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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2002

News Release

Native American Educator Honored by NEA

Keeping Kids Connected Has Been Lloyd Elm's Goal

Washington, D.C. -- Dr. Lloyd Elm, who has been a teacher, program specialist, college professor and principal during his 34 years in education, understands that children do not learn if they feel disconnected.

Elm's goal is to fashion a school similar in many ways to the one he attended in Lawrence, Kansas, with Native American students from 103 different nations (tribes). "If I had been forced into a traditional American school, I may have never graduated," says Elm, who is principal of the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul, Minn. "I thrived there. It was free of any form of racism, subtle or otherwise. It literally saved my life."

Elm's total career, with the exception of five years, was forged at schools for Native American students. His understanding of American Indian culture and the unique techniques he uses to teach his students have earned him a National Education Association (NEA) Human and Civil Rights award.

NEA President Bob Chase will honor Elm and 10 other recipients at the organization's 36th annual Human and Civil Rights Award dinner, Monday, July 1 at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas.

Dr. David Protess, a Northwestern University journalism professor who uses investigative reporting to exonerate prisoners charged with crimes they did not commit and civil rights activist Dr. James Cameron, who escaped a 1930 lynch mob and went on to open the Black Holocaust Museum, are among this year's honorees. So are two lawmakers - Georgia Congressman John Lewis and California State Senator Betty Karnette.

More than 2,000 educators and invited guests are expected to attend the event, held each year during the NEA's annual meeting. Each award is named in memory of a prominent human and civil rights leader or NEA activist. Elm, one of two 2002 award recipients from Minnesota (along with Minneapolis teacher Titilayo Bediako), will receive his second Leo Reano Memorial Award to go along with the one he received in 1975 for his work with Native American students in New York. Reano, a Native American, is a teacher, artist and interpreter who dedicated his life to securing equal educational opportunities for American Indian and native Alaskan children.

Early on, Dr. Elm recognized that Native American children, and many children of color in general, have diverse learning styles. "Children don't always learn in the same sequence. You can't approach them with a one-size-fits-all method of instruction,'' says Elm. "Most Native Americans - 75 to 80 percent - are what neuroscientists call right-brainers. We process information through the right hemisphere first, the creative part of the brain and we learn better by going from whole to part. Traditional schools focus on the left hemisphere and learn from part to whole."

Dr. Elm has fashioned a curriculum that uses Indian history and culture. "Schools for Indians, but not run by Indians, define success by their ability to make Native American students leave their communities," Dr. Elm says. "This approach often breaks the circle, alienates Indian students from their homes and communities and causes them to drop out."

Before heading for the American Indian Magnet School, Dr. Elm spent 14 years (1983-1997) as principal of a similar school in Buffalo. His students had the highest standardized tests scores of all students in the Buffalo School District.

When Elm arrived in Mounds Park in 1997, the school had the lowest academic ranking in the St. Paul School District. Five years later, test scores are higher; the school has been removed from the district's academic probation list.

Elm and his wife Grace have seven children, 25 grandchildren and a great grandson.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.