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Cherokee Nation language department reports growth in immersion and teacher training programs
Summary
Language department director Howard Peyton reported nine Cherokee-speaking families, expansion of master-apprentice and teacher-institute programs, a Kenwood facility grand opening and a new middle school designed around equinox alignments.
The Cherokee Nation language department reported program expansions, new facilities and growth in family-level Cherokee language use during a Culture Committee meeting briefing.
Howard Peyton, speaking for the language department, said the Nation currently has nine Cherokee‑speaking families in which both parents have learned Cherokee at least to an intermediate level and the children are enrolled in immersion programs. "We currently have 9 Cherokee speaking families," Peyton said, noting the department is working to pair elder speakers with younger families to increase household Cherokee use.
Peyton described the Teacher's Institute of Excellence (TIE), a new teacher training program that places recent master‑apprentice graduates into multi‑year training cohorts focused on second‑language acquisition, classroom methodology and curriculum development. He said the program temporarily places well‑qualified substitute teachers in classrooms while trainees receive coaching, then rotates trainees back into classrooms to raise overall teacher proficiency.
The department also announced the grand opening of Kenwood's new facility and a new Master‑Apprentice cohort starting at that site. Peyton said a middle school building under construction includes a design element that aligns a stickball pole with an interior hearth at the autumnal equinox; on Sept. 22 the sun cast a shadow that fell where architects had calculated.
Peyton reported ongoing curriculum work tied to seasons and ceremonial calendars, updated resources including a digital dictionary app and video assets being produced by Cherokee Films. He said the department is building books and short animations to pair with curriculum for different grade levels.
Peyton said the language team has recorded more than 41 Cherokee speakers for departmental archives during a recent reporting period and that speaker services has 94 active projects and 159 completed projects. The committee had no formal action on the report; members thanked the department and asked for calendar details for upcoming openings and graduations.
