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A School Newspaper Links Sioux Indian Teens to Their Community

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglishThe Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the American state of South Dakota is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. It's also where Nicky Oulette is in her first year as the journalism teacher at Little Wound High School. Ms. Oulette teaches the twelve students on the school newspaper, the Mustang News. She helps them choose story ideas if they need help. She says: "Sometimes, if we're getting stuck, I'll kind of guide them along. But, especially lately, they've been the one picking the articles."One student wanted to write her own column, comparing the weather to different parts of her own life. Another student wanted to start writing some song reviews. So now, every two weeks, she picks out a couple of songs and writes a review about them. The reporters also cover news like a recent flood at the school caused by a broken water pipe. Yet the real story here is that Nicky Oulette is the school's first journalism teacher in years. The Mustang News had stopped publishing. But now, not only is it back, copies are included every other week in the Lakota Country Times, a local newspaper. This way, school news reaches parents and other people in the community. Other student newspapers have been incorporated into Native American papers, but not many. The publisher of the Lakota Country Times, Connie Smith, says the public has welcomed the idea. She says: "Everywhere I go, people are talking to me about how proud they are. The kids do the news. They do the interviews. They take the pictures. Sometimes a teacher may have something that goes in, but mostly it's the students."Connie Smith says the quality is as good as some of the stories that are written by community members for the Lakota Country Times. The idea inspired two other schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation to publish their own papers. They take turns being included in the Times.Brooke Chase Alone works on the Mustang News at Little Wound High School. She says her favorite story so far has been covering the history of the annual Big Foot Ride. This is a two-week trail ride from the Standing Rock Reservation to Wounded Knee. Wounded Knee was where government soldiers killed more than two hundred Sioux in eighteen ninety. The Army called it a battle; Indians called it a massacre. Brooke has a personal connection to the story she wrote. Her grandfather, Percy White Plume, helped start the Big Foot Ride and one ofthe original riders, she says. She went to his house and interviewed him about his experience. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti. For more ways to learn American English and stay informed every day, go to voaspecialenglish.com from your computer or mobile device.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 14Apr2011)
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Education
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