Before children across northeast Oklahoma walk through the school doors on the first day of a new year, Cherokee Nation has already been at work investing in their future — whether that child is Cherokee or not.

That is how I have always understood education should be. It does not begin when the first bell rings. It begins long before that, when we make sure kids are healthy, prepared and surrounded by people who believe in them. It continues with strong schools, dedicated teachers, access to language and Cherokee culture, and the kinds of opportunities that help young people figure out who they are and what direction they want to go. Investing in education is one of the most important things a government can do.

As the school year commences across the Cherokee Nation Reservation, I am proud of what our Nation has built and will keep building when it comes to nurturing and developing our young people at every stage of their life.

Just days before classrooms are reopening, Cherokee Nation welcomed educators from across Oklahoma to our annual Teachers of Successful Students (TOSS) Conference. More than 200 teachers and school staff came together to share ideas, sharpen their skills and prepare for the students who will soon fill their rooms. When we invest in teachers, we invest in and support every child they teach.

We also continue one of our most meaningful partnerships with public education — sharing Cherokee Nation motor vehicle tag revenue with schools throughout the reservation. Since 2002, that investment has contributed more than $107 million to public schools in northeast Oklahoma, including $7.26 million distributed this past year. Those dollars go directly to school districts, allowing them to fill critical gaps. The partnerships reinforce a core belief: when public schools succeed, our communities succeed as well.

Our direct cash assistance to public schools does not end there. For the second consecutive year we have provided over $1.8 million in Public Health and Wellness Fund Act grants, a number of which went to help schools with wellness, health and safety infrastructure needs from ball courts to outdoor classrooms to improved water systems.

At the same time, we are expanding educational opportunities for Cherokee families directly. The Cherokee Immersion School is entering a new era, strengthened by legislation that secures its independence and long-term future. Construction will soon be complete on the new immersion middle school campus, so more Cherokee children will have the chance to learn their language every day. At Sequoyah High School, our $65 million capital improvement plan is transforming the SHS campus and creating modern facilities so that our students have a learning environment that matches their potential.

Our youngest learners also remain a priority. Cherokee Nation has completed a historic Head Start capital plan through the Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act, modernizing early childhood facilities across our 14-county reservation. Soon, we will celebrate the opening of the newest Child Development Center brought online under the Hoskin-Warner administration, this one in Catoosa. It will ensure access to quality early learning for more working families.

Education, of course, does not stop when school is out. Cherokee Nation’s Education Services brings Cherokee history and language into classrooms through cultural enrichment programs. During school breaks, our cultural tourism programs offer students and families hands-on learning at historical sites, museums and cultural locations. And this fall, First Lady January Hoskin’s Youth Public Service Career Program will once again introduce Cherokee youth to careers dedicated to serving others.

Some of the work we do outside of school addresses a need even more basic than education: hunger. Hungry kids cannot reach their potential, in school and otherwise. That’s why, year after year, we bring home millions of federal “Summer EBT” dollars for ALL eligible low-income students across the reservation.

The Cherokee Nation’s partner nonprofit, the Cherokee Nation Foundation, also offers K-12 programs and opportunities, including Junior Achievement of Oklahoma’s BizTown and college-readiness workshops.

All of this comes back to a belief I hold firmly: Education is one of the most powerful expressions of sovereignty we have as Cherokee people. Every scholarship awarded, every classroom improved, every teacher supported and every child introduced to the Cherokee language is an investment, not just in one individual, but in the future of our tribe.

As students head back to school this year, I want them and their families to know that the Cherokee Nation is already in their corner. We are investing today so that tomorrow’s leaders are prepared to succeed.

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