Gift goes directly into classrooms

Published 12:01 am Saturday, November 14, 2009

I teach eighth-grade language arts and social studies at Totem Middle School. We were called to a surprise staff meeting recently and were met by Tulalip Tribes CEO Shelley Lacy.

She greeted us warmly in her Lushootseed tongue and thanked us for all we do at Totem. (Totem is the “funnel” school for the Tulalip Reservation, which means all the kids on the “rez” attend Totem.)

By the way, I live on the reservation but am not a tribal member. Lacy said the tribe wanted to give each teacher at Totem a small token of appreciation, especially in these hard times with budget cuts, etc. She proceeded to call us up, one by one and hand each of us a gift card in the amount of $250 to use in our classrooms. Totem has 32 teachers! I was moved to tears. This means so much to us.

In a conversation I had with Tribal advocate JuJu (last name unknown to me), he mentioned that the tribe met this summer to talk about how they could help us. It was mentioned to just give the money to teachers, to have it go directly into classrooms. What a novel idea! I wish the state legislators were as bright as our tribal leaders. They really know how to take care of kids, as we’ve seen over and over. The money goes directly where it is needed.

I just think that this kind of action needs to be publicized for the community at large.

Mia Cauley
Totem Middle School
Tulalip