Knowing that I’m particularly interested in the education of Native American children as well as children from immigrant families, one of my colleagues here at Education Week drew my attention to the fact that Sven Haakanson, an advocate of the revitalization of the language and culture of Alutiiq people in Alaska, has received a $500,000 award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (See an article in the Anchorage Daily News about the award.)
Mr. Haakanson is an Alutiiq and a trained anthropologist who educates the public about his people as the executive director of the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska, according to a description of him on the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Web site.
Let me use this opportunity to say that while the mission of this blog is to keep readers up to date on how schools are helping children to learn English, I also am interested in highlighting efforts by educators and others to help children to maintain, revitalize, or improve their native languages.