Honoring Jennie Shore: A Visionary Founding Mother of PECS
Welcome to Women’s History Month! Last March, we shared some incredible Seminole women who have had a lasting impact on the Seminole Tribe of Florida. In honor of Women’s History Month, Florida Seminole Tourism is dedicating the entire month of March to highlighting just a few of the Seminole women who have guided, shaped, and dedicated their lives to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. This week, we are highlighting one of the founding mothers of PECS, Jennie Shore. She, along with Lorene Bowers Gopher` and Louise Gopher, were instrumental in the creation of Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS) and the Creek Immersion Program.
In our featured image, you can see Jennie Shore in 2017. In it, she was just named Elder of the Year at the 48th annual National Indian Education Association’s convention. She is surrounded by her family and PECS colleagues.
Interested in last year’s Women’s History Month selections? You can learn about Lorene Bowers Gopher, Laura Mae Osceola, Susie Billie, and more Trailblazing Seminole Women in some previous blog posts.
A Focus on Education, Culture, and Tradition
Jennie Shore dedicated her career to teaching Seminole culture and native language. From a young age, keeping those traditions were part of her core values, passed down from her family. Language preservation had a marked impact on her own education. Shore “never attended a conventional school [as a child]. She lived in the camp of her grandfather George Osceola, who wouldn’t send her to school because he wanted her to speak both Creek and Mikasuki so she could carry the languages on.” Exceeding just carrying on the language, Shore would become one of the most important language instructors and keepers for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Her impact on language with Seminole youth is incredible and far reaching, with over 30 years of teaching. But, her instruction is only one piece of her legacy.
Before PECS and the Creek Immersion Program became a reality, Shore and the other two women instrumental to its creation would spend years working towards it. They identified the need for language programs way back in 1979. Jennie Shore and Lorene Bowers Gopher met with Dean Tiger, a Muscogee Creek from Oklahoma. They would painstakingly adapt an alphabet similar to his, so that Seminoles would have a systemic way of writing their language. Soon, they also could see that fewer young people knew Creek than their parents. The language was dying.
In the 1980s, Shore and other culture instructors would hold culture and language classes on the Brighton Reservation twice a week. Language learning was blended with Seminole life skills. These included learning how to make sofkee, playing games, listening to stories, and wearing traditional clothing. (September 21, 1987, Palm Beach Post) But, the need was still there. Slowly, Shore and those around her would develop more and more immersive programs for Seminole youth.
The Pull-Out Program and PECS Develop
Grasping for more time with the kids, Shore, Lorene Bowers Gopher, and Louise Gopher would work together to begin the “Pull-Out Program” in partnership with Okeechobee County schools. Each Friday, students would be pulled out of school for a full day of language and culture immersion on the Brighton Reservation. “That helped us a lot,” Bowers Gopher said of the additional time, resources and convenience that having them on the reservation allowed. “The Pull-Out Program opened a whole new world for [the kids]. They shared what they learned with their classmates and teachers, who couldn’t wait to hear what the kids learned at their Indian school.” Louise Gopher stated in 2014. But still, it became increasingly apparent that one day a week was not enough to create fluent speakers.
Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS) would open its doors in 2007, after painstaking work ensuring that the charter reflected their mission for the school: one rooted in a focus on Seminole culture and language. It opened as the first Tribal Charter School in the United States, and has excelled. Administrative Assistant Michele Thomas shared that language classes were a driving force in the school’s creation. “We built the school solely because it would enable us to make the Creek language a part of the daily curriculum.” Thomas shared.
PECS incorporates mandatory Creek classes into students’ daily schedules. The results were incredible. According to Louise Gopher, the day PECS opened their doors 30 more students than expected showed up. By the end of the year, they had received their first A rating. Since then, PECS has continued to excel, among one of the top charter schools in the entire state.
PECS Immersion Program
PECS would take another leap forward in 2015. With direction from Shore, the school would launch its own language immersion program. At the time, there was only about 30 to 40 fluent Creek speakers in the tribe. The goal of the program was to swell that number. The revolutionary program started small; only 10 children and babies were enrolled, spending their days “speaking only Creek to identify colors, numbers, pictures and each other through conversation and demonstration.” The goal was to create Creek speakers from infancy. As of 2021, the staff boasted “Jennie Shore, Alice Sweat and Emma Fish – and five second language learners – Jade Osceola, Rita Gopher, Jewel Lavatta, Rita Youngman and Janae Braswell.”
