One local educator is being recognized state-wide for her work in helping to support Leelanau County students.
Samantha TwoCrow, Suttons Bay Public Schools Indigenous Education director, is the recipient of the Michigan Lottery Excellence in Education award. The award was announced last Tuesday, Feb. 27, however, TwoCrow said she first learned of the big news about a month before. TwoCrow added that the award recognition, which she had no idea she was nominated for, is so heartwarming and gives her more motivation to continue in the work that she does.
“You think you’re only just a small little part of the district, so it’s pretty cool to be recognized for it. Sometimes things you think are very minimal, but you also realize in moments like this that it’s just as important,” TwoCrow said. “It was awesome and really cool… I’ll always be with education at Suttons Bay because that’s where the love is for me. My community is there and I just love it so much.”
First established in 2014, the Excellence in Education awards recognize “outstanding Michigan public school educators,” which includes teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff. The Michigan Lottery selects one outstanding educator to receive a $2,000 cash prize every week during the school year, with each winner also receiving a plaque and their own news segment featured on WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV, Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City.
TwoCrow started as Suttons Bay Indigenous director in 2019, with the program’s mission being to support the unique cultural and academic needs of Native American and Alaskan students from pre-k through graduation. Whether providing Native students with the resources they need or by encouraging them to celebrate their culture, TwoCrow has been a pillar of support for many over the last several years. TwoCrow also helped start up the district’s graduation pow wow again in 2023, which was halted for a few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My goal coming into Suttons Bay in 2019 was to make a powerful impact,” she said. “When you get a chance to look at Suttons Bay and we see the unique, diverse community that we live in, we see the disparities we have from other school districts in Leelanau County, we see the fight and the struggle that happens more for us than others… it’s exhausting, but at the same time, the smiling faces that we have with the children and students everyday, they make it so worth it to where it doesn’t seem any different from anywhere else.”
Along with serving as indigenous education director, TwoCrow also coaches 8th grade girls basketball, while her husband, Aaron, is the JV girls basketball coach.
“The TwoCrows are kind of iconically known as a big basketball family in Leelanau,” she said. “My son is a phenomenal varsity basketball player, my daughter Keely has played varsity basketball for her whole four years, and then we have two more daughters, one in 8th grade and one in 9th grade, and they are now coming into the basketball world… We love it, we’re at the gym all the time.”
