Heather Rozler said, "We need to nurture the students and treat them with all of our love."

After graduating from Haskell Indian Nations University, Heather Rozler is answering the call for American Indian educators to teach American Indian youth. The new Indian educators have their work cut out for them. “It is tough to be a child in today’s world,” said Rozler, a member of the Seneca Tribe of New York. “Young Indian children are presented every day with decisions that will affect them the rest of their lives. As children start their education, we [educators] need to keep them interested in school and their studies in the early years. Keeping them interested will probably keep them from ending up in jail or selling drugs or working at a job for minimum wage when they could be earning more,” Rozler said.

Rozler graduated from Haskell’s bachelor of science teacher education program. Operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Haskell has been offering post-secondary courses in Lawrence, Kan., since 1927. The Haskell teacher education mission statement stresses preparing American Indian/ Alaska Native people to teach American Indian /Alaskan native children from a Native perspective. Principles of sovereignty and self- determination provide the foundation for the program. Rozler plans to carry the principles of her training into the classroom. Asked how she could achieve this with fourth graders, Rozler said she would utilize class discussions, current events, research projects, and the students’ own tribal experiences. “I will try to strengthen their pride and self-esteem to allow them to be our future leaders,” she said.

Haskell’s elementary education program centers around the four aspects of life: spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual. Haskell’s Department of Teacher Education utilizes an integrated curriculum approach to prepare teachers who recognize individuals as constructors of their own knowledge. “Haskell’s elementary education program is a tough and demanding program, but I made a bond with my classmates as well as my professors that encouraged me to put forth all that I have,” Rozler said.

“My dream for Indian youth is that they will always be in a position for opportunity,” she said. To have opportunity, they must get as much education as they can. Rozler knows there are many obstacles to her dream, but she plans to do what she can to assure a greater percentage of students graduate from high school. “The rate of high school dropouts [for American Indian students] is astronomical. Somewhere along the way, the student loses interest in education,” Rozler said. She sees many reasons for them to lose interest—prejudice in the schools, lack of support systems in the schools, lack of family support, poverty, and outside interests that offer more rewards than staying in school.

Rozler began her career this fall as a fourth grade teacher in the Mounds Park All Nations School in St. Paul, Minn. “The Indian youth who are coming into education today are our future leaders. We need to nurture them and treat them with all of our love because they will be the ones making the choices for the next seven generations,” she said. Rozler believes that the preparation Haskell provided for her career as an elementary school teacher gave her “all the confidence in the world that I will be able to do my job.”

When American Indians take up the dream of educating American Indian /Alaska Native children, they serve as powerful role models for the youth. With hopeful and helpful educators like Rozler, Indian youth will find their place in the new millennium.

Lanniko Lee, an enrolled tribal member of the Cheyenne River Sioux (Lakota) Tribe, is academic advisor for Northern State University. Prior to her current position, Lee taught English, speech, and literature at Cheyenne River Community College where she served as academic dean.