7th Gen Junior Academy

The 7th Gen Junior Academy is a proposed annual three-day college preparatory institute in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The program will support Native American juniors in high school to create a plan to apply and matriculate to college. Native American students represent just 0.7% of undergraduates in higher education, and the intention of this program is to increase visibility and opportunity for postsecondary attainment. Around 20 Native juniors will be invited to participate in the inaugural 7th Gen Academy in early 2021. These students will create, finalize, and formulate plans for higher education which will include identifying a college list, applying for scholarships, ACT/SAT study preparation, and understanding how to apply for financial aid. Through this program, Native students will have a better understanding of the college process and a toolkit for future success in their higher education journey.

Native American students are among the most vulnerable in our nation’s education system. 35% are raised in poverty, and only 17% of Native high school students pursue college, citing funding and geographic isolation as their top reasons for not attending college. Of those who do attend college, they graduate from college at a 20% lower rate than their white peers. In the state of South Dakota, our target demographic, Native communities represent nearly 9% of the of the population, yet account for only 5.2% of students enrolled in South Dakota universities. A majority of Native students in South Dakota are first generation to college with limited guidance on how to pursue an undergraduate degree. The 7th Gen Junior Academy will serve 20 Native students annually from 5 South Dakota schools. These schools serve majority populations of Native students with teachers, counselors, and staff who understand the factors that impact Native student success in higher education. The junior program model has been successfully implemented in other regions but has not been applied to Native student populations in South Dakota. Establishing the Junior Academy will create Native students who are better prepared and more likely to succeed in higher education.

The 7th Gen Junior Academy is a three-day learning institute that will help Native American high school juniors formulate plans for pursuing post-secondary education. Encouraging juniors to start thinking about higher education will create a better pathway for Native students to prepare and succeed in college. Beginning in the first few months of 2021, twenty juniors from five South Dakota high schools – 3 reservation, 1 public, and 1 federal boarding school – will be invited to attend the academy. Limiting the number of attendees to 20 ensures that students receive one-on-one attention necessary for understanding how to succeed. The American Indian College Fund, the American Indian Graduate Center, and other national Native organizations will be invited to collaborate with students and present essential information. Expected topics will include choosing a major, ACT/SAT study prep, selecting colleges, college application tips, and applying for scholarships and resources. Technology will key in developing and maintaining the program annually. Students will develop college portfolios using a variety of tools including Microsoft Word. To maintain relationships after the junior program ends, our staff will continue conversations through Zoom, email, and other technology to guide them through the college process during their senior year.

The 7th Gen Junior Academy will be led by Dr. John Little (Standing Rock Dakota), the Director of the Indian University of North America, Megan Red Shirt-Shaw (Oglala Lakota), Associate Director of Enrollment, and Joshua Rudnik (Oglala Lakota), the Associate Director of Student Success. The Junior Academy will benefit students from all nine South Dakota tribes. The program will focus specifically on five schools in South Dakota: Red Cloud Indian School (Pine Ridge Sioux Tribe), Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Tribal School (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), Todd County High School (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), Flandreau Indian School, and Rapid City Central. Both Flandreau and Rapid City serve students from all nine South Dakota tribes but also have Native students from other tribal nations and states. To better understand these population’s needs, representatives have been invited to be part of the collaboration process of developing the program. The input from these guidance counselors is valuable due to their observations and close work with students located in these high schools. The daily student struggles and gaps that counselors see will directly contribute to the 7th Gen Junior Academy curriculum and programming. The academy will assist these schools and counselors in raising awareness for Native students in their pursuit of higher education. After every program, our university will continue to evaluate the curriculum content with the representatives to ensure that we are best serving their students. In order to host the Junior Academy annually, the university will seek additional funding through grants and individual donations. The Junior Academy model will focus on serving 20 Native students for the first three years to ensure that Native students receive one-on-one attention. Rather than expanding the program beyond 20, the university hopes that the expected success could lead other organizations and states to utilize the junior program model for starting Native students on their path to higher education.

During my five years working to recruit Native seniors for the 7th Gen Summer Program, my experiences have shown that the students we’ve worked with or recruited were underprepared for the college process and transition to campus. This was influenced by a number of factors which included limited high school resources, varied family support, and often a first-generation experience. The 7th Gen Junior Academy will allow Native students to start developing tools necessary for success in higher education, and our vision to expand this program to an in-person and online platform will further conversations centered on support and access.