Tim
McLaughlin has served as
an educator of Native
youth for 11 years. The
past 7 years were spent
at the Santa Fe Indian
School (SFIS) in New
Mexico. At SFIS,
McLaughlin founded a
spoken word program that
includes Native
languages and
philosophies. Today, the
SFIS Poetry Team is
nationally recognized
for performance poetry
and has won many awards.
It's been featured in
the New York Times, on
the Jim Lehrer News
Hour, and in an upcoming
HBO TV series about teen
poetry.
Q: How did you
incorporate the SAC into
your classroom?
A: In some cases, I
created class
assignments directed
toward the focus theme
and then introduced the
contest, and in others,
I just announced the
opportunity and
discussed ways to
approach the contest.
For the older kids, I
also read aloud last
year’s winning essays by
April (Chavez) and Nolan
(Eskeets). With the 7th
graders, we started with
a writing activity about
Native identity so the
kids would write about
specific aspects of
Native culture instead
of making overly
abstract statements that
just mimicked the words
of the theme. In all
cases, I encouraged the
students to create a
personal narrative that
offers a compelling,
flavorful story.
Q: What advice would you
give to teachers who may
have students entering
for the first time?
A:
Help your students to
fashion a unique story.
Native students are
quite often exceptional
listeners and grow up in
environments rich with
oral tradition. As a
result, they develop an
internal comprehension
for the elements of a
good story and just need
a little encouragement
and guidance to become
storytellers themselves,
even at a young age. Our
role as teachers is to
help the students
manifest what is inside
them, to gift them with
the permission and
confidence to express
their individual truth
or the collective truth
of their family or
tribe. We can do this by
simply getting to know
our students,
discovering who the
important people and
significant events are
in their lives. These
are the building blocks
of a solid, resonant
piece of writing.
Q: What suggestions do
you have for teachers on
how to incorporate the
SAC into
their curriculum?
A:
Again, I think doing
some pre-writing before
actually attacking the
theme helps to get ideas
flowing and generate
some raw material that
can be utilized when
constructing the essay.
Choose subjects that
relate to the theme and
about which your
students have real
things to say, and then
develop some basic
writing prompts around
those subjects. You want
the kids to think and
express freely and
creatively before
throwing a contest at
them so they aren’t
paralyzed by pressure.
Like with any effective
educational project, we
teachers should suggest
possible good paths for
our students, and then
mostly get out of their
way as they travel one,
simply guiding their
steps here and there.
Q: What advice do you
have for students who
are entering for the
first time?
A:
Go for it. The only way
to learn and grow is to
try new things. Fear
rarely leads us anywhere
positive in life. Write
about something and/or
someone that means a lot
to you. Let the first
draft just flow onto the
paper, even if you think
it’s terrible. Then get
somebody smart to read
your work and be ready
to work on it some more.
Patience is very
important because it
takes multiple drafts to
make a really good
essay. Don’t worry about
winning, concern
yourself with creating a
beautiful work of art
with your words.
Q: How did you get your
students interested in
the competition?
A:
In many cases I put out
a tester assignment and
then approached the kids
who I thought had a
product worth working on
further and who might
enjoy doing so. When a
teacher shows an
interest in a student,
they have a sense of
being chosen that is
energizing. This must be
done carefully so to
avoid hurting the other
students. With all the
kids, I stressed that
the competitive aspect
is not the focus, but
that it may be fun to
enter the contest. The
challenge was to refine
their essay to the point
where it was ready for a
larger audience, where
it spoke clearly and
with personality. I
simply told the kids
that they have a
powerful message, so
they should go ahead and
deliver it to others.
Q: Why do you think it’s
important for students
to get involved in the
SAC?
A: Creating art is one
of the highest
expressions of humanity.
It’s a sacred process.
Through crafting a story
and then sharing it, you
bring blessings to
yourself and to your
audience. Also, Native
students come from
profound cultural
backgrounds, from
perspectives grounded in
spirituality and
community, and so their
writing carries
important messages.
Society is hungry for
these messages and for
greater connection on
many levels. Plus, the
contest is a healthy way
for youth to enter into
artistic dialogue with
each other, to share
stories and learn from
one another. Through
submitting an essay, a
young person learns to
speak their truth, to
actively engage with the
world.
http://www.indianeducation.org/enews/index.cfm?v=4&i=2&a=130
