had fun doing it. For these children, just leaving the reservation can be a big event. The Lillian Vallely Youth Foundation gives to individuals and groups in ways that bring about personal change. We are close enough to them to see smiling reactions between parent and child, teacher and class. It’s always gratifying and sometimes truly amazing. Wisdom may well be in understanding that helping someone else brings home the curative and restoring prescription of happiness to us.
