As Bdote Learning Center completes its sixth year of operations, the school is celebrating its first eighth grade graduating class: The 8th Grade Graduating Class of 2020! This group of eight students will be moving on to high school programs in the fall with their sights set on high school graduation as the Class of 2024.
“I am amazed at the growth of our students over the years,” said Cindy Ward-Thompson, Bdote’s Director. “I think what makes me the most proud is the way that these young people have shown that they care about their community. They have developed a strong set of values and even with the challenges that this spring has presented them with – have been tested – but have served them well. They met their challenges, dove head-first into the unknown waters of distance learning, and finished the school year – strong. Bdote Strong.”
The Bdote Class of 2020 is a small but mighty group of students, who are rising to meet the exciting challenges ahead and share the passion for language and culture supported by the school and their families. This group of eight young people proudly represent seven tribal nations and communities from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota.
The 2019-20 school year and the spring of 2020 will be long remembered for “Safer-At-Home,” “Quarantine” and “Social Distancing,” but the Bdote Class of 2020 will reflect on their Bdote experience with memories that have strengthened them as members of the Bdote Family. This bond is one that will hold them together through the challenges of COVID-19 and their set of educational experiences that have rooted them in indigenous language and cultural knowledge will aid them as they mature through their high school years and beyond.
As they move on to the next stage of their educational journey, all of the teachers, staff and other students want this first class of graduates to know that they are proud of each and every one of them, and that they hold a special place in the heart of Bdote.
The Bdote Learning Center students graduated on June 4, 2020.
To learn more about Bdote, see: https://bdote.org
