“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” Yellowplume Goggles says. Originally from St. Stephens, Wyo., she stayed in her hometown, started as a teacher’s aide and then earned her undergraduate degree from the UW Outreach School. In 2009, she completed the Teachers of American Indian Children certification program, and now she’s working toward her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.
“I’m a cultural interventionist from kindergarten through eighth grade,” she explains. “I help the teachers with anything having to do with the culture.” For example, if the fifth-grade students are studying the states in social studies, she provides resources and information on tribes in other states that they may not know about.
One of her favorite courses was Issues in Multicultural Education. “It has opened my eyes to a lot of things, and it’s helping me with what I do now.”
She appreciated the small class sizes taught regionally and the delivery methods of the certificate program. “My family lives here. My job was here. It was a lot easier for me to be able to just do weekends and evenings.
“I put myself as a role model for my students, my own children and my family.” Of her lifelong educational path she says, “It takes a lot of perseverance, but it’s worth it.”
