AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: A UTAH-BASED ORGANIZATION PROVIDES SCHOLARSHIPS FOR NATIVE AMERICANS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

• Author: Walter, Meg Morley

Based in Salt Lake City, the nonprofit American Indian Services provides supplemental scholarships to American Indian kids from over 350 tribes across the country.

The most impoverished community in Utah is the American Indian reservation in San Juan County. Many residents live without running water and electricity. The three lowest-performing schools in the state are in Blanding and in general, American Indian communities have the highest drug and alcohol abuse rate, domestic abuse rate, dropout rate and teen suicide rate in the country. But AIS is working to reverse these disturbing trends.

"It's important for me that people are aware of the need right here in Utah. I've worked all over the world, and there is as much need 300 miles south as there is in Africa," said AIS Assistant Director Dr. Sylvia McMillan. "The only thing that brings people out of poverty is education. What we're trying to do is add to what Native American students already have to help them come into positions of knowledge and power so they can determine their own future and not have other people determine it for them."

AIS provides supplemental scholarships to students on a semester basis. These scholarships often help students cover the living expenses that grants alone cannot cover. Students are able to pay for books, food and other necessary needs.

"The scholarship helped me pay off my tuition and get books," said Shenaya Brown, an AIS scholarship recipient from New Mexico and Utah Valley University student studying dental hygiene. "Everyone at AIS was super friendly and ready to help with any questions I had."

"The scholarship basically allowed me to go to college without having to accrue any major student loans. It's taken a huge financial burden off my shoulders," said Utah native Samuel Brown, a scholarship recipient and UVU student studying Mechatronics Engineering. "I don't really have financial support at home, so AIS is just a huge help for me."

AIS also recently founded the AIS PREP Program in partnership with Utah State University. Their first cohort just graduated after spending six weeks at the program on USU's Blanding campus over three consecutive summers.

The PREP Program helps middle school students advance in STEM fields and enter high school ahead of their peers. Every graduate of the PREP Program improved academically when tested, some as much as 71 percent, with 34 percent improvement overall.

The PREP Program features professional teachers and...