Peggy Poitra, of the Turtle Mountain band of Ojibwe, comes to the American Indian Studies Program with years of experience of working with Native youth.  Peggy is a licensed Special Ed. and Elementary Teacher who taught all different grade levels at Four Winds American Indian Elementary School in Minneapolis.  She is also licensed to teach Ojibwe language, history and culture. 

Peggy has worked in the private non-profit sector, doing grant writing, reporting and program development at Little Earth of United Tribes, a Minneapolis Development Project.  The last 2 years, Peggy was the district program facilitator for the Minneapolis Indian Ed. Program.  Now she’s finally crossed the river, and has been embraced by the Saint Paul community!

Peggy is actively involved in her Ojibwe culture.  She is a jingle dress dancer— she and her daughter can be found on the powwow trail all summer.  She is currently enrolled in a graduate program at the U of M, Duluth, for her Masters in Education.  A focus of the program is language revitalization, particularly of indigenous languages.  

Peggy is really excited about joining the AIS team.  As coordinator she hopes to organize events that revitalize the program, to explore new ways of marketing AIS to students and families across Saint Paul.  And as an Ojibwe teacher, she looks forward to bringing the curriculum into the 21st Century, by using technology to create Ojibwe movies, storybooks, and live interactive blogs. 

Students, feel free to come say hi to Peggy at her office, 1425 at Harding or 283 at Battle Creek.  Parents, feel free to call or stop by as well.  She looks forward to meeting you at the next parent night or Indian Ed. Powwow! 

Harding: 7:30 am-12:00 pm         Battle Creek: 12:30 pm-3:00pm