New This Year
New This Year Health Classes: ICS welcomed Ms. Lukasavitz, Health Teacher, who provided lessons on health and wellness to our middle school students. The Franklin Health Department hosted an anti- smoking/vaping poster contest resulting in: • Artwork from two ICS students were chosen (Tessa T., 8th-grader & Kimberly R., 7th-grader), who were honored at an ICS Board meeting and their artwork was used in public service announcements to address this serious issue among our youth.
Literacy Night First Literacy Night Held: ICS hosted “A Journey Through the Pages,” Family Literacy Night. Together, they welcomed 30 families for an evening that encouraged reading, writing, and other literacy skills for children, and provided families with tools and resources to support literacy development at home. This event was designed for families to share in the joy of reading and writing. After listening to the story in the Drum, families travelled through the school to different stations set up, which offered opportunities to read books together, play reading games, create poetry and other book-themed crafts, and engage with storytelling through music. This event provided families the opportunity to connect, have fun, and share in the joys that reading and writing have to offer. Alumni College Level Lacrosse Players Visit: ICS Alumnus, Marcus Thundercloud, who plays Division One Lacrosse for Detroit Mercy, visited ICS along with teammates, their coach, and parents to enhance and inspire lacrosse at our school, and to support attendance. Alumni Events: ICS Alumni joined our Cultural Celebrations and volunteered at many of our other events. We hosted three events specifically for Alumni, including a Reconnecting Alumni event in February, a Bowling Event and MIEC All City Graduation which both took place in May. New Alumni Staff: We are proud to have welcomed three ICS Alumni to our staff this past year. See page 10 of this report for more information about our Alumni staff. Extra Curricular We Do This for the Water: A new after-school group learned about plant medicines, smudging, Tobacco Ceremony, Water Ceremony, and how to make cedar and strawberry teas. The boys focused on Fire Teachings and the girls focused on Water Teachings. All made bundles and learned how to conduct a Water Walk, which they later taught to 1st grade students. They also participated in the Sturgeon Water Walk in downtown Milwaukee. These students greeted VIP guests by smudging and conducting Tobacco Ceremony and Water Ceremony. There were 14 students who participated and many of their families joined in and learned along with their children each week. See page 9 of this report for more information. Club Lacrosse: ICS partnered with Franklin Public Schools to offer a competitive Lacrosse team experience . There were 17 ICS students in grades 3-8 who participated.
New Electives Courses for 7th and 8th grade students: Moccasin making was offered resulting in: • 32 students completing moccasins • 5 students completed fully beaded moccasins Other Electives offered in the 2023-2024 school year were: • Makerspace • Choir
• 2D Design • 3D Design • Indigenous Games • Guitar • Chair Yoga/Mindfullness • Flute
• Percussion • Book Club • Fibers (Sewing)
Hicakoro Nēmat Wiijiiwaagan Kyat ^
Language and Culture New Staff, Programming and Teaching Lodge: Our Ways welcomed Shena Munden as our new Ho-Chunk Language and Culture Teacher and Desiree Henry, who is also an ICS Alumnus, as our new Ojibwe Language and Culture Apprentice. Our Ways also planned four community events to support the languages taught at ICS. The Ojibwe and Oneida events were very well received. The Ho-Chunk and Menominee events were postponed due to losses in their communities, but plans to move forward next year are already underway. In June, Our Ways and the MIEC Teaching Lodge Committee worked with the Ho-Chunk community to build a new Teaching Lodge.
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