I recently attended the grand opening ceremony for Educare Winnebago, a new early education center for the tribe’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers, along with Beth Heap, communications director. Beth recounted the ceremony in a previous blog post and shared the tour we went on that was led by one of the teachers.
As part of the ceremony, one of the school’s parents, Kristofor M. and his son, Arian, drummed and sang. After the performance, Kristofor took a few moments – unscripted – to thank the crowd for any involvement they had in bringing the school to the tribe. His thank you was so heartfelt, I wanted to say hello and ask if he would share his thoughts with our readers.
Kristofor, a proud father and member of the Winnebago Tribe, graciously allowed me to film his message to share with you.
In the video, he says: “It teaches my son about his language, it teaches him about how to be as a person. The respect and self-discipline that he’s gained in the two years he’s been going here. It’s an extraordinary place. I can’t thank the faculty enough.”
Watch the video below to hear more of his thoughts.
Educare Winnebago used New Market Tax Credit funding. The project created 59 full time jobs with an annual salary of $33,000 (two times the area living wage), 73 construction jobs, and now serves 191 students and families.
Kristofor, thank you again for sharing! It was a pleasure to meet you. I know your children will continue to flourish at Educare Winnebago.