Two Eagle River School to celebrate 50 years
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PABLO — In 1973 it was noted that the dropout rate for high school age students in Montana was approximately sixteen (16) percent and in schools with large numbers of Native American students, the dropout rate was estimated between 38-42%, but a study showed that in the nine public school districts on the Flathead Indian Reservation 63% of Indian students had quit school prior to acquiring a high school diploma. This was the beginning for the Tribe to appoint a steering committee who were educators and members of the tribe to develop a plan for the educational needs of the Indian children on the reservation. This initial committee included Joe McDonald, Daryl Dupuis, Roger McClure, Karen Fenton, Gene Sorrell, Clarice Sanchez (King), and Gerald Slater.
The Flathead Alternative School began out of the notion that much of the alienation, dis-attention, and apathy for Indian students could be traced to an irrelevant or culturally biased curriculum. This committee perceived that the alternative school would take up slack and give Indian students who cannot cope with traditional public schools an opportunity for education. It was believed that one way to counteract the problem might be to create a small school characterized by human relationships and respect for cultural diversity. A critical ingredient to the success of this school is the recognition that the Reservation is a bicultural environment. This fact needed to be recognized while developing an educational process that would help an individual learn the positive attributes of each culture and develop the confidence and skills necessary to achieve their own sense of personal success.
Although many students had left the public schools, they had not lost complete interest in education. Therefore, the Flathead Alternative School was organized as an educational alternative for those Salish & Kootenai students who were not functioning in the public schools but had desire to complete a high school education. The purpose of the school was not to replace the public high schools but rather to provide a program for Indian students who had dropped out or who had been pushed out of the public schools. A program was developed to give students realistic goals, to foster self-respect, and give students an opportunity to continue their education and to learn their cultural heritage.
Thus, the Flathead Alternative School was conceived and organized for the 1974-75 school year. The committee had to find building space, funding, and staff. When the plans to start classes in an old Catholic school building fell through, they were given space in the Tribe’s CAP building; the building was old but was adjacent to the river at the Dixon Agency. Students helped paint, remodel, build tables and bookcases and turned an old building into classrooms. It was noted in the first evaluation report that 2 bald eagles had built a nest in a snag across the river, the wild geese and ducks were plentiful, and this was a good location for outdoor activities. Funding was through a Title IV grant written under the Tribes Co-operative Indian Educational Program (Lloyd Irvine, Director) and the year started with a handful of staff. Gerald Slater and Clarice Sanchez went on to be some of the first staff, while the other 5 committee members became the first School Board. Students who were sixteen years of age or older and had dropped out of school were the first recruited. The first year more than 70 applied but only 38 actually attended. Of those, 5 went on to be the first graduating class with a GED attained. The next major obstacle was the development of high school credit system that had the flexibility to work with the students and had accountability. Such a system (the contract system) was developed. This included a success-oriented concept whereby students were not failed but rather receive no points/credits until they succeed. This “no fail” system provides a sense of accomplishment for the student, accentuates their strengths to build a stronger self-concept and motivate students by redirecting them rather than holding them back as failures. The Montana State Department of Public Instruction evaluated this program and supported its acceptance by the public schools. This system is still used to date.
During the next few years, the school moved into several cast-off buildings when the Tribe moved to Pablo. In 1977/78 a contest was held and the school was renamed Two Eagle River School. In 1979 TERS became a BIA contract/grant school, went on to receive accreditation from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in 1981 and from the State of Montana in 1983. During the late 1980s, an application to BIA was approved for a new building and the move was made to Pablo in 1989. Over time, the school was opened up to all age Native American high school students and added 7th & 8th grades in 1995.
To date the school has served a multitude of students with 730 graduating and has a possible 24 graduates for the 50th class. With a walk through the Tribal offices, a Two Eagle River alumni/graduate can be found in almost every department. Currently, thirteen of those students have found their way back to Two Eagle River School as employees. They are AJ McDonald, Inismin Auld, Gabby Big Beaver, Marie (Phillips) Bigby, Lena (McLeod) Burland, Vernon Christopher, Daryl Conko-Camel, Tricia McDonald, Tashina McKeever, Espa Orozco, Neena Orozco-Charlo, DJ Piapot, Louie Pierre, Colleen Tenas, and Elijah Lefthand. It is interesting to note that one of those spent a great deal of his childhood at TERS. Arnie McDonald Jr. attended the TERS Day Care when his mother was employed, later enrolled in the Jr. High program, was in the first 8th grade graduating class, graduated from high school before serving in the military, and has now returned as an employee.
The school has much in common with a new life; it has struggled, failed, succeeded. As with all life, it struggled to know itself, its strengths, and its weaknesses but it has survived and after 50 years is “still going strong.”
Plans are being made to celebrate this spring with numerous activities. Ideas in the planning stage may include but not be limited to alumni games (basketball and volleyball), feast with storytelling, run/walk (from Dixon to Pablo), T-shirts, painting a tepee or gym mural, pow wow. Please watch for details as they become available – (will print in newspapers, post on Facebook, etc.)
