In February 2013, 7th Gen saw an opportunity to help Native American high school students and responded immediately. Joshua Menke, a high school math teacher at the Crazy Horse School in Wanblee, SD submitted a request for 60 calculators to the Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation, a website that focuses on specific needs of the many schools and social service organizations located on the reservation. They had received some of the Texas Instrument scientific calculators but were still in need of 26. Not only did 7th Gen provide the 26 calculators but also donated 30 individual white boards which allow teachers to check for understanding very quickly and avoid student embarrassment at getting a wrong answer.
Crazy Horse School is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation and serves approximately 300 Native American students most of whom live on the reservation. The calculators and white boards will be used in their math and science classes.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (also called Pine Ridge Agency) is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in southwest South Dakota. The reservation is home to over 40,000 people and encompasses more than 2 million acres. As the school dropout rate is over 70% we hope that our donation for the students at Crazy Horse School will make a difference in some small way.