Academics

Educator Profiles

Harold Pourier

Social Studies
MS Academics
Lakota/Pine Ridge, SD

I’m Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. I grew up in the Los Angeles area—at first in the barrio of East L.A. I began my education at California State University at Los Angeles and then transferred to New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico where I obtained my B.A. in Anthropology with a Minor in History. I eventually received my teaching credentials from the University of New Mexico and my M.A. in Education from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
I first worked for SFIS from 1977 to 1981 where I was a Student Living Advisor (SLA) in the dorms and when the school was the Albuquerque Indian School. Eventually the school transferred to Santa Fe and became the Santa Fe Indian School. I came back in 1986 to teach History and have been here ever since. I’ve primarily taught Social Studies in the Middle School to mostly 7th graders over the years. Presently I’m the Team Leader for the 7th grade team, and I also am the faculty advisor for the Close Up program at the Middle School.
As an educator, well to be honest, I see myself as a storyteller, a storyteller of history with a lot of Native American history thrown in. Looking at our past and trying to relate this information to our students can be very trying and almost impossible for some people, but to put it in the format of telling a story seems to work for me and my students. At this period in my life, I try to relate to my students as I relate to my own grandchildren. My students all seem to have a close relationship to their own grandparents, and I fit into that role while they are here at school, and it seems to work very well.
More than anything else I believe that respect for everyone and everything is extremely important at our school. Our students are taught this in their communities, but sometimes while at school they forget these teachings and we constantly have to remind them of the idea of respect. In the Close Up program, which is a great opportunity to teach our students these values, we take Middle School students on an educational trip to Washington D.C. I’m always amazed at their reaction to be arriving in our nation’s capital. So, for me, I have not one memorable experience, but many each year.
My passion in life is still to make a difference in the lives of my students, so that they can go on with their lives and remember something from my class that helped them along the way. My desire for my students is that whatever road in life they choose to take, that along the way they find happiness, contentment, and that they are able to accomplish their own dreams.