>> Speaker 1: From the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. >> Jackie Kookesh: I'm Jackie Kookesh. I work for Sealaska Heritage Institute, which is -- the mission is to perpetuate and provide cross-cultural communication between Alaska Native Haida, Tsimshian, and the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska. And our program is based on community building -- using our culture and community to provide a school readiness and early literacy program for birth to five years of age. We have a video clip we'd like to play. [ Beating Drums ] >> Speaker 2: In 2014, Sealaska Heritage launched Baby Raven Reads, an early literacy program for Alaska Native families with children up to age five. The goal is to promote school readiness, language development, and early literacy because research shows that children who are fluent readers by the end of third grade are likely to do well in school and go on to higher education. Research also has shown the effectiveness of using culturally relevant teaching resources and methods to improve academic achievement in indigenous students. Through the program, Sealaska Heritage sponsors monthly culturally based family events designed by elders, parents, and cultural specialists. At the events, students are immersed in traditional stories and practices in an intergenerational Alaska Native community set in a traditional clan house. There, students develop a love of learning through community and culture. Baby Raven families also receive free books, which are distributed at the events and mailed to families regularly. The program also funded production of new, culturally based children's books that reflect the Alaska Native world view. And as of 2017, Sealaska Heritage had produced nearly 20 books through the program. Nine more books will be published through 2020. This is groundbreaking because prior to the Baby Raven Reads program, only a few culturally relevant children's books from Southeast Alaska existed. And in recent years, schools have come under fire for using materials that depict native cultures and histories inaccurately, creating a disconnect for native students. The program also allowed Sealaska Heritage to develop culturally relevant posters, which were distributed to schools and libraries throughout Southeast Alaska. Since its inception, nearly 200 Alaska Native families have enrolled in the program. And a study by Juneau's McDowell Group in 2016 found, among other things, that 68% of Baby Raven Reads respondents observed a significant improvement in vocabulary. The study also found that, on average, children in the Baby Raven Reads program were read to 160 minutes in a typical week, compared to children not in the program who were read to an average of 120 minutes. "The program has had a profound effect on enrolled students," said a parent whose child participated in the program. She was quoted in a recent news article. Quote: "My daughter picked up the books and said to her little brother, let me read these to you. I know that I didn't teach her those letters or sounds. That's this program. The impact is huge and it's a joy to watch." Funding for the Juneau based pilot program ended in 2017. And that year, Sealaska Heritage received a second grant to continue Baby Raven Reads for another three years and to take the program to nine additional communities throughout Southeast Alaska. In 2017, the program was nominated by the American Indian Library Association for its American Indian Youth Literature Award. The association will announce winners in 2018. For more information about Baby Raven Reads and Sealaska Heritage Institute's other programs, see www.sealaskaheritage.org. [ Beating Drums ] >> Jackie Kookesh: We're really proud of this program. it was a three year pilot program in Juneau, Alaska and the impact, as the video suggests, is over 200 families in the Juneau area. What makes it unique and what I challenge my education department staff to look at was: How are we going to build a school readiness early literacy program that's rooted in place, rooted in community, is culturally relevant, and responsive? And we didn't have to look too far. We had to just look back at ourselves as native people of Southeast Alaska and look at our core values and look at our own belief system and look at our -- use our cultural lens in designing our program. Engaging family. Engaging our own rich history of oral tradition. As you see in some of the books, they are taking our Raven stories and our mythology and re -- kind of repackaging them for children. And also using the family monthly events, where we bring community together, where we bring families and the children to the clan house in the tradition of our ancestors where community came together in the clan house and told stories from our elders and children listened. So adding that piece of developing 20 children's books and bringing -- and making that more accessible to everybody in Juneau and in the region. So if you get a chance, we brought some books with us. They're hot off the press. We're pretty excited about that. The other piece that I guess I want to focus on is to share with you that any programs you design need to be designed in the community to be relevant to the population you're serving there. We're here to answer any questions. We love this program -- Baby Raven Reads. And I thank you so much again. [ Applause ] >> Speaker 1: This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at www.loc.gov.