Aaniin- My name is Tara Graves and I am the Coordinator of Project Intersect. Project Intersect began July 1st 2006 and is a four-year federally funded researched based project design for American Indian and non-Indian students in grades 1-8. The focus is to enhance students’ interested, understanding, enthusiasm, and performance in standards-based art education, language arts, mathematics, and science. By combining culturally competent art benchmarks Project Intersect will develop new and effective interventions for arts education that integrate a culturally responsive model with standard-based education. This approach will create a learning environment where children (American Indian and non-Indian) gain basic skills within two cultures.

Project Intersect will work with students in the Cloquet School District and students at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School on the Fond du Lac Reservation.

The Overall purpose of the project is to : (a) partner with local American Indian artist to infuse culturally responsive American Indian visual and performing arts into K-8 arts education; (b) integrate American Indian arts activities into language arts, math and science education; (c) ensure that this American Indian arts-based curriculum is aligned with state and national benchmarks and content standards in the visual and performing arts, language arts, math and science; (d) research the effectiveness of the culturally integrated American Indian curricular model in improving student academic performance in language arts, math and science; and (e) disseminate program results and outcome for national and statewide replication.

If you are interested in presenting on a Native American topic (Ojibwe) please contact me at taragraves@fdlrez.com or 218-878-8034.

January '09 Newsletter
October Newsletter

Project Intersect consists of the following classrooms here at FDL Ojibwe School:

Ms. Heidi ,Mr. Andersen and Ms. Dawn, Grades 3 and 5

Mrs. Garsow Grade 6

Ms. Jen Lees and Ms. Jan Koivisto Grade 7 & 8