Mato Standing High, SD Director of Indian Education on the Importance of Education

Former SD Indian Education Director Mato Standing High on the Importance of Education I've had a lot of support from my family, and my family on both sides- especially my father- really pushed me to understand the importance of education and that's something that's always stuck with me. I have educators on both sides of my family, so I'm really lucky to kind of have that it's built into who I am and, luckily for me, I've been able to follow some of my family members in the path of education, and it's just so important to our future, for all of us, that our children understand the importance of education. And the good thing about education and learning in general is that there's really no limits, and I think sometimes we as the leaders in education, so to speak, sometimes we forget about that and we need to be reminded that there are no limits, there shouldn't be limits, and so it's really important for our children to understand that they can be what they want to be with some hard work and education. The really neat thing about education also is that we all learn differently and I think more now than ever we realize that and we have to cater to that and we have to find ways to make sure that everybody is getting a solid education, and if that means we have to tweak a few things here or there or take different approaches or try things maybe that haven't been tried. It's kind of time to do those things and especially for Indian children in our state, it's time that we recognize that we need to do something different for them and going forward to give them a brighter future. Somebody said something to me recently that really stuck with me and he said: I'm afraid our kids aren't dreaming anymore. And that's a really scary thought to think about and I think, looking back in my experience in my life and the people who have been instrumental in my life, dreaming was a part of I'm still a dreamer and so that's really an important part of a child's life and dreaming about what you want to be and what you can do. And again, that's where those limits need to be completely removed for our kids and we need to make sure that they are dreaming and have vision for their future and we equip them with the tools that they need to succeed in today's world. That is in education and, as I said, it comes in many different forms. I'm learning a lot in my position. I've been able to do some traveling nationally and see some other states and other schools and how they kind of break away from the traditional idea of what we see education or what I grew up with in terms of how education is approached and the methodology and those sorts of things, and it's been really neat to see those different approaches and how successful they can be, and so I think there's an opportunity for us to really look at our children and figure out the best way to teach them and learn from them at the same time. And so education is a wonderful thing, it's a tool, and I just hope that all of our children can see it that way and continue to dream and live their dreams.