Training Program & Scholarship Opportunities |
The Native Vision camp is part of a year-round program founded in 1997 at the “Presidents Summit for America’s Future” by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, the NFL Players Association, and former NFL player Nick Lowery. The leader of the Summit, Ret. Gen. Colin Powell, has since called it, “one of the best initiatives for disadvantaged youth in the country.” Native Vision’s year-round initiative has been designed to promote three major areas of well being for Native children and families: 1) Healthy Minds, 2) Healthy Bodies, and 3) Healthy Families. Each program area involves a variety of school, community and home-based outreach that have been piloted among four tribes, all of which have hosted previous camps: 1) the White Mountain Apache, 2) the Navajo, 3) the Eastern Shoshone, and 4) the Northern Arapaho. A description of each program arm is provided below:
Healthy Minds: The goal of “Healthy Minds” is to promote children’s intellectual development and educational achievement. Healthy Minds activities have included:
- workshops to train American Indian undergraduate students and teachers to design media campaigns that promote wellness and decrease high risk behaviors of Native student populations across the country;
- youth-generated print, radio and TV campaigns encouraging school attendance and graduation from high school as well as college attendance; and
- a “Youth Media Action” program that helped young Native American children to advocate for positive changes on their reservations through local media messages.
Healthy Bodies: The goal of “Healthy Bodies” is to increase levels of fitness for children with the aim of reducing diabetes attack rates and obesity as a long-term outcome for this highly susceptible population. Strategies for achieving this goal have included:
- structured after-school recreation programs that track children’s levels of fitness and changes in Body-Mass Index (BMI);
- a youth summer camp to sustain progress made during the school year; and
- the start-up of recreational sports leagues to help kids get fit and stay out of trouble on weekends and in non-school hours.
A fourth strategy that Native Vision’s partners aim to develop is youth-produced mass media campaigns that feature ‘Stay Fit’ messages from Native Vision’s professional athlete-mentors and Native American role models.
Healthy Families: The goal of Healthy Families is to strengthen vulnerable families and improve health and life outcomes for young American Indian parents and their children. Current strategies include:
- a home-visiting and case management program for at-risk parents featuring Hopkins-trained, local field workers;
- media campaigns to promote positive parenting; and
- work-force development and education promotion for young parents to reduce major barriers to family well-being.
This intervention is currently in full swing on the Navajo and White Mountain Apache reservations, and more than 1,000 families have received a year of weekly home-based education since its inception in 1997.
Native Vision Annual Summer Camp
Native Vision’s annual summer camp provides an opportunity to celebrate all that is positive in the present and future lives of Native youth. This year there will be six different sports clinics that children can choose: basketball, football, soccer, cross country, volleyball and lacrosse. The professional athletes who conduct the Native Vision sports clinics intersperse their athletic teachings with breakout sessions that promote empowerment, discipline, teamwork and the pursuit of education. Meanwhile, members of our tribe are currently involved in planning events and feasts to be held at the camp that will promote cultural pride and traditional strengths for the youth who attend.
Native Vision Scholarship
Candidates must:
- Be an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe as evidenced by the CIBC card of the applicant or be a tribal member with official documentation;
- Demonstrate a sustained involvement in the community and an applied concern for American Indians' concerns and initiatives;
- Have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 3.0 at time of application;
- Demonstrate involvement in extracurricular and/or athletic activities;
- Be admitted to an accredited community college or four year undergraduate program in the Fall 2007.
Application form must be completed and include the following:
- High School transcript
- Two letters of recommendation (letters cannot come from a family member)
- A 200 word esay. The topic of the essay is to (explain your goals for the future and how this scholarship will help you achieve your dreams. Please emphasize how your goals relate to your continued involvement in American Indian communities).
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2007 AT 5PM EST. Send the application and all supportive documents to:
Marlena Hammen
Native Vision Scholarship
Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health
621 North Washington Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21205
410-955-6931
Program Stucture and Activities
Return to Projects in Native American Health
Last Update: January 2002, Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health.
For more information, please contact Allison Barlow at: abarlow@jhsph.edu
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