Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa begins national tribal mentoring program

The University of Minnesota 4-H program, in conjunction with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, has successfully secured a grant to support the “4-H Mentoring: Youth and Families with Promise (4-H YFP)” program in up to 29 tribal communities, reaching 1,100 Native American youth ages 10-17.

This grant is awarded through National 4-H Council, supported by a $1 million award from the United States Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) as part of OJJDP’s national effort to improve the lives of young Native Americans by strengthening, expanding, and implementing youth mentoring activities. The Fond du Lac Band was one of 29 Tribal communities selected to implement this program beginning February 2012.

The Minnesota 4-H Tribal Youth National

Mentoring Program will engage between 36 and 40 youth ages 10-17 from the Fond du Lac community. Program activities will take place at the Fond du Lac Brookston Community Center. Youth will be matched with mentors from the community based on areas of interest and will participate in monthly mentoring sessions and a bi-weekly site-based 4-H club. The club will engage youth in leadership development, career exploration and service learning projects relating to the environment, Ojibwe culture, and technology. Small mentoring groups and the 4-H club will also participate in field trips to local businesses and summer capstone experiences.

For more information, contact site coordinators Bryan Bosto at 218-878-8048 or bryanbosto@

fdlrez.com; Josh Baker at 218-878-8041 or

joshbaker@fdlrez.com; or Susan Beaulieu at

218-330-4857 or bea0181@umn.edu.