Youth from Spokane Tribe learn from cadavers through employment program at SFCC

These kids are brainy in more ways than one.

Through a summer program, youth from the Spokane Tribe and other tribes in the area attended a hands-on lab at Spokane Falls Community College on Monday and Wednesday.

A different cohort of teens, ages 15-18, from the tribe’s Summer Youth Employment Program attended each day, spending the day conducting labs like blood testing, cell analysis and a tour of the campus’ cadaver lab, cadavers included.

Some of the less squeamish students held embalmed intestines straight from the cadaver itself.

“It was really strange seeing all the human organs. The brain was really, like, slimy and soft,” participant Dontae LaMere said. “I’m no zombie, but I thought it would have been dryer.”

Andrew Sampson, 18, said he’d dissected a sheep in school, but this was his first experience with a human specimen.

“It felt so weird,” he said. “When you held the brain, it felt like it was going to jump out of my hands.”

The affair exposes youth to science, technology, engineering and math experiences that mirror those college students have, offering activities so students can see if they may want to pursue a career in the field, said Janae Carrothers, program director at Math, Engineering, Science Achievement, the SFCC club hosting the labs.

“It’s something they can consider for free in the comfort of their teachers and peers,” she said.

This week’s lab was one activity from the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ Summer Youth Employment Program. Sponsored by the tribe, but open to enrolled members from any tribe, the program offers youth ages 14-19 education on the fundamentals of life after high school. Teens get paid work experience, from desk jobs in offices, yard work for tribal elders and for STEM events hosted by colleges and universities.

“We’re really trying to open their eyes to what’s out there, things they’ve heard about but maybe didn’t realize were real,” said crew boss Jewel Trujillo, a supervisor of the program. “A lot of these kids don’t know what they’re into. It’s really cool because kids get to see things at a college.”

Teens earn minimum wage for the five-week program, working 200 hours throughout. They’re paid on a regular schedule, giving them further real-world experience cashing their paychecks and getting an ID if necessary.

“It helps our families, too, so kids can buy their own school clothes, taking that financial burden off of their parents,” Trujillo said.

The program employs around 100 kids, with 50 participating at SFCC’s STEM activity day on Monday or Wednesday.

Since the program started in July, participants have attended similar STEM events at Eastern Washington University, where they learned about careers in archaeology and robotics. They also get their hands dirty doing yard work in tribal elders’ lawns.

“It’s important with our culture. It’s teaching kids respect,” Trujillo said. “It’s a traditional cultural thing where we take care of our elders and our people.”

The youths’ STEM lab at SFCC was born from a partnership between the Summer Youth Employment Program and MESA, a state-funded club that supports students seeking a degree in STEM through events, mentorship and career experience. There are 12 such clubs around the state sponsored through the grant. MESA is open to all, though the club’s mission is to uplift students from marginalized communities underrepresented in STEM, like students of color and women.

“We talk about the human side of what it means to not be represented in the STEM fields,” Carrothers said. “We try to speak with students with diverse backgrounds, so as to not have systemic barriers and racism be their story, but have their own story.”