Principal Donovan Post said they are off to a strong start with 94 students in grades 6-12; 14 of them being seniors. Aside from preparing them for college, if they desire, he is hoping to increase the CTE pathway by having union leaders from different trades come by and speak with the students.

Teachers were eager to share their expectations for the new school year and answer any questions about their classroom policies and procedures during the two-hour event. Science teacher Sabrina Smith covers a gamut of science classes for middle and high school students. She encouraged her students to demonstrate some of the projects they are working on so their parents could witness the hands-on lessons firsthand.

Smith explained her grading system is based on 50% classwork, 30% participation, and 20% assessments made through labs, quizzes, tests, and projects. Individual and group projects are expected each quarter.

Sixth-grader Wendy Cazessus showed her father, Julio Ordonez, a couple of the kinetic energy experiments her class has been doing. Wendy, 11, said all her siblings have attended Noli so she was happy to be there. She is also enrolled in the pre-AVID class that Smith co-coordinates with high school Spanish teacher Andrea Duran.

Duran has several field trips planned for her students. In October, they will go to the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert for the “Colors and Sounds of Mexico” presented by the Pacifico Dance Company. This is the first offering of the theater’s Field Trip Series for the 2026-2027 school year. Reserved school groups may attend performances at no cost, thanks to generous support from individuals, businesses, foundations, and municipalities. The program is designed to inspire, energize and educate.

Jon Ruiz stays busy teaching math to sixth- and seventh-grade students and PE to all of them. He also oversees the yearbook and video classes. He provides a strong math foundation so students will be prepared when they move into higher levels of math with teacher Kekai Bryant.

Ruiz has been at Noli for more than 20 years and looks forward to coaching flag football this year, along with the early morning PE classes. However, there will not be a football team this year.

Sonia Modesto has special education and intervention classes, with the goal of mainstreaming students into their proper grade level.

“Noli has a really unique special education program,” she said. “We encourage students to speak up. Self-advocacy is super big in this classroom. They learn to get what they need if they are not afraid to ask for it. Doors are going to open for them if they get that confidence to put themselves out there. Students get a lot of peer support around here, which I love to see.”

Modesto is excited about having her students invited to participate in the Indigenous Innovation program through Apple. Additionally, five Noli students will be attending the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) conference in Portland in October. She and other teachers are working to identify the students with a strong interest in STEM that will benefit the most from going.

History teacher Justin Thillens is working with one of the new Education Technicians that joined the Noli staff this year. Sasha Alvarez has a bachelor’s degree in history and a double minor in geography and communication, giving her the variety of educational experience that will be valuable there.

As a way to help students get acquainted with each other, Thillens started the first week with a World History Monuments group project with two to three people per team. They were asked to research a monument and then construct a desk-top size replica using available recycled materials. There was a Golden Gate Bridge, a Parthenon, the Liberty Bell and a Coliseum, among others.

The teamwork challenge had them work together to build the rough replica of their assigned historic site, write a short summary covering the five Ws, list a few interesting facts about the site, and present the work to class in a quick one-minute presentation. Before getting started each student was asked to name two things they could do to be a great group mate. One student wrote “be productive and communicate.”

Thillens explained that each grade level covers a different aspect of history from ancient civilizations for sixth graders through modern world times with civics and economics at the high school level. In his second year at Noli, he said he learned a lot last year and expects this year to go well.

New this year is the “curiosity classroom” where middle school students can go during sixth period to do just about anything they want, from art and physical education activities to getting ahead on classwork assignments. Sheldon Subith oversees the class and had spent the week discussing Native American athletes with the students who read their biographies and drew pictures of them.

“This is a class where they can come and unwind at the end of their day; there is no pressure,” Subith said.

 There is already a full slate of activities planned for the school year. Spirit Week will take place Aug. 31-Sept. 3 with each day offering a different theme for students to embrace.

Noli is Luiseño for the word envision. The Soboba Tribe envisions a new future through the educational opportunities provided by Noli Indian School.

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Native Challenge, a department within Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc., has several programs that are geared to the younger generation. Discovery Dating, which recently began its third year at Noli Indian School at the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Reservation, is about making sound choices and striving to meet goals.

This year’s eighth-grade students learned about the program in September when facilitators Amanda “Mandy” McMorris and Rachelle Peterson provided an overview of how the 14-week program is structured.

“This class is not just about how to date,” McMorris told the students during the first day of instruction. “You will learn about relationships and also learn about yourself. You will learn how to set goals and other things that can have long-term effects on your entire life because of the choices you make now.”

A dozen students in Molly Hickerson’s class devote their 45-minute science time each Friday to the sessions.

“This will help them as students and as people,” Hickerson said. “They tweak it every year to make improvements and it meets our new science standards.”

The healthy relationship curriculum guides youth to explore and clarify personal goals and values, discover character traits of others and practice decision making in a group-based learning setting. The course was developed as part of Native Challenge’s Tribal Prep Personal Responsibility Education Program.

“The good thing about this program is you will set goals for yourself and know what you want and how to get there,” McMorris said.

Each student was given a personal workbook that will last throughout the course and explains each lesson in detail. McMorris explained that mindfulness will teach them methods of taking care of themselves and how to focus on what’s in front of them.

Page six of the workbook provides an example of how using all five senses on a walk will help someone feel less stressful and happier.

“Mindfulness will help you not worry about everything that goes on in your lives and how to stay in the moment,” McMorris said. “There are a lot of different activities you can do to help you cope with stress and how to handle different emotions.”

Geneva Mojado, who has been with RSBCIHI for almost five years, is another Health Educator with the Native Challenge Program that visits the schools.

“We are all trained in the curricula we teach. For Discovery Dating we traveled to Green Bay, Wisconsin to attend a training facilitated by the Wise Women Gathering Place,” she said. “There we met the curriculum developer, Alice Skenandore, an Oneida elder.”

Skenandore is a Native American midwife who created the program from a grassroots women’s circle that met for eight years around her kitchen table along with their children. The women discussed and studied many different topics and sometimes would help each other through problems. Over time, Skenandore found herself talking more about relationships and how many individuals had made mistakes and misjudgments that left them with big problems. She was able to sort out and clarify all the elements in a relationship that required attention, before any life-changing decisions were made.

(Relationship lessons)

“The students are continuously asking questions about the various topics we teach,” Mojado said. “Also, the relationships we make with the students makes it easier for them to come to Native Challenge staff if issues arise.”

While the course’s overall focus is on healthy relationships and reducing and preventing domestic violence, lessons cover different types of bonds such as family and friendships.

“The curriculum also covers topics that explore personal values and identity,” Mojado said. “We have culturally adapted the curriculum this year and added a cultural component with each lesson.”

Mojado said the program, designed for middle and high school Native American students, has been widely accepted at many venues. In addition to Noli, it is currently being taught at San Jacinto and Banning high schools, Sherman Indian School, several Tribal TANF sites and Desert Sage, a youth residential treatment center.

“Creating relationships with our various partners as well as MOUs to create and fulfill the needs of the grant-funded program allows us to ensure continued support from school districts and parents,” Mojado said. “Additionally, parents are notified of services offered through parent nights and letters home.”

Native Challenge also offers workshops throughout the school year on topics such as empathy building, personal hygiene and teen dating violence.

Information, www.facebook.com/nativechallengeprogram

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