Education Students Take Knowledge To South Dakota
November 13, 2001
University Park, Pa. - A group of students from Penn State’s College of Education are learning plenty about teaching – and life – 1400 miles west of Happy Valley.

Six student teachers are calling the Pierre Indian Learning Center home this semester. Located in Pierre, S.D., this federally funded center is a school for Native American children grades 1-8. Close to 300 students from 13 different Indian tribes and reservations come to Pierre from as far as ten hours away.

The school encourages Native American students to grow to be responsible, caring individuals with realistic goals for success in a multicultural world. But it’s also providing Penn State students with valuable and unique learning opportunities by offering professional and personal enrichment.

“We’re hoping they learn to respect diversity and how to teach students with diverse needs,” said Lynette Shaffer, coordinator in the office of pre-service teaching experiences. “Professionally, we hope they’ll transfer knowledge from curriculum to classroom instruction. It’s a very marketable teacher characteristic. But we also hope that they learn about themselves and where they fit in the world.”

Carolyne MacAdam, a senior majoring in secondary education, is amazed by what she has discovered in Pierre. “I never thought I would find myself teaching eighth graders how to read and count money,” she said of her special education class. “These kids are amazing. They are so intense and have such extreme personalities. The biggest thing these kids need is just some one to love them.”          

The challenges facing the Penn State students, as MacAdam points out, are more than just curriculum related. “To really understand the children here, you need to be understanding of their experiences and their culture,” she said.

“Sometimes it is hard to tell if we are making any kind of progress. My belief is that, if in our teaching, we made even one person feel better about themselves and who they are, even if it was just for a day, then that is making a difference and we are succeeding as teachers.”

Other Penn State student teachers share MacAdam’s sentiments.

“I want the kids to hold something in their hand that they’re proud of. They will know that they can do that one thing,” said Serena Pariser, a senior majoring in secondary education, of a poetry class lesson. “I want to give them a reason to continue school.”

Penn State student teachers have significantly impacted the Pierre Indian Learning Center through the years. “It’s been a great program for our school. The student teachers have a lot of great ideas and are up to par with new teaching methods,” said Superintendent Darrell Jeanotte, who received his masters in school administration from Penn State’s American Indian Leadership Program in 1978. “They have a great impact on students academically and residentially,” Jeanotte said. “They realize the difference that they make in the young students’ lives.”

Both Jeanotte and Shaffer agree the Pierre Indian Learning Center is not for timid student teachers. It takes a strong, self-assured person to participate in this program. But the students Penn State sends year after year have made the grade. “We’ve been lucky,” Jeanotte said. “Top candidates have been sent to our school – students who are really committed to education.”

Several Penn State student teachers decided to stay on at the learning center as full-time teachers post college graduation, and this past spring, Jeanotte hired two more alums.

**aek**

Contact: Allison Kessler, Department of Public Information at (814) 865-7517 or akessler@psu.edu.