Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Among First Lady Jill Biden’s special guests in her viewing box at President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union, which also included a visit to the White House, was my daughter Melissa Issac-Montoya. She heads the Michigan Department of Education’s Indigenous Education Initiative.
Melissa met First Lady Biden last October 24, 2021, when the first lady and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy visited the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe on the Isabella Indian Reservation in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. where they learned about Project AWARE.
At the time, she was the director of education for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. She applied for the Project AWARE grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant allowed her to expand mental health services and work with two public school districts in close proximity to the tribe.
The program left a lasting impression on First Lady Biden, who has a doctorate in education. Isaac-Montoya is pursuing her own doctorate at Central Michigan University.
Since the visit, she left her position with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. She told her story of her departure from the tribe during a virtual United Tribes of Michigan meeting. She said she left the tribe after much inner deliberation. She was hired in her current role at the state level. In this new role, Isaac-Montoya works to further educational achievement for Native Americans students across Michigan.
Melissa showed up at the U.S. Capitol wearing a beautiful ribbon skirt that was seen by millions watching on television as President Biden acknowledged Ukraine Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who sat in front ofher in the first lady’s viewing box.
My daughter's traditional attire caused an Odawa tribe viewer to write on her Facebook page: “Ummm, seeing a ribbon skirt on tv…during the SOTU…feels pretty good!
Other Native Americans social media pages were filled with excitement about her and her ribbon skirt. You can only imagine how proud I was. Si se puede!
20 comments:
Congratulations Juan, once again take a bow.
Many, many congratulations Mr. Montoya.
Felicidades colega
very cool!
Why does she look like Wightman - that face!
She looks nothing like you, Montoya.
Her mom heavy?
Good for her, but her dad's a clear failure. - a blog at 67???
ja ja ja ja
Congratulations Juan and Her mother. Both of you did a great job raising your daughter. To the whole Montoya family. Way to Go.
"es un honor", I don't care how many times its printed here I'll read all the time, congrats Juanito makes every tejano proud gracias again.
Outstanding.
Be proud! Congratuations!
Keep boasting! It is what great parents should. Congratulations
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD OF HER!
Congratulations! She honors us all. I don’t know you, and I don’t know her, but I know the pride you, your daughter and our community are feeling due to her great accomplishments. Awesome!
What an amazing story. This is the type of women that the USA needs: intrepid, with courage and strong.
behind her, next to her, beside her and in her heart and brain: is the culture, values and strength of the father: Juan Montoya.
Sad and angry to see these negative comments. So very very proud of your daughter Juan.
She looks like you Juan
Fake signatures. Done with an Auto Pen machine
F_ck the Naysayers Juan! You walk with pride. You have a very successful daughter, which is probably something the naysayers lack. Ssstodo!
Please keep us updated on her progress for her Ph.D. Que Dios la bendiga and you have every right to pat yourself on the back Amigo.
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