Secretary Duncan and Secretary Jewell to attend Wyoming Native American Education Conference August 8

Secretary Duncan and Secretary Jewell to attend Wyoming Native American Education Conference August 8

— July 31, 2013

(Press Release) Two members of President Barack Obama’s cabinet will be in Wyoming next week as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, will attend the Native American Education Conference in Riverton, Thursday, Aug. 8.

Secretary Duncan was confirmed as the Secretary of Education in 2009 and is the leader of the United States Department of Education. Secretary Jewell was named the nation’s 51st Interior Secretary in 2013 and in her capacity oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

Secretaries Duncan and Jewell will participate on a panel discussion on Native American education in Fremont County and the nation at 1 p.m. on Aug. 8 in the Peck Auditorium on the campus of Central Wyoming College. Joining the cabinet members on the panel will be Dr. David Holbrook of the Wyoming Department of Education, State House of Representatives member Patrick Goggles as well as tribal and school district leaders from the area. The roundtable is expected to last one hour and is open to the press.

Secretary Duncan and Secretary Jewell will then attend the N7 Youth Basketball event at St. Stephens Indian School before arriving at Arapahoe School for a youth awards ceremony and a cultural event featuring native dancing, a Buffalo hide teepee project and a community evening meal.

The Fourth Annual Native American Education Conference is scheduled for Aug. 8-9 at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. The event is the result of community meetings held in Fremont County in the spring of 2009 to further the education of Native Americans in the area. The conference regularly attracts between 300-400 educators, community members, and other stakeholders, which are exposed to best practices in Native American education.

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