I was struck by the sheer complexity and diversity of the stories and cultures of the various tribes categorized as Plains Indians. One of the focuses of the journey was the way in which the lives, stories, and land of Native Americans are sidelined by mainstream American visions of physical space and history.
SPARKNOTES THERE THERE TOMMY ORANGE SERIES
It was with this course in mind that I applied to Stephanie Wood’s 2019 NEH summer institute, “Discovering Native Histories along the Lewis and Clark Trail.” The institute presented a remarkably unique opportunity to travel through Montana and North Dakota, visit a variety of historic and cultural sites, and meet with a series of thoughtful scholars and representatives from the Crow (Apsáalooke), Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota tribes. Approximately 30% of the student body receives financial aid.Īt Friends Select School, I teach a variety of upper-level English courses, including a one-semester senior elective titled “Race, Gender and Nationality in Literature.” I developed the course at Sandy Spring Friends School out of the desire to center the voices of writers of color in my classroom and to respond to my students’ desire to engage with the intersections of race, gender, nationality, class, religion, mental health and other topics as they exist in literature and in all of our lives. 38% of the students are students of color 8% are international students. The students come from all over the city, often navigating public transit to reach school.
Friends Select is blocks from City Hall and from the Art Museum. That trip stayed with me even as I transitioned from teaching at Sandy Spring Friends School, a suburban Quaker school set on 160 acres in Maryland, to teaching at Friends Select School, an urban Quaker school in Center City Philadelphia. The experience was deeply meaningful for my students and for me and underscored the power of experiential education and of storytelling.
Through these partnerships, we had the opportunity to spend time on Navajo Nation with Irene Notah, learning about traditional Navajo weaving, and in Zuni with Ken Seowtewa, learning about Zuni art. At each phase of my life, I have distinct memories of recognizing and cherishing Philadelphia-and the places and people associated with the city-as my home.Īt Sandy Spring Friends School, I led a week-long trip to New Mexico where my school partnered with Cottonwood Gulch, a wonderful organization that has been in the four corners area since 1926 and has cultivated community partnerships throughout the last 90 years. My first job took me away from Philadelphia again and I spent three years teaching at Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland before returning to Philadelphia in the summer of 2018 to teach at Friends Select School. I left Philadelphia to attend undergrad at Yale, where I majored in English, before returning to the city to get a master’s at Penn in teaching high school English. As a child, I spent three years living in Jerusalem, first as a toddler, and then again for my 8th-grade year. My life has been a series of phases characterized by either leaving or returning to Philadelphia. Subject: Language Arts By Miriam Rock Curriculum Designer’s Letter and Story There There by Tommy Orange, the Importance of Place, and Contemporary Native American Communities Grade Band: Secondary