ONAMIA — The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe broke ground Wednesday on a building for its early education department.
The 47,600-square-foot building, which will be located adjacent to the District I Community Center in Onamia, will accommodate approximately 200 students ages newborn to 5 years old.
The new building reflects the growing demand for the Band’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which integrate Ojibwe language and cultural instruction into standard curriculum. The program currently serves 117 students in District I, with 70 children on the waiting list.
“Education is one of the Mille Lacs Band’s highest priorities,” Dennis Olson, Mille Lacs Band commissioner of education, said. “At a time when many school districts have had to make hard cuts, we are humbled to have the opportunity to invest in the future of our youth and our education system.”
The Mille Lacs Band early education department is a combination of six programs: federal Head Start, Minnesota Head Start, federal Early Head Start, Early Childhood Family Education, and Early Childhood Special Education (provided with the Onamia Public Schools), and childcare.
The new early education building will include 17 classrooms, a gymnasium, large motor play areas, spaces to serve family needs, and integrated storm shelters. The building will also feature a cultural room where Elders will teach Ojibwe traditions, including drumming, dancing and crafts. The design incorporates cutting-edge green building techniques, including natural lighting and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
The Mille Lacs Band is funding the majority of the $9.5 million construction project. Additional funding is provided by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Early Head Start grants.
The project will create between 75-100 construction jobs. To fully staff the building, the early education department will need to hire 21 new positions.
W. Gohman Construction Company, based in St. Joseph, is the general contractor for the project. The early education building is scheduled to be completed in August 2012.
