"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Sequoyah Senior Selected

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Raelee Conrad, a senior at Sequoyah Schools, has been selected to participate in the Dartmouth Native Fly-In program for prospective college freshmen. Dartmouth, an Ivy League college in New Hampshire founded in 1769, selects only 35 students annually from across the nation to participate in the program with hopes of recruiting them to attend Dartmouth in the fall. They typically receive about 300 student applications for the Native Fly-In.

“It’s pretty competitive,” said Cheryl Spring, Native Fly-In coordinator at Dartmouth. “There were a lot of applicants this year. When choosing who gets to come, we look at the student as a whole, their grades, their volunteer work, everything they have done while in high school.”

Conrad had plenty of activities to list on her resume. She is an active member of the school’s American Indian Science and Engineering Society (A.I.S.E.S), 4-H, and student council, while finding time to concurrently enroll in college classes at Northeastern State University and maintain a 4.24 grade point average. She will graduate Sequoyah with a total of 24 college credits under her belt.

“Raelee is an all-around great kid,” said Gina Stanley, Sequoyah superintendent. “She works hard in everything that she does and can accomplish anything that she sets her mind to. I am very proud of her and expect to see great things in her future.”

That future could include becoming a pre-med student at Dartmouth.

“I think the medical field would be fulfilling,” Conrad said. “It would be great to help someone or even save a life.”

Conrad lost a close friend in 2005 to diabetes and would like to help other Native Americans in their fight against the disease.

“I would like to help people so that no other family has to go through what her family went through,” Conrad said.

Conrad, 17, is the daughter of Toni and Randy Conrad of Tahlequah. Her brother Robert, a Gates Millennium Scholar and Sequoyah School alum, attends Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

Sequoyah Schools, a boarding school for Native American students located near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, originated in 1871 as an orphan asylum to take care of children orphaned by the Civil War. Now known as Sequoyah Schools, it is named for Sequoyah, a scholar who developed the Cherokee syllabary. In November 1985 the Cherokee Nation assumed operation of Sequoyah. It is regionally and state accredited for grades 7-12 and has become the school of choice for more than 400 high school students every year. For more information call 918-453-5400.