Many people who do not attend Nixyaawii Community School, often underestimate us. We are known to have an education that is not sufficient, inadequate supplies, and much more. While much of this is pretty true, there is a lot about Nixyaawii people don't know. So to avoid these negative comments about our school, I believe there are a couple things we can do. First off, let people know who we are, and what we are about. Secondly, we should make room for major improvements.

So, first of all, Nixyaawii starts and ends school with Protocol. In Protocol, students and teachers line up oldest to youngest, with males and females standing accross from each other. Protocol is a traditional custom where we are able to communicate about the day's activities. Nixyaawii also offers classes that other schools do not. For example: three different native language classes, which are Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce/Cayuse. Language is required, and is our first class every morning after protocol. Culture classesare also offered, where students learn about traditional native ways, and about pow-wow culture. These cultural classes are counted as an elective course. These are the things that I like about our school: that it is focused on culture, and education at the same time.

There are also many things that I do not like so much about our school, like things we are missing that traditional high schools have. First of all an actual school building, what we are using now is part of our community center, and a portable building. Some of our teachers also adjust to their students, whereas I believe that teachers should have more control over their class by using a more organized curriculum that they keep to. This is also a problem because of a limited amount of teachers. We also are missing a library, and good storage for books and other school supplies. These are some improvements that I think we should be making at our school to make it better.

Like I said before our school is continuously being looked down upon. So I believe we should start to let those people know who we are, and what we do. We should also start to make room for much needed improvements. These two steps, I believe can bring a stop to stereotyping towards our school.