Faced with problems as opportunities, students can make amazing things

This came through my Facebook feed from a friend who teaches in Mission, SD.

It speaks for itself.

The story via NPR:

Unhappy with portrayals of Native Americans in mainstream media, a group of students from South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux Reservation created a video to show that their community is about more than alcoholism, broken homes and crime.

The students are visiting Washington, D.C., on Monday to lobby Congress for increased funding for schools on reservations.

Filmed in black and white, the student-produced video More Than That takes viewers through the hallways, classrooms and gymnasium of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation’s county high school.

Using their bodies as signposts, the students explain that they’re more than stock images of poverty, alcoholism and violence. With words drawn on their hands, arms and faces, they share the traits that describe who they really are: humor, intelligence, creativity — and the list goes on.

The point the students are trying to make, says English teacher Heather Hanson, is that they’re not victims.

The nonprofit National Association of Federally Impacted Schools invited the Lakota students to attend its winter conference Monday in Washington, D.C. While in town, the students will also lobby South Dakota’s congressional representatives.

Here’s the ABC News special the movie references.

They weren’t content to be exoticized and knew how to tell the story of how they see themselves.

More Than That has 49,750 views right now. ABC’s clip can claim only 17,391.

I take hope in those numbers.

4 thoughts on “Faced with problems as opportunities, students can make amazing things”

  1. Hello again Mr. Chase.
    Wow, this was a really inspiring video. I actually watch the documentary special on ABC with Diane Sawyer. It was so good but it did give off the impression that the children there only had dreams, but no chance of a successful future. I believe these students had a right to make this video and it is the perfect video for people who have heard of or watched their situation. I hate knowing that they were perceived in this way because every child deserves a chance. This video just show that great potiental these students actually have. They realized how they were viewed by the world in a negative way and they took charge. I will continue to pray for this school district to succeed in all ways possible!

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