Our InterTribal Education project continues to develop curriculum thanks to a multi-year grant of $50,000 from the Betterment Fund. Hosted by Maine Indian Education, LLC in Calais and curriculum coordinator Beth Clifford, the project will include students from both the Penobscot tribe and the two Passamaquoddy communities, Sipayik and Indian Township. As planned last year, we intend to present 19 subject matters that directly relate to learning entrepreneurial skills. The student population ranges from Grade 6 through post secondary with all learning opportunities crafted to fit age appropriate proficiencies.

The going is slow, largely because we want to get this right, not only by taking native cultures into account, but also by presenting experiential learning that fits with academic training. Projects, Inc. is taking a few pages from our time spent in creating Service Learning programs during the 1980’s to model what we want to present to tribal youth. Later this spring and into the summer we will offer learning experiences that fit current patterns of in-school, after-school, and vacation block learning times.
All students in the target age range (numbering over 400) will be offered entrepreneurial skills training. We intend that 15 – 20% will pick up the passion for creating self initiated, risk taking use of time and resources, and that in the future this fresh zeal will create financial independence for them.
From start to finish this is not a straight line! Tribal cultures feature many thousands of years living in balance with their environments. Our Projects, Inc. task, then, is to bridge their successes to ours, for the benefit of both. Though eminently compelling, this will take time. As Winston Churchill observed; “Success is all about going from one failure to the next … without losing enthusiasm!” Although we may not to get it right the first time, we will get it right.