During the 2022-2023 academic year, the TEDNA ACE Project partnered with schools in 16 districts across the State of Oklahoma. One of those schools was Sovereign Community School, an Indigenous charter school where Kiara Pekah attended all four years of high school.

Kiara graduated from Sovereign in May of 2023, and says that no small part of her success in high school can be attributed to her ACE Specialists. “Chantel [Pewewardy] and Kim [Stewart], my ACE Specialists, were patient, mindful, and empathetic with their support during the weekly sessions … These terms fall short of how they supported me both academically and personally.”

Specialists were able to notify Kiara of key resources that would allow her to attend college comfortably. “Chantel’s familiarity with the various scholarships that focus on Native American students allowed me to feel confident in choosing higher education without worries about how my family and I would afford it. Kim supported me as a first-generation student and was always there to reassure me that my choice of higher education was a suitable path that I could begin.”

Although Kiara has encountered some roadblocks with receiving scholarships, she has kept a positive outlook. She says that receiving words of encouragement from her Specialists helped her to stay hopeful, especially when they emphasized that “education is powerful and that there is always a way to make college work for you.”

After contemplating four different colleges, Kiara decided to attend Rose State College in Midwest City, where she is currently a freshman student. Kiara says that having connections to alumni from Rose State helped her make the decision. One of those connections was her own Specialist. “Chantel … has said she is still here to support me. [M]y connections with TEDNA are still supporting me and I am so grateful to all of the team members.”

Kiara described her experience as a first-generation college student as one that was initially confusing, but says that with guidance from Pewewardy and Stewart, she was able to “cross that gap and honor my family and myself by continuing my education.”

As Kiara adjusts to college life and responsibilities, she has also been able to join extracurricular clubs that value and honor her culture. She is a member of the American Indian Association, and has joined a nonprofit called Native Farming Solutions for which she often volunteers her time. Not only has Kiara immersed herself in the student life at Rose State College, but she also continues to stay in touch with her former classmates, working together to form an urban Native youth council and a beading group.

Kiara says that the TEDNA ACE program also afforded her the chance to participate in events across the United States, including traveling to Washington D.C. to attend the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) conference, participating in the 2023 American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Leadership Summit in Tulsa, and going on campus tours, which gave her valuable insight about her higher education options.

Reflecting on her time in the TEDNA ACE program, Kiara says “The ACE program helped me understand myself better and my reasoning for going to college. I feel that with the connections I made and the resources I was given, I am ready to tackle college and go further than I thought I could.”