Melissa takes her step

     This is a picture of Melissa Cavender, enrolled Tulalip Tribal member and her daughter. Melissa graduated this June with her A.A. She did this while being a mother, working full time, and overcoming obstacles for years. We salute her, because she represents a step towards ending the achievement gap for Native Americans. To her credit Melissa has already started work towards her B. A. Melissa is making a path for her family and her daughter, shown here with her.

     In 1976,  0.7 percent of Native Americans attended college. To date the most recent data indicates that number has risen to 1.0 percent of the Native AMerican population. Although that is an increase, it is sill the lowest attendance rate of any ethnic minority group in America Data includes African American, Latino, Asian or Asian Pacific Islander statistics (Fast Facts. (n.d.). Therefore Melissa, is helping increase the talent.

You rock Melissa.

References

Fast Facts. (n.d.). National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved June 13, 2011, from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98