Cherokee Immersion School graduates Kindergarten and 8th grade classes

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - The Cherokee Nation's Immersion School recently graduated its 8th grade class and the kindergarten classes from both the Tahlequah and Greasy schools.

The graduation ceremony, where 20 kindergarten students and nine eighth-grade students officially graduated as conversational Cherokee speakers, was held May 8 at the Chota Conference Center in Tahlequah. For the first time, three of the kindergarten graduates were from the Greasy Cherokee Immersion School that first opened in 2023.

"If you were from an older generation, and you went to public school in Oklahoma, you saw our Cherokee language dying. You may have even thought that the sun was setting on our great language. But today, the sun is rising on the great Cherokee Nation, and it is thanks to these graduates, their families, and all the teachers and staff who put effort into placing our language into the hands of the most powerful Cherokees around-our children," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

The Cherokee Immersion School was started in 2001 as a Cherokee language preservation program. Today, the school operates at the state-of-the-art Durbin Feeling Language Center in Tahlequah, constructed in 2021.

In 2021, the tribe acquired the Greasy School campus in Southern Adair County, which now serves as the Cherokee Nation's second Cherokee language immersion school.

There are 143 students currently enrolled at the Tahlequah site, 12 students at the Greasy location, with 18 grade-level teachers working out of the Durbin Feeling Language Center, and five grade-level teachers in Greasy. The Cherokee Immersion school also has three PE teachers, a counselor, and one special-ed teacher who supports both sites. The teachers are a mixture of first-language and second-language speakers.

"This world is big, but it's just the right size for each and every one of these graduates. Thank you to the families of the graduates for allowing the Cherokee Nation to take part in the life of your child and to teach them about who they are as Cherokee people," Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said.

The school offers grade level state curriculum with all courses taught primarily in Cherokee. Grades include pre-k through 8th grade, with the newest addition being the infant immersion class that aims to teach Cherokee as a first language.

"It is incredible how many second-language speakers we are graduating every year. We are bringing up a whole neighborhood of Cherokee speakers, which is important, as they say it takes one generation to lose a language, and three generations to bring it back, and that can be done sooner than we realize," said Executive Director of the Cherokee Nation Language Program Howard Paden.

Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner signed in 2019 the landmark Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act which is helping revitalize the Cherokee language and represents the largest language investment in Cherokee history.

Cherokee Nation leaders and 2026 8th grade graduates from the Cherokee Immersion School.

The permanent reauthorization of the act authorizes a minimum operating funding budget of $28 million annually for Cherokee language, which is $10 million more than the previous annual budget.

To learn more information about the graduation ceremony, contact the Cherokee Immersion School at 918-207-4900.

The 2026 Tahlequah kindergarten graduates include:

Isaac Akee - ᎡᏏᎩ

Samrhen Begay - ᏕᏄᎳᏥ

Phoenix Brown - ᎶᏏ

Osvaldo Cagal - ᏌᏚᎵ

Daisy Clark - ᎤᏥᎸᏍᎩ

Presley Dallis - ᏪᏌ

Sawyer Franke - ᏲᎾ

Taylor Hawk - ᏍᎩᎩᏙ

Grayson Holmes - ᎬᏟ

K'wiyah Jones - ᎧᏩᏯ

Maddox Mouse - ᎦᏃᎭᎴᎩ

Athens Paden - ᎣᎦᎾ

Sky Riley - ᎠᏁᏟᏗ

Daisy Ross - ᎠᏥᎸᏍᎩ

Rayleigh Teehee - ᎦᎨᏓ

Orion Terrapin Huitt - ᏓᎦᏏ

Sergio Thompson - ᎠᏧᏣ

The 2026 Greasy kindergarten graduates include:

Caden Rowe- ᎤᎦᎶᎦ

Zylah Teehee- ᏕᎩ

Sebastian Wesley- ᏛᏂᏃᎵ

The 2026 8^th grade graduates include:

Audri Smith-ᎠᎦᏘᏱ

Kyah Jones-ᎠᎵ

Maggie Sequichie-ᎦᎶᏅᏍᎩ

Cale Gann-ᎦᏏᎳ

Olivia Wildcat-ᎯᏍᏕᎳ

Brantley Stopp-ᎤᏃᎴ

Little Bear Gregory-ᎤᏍᏗ ᏲᎾ

Braedan Brashear-ᏌᎵ

Joaquin Nerio-ᏩᎩᏅᏂ

The 2026 Tahlequah teachers include:

Matthew Church - ᎹᏚ

Hayley Miller - ᎢᏥᏫ

Carolyn Swepston - ᏂᎦᏫ

Vicky Bangle - ᏢᏓᏥ

Tyler Teague - ᏓᎳᎳ

Zebadiah Nofire - ᏏᏆ ᎠᏂᏓ

The 2026 Greasy teachers include:

Sherry Sevenstar- ᏎᎵ

Vickey Denny- ᎵᏏ