By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
The Grandview Early Learning Center isn’t just a day care, it’s a culturally focused program that emphasizes the importance of community and culture for Native children. Cultural Coordinator Archie Cantrell explained the goal of GELC is to provide a safe and nurturing environment to all Native American children by building on their physical, emotional and social health.
“We are the team that gets the first opportunity with our youngest members, so we want to make sure we’re doing our absolute best to prepare them as they move along in their school journey,” Cantrell said.
This is a common sentiment shared among the staff members at Grandview, from the kitchen to the teachers, and especially for Acting Interim Director Traci Gonzalez. For her, early childhood education is about more than basic curriculum.
“I realized in my elementary studies that western education didn’t align with my values because they mainly focus on testing and state standards,” Gonzalez said. “I was interested in teaching children in a more cultural based environment, and helping them uncover who they are in the world and their interests.”
Language is an important cultural principle that is held by the department, and great efforts have been made to ensure that Grandview stays dedicated to teaching culture.
“Everybody on staff here at Grandview, that includes teachers and non-teachers, are all taking Lushootseed classes from certified Lushootseed instructors with the Puyallup Tribal Language Program,” Cantrell said. “As a Tribal Member, I’m proud that Grandview has made the commitment to allow all of their staff time to take language classes. Teachers are taking it upon themselves to (Lushootseed) labels up in their rooms. … we’re trying to do as much as we can right now to reclaim our language.”
Teachers support their students through multiple developmental domains, including math, science, social/emotional, physical activity, literacy, culture and language. GELC Support Services Director Roberta Basch believes childcare is one of the most important opportunities that the Tribe provides, and said it was important to her that Grandview was focused in on Tribal culture as they prepare for primary education.
“We take care of the most powerful resource that our Tribe has. That is our future, it’s our children, and we’re doing it through the culture and the language,” Basch said.
Basch also explained they are always working on new ways to involve Puyallup Tribal culture into the classroom and curriculum, along with developing pathways for community involvement. One area of development has been the introduction of a traditional foods garden, where both students and staff are able to learn about local Tribal foods and how they are grown.
“We just recently purchased and planted some traditional foods out in our garden area,” Cantrell said. “We’ll be able to build curriculum around the traditional foods by growing them on site so kids, students and staff will have the opportunity to see what they look like as the plant progresses.”
The garden is just one section of a sprawling outdoor classroom that features a wide variety of learning zones where children can experience hands-on learning opportunities. While the team at Grandview hope to expand in the future, the garden is already growing camas, blue elderberry, yarrow, salal, beaked hazelnut, evergreen huckleberry, beach strawberry and sweetgrass.
“Traditionally, a school is walls and a classroom in a building. The outdoor classroom at GELC provides an environment outside of the traditional classroom where children are able to put their hands on the earth and connect with nature in a natural setting, which helps them connect with who they are,” Gonzalez said.
Child assistance goes beyond the daycare activities located on site. Grandview is also involved with subsidy programs that aid Tribal families with alternative providers. This means that no matter the circumstances, Tribal families have options when it comes to childcare while they are working or attending educational/training programs.
Basch also commented on their recently revised eligibility standards for enrollment, which will help fill out classrooms and maximize the potential of their building.
“We used to require certain eligibility standards to enroll your child here, we changed those. Now, the criteria is not financially based,” Basch said.
If you’re interested in getting involved, Grandview hosts parent nights and community events, but also welcomes Elders and volunteers to come and read to children, or assist with language and culture activities. To learn more about Grandview Early Learning Center, visit their webpage or reach out to GELC.Enrollment@PuyallupTribe-nsn.gov.
