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The Florida Indian Youth Program is an intensive away from home educational experience provided for approximately 50 Native American youths each year by the Florida Governor’s Council on Indian Affairs, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation.

The students, most of whom are 14 to 17 years of age, travel to Tallahassee and live in a residence hall on or near the campus of the Florida State University. During the ten day program, the students participate in more than 50 separate educational, cultural and social events and activities, all designed to increase the probability of high school graduation and inspire the students to higher academic achievement.

The Florida Indian Youth Program is divided into four main components: Academic, Job and Life Skills, Social, and Cultural.

The Academic component of the Florida Indian Youth Program (FIYP) focuses primarily on written communications, mathematics and computer skills.

The Writing Skills program is designed as a small group (4 to 7 students) writing workshop. Designed to facilitate:

‡	Considerable “one-to-one” instruction on English skills
‡	Creative writing skills and the effective use of word processing software
‡	Contributions of poetry, stories or artwork for the "Florida Indian Youth Program Anthology"

Building better Communication Skills is always a focus of the Writing Skills program, and is also addressed by:

‡	Performing in mock interviews, and writing cover letters and resumes in the Job Skills program
‡	Making oral and written presentations in the Tribal Government and Life Skills portions

The Math Skills program utilizes small groups to promote considerable individualized instruction and a safe learning environment where:

‡	Students are placed at the proper skill level
‡	There is proven reduction of “math anxiety”
‡	Ninety-five percent of FIYP students significantly increase their scores from the pre-test to the post-test
‡	Students claim our teachers make math fun!

Computer & Technology Skills are essential for today’s workforce, so we make sure our students are on the cutting edge of computer technology by:

‡	Teaching them to publish their own anthology
‡	Building and designing individual web pages
‡	Producing a PowerPoint presentation

Our Job Skills program focuses on how to get a job and teaches the essential habits and behaviors required to remain successful in that job through:

‡	Completing Career Assessments & Inventories
‡	Teaching workplace etiquette, punctuality, and the importance of education & life-long learning Introductions to top executives from major corporations
‡	Developing mentoring relationships to learn first hand the wonderful opportunities available to them in the "World of Work"

The Life Skills component is filled with activities that provide important information about how young people can best survive and succeed in today’s world. Topics include:

‡	Drugs, alcohol and tobacco abuse education
‡	Health & nutrition including diabetes prevention
‡	AIDS awareness
‡	An etiquette workshop
‡	Field trips & Presentations

Specific motivational courses are provided by world-class motivational speakers such as Lester Brown to address:

‡	The Ability to Establish & Obtain Personal Goals
‡	Positive Self Attitudes & Personal Power
‡	School to Work Transition Skills
‡	Independent Thinking Skills
‡	Job Retention and Advancement

‡	Using a real cash account at the “FIYP Bank”
‡	Learning to correctly write a checks, balance their account and create a personal budget
‡	Having the entire FIYP schedule act as a lesson in time management

The Social and Cultural activities encourage students to appreciate both their own culture and cultures outside their normal experience. Each activity is designed to foster the student’s desire to become a leading citizen within their country, state and tribe.

Our amazing counselors and Native American role models such as author, poet and musician, Joy Harjo, motivational speaker Denise Alley of Native Star and immanent Law School Professor Kirke Kickingbird all provide inspiration and guidance for these students.

The Tribal Government courses provide students with a unique opportunity to learn and develop leadership and self-governing skills by:

‡	Exploring relationships between the U.S. Government and federally recognized tribes
‡	Examining historical relationships between federal and state governments and tribes
‡	Exposing the students to tribal constitutions and governments
‡	Creating their own tribe,adopting a constitution, electing officers and a tribal council ,and financing their own exceptional celebration

‡	Attending theater and musical performances
‡	Touring museums, forums and art exhibits
‡	Visiting the Capitol, Supreme Court and other area historical sites and landmarks

The Awards Banquet is the program’s crowning event. More than 300 awards and scholarships are presented before the students’ family, peers and tribal leaders in recognition of each students’ personal and academic achievements.

During the two weeks the students are on campus, they spend more than 70 hours in classroom activities at the Center for Professional Development or at one of Tallahassee’s three fine institutions of higher learning (Tallahassee Community College, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University or Florida State University).

Activities are planned for every waking hour and there is no such thing as “free time” at the Florida Indian Youth Program. Students are required to be with a counselor at all times and the group is accompanied by at least one officer of the Florida State University Police Department whenever the group leaves campus.

Florida Governors Council on Indian Affairs, Inc.
1341 Cross Creek Circle
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Phone (850) 488-0730
Phone (850) 487-1472
Toll Free (800) 322-9186

FLORIDA GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL

ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, INC