Renton Prep’s Land Acknowledgment Statement

Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom dating back centuries. For non-Indigenous communities, land acknowledgment is a powerful way of showing respect and honoring the Indigenous People. This acknowledgment is a simple way of resisting the loss of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and sharing the truth.

Our Land Acknowledgement Statement

Renton Prep wants to acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People. And with gratitude, we honor the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

We also want to acknowledge and honor the Suquamish, Duwamish, Nisqually, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot (Ilalkoamish, Stuckamish, and Skopamish), and other Coast Salish Peoples’, on whose ancestral homelands we live, work, and gather today.

The natural beauty around us and the river behind the school is a great source of life and learning long before our school existed. It’s important to us that we express our respect and honor for this culture not just in our statement but also in the way we provide our education.

Tech For Good Challenge

The Tech for Good Challenge explores ways classes can incorporate technology into service-learning actions. It’s an event Renton Prep often partakes in to challenge our students and encourage them to apply their knowledge.

Through Tech for Good, educators can enhance their lessons with technology and empower their students, all while equipping them with the skills needed to be ready for the future.

Additionally, the challenge helps celebrate leaders that are going above and beyond in rethinking traditional methods with innovative techniques.

This year, we decided to use the knowledge we learned of the Indigenous Culture to participate in the Tech for Good Challenge.

Honoring Indigenous Culture

Renton Prep Christian school had the honor of hosting Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery last month. They presented the life cycles of the salmon, the work they do at the hatchery, and ways we can protect our salmon population. As the Cedar River is literally in our backyard, this was a wonderful opportunity to learn about our ecosystem and how we contribute to our environment.

We then used various activities and projects to help our students comprehend the information. Later, these assignments will be part of our submission to the January Tech for Good Challenge.

Students from Kindergarten-3rd grade collaborated with their peers to create videos teaching the importance of Salmon in the ecosystem.

Older grades were taught to apply their knowledge in more intricate exercises. Some students had to pair their new information with the color method to help them in their project of creating a logo that would help promote Indigenous companies.

Students in the 6th and 7th grades were challenged to create an app that would accurately demonstrate the life cycle of salmon. While other students studied different Indigenous Peoples tribes and presented their findings to their peers.

Learning From the World Around Us

It’s important to us that we teach our students the powerful effects of the environment and other cultures. Many different communities make up the world we live in today. So that’s why we believe that a well-rounded education includes a deeper understanding of the environment and other cultures.