The crisp weather means the leaves are changing colors and our daylight hours are getting shorter. We've hit the transition from summer to fall. The Dena'ina Athabascan refer to September as Benen hdichigi, the month leaves turn yellow.

Traditionally, this time of year is also the beginning of the school year, a time when kids, teens and college students begin a new year of study with renewed enthusiasm. In the village of Takotna, where I grew up, this would be the time of year that the entire school population, teacher and students alike, would take to the fields to harvest my father's commercial potato crop. I know now that for me cultivating my father's potato fields was not only fun, but it was a learning experience that I carry with me today.

This month's CIRI newsletter is dedicated to the importance of education - all kinds of education - and cultivating opportunities for lifelong learning.

It's impossible to overstate the need for education because it is the foundation upon which our future generations will build. According to research conducted by the First Alaskans Institute Native Policy Center, Alaska Natives represent a significantly higher percentage of Alaska's school age children. More than one-third of Alaska Natives are of school age, compared to one-fourth of the overall Alaska population. So as a community, Alaska Natives have a significant stake in the performance of Alaska's schools.

Recent news articles on Alaska Natives' concerns about the Anchorage School District lead us to feel great concern, but they also spur us to redouble our efforts to educate our children. By "our children" I mean all of the children in the Alaska Native community in Alaska. While the Anchorage School District has been called to account for the many Native students who are struggling in this city, there are as many challenges throughout the state that have not been highlighted by the news media.

In my role as president of CIRI, I am proud to say that we as a company are committed to our youth and education. I am very impressed with our non-profit agencies and their programs and services that serve Alaska Natives from newborn infants through postsecondary students.

Southcentral Foundation's Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide comprehensive child development services for young children as they prepare developmentally for transition to school. At Cook Inlet Tribal Council, their Educational Services System serves Alaska Native and Native American students from kindergarten through postsecondary education by providing culturally relevant curricula and teaching techniques to enhance academic accomplishments, personal development and career potential.

Since its establishment in 1982, The CIRI Foundation has awarded more than $9.3 million-or 7,800 scholarships and grants-to original CIRI enrollees and their direct lineal descendants. The foundation's philosophy is that education leads to self-development and economic self-sufficiency. Enclosed in this newsletter, you will find a listing of the 2005 scholarship and grant recipients. Congratulations to each of you for your pursuit of higher education.

And I cannot have a discussion about the importance of education for Alaska Natives without commending Dr. Herb Schroeder and his Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He has created a program that succeeds because it is built on the importance of community and teamwork, as is found in the Alaska Native cultures. Today the ANSEP program provides a positive academic environment that has a proven success for recruiting, retaining, and graduating Alaska Native engineers, which ultimately leads to further empowerment of our people within the resources and business communities. Dr. Schroeder is an inspiration to all those around him, especially the Alaska Native science and engineering students in the ANSEP program who are guided to important careers through this program.

Finally, in my view no discussion of education opportunities is complete without discussing the need for strong vocational education programs in the state. This is particularly true now as Alaskans anticipate possible large-scale developments such as the construction of the Alaska Natural Gas pipeline. We will not be ready to face the challenges of providing a well-trained work force without a strong commitment to vocational education now. I am pleased to say that CIRI and its family of non-profit agencies share this commitment.

It is lifelong learning opportunities that lead to self sufficiency and the betterment of our communities. In my Takotna, it was taking advantage of a job opportunity, if only the simple cultivation of potato fields. Today, if we provide opportunities for people to take advantage of programs and services that lead the way to productive careers, they will be able to cultivate their own fields of opportunities.