Native youth. Photo by Teach For America

Teach For America is expanding its efforts to recruit more Native teachers in South Dakota.

The organization launched the Native Alliance Initiative in 2010. It now serves four reservations in the state.

“I think having Native teachers provides that connection to that community and who (students) are as people,” Robert Cook, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who serves as senior managing director of the Native Alliance Initiative, told the Associated Press.

The 2014-2015 Native Alliance Initiative group in South Dakota includes 78 teachers, 18 percent of whom are Native, the AP reported. That's up from 17 teachers, 5 percent who were Native, in 2004.

In addition to South Dakota, the Native Alliance Initiative also works in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Hawaii.

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