Correction: The time period for the class was changed from the “American colonial period” to the “pre-contact period” for a more accurate and fair description.
On the first day of school, 20 juniors and seniors filed into their 4th period AT Native American Histories class, a new course focusing on Native American history from the pre-contact period to the present. As students took their seats, waiting for the class to begin, the history teacher that would be teaching them wasn’t a new face but was U-High’s assistant principal: Zilkia Rivera-Vazquez.
A group of students last year requested the creation of a class specifically related to Native American history. The history department formed a class, giving Ms. Rivera-Vazquez the opportunity to teach history again and create a course that means so much to her.
At her previous school in Puerto Rico, Ms. Rivera-Vazquez was a U.S. and Latin American history teacher for 10 years and always strived to include Native American history in her classes.
“My kids used to joke, ‘Miss, you should call it AP Native American history’ because I always had that lens,” Ms. Rivera-Vazquez said, “because that’s how I was trained when I did my graduate studies in history during post-colonial studies.”
She finds that she can also connect to teachers because of a new understanding of their day-to-day tasks like taking attendance. This opportunity to teach again and interact with students creates a deeper connection with the school.
“I love my admin role in school,” Ms. Rivea-Vazquez said. “It’s really great to support the whole academic program, support the faculty and the kids. But here I work with the students directly. I’ve really missed that. I really love working with young people. But it’s also beautiful that I was given this opportunity by the history department.”
Whit Waterstraat, a junior, said he looks forward to class every day because of Ms. Rivera-Vazquez’s passion for the topic and the new perspective he’s learning.
Whit said, “I think that Native American history from the perspective of Native Americans is extremely important and really interesting and not something that is really seen in history like that perspective.”
Senior Asa Bordelon, who is a descendant of the Carolina Algonquian tribe, said that U-High didn’t have any focus on Native Americans and its history curriculum until now.
‘‘I can’t stress enough how important I think that it has been added,” Asa said, adding that there’s little focus on Native American history after seventh grade.
Asa also said he’s grateful to have the opportunity to interact with Ms. Rivera-Vazquez, noting that without this class he would’ve never known how passionate she is about the topic.
Ms. Rivera-Vazquez finds great responsibility with the curriculum and is proud of U-High for being one of the few schools to have a class like this when some schools are banning classes and discussions of parts of U.S. history.
“It’s really unfortunate that we are banning, understanding and knowledge is how I see it,” Ms. Rivera-Vazquez said. “We need to explore whatever we need to explore. I think in a way it’s disrespectful of our students’ intelligence to assume that they’re not able to interpret, understand, question and engage with these topics.”
Asa said he has a more personal connection with the class, and having a teacher who is so passionate about the topic only adds to his excitement.
“It’s gratifying. It feels like being seen and validated,” Asa said. “My ancestors’ stories will also be told now. It’s not just the same thing that has been happening. It’s something new and something personal for me. It feels good.”
