Sometimes Armando Ortiz looks back at his life and can hardly believe where he is today. He grew up in White Center, just south of Seattle, and at a pretty early age got involved in gang life and hanging out with people who were getting into trouble. He says much of his early educational life felt like he was being passed along from one grade to the next, no one paying much attention to whether he was learning or not.
He decided to attend Highline Big Picture High School in Seattle to get away from the neighborhood schools, which he knew would draw him back into a lifestyle he didn’t want. At Highline he started taking school more seriously, and he began to discover more about his cultural heritage as a Yakama Indian.
“What it really meant for me was bringing that new identity into myself, like finally knowing who I am as a whole, not feeling like there was a missing part,” Ortiz said. He’d always known he was part Native American, but it wasn’t a part of his identity he knew much about. He’s also part Filipino and part Mexican, cultures that were easier to access and understand where he grew up. At Highline, Ortiz encountered mentors at the Native Student and Family Wellness Initiative, a unique program designed to help urban American Indians from Seattle reconnect with their culture and heritage.
Ortiz’s experience shows just how important culturally relevant education can be for native students, who have some of the worst educational outcomes of any marginalized group in the U.S. In 2006, just 26 percent of American Indian youth between the ages of 18 and 24 were enrolled in college or university, as compared with 41 percent of whites. A 2014 White House report on native youth found their high school graduation rate is 67 percent. And since 93 percent of Native American and Native Alaskan students attend public schools, it is imperative that all teachers recognize the particular struggles they face.
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