Sapulpa Indian Education Program

Languages: Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek)

Program Base: High School in Sapulpa, OK

Goals:

1. To teach children their heritage.
2. To encourage Native Americans to speak the language in the home.

Brief Description:
The Sapulpa Indian Education Program includes courses in Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) at Sapulpa High School. Students may take up to four semesters of classes in either language at any grade level in the high school to fulfill Oklahoma's foreign language requirement for a high school degree. Completing all four semesters meets the admission requirement for college. The courses were developed in response to requests from students and parents. A survey of junior and senior high American Indian students showed that 86 percent expressed interest in enrolling in such classes. The program began small by offering one 90-minute section of each language every other day, but demand increased the need for more classes. Youth at the school do not have to be American Indian to receive instruction in either language, but the school fills the classes with American Indians first, assigning any remaining class spaces to other students. The teachers of either language need only to speak the language fluently and to have an endorsement signed by the tribe. They do not have to be certified teachers.

Materials: Books and dictionaries from the tribe.

Support:
In the past, the program received Title IX (Indian Education) funds, Johnson O'Malley funds, and financial support from the school itself. The program also benefited in the past from assistance from fluent speakers of the language and from collaboration with a school.

Contact Information:
Laura Hurd, Director, Indian Education
Sapulpa School
3 S. Mission
Sapulpa, OK 74066

(918) 224-9322 / Fax: (918) 224-0174