Dear Community,
My name is Joe Claunch, Puyallup Tribal member, happily married father of four school aged kids, and new Education Director for the Southern Ute Tribe. It’s a privilege to be joining a community that shares such a deep commitment to the education and success of their students.
Education has been a transformative force in my life. I come from humble beginnings and faced significant challenges growing up. My journey took a pivotal turn when Haskell Indian Nations University took a chance on me. At Haskell, I found a caring community who understood my story and provided me with the support I needed to turn my life around.
These educational experiences allowed me to break generational curses and unlock the true rewards an education can offer: knowledge of self, family, community, and purpose bigger than myself. As a result of this, I’ve dedicated my life to sharing the gifts of learning with other Native students.
As a teacher, coach, and leader, I have a proven track record of raising the expectations, aspirations, and achievements of Native students by strengthening the support system around them. The Southern Ute Tribe has a storied educational history of their own, one that includes early treaties with educational provisions, a long boarding school era, an education department that has connected students to opportunities for 44 years strong, and countless Tribal members that have leveraged the power of education to create a better future for themselves, their families, and community.
As I step into this new role, I’m excited to join our amazing team of educators in working with you and your family. Together, we can build on the strong foundation that has been established, creating a new era of educational opportunities that will ensure the next generation is ready to answer the call to leadership in their own life, family, and community.
We warmly invite you to reach out to our department, we are eager to listen, learn, and work with you. To get things started, we invite you to take a short survey using the link or QR code below. Your honest, anonymous feedback will help us understand what we are already doing well and where we can improve. We want our goals to be based on your goals, and we need your valuable feedback to get there.
We also want to invite you to our Open House at the Education Center Building on Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 5-8pm. Dinner will be served, and good door prizes will be offered.
Respectfully,
Joseph Claunch, Ph.D.
Education Director
Southern Ute Tribe