For the past year, Salamanca High School students have been reading parts of the memoir “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” by Alicia Elliot. This was the first of three books chosen by students in this year’s Indigenous author series. Last year, students in Mrs. Klusek’s 10th grade English class read selected chapters of the book supplemented by weekly presentations from Salamanca’s Native American Curriculum Team. They finished the unit by writing their own memoir. This year, Mr. Berg, brand new to the district, took up the challenge and guided his 9th grade English class through the same process.
On Wednesday November 8, Salamanca High School students were visited by Alicia Elliot, the author of the book they had been working on. In the morning, Mrs. Elliot presented a message reminding students that all people should be treated as complete and complicated human beings. This was followed by a thoughtful question and answer period. She spent the last part of the morning speaking students individually and signing their personal copies of her book that were provided by the Indigenous Parent Committee.
After lunch with the Salamanca High School’s Allegany Indigenous Youth Council, Mrs. Elliot spent the afternoon with three different self-selected small groups of students from 9th grade, 11th grade, and Journalism in the library for writing workshops. She shared some of her personal story and guided students in creating a structure for their own memoir. For this activity, Mrs. Elliot used a tree as the overarching metaphor. Students wrote about the roots of who they are, the bark that protects them and the branches that reach for the sun. The goal was to tell young writers that their stories are important and give them the tools to write those stories down. For some students this was an emotional message and periodically through the day you could see hugs and tears as students told Alicia their stories.
Keep an eye out for two more author visits this year. The 8th grade team is using the theme of “gratitude” in all subjects to prepare students for Robin Kimmerer the author of “Braiding Sweetgrass” coming in March. And, the entire English department, led by Mrs. Kinney’s Native American Literature class, is incorporating the theme of “identity” in preparation for Angeline Boulley author of “Firekeeper’s Daughter” who is coming in May.
Nya:wëh to the many people who supported this event and the work from teachers and students who worked to meaningfully integrate an indigenous view into their curriculum.