The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School has been awarded a one million dollar American Rescue Plan-American Indian Resilience in Education (ARP-AIRE) grant which was written by the LCO grants department in conjunction with school staff and community partners. The Ojibwe name for the program is Netaawichigejig which translates to the ones who are skilled at making things.
The goal of the three-year grant is to improve school and career success of Native youth through a construction trades pathway, specifically focusing on carpentry through implementation of culturally relevant curriculum and instruction, local apprenticeships with the LCO Development corporation, outreach to community elders, and continuing education with the LCO Ojibwe college.
The school will use the funding to expand the current middle school woodworking program and hopes that the grant will provide the long-awaited opportunity to revive the school’s vocational education program, which was all but eliminated in 2014 due to lack of funding and declining student interest.