a dream job S
ashay Schettler started off in Bismarck Public Schools (BPS) as an instructional aide while she was still working on her undergraduate degree. It was during that time that BPS hired their first cultural responsive coordinator to serve indigenous students in the district. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my dream job’,” Schettler said. She is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Only a month after she graduated from college, the position opened again, and she applied. “There was only one position, but two of us were a really good fit, so they created two positions,” she said. The position was still new, so Schettler was able to help create what the position looks like and trailblaze new programming across the district. As the programming grew, the district created the position of Indian Education Director to oversee the two cultural responsive coordinators. Schettler was the perfect fit and transitioned to the director position in March 2021. 10
Momentum
Not only is Schettler the first full-time Indian Education Director for BPS, but she is also the only full-time Indian Education Director in the state of North Dakota. Although her position is primarily about impacting indigenous students in the district, her work benefits all students and staff. “We work for culturally relevant practices, which impacts all students and is beneficial for our entire community,” she said. Schettler directly reports to the superintendent of the school system and spends most of her days working on creating programming and teaching systems that help the district equitably reach indigenous students. “Often times this position and our indigenous education program can be viewed as divisive, as though we’re siloing indigenous
