Helping launch Oshki Ogimaag Community School’s first big fundraiser on May 1 were (L-R) School Board Vice-Chair Anna Deschampe, Fred Kasianov, kindergartener Elaina Deschampe, and Board Chair Haley Brickner. Grand Portage Lodge & Casino is organizing a raffle in which up to 2,000 $10 tickets will be sold between May 12 and September 4. The grand prize will be $10,000, second prize will be a two-night stay for two at Hollow Rock Resort including a dinner and a breakfast for two, and third prize will be a $200 gift certificate to North Shore Dairy. Tickets will be sold at numerous community events and can also be accessed through the school by calling (218)475-2011.
How would you like to help a fledgling charter school meet its expenses in a challenging funding environment and get a chance to win a very big prize at the same time? With the help of the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino, Oshki Ogimaag Community School is launching its first big fundraiser, a raffle with a $10,000 grand prize.
Second prize is a twonight stay in a three-bedroom cabin at Hollow Rock Resort in Grand Portage along with dinner and breakfast for two, valued at over $550. Third prize is a $200 gift certificate to North Shore Dairy.
Tickets will each cost $10 and only 2,000 will be sold. They will be sold at numerous locations and events throughout Cook County starting with the Elder’s Powwow at Grand Portage Community Center on May 12. Oshki Ogimaag students will be on hand at these events, providing opportunities for people to meet the students who will benefit from the sale.
The school will use the revenue from ticket sales for general operating expenses.
“What we get from the state doesn’t quite meet the needs,” said Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Director of Education Haley Brickner at a May 1 media kickoff at the school.
With state budget cuts and funding delays, staying afloat financially is challenging for Minnesota schools. “This is a fun way to raise money for the school,” she said.
School board members Haley Brickner, Anna Deschampe, John Morrin and Amber Pfeil expressed excitement over what the school has accomplished already.
It has recently been awarded two large grants for specific projects. The first is an “Age to Age” grant from the Northland Foundation that is helping build bridges between students and elders in the community, with students reading to elders and elders teaching students cultural crafts such as moccasin sewing. It is also helping fund volleyball and basketball intramurals that are drawing a lot of adult volunteers.
The other grant, awarded by the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance, will fund a full-time teacher who will teach Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) language and culture to youth and adults. The Alliance is awarding the school $88,000 of the $750,000 that it will be distributing this year. “For a small school, that’s a significant amount,” said Brickner.
“It means a lot that they are behind us,” said Deschampe.
Community outreach will be a component of the grant project. “We really hope that we can contribute to the community in a meaningful way,” said Deschampe.
Oshki Ogimaag is valuable to the Grand Portage community. “It’s important for our kids to have an opportunity to attend school in Grand Portage,” said Deschampe. “Kids shouldn’t have to leave the community to go to school.” The school is bringing the community together as well, she said, with people working cooperatively as they celebrate Anishinaabe culture.
Numerous corporate sponsors have already donated services and expertise, and more sponsors will be sought throughout the fundraising campaign. Grand Portage Lodge & Casino Enterprise Administrative Assistant Toby Stephens talked about the importance of corporate support for community initiatives, saying the lodge and casino decided that funding the school was a priority. “We know the kids, we know the people,” she said. “It’s nice to be supportive of a local initiative.”
It’s really important for the kids to see business and school working together, Deschampe said. Stephens said a lot of people both within Grand Portage and outside Grand Portage have generously supported community fundraising initiatives.
More information on where to get tickets can be obtained by calling the school at (218) 475-2011. The prize drawing will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday, September 4 at Oshki Ogimaag. Oshki Ogimaag’s mission is “to create a K-6 learning environment of excellence based on traditional teachings. Rooted in the Anishinaabe culture and language within a technological setting, we will prepare students through hands-on, community-based projects to become lifelong learners that reach their personal and academic potential, preserve the Anishinaabe language and culture, and contribute to the well-being of future generations.”
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