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Press Release
Oct. 9, 2002
SHI AWARDED $864,000 GRANT FOR TLINGIT LANGUAGE IMMERSION
Sealaska Heritage Institute has received an $864,000 federal grant to improve academic achievement of children through Tlingit language immersion. The three-year grant is to fund development of Tlingit immersion curriculum for grades K-2 and to teach instructors to use the new materials.
SHI’s long-term goal is to sponsor language immersion programs in communities across Southeast Alaska and the grant will allow the institute to lay the groundwork for that endeavor, said SHI President Dr. Rosita Worl.
“SHI over the past several years has focused on training Native people to speak and teach Tlingit, an essential first step to revitalize the language,” Worl said. “This grant allows us to tackle the problem of language loss on a new level.
Language immersion is the most effective technique for teaching Native languages to children, said Worl, who emphasized that studies show language immersion also improves student performance in other academic areas.
SHI will use Tlingit language immersion as a tool, not only to teach the language, but to help students meet state academic standards, said SHI Sociolinguist Roy Iutzi-Mitchell.
“This grant for the first time will allow us to develop the materials to teach children directly through Tlingit in ways that allow them to understand the content and learn the Tlingit language at the same time,” Iutzi-Mitchell said.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Alaska Native Education Program, complements another recent grant to SHI. The federal Administration for Native Americans in September awarded a grant to establish Tlingit immersion camps over three years. The camps are to increase Tlingit language fluency in adult students and to train aspiring Native language teachers to operate immersion programs. The federal portion of that grant was $446,000 over three years...(more on ANA grant).
CONTACT: SHI
President Dr. Rosita Worl, 463-4844; SHI Sociolinguist Roy Iutzi-Mitchell,
586-9272.
News Article:
"More Funds for Tlingit Language Immersion"