The 1st Annual Wisnewéwen (Feast/Banquet) hosted by Forest County Potawatomi (FCP) Education department took place on May 23, 2016, at Potawatomi Carter Casino Hotel (PCCH). This is the first event of this type to take place in the history of FCP’s honoring of graduates and their families as they embark in their educational lives. During past years the students were honored, but they were separated into their individual schools. This year, the department thought it should bring all the students together and honor them all in one night.
The event started with an opening song from the group, Fire Nation Singers. This was followed by Executive Council Member Brooks Boyd who welcomed the students and their families. He then gave a brief personal introduction about himself and said, “This is where my roots are, and I try to do whatever I can to contribute. That’s why I am so honored to be here for this event.” Following that introduction, Nick Shepard provided the prayer for the food that would be shared.
While waiting for the food to be served, Boyd introduced guest speaker, FCP Attorney General Jeff Crawford. He began his presentation with a bit of Potawatomi history and details of their involvement during U.S. history. He even engaged some of the older children in answering general and specific history questions. Crawford spoke of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Northwest Territory, certain Potawatomi Treaties, and so on.
Once finished with the history lesson, Crawford went on to discuss his own personal education story. He stated, “I started my education right here in Stone Lake at the Stone Lake Community Hall where Kathy Kitchell was my teacher.” From there his family moved to Milwaukee where he started attending school in the 3rd grade. When he reached his high school years, he and his family were living in Wausau where he attended Wausau West and was heavily involved with sports. He commented, “Sports is a great motivator in keeping your grades up and offers a great opportunity to be involved with your own peers. After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. From that school I then proceeded to the University of Michigan Law School to pursue my dream of a career in law.” Crawford closed with, “It’s all about education, and this tribe has tried to emphasize this for years and it’s a great thing to see! To bring our people back to work for us is great!”
Once Crawford finished his comments and congratulations, it was time to dig in to the food that PCCH had prepared for the evening. While everyone enjoyed the meal, there was also a lot of socializing and congratulations offered to the graduates who were being honored for the night.
After dinner was finished, Division Director of education, Tom Boelter, was introduced by Boyd. Boelter said, “It is an honor to be here and to serve in this position. The reason we are all here is for these kids. There has been a tremendous amount of change in the past few years with our students and it is great to see!” Boelter then went on to introduce each of the workers in education and gave a brief description on what they do. He further discussed the hard work the entire department does for the students. He ended with, “Thank you to all of you. These people work unconditionally. They work after hours and on weekends if need be to help these students. These people are dedicated to what they do.”
After the staff introductions, it was then time to honor the students who were the reason for the evening’s celebration. This year, the education department decided to honor these students with medals to acknowledge their dedicated hard work.
Preschool recipients were honored for having 90 percent attendance for the school year. Not only was the student honored with this recognition, but the parents were as well. They are the ones responsible for making sure their child actually got to their class. Many thanks to the parents of these students in making sure they have a good example to follow for years to come.
Bronze Medal Recipients: Amiracle Alloway, Alvin Weso, Leilani Collins, Herb Daniels, DheOntro Durham, Pearl Durham, Aryanna Frank, Richard Gomez, Dexter McCorkle, Royal Pemma, Sundown Pemma, Everleigh Shepard, Jordy Shepard, Wyett Shockto, Mko-Gises Thundercloud.
Next to be honored were the silver medal recipients, which included students in grades 5 through 12 who were on the high honor roll (3.5 GPA or higher) each quarter.
Silver Medal Recipients: Juanita Alloway, Maskwankot Daniels, Cassidy Frank, Presley Keeble, Tressa Lange, Penelope Peters, Colleen Shepard, Frank Shepard III, Anike Sulaimon.
High school graduates were announced next, and they also received the very prestigious gift of their Pendleton blanket. Due to a track meet that was being held this night, some of the seniors were unable to attend to get their photo taken.
High School Graduates: Mavis Anwash, Chelsie Bath, Brando Edwards, Sequoia Emerson, Presley Keeble, Tressa Lange, Mindy McPherson, James Moe, Tommy Olson, Isabella Picha, Austin Polar, Kaluyatatsyes Rice-John, Anike Sulaimon, Gage Tallier, Tiara Thompson, Monique Tuckwab, Kordell VanZile, Samantha Vogel, Mason Wamego.
Higher education graduates were then honored and this included college, technical school, any certification, etc.
Higher Education Graduates: Jade Crawford, Nathan Crawford, Leslie Dempsey, Marlaina George, Brady Gilligan, Michael Gilligan, Billie Jo Lenz, Chad Littleton, Courtney Kadolph, Cheyenne Mann, Timothy Mayville, Adam Ritchie, Abigail Shawano.
Many, many congratulations to all of the students honored this night from PTT!
To finish off the night, there was a very special award called the Platinum Medal Recipient award. This award acknowledges an elder whose dedication and hard work in the area of education showed in everything that they did. As Boelter mentions, “There are many, many elders in this community who are worthy of receiving this award — the list of possible candidates goes on and on. This is the first time that an award like this has ever been handed out, and it will be displayed at the education learning facility for all to see. This year’s award goes to Eleanor Shawano. She is being recognized for the number of years she has worked with the preschool students and their parents, and, in addition, each year she made sure every student had a graduation gown. Her service will be missed and the memory of her commitment to our tribe and the children will never be forgotten.” Accepting this award on behalf of Eleanor was her husband Eugene Shawano Sr. and her family. Shawano said, “If Eleanor was here, she would be very proud of this medal. This medal will always be in our home to remind us of her spirit and how she was a mother to all her children. Migwetch!”
To end the night, Fire Nation Singers sang an honor song for the students and their families and then closed with a traveling song for everyone in attendance.
Considering that the night’s activities represented the first attempt at this kind of awards banquet, it turned out to be a very successful evening. There were about 200 people in attendance, and the honoring of these students was an amazing thing to share. This community has come a long way over the years, and it continues to grow in the area of education and its importance to the youth. The successes acknowledged during this banquet represent something for which the entire community can be proud.
[PDFDownloadButton url=”https://www.fcpotawatomi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/June-1-2016.pdf” title=”June 1, 2016 – Full Issue”]