Prior Lake, Minnesota - Because the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is committed to helping Indian youth have a bright future, the SMSC is donating a total of $82,000 to the Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota to support Indian education. The donation of $80,000 will cover a behavior incentive program, senior class activities including a Commencement Pow Wow, and extracurricular activities including rodeo club, culture club, basketball, volleyball, golf, and cross-country. An additional $2,000 donation will purchase new computers for students to use for video editing. Previously there wasn't a computer on campus that was equipped with enough memory and a DVD burner to offer video editing.

"The Flandreau Indian School would like to express a sincere thank you for your generous contributions to fund out BEST Behavior Teams program. We have experienced great success this year, with students being given the opportunity to participate in activities and receive rewards for positive behavior, while staff and students strengthened relationships with each other. It has opened communication across campus and helped our staff to realize the importance of communication amongst our staff and students to benefit our students. We wish to thank you for your continued support of the students and programs at the Flandreau Indian School. We are most appreciative and very grateful to you for your generous help with this program," wrote Betty Belkham, Chief School Administrator, about an $80,000 donation to the Flandreau Indian School for the 2005-2006 school year. In the 2004-2005 school year the SMSC donated $80,000 to the South Dakota school. Total donations to the school over recent years are $471,340.

Already this fiscal year, the SMSC has made a number of donations to support education for Indian students. A $166,700 grant to Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, is funding native language preservation activities. A $20,000 grant to the Minneapolis Public Schools paid for activity fees and school supplies for most of the 1,800 children in the Indian Education program which serves 80 schools. A $22,000 grant to the St. Paul Public Schools paid for tutoring and school supplies for 400 students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. A donation of $300,000 to the American Indian College Fund of Denver, Colorado, was part of a three-year pledge for a total of $900,000 to support the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund and establish the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal College Scholarship Program. With this grant, the Fund was able to provide $100,000 in general scholarship support to American Indian students attending tribal colleges and $200,000 for the endowment.

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