WASHINGTON – Amy Hall, an early childhood teacher with the Hannahville Indian School Family and Child Education (FACE) program and the 2005 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year, was honored today at the National Center for Family Literacy’s 14th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy in Louisville, Ky. Hannahville is a Bureau of Indian Affairs funded day school operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, a Potawatomi tribe located in Wilson, Mich.
“I would like to offer my congratulations to Ms. Hall for being named the 2005 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year,” said Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason. “She exemplifies a commitment to quality teaching which has benefited her students and school tremendously.”
Hall, who was announced Teacher of the Year last November, was presented with a Crystal Apple award and $5,000 for the Hannahville FACE program by Mr. Hideaki Otaka, President and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. The company is a partner of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), a national non-profit organization established in 1989 to meet the educational needs of parents and their children through family literacy programs. FACE is a BIA-funded program that brings literacy programs to Indian families across the country and, as an NCFL project, benefits from the center’s expertise.
“I want to commend Amy Hall and the Hannahville Indian School FACE program for their outstanding dedication to improving the lives of families through literacy,” said Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) Director Edward Parisian. “We also deeply appreciate the National Center for Family Literacy, and its partner, the Toyota Motor Corporation, for their support of the BIA FACE program.”
FACE and its companion program, Baby FACE, are administered by OIEP to provide early childhood education and pre-literacy experiences for infants and families in the home as well as early childhood and adult education programs in school. An important facet of these programs is support of parental involvement in a child’s reading experience. Since its start in 1991, the FACE program has served over 15,000 infants, children and adults. In addition, it has enabled over 500 adults to earn high school or general equivalency diplomas (GEDs) and approximately 2,000 adults to find employment.
The BIA school system serves approximately 48,000 American Indian children in 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools located on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. In school year 2002-2003, the BIA directly operated one-third of these schools and the remaining two-thirds were tribally operated under BIA contracts or grants.
For more information about NCFL, its projects and partners, visit www.famlit.org.
