Friends Of The Akwesasne Freedom School Inc

FOAFS wish to sponsor Iakwathehtahserón:ni (we are reviving our garden) to implement a healthy foods program in our school. We strive to feed our students and staff a daily morning snack and healthy home cooked lunch that includes garden fresh vegetables as well as wild game.

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) The FOAFS has been understaffed for many years, with all employees wearing multiple hats daily. While Jessica has the skills to create websites other tasks are often more pressing and so updating either the Friends or the school's website gets pushed back over and over. The AFS has not had its website updated in nearly a decade and any information on the former one is now far out of date. The parents and staff deserve an accessible website with staff and parent portals for information and knowledge sharing as well as a thought-out and easy-to-navigate public page for possible funders. The Friends site is updated once a year if possible but we have gone through so many changes recently that some of the information is now incorrect. In 2019, we attempted to rebrand and update the AFS logo in addition to creating a logo for the Friends to create a visual cohesive branding strategy between the programs. However, some parents were against changing the school's logo at that time and so the project stalled with only the Friends getting its own logo that looks nothing like the school's.

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) The current Executive Director is planning to retire in 2024 and a succession plan is needed to help ready the FOAFS for the transition and to distribute some of the responsibilities to current staff. Within the organization there is currently two new staff members and one senior staff member. The project was developed to train current staff in project facilitation to manage future projects with the community. Professional staff development is also included in the project to ensure current staff have the skill set to be organized and effective in a fast-paced work environment. The project will also include a retreat for both FOAFS and AFS staff along the Executive Director to develop a succession plan for both organizations to ensure prosperous future for the next generation of Kanien'keha speakers.

Kaststenserion "Giving Strength" our project is to strengthen both the Friends of the Akwesasne Freedom School, Inc and the Akwesasne Freedom School. The project will serve all staff, teachers, trainees and families of the Akwesasne Freedom School.

Covid-19 Response

COVID-19 Response Survey

The Teacher Training program will increase the capacity of our current and new teachers to effectively impart traditional and standard curriculum while maintaining total immersion in the Kanienkeha (Mohawk) language, creating a strong learning foundation at all age levels.

The ultimate purpose of the Orihwakaionhnéha Project is to 1) retain our ceremonial speeches that contain ancient words and rituals used in our longhouse; 2) increase the number of Mohawk youth who are fluent in ceremonial and longhouse language; 3) utilize our existing recordings from which additional curriculum will be developed. Each purpose mentioned above will not only increase the number of Mohawk youth knowledgeable in an essential cultural revitalization effort. It will also ensure THAT future generations of Mohawk speakers will have access to these traditional teachings and language.