Yellow Parachute proudly partners with the Anoka-Hennepin School District by providing tutoring services to students enrolled in the Indian Education Program. The program, which has been around since debuting in the 1973-74 school year, focuses specifically on the educational needs of American Indian, Alaska Native and Hawaiian students. Its mission is to encourage and inspire academic achievement, social and emotional development, and cultural awareness of our American Indian students, to serve as a resource to review and recommend accurate curriculum, and to promote cultural diversity between community, staff, and students.
Through the Indian Education Program, Yellow Parachute Learning Partners provides scholarshipped tutoring to six students. Our learning coaches focus on filling skill-gaps in the areas of math and reading to provide students with the foundation they need to support their long term academic success.
The 20-21 school year marks Yellow Parachute’s fourth year working with the Indian Education Program. Each year the program sends us information for each student, so that we can match them with our Learning Coaches using our proven Click Process. Learning Coaches work with these students after school, in the evenings, or on weekends; it is up to Learning Coach and family to decide.
Yellow Parachute Learning Coach Alece Henderson has worked with Anoka Hennepin students from the Indian Education Program for each of the four years we’ve partnered with the district. In addition to working with other students, Alece has also worked with the same student for the past four years.
Here’s what Alece had to say about the Indian Education Program:
It has been so rewarding to see the progress these kids have made. The student I’ve been tutoring for four years just tested out of their IEP. They’re now able to forgo the special education services they were receiving and can read at their grade level! It has been super exciting and rewarding to work alongside this student and their family to see what their needs were, and to watch the student progress.
Being able to build relationships and connections with these kids and their families has been terrific. There’s a unique partnership with the families who I work with to schedule our sessions and provide updates on their child’s progress. The families are so appreciative and grateful to get study skills and school support for their child.
Last spring had its own unique challenges, when we all experienced the shift from in-person tutoring to meeting via Zoom. When you go from traditional tutoring to online sessions, you get to know kids at a different level. I had to figure out which of my tutoring clients teachers were doing Seesaw, Google Classroom, or something else, but thanks to the help of collaborative parents, who allowed me to log into their kids accounts, I was able to see where each student was falling behind, which assignments they hadn’t turned in and where I could provide extra assistance from a tutoring standpoint. There was a huge benefit for me to have this new line of sight into the kids’ school work!
The Indian Education Program provides scholarshipped tutoring for families; Yellow Parachute discounts the program’s rates significantly. The Indian Education Program is funded through grants from the state and federal government. Additional support and funding for the program is provided by the Anoka-Hennepin School District.
If you or others in your network are in need of a scholarshipped tutoring services, please reach out directly to our Student Connector, Jenny McKeand. Limited scholarships and discounts on our services ARE available. And, as always, Yellow Parachute looks forward to jumping in with you!
Cara Thorpe
Founder & Visionary
Yellow Parachute Learning Partners
www.yellowparachute.com
612-361-7266
