b'Carving & Conversation grounded practice. Anthony elaborated, therewere regular conversations on how theyreIn the Organized Village of Kake, Anthony serves doing, what theyre doing, how school is going,as a role model, confidant, and co-creator with [and] whats happening at home that occurredthe youth in his program. His approach to the during this time. youth he works with reflects one of his corebeliefs about effective youth programming: the Frequently, the youth in the program are thebelief that youth have so much to offer and younger siblings of other youth that Anthony alsodeserve to be both seen and heard. My job is to worked with in the past, which Anthonypull the resources that [the youth] have already described as a truly joyful experience. I thinkthat they havent gotten the chance to use yet, [these] are the golden times of when we get aand to let them its okay for them to express chance to be part of somebodys life, hethemselvesverbally, on paper, through music, explained, its really important because, they[through] anything they can think of thats safe get to express how theyre feeling, they know itsand structured and also has a purpose for them, a safe place, and theyre enjoying each othersAnthony explained. Youth in the program company. He continued, and I get to see themparticipate in culturally grounded activities grow up from age preschool, all the way up totogether, learning new skills alongside program when they graduate. Its an honor to do that, tostaff, such as moccasin and regalia-making, be part of their lives throughout the years [thatmusic playing, and wood carving. Anthonys they are] growing up. uncle was a master wood carver in San Diego;his positive memories associated with watchingand learning alongside his uncle inspired thecreation of the wood carving programming withyouth, ages 9-11. Anthony told the story of one youth in theprogram who participated in the wood carvingclasses. On one particular day, at the close ofthe hour and a half of carving time after school,the youth asked Anthony about his music tastes.This led to music sharing and further dialoguearound shared interests.This is just one exampleof the frequent discussions amongst the youthand staff that went beyond the experience oflearning to safely create small wood carvings;the group of carvers often shared personalinterests and connected in a variety ofmeaningful ways, while engaging in a culturally20'