On today’s show, we hear from two Indian Education staff who are passionate about serving students in the ISD318 school district located in Itasca County, in the heart of Ojibwe country. Host Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) is exploring how Indian Country in MN is responding and adapting to the current pandemic health crisis.

We hear from Jessica Bobrowski (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) is the program coordinator for ISD 318 Indian Education and Ella Cummings is a Student Advocate at the Grand Rapids High School. Jessica and Ella share different ways they and their colleagues have risen to meet all the changes and challenges of the pandemic, so students can thrive even as school life has been changed and disrupted. 

The goal of Indian Education is to introduce Ojibwe culture and history and provide hands-on learning experiences for all students, and Jessica and Ella explain how incorporating the Seven Grandfather teachings of Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth has helped raise up all students, both Native and Non-Native in their schools and classrooms. 

Plus, Governor Tim Walz reflects on the last year: the many losses and challenges, and how far we’ve come to get to this point where now more than one million Minnesotans have received their vaccine.