Doyon Foundation is excited to announce that the first cohort of teams for our new Native language Mentor-Apprentice Program have been selected. The original grant funding allowed us to fund a total of 10 teams. However, with additional generous funding from the Doyon Foundation board, we are able to fully fund an additional five teams, for a total of 15 teams in our first cohort.
It was wonderful to see the enthusiastic response to the new program, and the impressive applications we received from interested teams. We thank everyone who applied for their interest in this exciting new program.
We are excited to continue the program and be able to work with a new cohort of teams next year. If you are interested in participating, please be sure to watch our website and sign up to receive our email updates for announcements of upcoming opportunities.
We also want to reiterate that all materials created for the Mentor-Apprentice Program, including our handbook and sample lessons, will be made available to all interested learners. Materials will be accessible on our webpage, doyonfoundation.com/map.
Our Mentor-Apprentice Program, which was established in fall 2021, provides training and compensation for teams of participating mentors (fluent or proficient speakers) and apprentices (learners). Mentors guide apprentices to become proficient speakers of Doyon region languages through hours of one-on-one language immersion over a one-year period. In turn, language learners who complete an apprenticeship can give back to their language community as a mentor, instructor or lesson developer.
For more information on the program, please visit doyonfoundation.com/map or contact Lucy Miller, MAP project manager, at millerl@doyon.com or 907.459.2015.