Oceti Sakowin Community Academy held it’s inaugural graduation ceremony

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Friday, the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy had it’s “Moving on Ceremony” to launch kindergartners into first grade.

Diversity is a big asset for the academy, and their mission is to educate the students in language, understanding of cultural identity, holistic wellness, and other educational tools. According to the founder of Oceti Sakowin Community Academy, the students are going to carry the Lakota language and the culture for the next seven generations.

“I can’t even imagine how far we’ve come this year in such a short time, and; part of our mission was to develop a strong cultural identity give kids a real sense of belonging, and as they are sitting there working on math, they’re doing anything there singing in Lakota, they’re doing math and giving me the answers in Lakota,” said Oceti Sakowin, Community Academy founder, Mary Bowman.

Bowman said at the beginning of the school year that she dreamed that the class would graduate. And her dream came true.

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