WASHINGTON - Interior Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason today announced that Captain John Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the first American Indian astronaut to serve with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will provide the keynote address this morning at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) FACE and Baby FACE National Training Conference in Pearl River, Miss. The event is scheduled for March 8-10 at the Silver Star and Golden Moon Resort on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation.

Herrington, who is also the first American Indian astronaut to walk in space, is well known among Indian educators as a role model for Indian children and youth through his willingness to speak before students and adults about his life and professional experiences.

Also joining Captain Harrington will be the six FACE and Baby FACE programs' 2005 Parent Essay Winners, who will be recognized at the conference for their accomplishments. The winners are Melissa Mallow, Blackwater Community School, Coolidge, Ariz.; Nanette Morin, Dunseith Day School, Dunseith, N.D.; Crystal Danforth, Oneida National Elementary School, Oneida, Wisc.; Maxine Broken Nose, Pine Ridge Elementary School, Pine Ridge, S.D.; Robert Long, T'iis Ts'ozi'Bi'Olta Community School, Crownpoint, N.M.; and Collen Saiz, T'siya Day School, Zia Pueblo, N.M.

OIEP administers FACE, the Family and Child Education program, which provides early childhood and adult education programs to American Indian families at home and in school. The FACE program has served over 15,000 infants, children and adults since its start in 1991. The program also provides opportunities for adults to complete their secondary level education and obtain workplace skills such as computer training. Since 1991, over 500 adults have earned their high school or general equivalency diploma (GED) and approximately 2,000 adults have found employment by participating in FACE.