Charleston, SC, May 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For educators, professors, and teachers who work with Indigenous students, a new teaching guidebook enters the market that’s half memoir/half instruction manual on Dr. Ed Galindo’s creative science instruction method.
During his first few weeks teaching at Ft. Hall Indian Reservation, Dr. Galindo realized the Western methods of education had little value to students on the Reservation—and these bright students needed a leader to foster a love of science. As Dr. Galindo states, “To become scientists, Native American students need to recognize the importance of how science impacts their lives and how to develop a lasting interest in science.”
Enter Dr. Galindo’s idea: salmon. Specifically, a life-sustaining resource that had waned on the Reservation for years. He connected the community’s need with scientific principles and created a project for his students. This book describes Dr. Galindo and his class’s journey from desks and chairs to hands-on learning and outdoor classrooms of salmon habitats to save the endangered salmon species in their area.
“Dance of the Salmon is a story about my science students on the Ft. Hall Indian Reservation … [their] curiosity, courage, and determination to help an endangered species of fish … and in the end, helping themselves,” said Dr. Galindo.
Dance of the Salmon is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.
About the Author:
Dr. Galindo (Yaqui, American Indian) is a faculty member at the University of Idaho, Associate Director for Education and Diversity for the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium, Affiliate faculty member at Idaho State University (Biology Department) and Affiliate faculty member at Utah State University (Physics Department). He has extensive education and research in working with Native American students and was twice elected as the National Indian Teacher of the Year. Dr. Galindo describes himself as “round and brown,” full of curiosity for life and learning. He finds humor in most things on this planet, including himself.
Media Contact: Ed Galindo & Lori Lambert, [email protected]
Available for interviews: Author, Ed Galindo & Lori Lambert