From left to right: Sharman Brown, Danna Floyd and Brian Weeden

The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP) is excited to announce the January 7 start date of three new classroom assistant trainees who will be supporting and learning from our Weetumuw School teaching team. Sharman Brown, Danna Floyd and Brian Weeden were selected from among a fantastic applicant pool to train with WLRP in order to prepare to help open the Mashpee Wampanoag Education Department’s first ever daycare facility next fall.

The trainees will work with language teachers in the Weetumuw School’s Mukayuhsak Weekuw (Children’s House) and Wushkeenune8ak Weekuw (Young People’s House) classrooms serving preschool through second grade students, and are funded by the MWT Child Care Development Fund (CCDF). The partnership helps support WLRP’s overall instructional team and budget as its immersion school at the MWT Community and Government Center continues to expand by one grade level annually.

All three new trainees began their January orientation process with intensive classroom observations, research on Montessori classrooms, and language lessons. They will be spending 30 hrs/wk with the WLRP team over the next 36 weeks learning about everything from language immersion and culture-based classrooms, preparing materials for classroom activities, implementing parent engagement, monitoring child health and safety, maintaining student records, and supporting children’s individual learning needs. The Education Department is also arranging for childcare college coursework for the trainees through a Cape Cod Community College.

Please contact Jennifer Weston, WLRP/Language Department Director or Eileen Miranda, CCDF Manager with any questions: JWeston@wlrp.org and Eileen.Miranda@mwtribe-nsn.gov