C&I M.Ed. candidate opens Dakota Language immersion school

 

Photo by J.P. Lawrence

Vanessa Goodthunder, an M.Ed. candidate in Social Studies Education, was recently featured in the Christian Science Monitor for her work to open a Dakota Language Immersion preschool in the Lower Sioux reservation as part of an effort to revitalize the Dakota language and cultural heritage. Currently, only five people in the state speak Dakota.

Goodthunder received a $1.9 million grant in September from Head Start,  followed by a $90,000 grant in December. With an opening set for mid-June, the immersion school will enroll up to 74 children.

“We feel it’s a great vehicle to raise the next generation of Dakota speakers, and simultaneously help heal historical trauma,” Goodthunder says.

Read the full article in the Christian Science Monitor.

Learn more about the M.Ed. and initial teaching license programs and the M.Ed. in language immersion education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.