The graduation season begins
Jo Ree LaFrance is keynote speaker for Salish Kootenai College's graduation on June 7.
With six high schools and one college in Lake County, graduation season is hectic for students, families and friends.
SKC holds 45th commencement
Between 150 and 180 students will graduate from Salish Kootenai College during the 45th Commencement Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Joe McDonald Health and Fitness Center.
JoRee LaFrance is keynote speaker, and “exemplifies all of the qualities of Salish Kootenai College’s vision and mission statement,” according to a college press release. “She is a beacon of hope and inspiration for many young American Indian people. Her personal journey in pursuing her dreams will resonate with the graduates looking to envision what their future will bring.”
LaFrance is a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona's Department of Environmental Science and is executive director of the new nonprofit Apsaalooke Immiionew.
Also known as Iichiinmáatchileesh/Fortunate with Horses, she comes from the Apsáalooke/Crow Nation in Montana. She is Greasy Mouth and a child of the Ties the Bundle Clan.
LaFrance holds a bachelor’s in Earth Sciences and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College and is an aspiring water scientist studying surface water quality in the Little Bighorn River watershed.
As an environmental science scholar, she was an Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellow, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls SOAR Fellow, University of Arizona CALS Impact Leader Fellow, CLIMAS Environment and Society Fellow, Carson Scholar, National GEM Fellow, Sloan Scholar, and a National Science Foundation research trainee for Indigenous Food, Energy, Water Security, and Sovereignty.
On top of her research, she co-manages the Ilíiaitchik: Indigenous Correspondents Program and the Biawaatchaache Collective, which she founded. She worked as a project leader for the Apsáalooke Energy Justice Project, which evolved into her new project, Apsaalooke Immiio/Crows Being Independent.
Her work focuses on the Apsáalooke landscape, with interests ranging from water quality, to energy justice, to women empowerment.
She enjoys being a community organizer/advocate, hanging out with the elders and youth in her family, riding horses, playing with her two dogs, beading, and running a few games of basketball.
High school graduations begin next week
Area high school graduations begin at 2 p.m. May 25 with Two Eagle River School in Pablo.
The following weekend, May 30-June 1, is busy with four Mission Valley graduations on tap. Ronan begins the stampede at 7 p.m. Friday, May 30; Polson students receive diplomas at 10 a.m. May 31 at Linderman Gym, followed by Arlee students at noon. Charlo seniors don caps and gowns at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 1.
The final school to say so-long to graduates is St. Ignatius, at noon June 7.