(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska announced that Vocational Training and Resource Center Manager Laird Jones was elected to serve as Vice President of the National Johnson O’Malley Association (NJOMA) Board of Directors during the 2014 NJOMA Conference recently held in Denver, Colorado.

“I am excited to serve in this capacity and advocate for the educational needs of our Native students,” said Jones.

Jones has been employed with Tlingit Haida since 2007. He received his Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is the son of Mary Jones and the late Willard Jones of Ketchikan, Alaska and is married to Francine Eddy-Jones.

Jones is responsible for the administration and development of all training programs and certificates offered through the Vocational Training and Resource Center (VTRC) and provides management oversight of Tlingit Haida’s Johnson O’Malley and Higher Education programs.

One of National Johnson O’Malley Association's main goals is to encourage Congress to adopt H.R. 4328: Johnson O’Malley (JOM) Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act, which will establish a new Indian student count and restore funding to the JOM Program. Tlingit Haida’s Executive Council recently adopted a resolution providing full support for the passage of H.R. 4328 and Tlingit Haida encourages other tribes to submit resolutions of support for H.R. 4328.

The Johnson O’Malley Association (NJOMA) is a non-profit, national organization formed to:

• Create an effective forum for discussion of educational and related matters of mutual concern among the members of the educational community.
• Mutually develop standards of educational excellence for Indian students served by the educational programs within the United States.
• Maintain appropriate lines of communication and collaborative efforts with other public, private, tribal and federal educators and educational programs.
• Maintain formal liaisons with Tribal, State and Federal governmental agencies and other educational organizations, including but not limited to National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Education Association and other alliance organizations.
• Advocate for Johnson O'Malley Programs and the rights of Indian children from three years old through twelfth grade.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News: 

Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
www.ccthita.org

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