April 2016-
AIC graduate intern, Teryn Smith, wins an Impact Award from the UNC School of Social Work for her engaged research with NC Native communities on a project entitled, “Medicine Wheel Measure of Wellbeing: Talking Circles as a Method of Healing in NC American Indian Communities.”
Teryn Smith (Sappony) is currently serves as a graduate intern at the UNC American Indian Center. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013 and will earn her Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2016. She has been working with Native communities evaluating the use of Talking Circles as a culturally appropriate intervention to improve wellbeing. Teryn also has worked to develop a culturally-appropriate curriculum and related materials to increase awareness and inclusiveness of American Indians in NC in curricula in surrounding school districts through the Center’s NC Native Education and Information Initiative. Teryn was a graduate of the Center’s inaugural class of the NC Native Leadership Institute. She serves her tribal community through the Sappony Heritage Youth Camp committee as well as the Sappony 5K Trail Run committee and is a sister of Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc.