In a Seminole Tribune article, program director Jade Osceola shared the continued impact on the kids. The program still follows the same children that began it, as many now move into and through elementary school.
“A lot more language has been brought into the home,” said Osceola, who runs the program. “We have created our own family unit; they do everything together, even outside of school. The speak Creek outside of school and go to birthday parties and sports events together. It’s impacted them in a major way.” She also stressed how they are working post-pandemic to ensure that even with interruptions, they continue momentum. “Once they leave the class, it’s all English,” Osceola said. “They have the rest of their lives to learn it, English isn’t going anywhere. They are learning Creek now. No one and nothing will keep us from saving our language.”
Jennie Shore, center, helps immersion students learn to count in Creek by playing a board game in the kindergarten class. Via the Seminole Tribune.
The Immersion Program Expands Again
In 2022, PECS and the Immersion Program broke ground on some brand-new buildings on the Brighton Reservation.The buildings included a brand-new building solely dedicated to the immersion program, which previously was housed in portable classrooms.
At the groundbreaking, Shore shared a few words about what the program meant to her, after years of instructing. “Most know that there is a large gap in those who speak the native tongue and those that do not,” Shore said. “It is something that wouldn’t be learned unless the person is immersed in it. Now for the first time in a very long time, the children are learning and playing all while speaking the language. It makes me happy.”
Shore speaking at the Brighton Groundbreaking for the new immersion program building in 2022. Via the Seminole Tribune.
NIEA 2017 Elder of the Year
In the Last few years, Shore has received some much-deserved recognition for her role as educator, instructor, and visionary behind PECS and the Immersion Program. The National Indian Education Association (NEIA) awarded her with “Elder of the Year” in 2017. Below, you can see Shore receiving her award from Yatibaey Evans, president of NIEA, on October 6, 2017. “Your commitment to lifelong learning and the survival of Native languages is to be commended,” wrote NIEA president Yatibaey Evans “You are a testament to the strength and importance of our elders and an excellent example of how elders can continue to create new avenues to ensure future generations have a connection to our past.”
Via the Seminole Tribune
Brighton Councilman Andrew Bowers Jr. thanked her in a letter for her continued dedication and perseverance. He stated “I have watched for many years as you gave yourself for the children and adults of our Tribe in many ways. You have been there for the children, teaching them how to be Seminole Indians. When others have retired or moved on, you have remained to carry on your role as the teacher to many and of many things.”
2022 PECS Culture Employee of the Year
Jennie Shore was also named the 2022 PECS Culture Employee of the Year. The award recognized not only to her instrumental role in the creation of the Immersion Program, but also her continued educational support and dedication to the program’s success.
Via the Seminole Tribune
Above, you can see Jennie Shore (seated) on January 20th, 2022, receiving her award. Behind her Tracy Dowling, the principal of PECS claps. In a Facebook post commemorating Shore’s award, Dowling shared her continued impact.
She stated “[Shore] a vision to create a program designed to preserve the Native traditions, the cultural beliefs, and the Muscogee Creek language by integrating the Seminole language and culture in a classroom setting. It was believed that the language was going to disappear, and this program was created to preserve it.” Dowling continued that “Mrs. Shore and [the tribe’s] elders gave the children every opportunity to grow intellectually, physically, and emotionally – through experimental activities, child-initiated learning experiences (play) and curriculum-based materials. The children grew up learning the language, and because they were spoken to exclusively in the Muscogee Creek language, they became fluent…Mrs. Shore and the elders, through their tireless efforts, have ensured that the children are thriving and [are] prepared to embark on their educational journey, as both a student and a proud member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.”
A Continued Presence
It is Shore’s continued presence in the program that is one of the guiding lights for its success. Her and other elders push the program, and the students further. In a video interview that was screened during her NEIA Award ceremony, Shore shared her experiences. It plainly shares the gradual impact of her success, as seen through her interactions with students.
Shore states “I spent a lot of years teaching words and phrases to students, but not speaking fluently. Then we started a language immersion program and I just kept talking to the kids fluently waiting for them to talk back to me. Finally they started talking back to me. When the little students started talking to each other in the language, I knew my teaching was working.”
Author Bio
Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.
