For our second Opinion Piece, we looked at the dropout rate for Native Americans in the state of Maine. According to an article in Education World, the dropout rate of Native American teens in Maine is significantly higher than for other groups of students in this state.
Before writing, we discussed this issue as a group, drawing on the experiences we've had in transitioning to high school and coming up with ideas of what might have made that transition easier. Several of you suggested a sort of cohort model, where Native American students would have the opportunity to be placed in schools together and have some of the same classes. Others suggested a mentoring program, whether it be upper class students as mentors or teachers who transition with students to the high school.
After discussing and writing about this issue, we read from The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian. We left off on page eighty-two and that's where we'll begin next class.
