Glacier Creek students aid Native Americans

Glacier Creek seventh-graders earlier this spring raised $800 to help Native Americans in South Dakota.

The students raised funds during a couple of weeks in March by holding bake sales, a penny war and a silent auction. They also sold silicon bracelets saying "We Believe" in Lakota, Glacier Creek seventh-grade social studies teacher Paul Olson said.

The money will go to the "One Spirit" charitable organization and be used for a safe house for children on the Pine Ridge reservation who need to get away from abusive home situations, Olson said.

“I am very proud of my students and to be honest, a little awed,’’ said Olson, who added it was the first time his classes have done this. “I never thought we would raise this much money.

“We felt bad for the treatment of the Native Americans by the United States over the course of our history.’’

Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The reservation has an estimated population 40,000 and unemployment is greater than 80 percent. To learn more about One Spirit, visit the organization’s website.