2006 Tribal Internships for High School Students |
| ITEST partnered with SFIS’s Community Based Education Model (CBEM), AgriScience, and
Leadership Institute to streamline high school students’ STEM experiences in Pueblo
communities. This summer, there are a total of 27 high school students in 13 Pueblo
communities; ITEST is funding 19 of those students’ experiences. By working closely with
partner programs including, CBEM, AgriScience, and the Leadership Institute, students received
more mentoring and training than through ITEST alone. CBEM offered additional support for
Pueblo GIT projects; AgriScience and Leadership added a survey experience to several students’
internships. The result was that ITEST students not only had an IT experience, but were also
exposed to other STEM concepts. |
Pueblo ITEST students are involved in the following interdisciplinary, IT-focused, STEMfocused,
CBE projects in their home communities:
Community Planning
- Areas designated for development where they are not a threat to environmental and cultural sites.
- Various departments depend on GIS Specialists to provide maps of sewer lines, water lines, electric lines, utility meters etc.
Environmental Protection
- Maps show boundaries of wetlands and springs – helps in planning and development to protect these areas.
- Management of areas where there have been fires to determine means of revitalizations and how to deal with invasive species.
Cultural Preservation
- Maps generated help leader to visualize area needing protection due to non-Indian community encroachment.
- Helps to identify sacred areas within and outside of Pueblo boundaries
- Community revitalization using GPS/GIS in order to reconstruct village to its original appearance.
- Gathering of stories from elders about the old village.
Water Rights
- Mapping of hydrological wells and watersheds.
- Learning the importance of water to Pueblo Culture.
- Seeing how water is managed in Pueblo communities. Is it different than in non-Indian communities?
Sovereignty
- Land boundaries can be validated and monitored.
- Pueblos gather their own data and determine how to interpret it based on their worldview.
- Internships foster connectedness to community issues and needs.
Health
- Water quality testing on the Rio Grande.
- Testing water for toxins in areas of recent wildfires.
- Testing water for bacteria due to low water because of drought conditions.
- Data gathering showing the need to revitalize agricultural practices of communities resulting in better eating habits, exercise and autonomy.
Language
- Students likely to speak their native language if they are in their home communities.
Agriculture
- Mapping of agricultural fields.
- Mapping of ditches and canals once used and in use.
- Protection of agricultural areas due to overpopulation.
Information Technology
- Database management of utilities and tribal council resolutions.
- Instruction to tribal members in the use of GPS and GIS technologies (ArcGIS and GPS units).
- Familiarization with new types of software and hardware.
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