Leaving No Stone Unturned: Red Cloud Seniors Make the Most of their Summers

posted July 31, 2015 



It is his second summer at the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, Bobby Pourier ‘16 has been participating in research focused on Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, Bobby is working to determine more effective medications and dosages to better treat his subset of patients. “I love NIH. It’s a quadruple win. First win is I’m doing things that I love: research and helping people. The second is I’m learning new things. Number three is gaining work experience and the fourth is we’re getting paid!” 

Spread across the country this summer, Red Cloud Indian School (RCIS) students are participating in prestigious summer programs and, in some cases, earning a bit of money to put toward their eventual goals.

Rising Senior Marlee Kelly ‘16 will be living on Princeton University’s campus as one of the 25 students selected for Princeton’s Summer Journalism Program. Already chosen as a Questbridge College Prep Scholar, Marlee will spend ten days at the university learning from top reporters from the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other leading news outlets.

“Writing is something that began to interest me around my eighth grade year,” Marlee explains. “I really got into it when RCIS volunteer Urse Charbonneau assigned us to write a personal narrative from the viewpoint of someone experiencing the triangle trade.” Since then Marlee has had a passion for writing and hopes it will be part of her future.

“Journalism is definitely one of my top choices for college study. I think I would like to combine it with secondary education so that I am able to teach journalism, or an English class in general, in schools,” says Marlee. She is debating between Creighton University and Washington University as potential schools to pursue her ambitions of helping her community through her career goals.

Marlee is not alone in her focus on returning to the reservation with experience - and a degree - in hand. “I want to get my Ph.D. in Psychology to become an experimental psychologist,” says Bobby on a phone call from Washington, DC. “Then I’ll come back to the Rez and research new ways we could treat alcoholism and anxiety – an extension of which is suicide. I want to find out how we can treat both issues at the same time so future generations won’t have to deal with it.”

Bobby’s love of the sciences is no fluke. Having spent hours in the lab, after-school science club and presenting at conferences across the country, Bobby has been focused on his goals since his freshman year at Red Cloud.

To that end, Bobbly has also coordinated two weeks away from NIH this summer to participate in the Yale Young Global Scholars Program, an opportunity for students from all over the world who have an interest in science and show great potential for the field. There he will learn about emerging global issues and the interaction between policy and science while engaging with industry-leading scholars. Though Bobby notes Yale University is rising on his list of potential schools, his current plans include Dartmouth College in the fall of 2016 as a member of its newest freshman class. If all goes as planned, Bobby will have alongside him his Red Cloud classmate, Isabella New Holy ‘16.

With aspirations to be a part of Dartmouth’s Class of 2020, Isabella spent a week at Stanford University this summer in preparation. College Horizons is a weeklong program that helps Native American students learn about college opportunities across the nation, apply to these colleges, attend financial aid workshops, write scholarship essays and take the ACT. 

When Isabella heard about College Horizons from fellow Red Cloud students, she knew she needed to apply. Her experience did not disappoint. “I loved the program. I had so much fun. It wasn’t only learning educationally, but culturally as well. Everyone there was so open and accepting of everything and everybody. It was a really good place.” 

Like Bobby, Dartmouth is also Isabella’s top choice, and she already has a handle on what she will study. “I want to pursue a major in environmental science and do research. I’m really into the environment and the Earth, I want to learn more about it.”

Each of the seniors is quick to note that their progress toward success has not been a lonely road. “I am really thankful to Rita Devine, program director at NINDS who has helped me out here, my mentor Dr. Codrin Lungu, my ina (mother) Cece Big Crow, ate (father) Bob Pourier and my unci (grandma) Leatrice Big Crow.” Red Cloud volunteer English teacher Dominique Fenton has made quite an impact in his year at Red Cloud High School. Dominique devoted time to encouraging and assisting numerous Red Cloud juniors toward productive, educational summers available to students willing to continue learning. His efforts, and those of his colleagues, contribute to what Isabella calls a “community feeling”.  “The community feeling we have is great. Everyone knows everyone and it’s like a family. My family supports me and Red Cloud is my second family that supports me.”

While many students find summertime to be an opportunity for relaxation and lazy days spent in front of the television, it is exactly this feeling that pushes Marlee – and Isabella, Bobby and their classmates – to prioritize her community as she continues down a path toward success. “The most interesting part of journalism is the fact that I can be the voice of the Lakȟóta. We, as a people, are highly underrepresented and I have the chance to be the one who shows others who we are.”


READ MORE!

Red Cloud Senior at Prestigious 
Theatrebridge Summer Program

 

Photographer Holds Workshop
Students Empowered to Tell Their Own Story

 

Red Cloud Indian School Works to Promote STEM Education
with Grant from Toyota USA Foundation


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