 The Red Lake School District has launched a new initiative to have all their students be able to speak conversational Ojibwe by the time they graduate. Reporter Cheryl Moore tells us about their goals for this week's Golden Apple. The Red Lake School District is making sure culture plays a major role in their curriculum. To foster that movement, they've launched a five-year goal to have all of their graduates be able to speak conversational Ojibwe. We want to preserve our language. It's on the verge of extinction and we want to build resiliency with our students for who they are so they can identify who they are, learn their culture, learn their language. Our students are very vulnerable with our culture and our language so it's really, really important that we say to our elders that are here and have been here for a long time. Ojibwe signage is already all over the schools but now teachers will also start integrating everyday Ojibwe phrases into their lessons. The school district has even created a new website that anyone can access from home. Our kids are doing exceptionally better than they were last year and we see that continuing and building as they move through. All of that was taught through the Red Lake Ojibwe culture and so it was using Red Lake stories, Red Lake history. The community plays an important role in the initiative. In fact, the tribal council, Red Lake school board and parents all have a part in planning the curriculum. We're starting small and we're going to expand on that and we're including everybody, the teachers, the custodians, the bus drivers. Officials are taking baby steps when it comes to learning the best ways to integrate the language. The staff agrees the best way to succeed is to celebrate your roots. Our goal is to produce leaders of this nation and so that's why our community is also so important in the work that we do here in the school. It's not just the teachers, it's not just the staff, it's not just the adults in the school system. We have a link to the new Red Lake School District Ojibwe language site on our website at lptv.org. Reporting in Red Lake with this week's Golden Apple, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.