For Immediate Release
Oneida Nation Early Childhood Learning Center --
An Incubator of Dreams
ONEIDA INDIAN TERRITORY, via Oneida, NY -- The economic
hopes and dreams of an impoverished and almost extinct nation were
planted within the walls of a pole barn- turned bingo hall on the
Oneida Indian Nation Territory a decade ago. Now, with the Nation's
financial future much more stable, the hopes and dreams of Oneida
children will be cultivated within those same walls as the Nation
prepares to open a day care center there.
The Nation will renovate the old bingo hall on the Nation Territory,
the site of its first gaming enterprise, and convert it into a temporary
day care center. The 5,000 square-foot renovation is made possible
by gaming and other business the Nation conducts as a sovereign.
In July, Oneida Indian Nation Bingo outgrew its location in the
Territory bingo hall and relocated to its own wing at Turning Stone
Casino. The renovation of the old bingo hall into an Early Childhood
Learning Center will by completed by mid-November. In a year, the
day care center will move to its permanent location inside the Ray
Elm Elders and Children's Center on Union Street, Oneida. That
facility is in design stages now, after a May 31 groundbreaking. It is
expected to be completed in the Fall of 1996.
Renovations to the building will include the addition of classrooms
and a play area. An outdoor play area also will be created including
traffic blocks and treed boundaries from the old parking lot. The
Nation will employ a staff of eight professional teachers and a day
care director to operate the center. A cook also will be on the
premises to prepare lunches and snacks. In addition to day care, the
Nation will offer a school-aged program for children up to fourth
grade. Children participating in this program may come to the center
after school to work on home work and other school projects under
the guidance and support of the in-house professional teaching staff.
In taking this step, the Nation takes one more step closer to literally
caring for the seventh generation to come, a duty as taught by
Iroquois law. "We have put our heads and our hearts together to lay
the foundation for development to support our children, their
children and the generations to come," said Ray Halbritter, Oneida
Nation Representative, of the program. The day care center will offer
a hands-on, culturally sensitive curriculum, and will provide children
the opportunity to learn the Oneida language while they are in day
programs, he added.
The day care center will be open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m.
to 6 p.m. It will offer full- and part-time child care. Initially, the
center will be available to Oneida Member children ages 6 weeks to 9
years. If space permits, the facility will be opened to the children of
other Native Americans and Nation employees. The center will be
able to accommodate 30 children and is already near capacity in
reservations.
For more information, contact Diane Stirling, Director of Nation
Communications, or Ken Zeszutko, media coordinator, Oneida Nation
Communications Department, (315) 829-3090.
****************************************************************************
Daniel Umstead * The Oneida Indian Nation
Internet Coordinator *
Oneida Indian Nation * "The first Indian Nation on
315-361-6300 *
315-361-6333 (fax) * the World Wide Web"
umstead@oneida-nation.org *
* URL - http://nysernet.org/oneida/
*
****************************************************************************