February 17, 2015
Pipeline Project to extend and expand “Telling Our Stories” project
Back to the spring 2015 UAA e-newsletter >
The Pipeline Project, an outreach program connecting K-12 students with undergraduates at the University of Washington, recently received a $50,000 grant from the Discuren Foundation to continue and expand “Telling Our Stories,” a year-long documentary film-making project that connects UW undergraduates and Native American youth.
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- UW undergraduates visit Neah Bay Elementary school.
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- Neah Bay is a remote community at the northwesternmost point of Washington state.
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- What road tripping looks like with UW students.
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- Elementary students receive support and mentorship as they write their stories.
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- UW and Neah Bay students form strong bonds over the course of the year-long collaboration.
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- Neah Bay students take a jump rope break.
Currently in its fifth and final year of funding from the Purple Crayon Foundation, the Discuren grant ensures that the Pipeline Project’s unique collaboration between the UW and tribal communities will extend through the 2015-16 school year and expands on its successful pilot with the Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, WA, to include the Yakama Nation Tribe in Toppenish, WA.
“This grant offers continuity for a program that provides a platform for Native American and UW youth to tell their stories,” says Christine Stickler, director of the Pipeline Project. “Expanding it to include the Yakama Nation means that we can forge new connections, broaden our impact and foster the exchange of knowledge, skills, and culture between UW undergraduates and tribal communities.”
About the Pipeline Project
The Pipeline Project offers undergraduates community experiences that help them discover personal and academic directions; that provide under-serviced K-12 students with individualized tutoring and college role models; that support the work of public school teachers; and that bring academic departments at the UW into direct contact with the greater educational community.
Involvement in the “Telling Our Stories” project offers UW undergraduates the opportunity to support and motivate elementary school students to meet learning standards by telling the stories of their culture in writing, photography and video. Before classes start in fall, undergraduates make their first site visit to meet elementary students with whom they will work, beginning their year-long journey of exploring their own identity and learning from Native American communities. UW seminar classes complement project learning each quarter and undergraduates visit the tribe again during spring break to record the video. Elementary school students and their families are invited to visit the UW campus in late spring where they attend a debut screening of their video and explore the idea of a higher education as a pathway for their future.
“There were so many little things that have changed my life through this project, and I really hope that I influenced the children as much as they and their community did me,” remembers UW student Helen Fillmore, ‘13.