‘She taught you to admit your faults and be a good person.’ Syreeta Thompson Azure, Nixyaawii Class of 2009
Mary Green closing book at Nixyaawii ‘Respect’ best describes departing favorite teacher at community school By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
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ormer students use words like patient and kind, inspirational and comforting to describe Mary Green, who is retiring after teaching language arts for 12 years at Nixyaawii Community School on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. So it should come as no surprise that Green, who started in the charter school’s second year, has made deep impacts on students and teachers. A perfect example is that students have selected Green to be their commencement speaker six years. Fred Hill, a language teacher, said Green is a “rare bird” who “always believes her students have potential” and “allows her students to believe in themselves” and Green won’t debate that. “I don’t feel like I have to be their friend,” she said, “but I try to understand where they are coming from. It’s a two-way street though. I have a problem if the respect isn’t returned. I haven’t had much of a problem with that. There’ve only been a couple times when kids have made me cry, when I’ve been so frustrated that it’s brought me to tears.” Respect is a word Green uses over and over to describe her relationships with students at Nixyaawii where she began after five years teaching full-time at Stanfield, three years full-time at Weston-McEwen and another six years as a substitute at Athena. She remembered when she saw the job posting and showed up to get an application. She met school administrative assistant Robert Van Pelt who asked her, “Are you here for the football coach job?” When Van Pelt joined Principal Annie Tester and art teacher Brian Purnell on the interview panel Green knew the administrative assistant wasn’t going to “fool me with the stoic Indian act.” Tiya-Po Farrow, a 2015 graduate, said Green impacted students with “kindness alone and affected students who didn’t want to listen.” He said she was a role model in the educational community and a “very good people person.” Green, Farrow said, presented a “home-type feeling here” and was easy to talk with. “I could talk with her about anything,” he said. Clinton Case, who graduated in 2006, had similar positive things to say about Green. “I remember how comforting she was,” he said. “I
Mary Green, a Language Art instructor at Nixyaawii Community School for last 12 years, is retiring after the school year ends in June. She’s been a student favorite
remember her kindness and her smile, and just knowing that she cared that you were there. It was that simple smile and her act of caring. And knowing that she had a listening ear that could change someone’s whole day or even change their life.” Green relied on help from former teacher Belinda Hayes in that first year. “She made sure of the things I needed to know. She made sure I watched Smoke Signals and knew who Sherman Alexie was,” Green laughed. “She quietly guided me. I learned about ceremonies, root digging and sweat lodge.” Hill said Green’s willingness to learn the tribal culture earned her the respect of those around her. “Anytime you went into her class the students were engaged in reading,” Hill said, “and sometimes you’d find literature that was Native American oriented. She always wanted that because she believed in the culture and religion of the tribes. She accepted it. She learned a religious song and once she learned it, it opened her eyes and ears to a deeper respect of how we do things.” In fact, Green studied the Umatilla language for four years.
It helped her earn greater respect from Syreeta Thompson Azure, who graduated from Nixyaawii in 2009. “In my four years attending Nixyaawii, she definitely was patient and took the time out for me one-on-one when I had my daughter,” Azure said. “She knew the impact it would make on me if I hadn’t gone through high school to get my diploma.” Azure said Green gave her extra homework and encouraged her to improve her grades as a young mother to the point that she was able to consistently finish the work in class. In addition to teaching literature and grammar, however, Green taught Azure life skills. “She taught you to admit your faults and be a good person,” she said. Aalilyah Dick, who graduated in 2014, said Green was “awesome, amazing” and the best teacher she’s ever had. “She inspired me to be a better person and a better student,” said Dick, who works at Daycare for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ReservaMary Green retiring on page 23A
‘It was that simple smile and her act of caring. And knowing that she had a listening ear that could change someone’s whole day or even change their life.’ Clinton Case, Nixyaawii Class of 2006
April 2017
Confederated Umatilla Journal
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