The National Indian Education Association is committed to promoting education sovereignty in our communities. “Building” Career Pathways for Native Students is a middle school to post-high school pathway project that seeks to increase the number of Bowler School District students who obtain a degree or certification for construction trades to serve three Native American nations: Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee and Ho-Chunk. Through early experiential engagement with virtual reality, high school CTE courses, a mobile construction lab, support from a community Council of Partners, and dual enrollment with College of Menominee Nation, students will have access to a living wage career which addresses the tribal housing crisis and fills a critical gap in the workforce for these three nations. For many Native American nations, initial vocational education efforts by the Federal Government were intended to ‘deculturalize’ students by removing them from their place, their values, their language and their practices. Students will get the opportunity to gain academic knowledge and professional skills in ways that align to and reflect their culture and allow them to remain in their communities. In addition to school coursework and construction clinics, community employment partners will support student practice in construction trades where they are underrepresented while also helping to increase the supply of affordable housing to combat the housing crisis prevalent in Native communities. Their vision addresses components of the secondary to college and career pipeline with coordinated action and systems thinking and draws strength from a commitment to sustainable development concepts and practices tested over centuries in the Menominee forest. Building Career Pathways for Native Students aims to support a generation of Native American youth to realize their economic potential on their own terms, and to help close indigenous wealth and achievement gaps.
