Bartlett receives Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence

HELENA – This past March, Seeley Lake Elementary junior high math and science teacher Patti Bartlett was among four other Montana educators that received the 2019 Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence in Indian Education for All. She was recognized for her leadership, enthusiasm and scope of influence for the Indian Education for All program. While Barlett was honored by the award, she quickly pointed to others who help her incorporate native American education in her classroom.

There are seven reservations and 12 Indian Nations including one landless tribe in the state. Montana is the fourth largest state in the union with a population density of 6.7 people per square mile.

"Indian Education for All is very important to help bring a greater cultural awareness to our students," wrote Bartlett in an email. "It is not only important, it is mandated."

Since 1972, Article X, Section 1(2) of the Montana Constitution recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity. 

The IEFA program was funded in 1999. Subsequent pieces of legislation have articulated that schools integrate culturally responsive curriculum into all subjects and allocated funding to assist them.

As part of the Office of Public Instruction's "Montana Learn" initiative to rethink how students are learning, and with leadership from the Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, IEFA works with tribal education leaders, elders, education professionals and other experts to provide teachers with standards-aligned deliverables that enhance student learning. Among these are the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana American Indians, an IEFA implementation framework, professional development events and subject-specific curriculum resources and guides. This helps Montana's young people better understand and appreciate their historical and contemporary contributions to Montana.

Bartlett said she does a variety of lessons and projects throughout the year that promote IEFA - they are simply a part of her standards. Her eighth grade math students just finished transformations. Students created their own shield after looking at the different shields of Montana's tribes. They have used mathematical translations, dilations and rotations in their creations. Throughout the work, they learned about tribal sovereignty, locations of the reservations and also which reservations had which tribes. 

Bartlett has been involved with other organizations, including the Montana National History Center that offers the Wings over Water program. Indian Education specialist Jennifer Stadum said that because of Bartlett's enthusiasm for IEFA, the National History Center requested more IEFA training.

"The Montana Natural History Center serves fourth through 12th grade in their programs," said Stadum. "When you think of how many kids are influenced by their programs, that is a big ripple."

For the past eight years, IEFA has presented the Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award to educators across the state. Traditionally, award recipients implemented or developed programming at the state or national level. The Indian Education unit staff makes the selection each year.

SLE Junior High teacher Duane Schlabach nominated Bartlett for the award.

"Patti is a leader in the state on being able to combine the NextGeneration Science standards, local place based learning, infused with an emphasis on native voices. Her academic rigor is a testament to her devotion to provide students with the best education they can achieve in order to thrive in the 21st century," wrote Schlabach in an email.

Stadum said Bartlett was chosen for all her IEFA leadership in small rural schools, her ability to integrate non-formal education and environmental education moving IEFA outside the classroom walls out to the reservation and on the landscape where aboriginal tribes used to live.

"She does a great job putting context to that," said Stadum. "Her enthusiasm also gets other teachers excited about it."

It was that enthusiasm for IEFA with her fellow educators and the Montana Natural History Center that Statum said added the reach the committee was looking to recognize in this year's award.

"Bartlett is one of our most enthusiastic advocates for Indian Education for All and is always willing to help us out," said Statum.

Bartlett said receiving the Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award was quite an honor, however, it would not have been possible without many other people. Darryl Norman, Browning, is always willing to share his vast knowledge about cultural traditions and help with language. Rick Grounds, Browning, is always open for questions of any kind. Tim Ryan, Polson, has helped her classes do so many things from building fish traps and making cording to showing her trees around her place that were utilized for sap collection by the Salish. And Jack Gladstone is always a rich source of material.

"The folks at IEFA are always creating lessons, listening to our concerns, and are open to new ideas. They house an incredible amount of educational materials and knowledge," wrote Bartlett. "This is way less about me and more about the folks who work so hard behind the scenes."

"The Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence award showcases Patti's commitment to education and our future and is well-deserved," wrote Schalbach in an email. "It has been my honor to have taught alongside her for the last eight years."

In addition to Bartlett, three other educators also received the Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Ward for Excellence at the annual IEFA Best Practice Conference March 2: Christine Rogers Stanton, Associate Professor of Education, Montana State University, Bozeman; Cynthia Lynn-Ward Duffy, English Language Arts Teacher and Instructional Coach for IEFA Trainer of Trainers, Great Falls High School; and Brooke Taylor, Math Teacher, Billings Senior High School.

For more information about Indian Education for All please visit http://opi.mt.gov/Educators/Teaching-Learning/Indian-Education