Dave Emmanuel is the Crookston School District Indian Education Coordinator. He offers an after-school program for all 129 of his students. According to Emmanuel, the 129 native American students that qualify make up roughly 8-10% of the students in the Crookston School District. The after-school program, supplies, and even Emmanuel’s position are entirely funded by state and federal funds.
Emmanuel talked about how the after-school program got started. “I started the after-school program as an incentive for the kids who were doing well in school,” said Emmanuel. “They need to be behaving in class and trying their best. If they are having behavioral problems, they know they can’t attend. It usually takes place on Thursdays after school, and it’s exploded this year. I have kids at the High School that come over to Highland to be a part of it. A couple of years ago, I was probably around 12-14 kids, and last week I had 40 attend.”
Emmanuel also talked about what the students do in the after-school program every week. “What we do is work on cultural items during that time. If you look around my room, the shelves are filled with beads, leather, and different things we work on,” said Emmanuel. “We also work on different things that will help them in life moving forward. One thing that has been added this year is that I bought a karaoke machine, and I have the kids work on their public speaking. The reason I did that was that a few years ago when I had the kids do some impromptu public speaking, they ended up coming back to me and saying thank you because it helped them with their public speaking classes in High School.”
Outside of doing the after-school program and cultural exercises, Emmanuel also helps the students daily with motivation and ensures they are studying/learning in school. Emmanuel said his students MCA testing scores ranked above the average scores nationally for Native American students. “Typically, in the state of Minnesota and nationally, Native American testing scores are low,” said Emmanuel. “I’m so proud of these kids for the work they do. My students that tested in the MCA’s, performed at 72.5% in reading which was well above the national level for Native American’s. I’m extremely proud of that. They were also at 57.8% in math which is also above average.”
Emmanuel was sure to thank the teachers and parents who have dedicated their time and commitment to helping the students be their best. Emmanuel says he continues to run into students that qualify for the program each week. If students want to enroll in the program and qualify or have any questions, they can contact Dave Emmanuel on his cell phone, 218-289-4742. He says having an open-door policy with his phone and at school has continued to improve the program and everything they do.
For the entire conversation with Crookston School District Indian Education Coordinator Dave Emmanuel, you can tune in to KROX Saturday morning at 8:35 for the Focus on Education program. Emmanuel also discussed a few of the larger activities that will be taking place in the spring, how the program has developed, and how proud he is of all the students who continue to give their best each day. You can listen on 105.7 FM, 1260 AM, or by clicking “Listen Live” at the top of this page.
