CENTER SCHOOL INC

Nawayee is an Ojibwe word that means the center. Center School, known by many in the community as Nawayee Center School, works from the center of the Indian community to deliver a transformative education, grounded in indigenous life-ways, and a love of learning.

55 Native American youth attend Center School. Most of them are very poor and have been failed by other schools. Center School is for many their last hope for obtaining an education. For 40 years, the school has provided an academic program that integrates Indigenous wisdom, support services to help students struggling with drugs, depression, early pregnancy or homelessness, and a variety of enrichment opportunities that keep kids engaged.

Our holistic approach to education includes:

• A Healthy Choices program that provides healthy meals, health and nutrition education, exercise opportunities, and health screenings. Diabetes is an epidemic in Indian Country, but our students are learning how to eat and take care of themselves.
• Indigenous language and life ways education that includes, but is not limited to, traditional worldviews, sweat lodges, drumming, and Native crafts help connect our students to their culture.
• The Children of the Seventh Fire (an Ojibwe prophecy that urges us to wake up and reclaim our children) offers support and special programs for young women.
• Our school building in the Phillips neighborhood shines with an elaborate, enormous, and colorful Four Directions mural designed and collaboratively painted by students with local artists. (See third picture on right above)
• A student-designed and cared for garden has become the pivotal point around which our summer school program orbits. The garden provides hands-on seasonal learning for our students. Our summer school attendance and community support has increased significantly as a result of our magnificent garden and its diverse produce.

“We must offer our children extraordinary opportunities to help them cope with their extraordinary challenges,” says Board Chair, LeMoine LaPointe. Your gift will provide Nawayee Center School students with those extraordinary opportunities.

"Transforming school from a place our children HAVE to be, to a place they WANT to be"