A number of Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School students have participated in a work-based learning program to explore career options through the help of community partnerships. Recent work-based learning opportunities have involved the 4 Girls And A Comb salon and the Warren County Memorial Library.
The Career and Technical Education program at HSTS allows high school students who are College and Career concentrators to take college-level classes through Vance-Granville and Nash Community Colleges and UNC-Pembroke. These students are taking cosmetology classes at Nash Community College.
Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School students work to organize books at Warren County Memorial Library as part of career exploration make possible through a work-based learning opportunity.
Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School has established a Career and Technical Education for high school students, thanks to a Native American Association of Technical Education Programs grant.
“We are excited about the development of our CTE program,” Head Administrator Melissa Richardson said. “It allows up to tap into college and career readiness for our scholars.”
The CTE program is especially helpful for students who want to learn a trade, earn a two-year degree or certificate, but it is also designed to prepare students to attend a four-year college or university, she added.
Richardson indicated that the grant covers a five-year process that began with two years of planning before being fully implanted this school year.
High school students with a GPA of at least 2.8 are eligible to become concentrators, placing them on the College and Career learning path and enabling them to take CTE classes.
Through the grant, Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School has partnered with Vance-Granville Community College, Nash Community College. Richardson said that juniors and seniors may take college-level classes at HSTS in partnership with the community colleges. In addition, students who want to attend UNC-Pembroke may participate in student teaching internships through the university. Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School tracks student progress toward meeting college entrance requirements, Richardson indicated.
She said that college and university partnerships are making a difference. Several students have graduated with certificates from Nash Community College. Two of this year’s seniors have received acceptance letters from four-year universities, and others have been accepted into community colleges.
This school year, the partnership is allowing nine students to take college-level classes throug By next fall, Richardson hopes that the number of students taking college courses will increase to 25.
“It is really a game-changer,” she said.
Currently, there are around 60 to 65 students in the high school grades at Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School.
“If 25 students are taking college classes, it shows that our curriculum is preparing students and also that the school is living up to the mission of preparing students for a globally competitive society,” Richardson said.
The CTE program also allows students to participate in work-based learning. Richardson said that these opportunities build upon another part of Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School’s mission, community involvement, through partnerships with local businesses and other entities.
A number of students have been participating in work-based learning at the 4 Girls And A Comb salon and the Warren County Memorial Library. Richardson said that work-based learning at the salon focuses on students who want to study cosmetology. At Warren County Memorial Library, Director Tanika Alston teaches students about entrepreneurship, in addition to allowing them to observe what she does, Richardson added.
The grant will also allow students to take college tours this spring.
Other learning opportunities are also designed to help students prepare for future careers and to explore their interests. Students interested in studying early education help to tutor younger students. Through the instruction of Native American Indian Studies teacher Sharon Berrun, students not only learn about history and culture, but also about beading and basket weaving, and how to make corn husk dolls. Students have an opportunity to sell what they have made at pop-up shops on the school grounds. Richardson said that these pop-up shops are an especially good opportunity for those who hope to open a business in the future by showing students that they can be entrepreneurs.
“We recognize that not all students want to go to college,” she said. “We provide kids with hands-on experiences and show them how they can use the skills they are passionate about to become entrepreneurs.”
Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School has observed the impact of all of these opportunities on students, from seniors graduating with college certificates to an increase in growth as measured by state testing.
“All of these things we are implementing how have been integral in seeing (an increase) in growth of 79.3 percent in growth from 2022-23 to 2023-24.”
School administrators believe that the CTE program is beneficial for another reason as well: students can take college-level courses free of charge while they are at Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, saving them money that they can use for college payments after they graduate.
Students who take classes on a college campus may drive, or HSTS provides transportation, sometimes with the help of parents.
Richardson said that taking college courses has helped students learn about careers and narrow their focus.
“We are finding that it is really helping them fine-tune their careers. One student was accepted into nursing school,” she said. “Talking with college professors have helped them learn about careers.”
As younger students hear about CTE from their older counterparts, they also start thinking about their futures.
“We see it pushing down to middle school,” Richardson said. “The middle school students are thinking about their interests. By the time they get to ninth and tenth grade, they will have an idea about careers.”
Students are also learning from local artist Senora Lynch in partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Art through a mini grant, she added. Students learn skills and create works of art, which they have an opportunity to sell.
“They learn to take a skills that they love and give back to the community, reflecting what they love and their Native American culture,” Richardson said.
Students have an opportunity to learn about and explore a diverse range of cultures.
“We are teaching students about Native American, African American and Hispanic cultures,” Richardson said. “We are tapping into the cultural backgrounds of all our students, making (education) culturally relevant to all.”
For Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, all of these learning opportunities inspire students to consider what their future will look like, provide STEM education and career opportunities, and impact social and emotional learning. Richardson and the rest of the administrative and teaching team are proud that a school in a small, rural community can offer this for its students.
“It’s about us helping our students because they are our future,” Richardson said. “As an educator, I feel like that’s what educators do: helping the kids.”