Kurt Moore MORALES is a high school teacher with an undergrad degree in Secondary Education, qualified to teach Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health. He also holds a Master of Arts in Educational Management. In addition to his teaching and management skills, he has won singing awards. Kurt exemplifies the highest and best qualities that a teacher aspires to, good moral character, discipline, creativity, warmth, friendliness, high intelligence and excellent verbal skills. His principal gave him the responsibility to chaperone a group of students to visit Washington, DC and New York all the way from Alaska. He explains this project below. We also include his report on the school’s bullying prevention program that he helped formulate and led.
Empowering Indigenous Youth, One Voice at a Time
By Kurt Moore Morales | J1 Educator, Chevak School, Alaska | Cordell Hull Foundation
In spring of 2025, I had the life-changing privilege of guiding eleven Alaska Native students from Chevak School—our remote Cup’ik village on the western coast of Alaska—on a powerful journey to the CloseUp Native Youth Summit in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
For many of them, it was their first time leaving Alaska. But it wasn’t just about planes or big cities—it was about belonging. Belonging in spaces where decisions are made. Belonging in conversations that shape the future. They spoke boldly in the halls of the U.S. Senate on issues like education equity, land protection, and language preservation—issues deeply rooted in their lived experience.
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Pictured below: Kurt Morales with Chevak students in Washington, DC, May 2025
This opportunity was made possible through the CloseUp Foundation, a national nonprofit that has, for over 50 years, empowered over one million students and teachers through immersive civic education. The Native Youth Summit is a special initiative of Close Up that brings together Indigenous youth from across the country to explore policymaking, meet with lawmakers, and engage in honest dialogue about the future of Native communities.
As their teacher and a foreign educator through the Cordell Hull Foundation, I watched in awe as my students transformed—discovering that democracy isn’t something distant. It’s theirs. They didn’t just learn how government works—they realized their voices can shape it. It was civic engagement, cultural pride, and personal transformation all at once.
In New York City, they stood beneath the Statue of Liberty, reflected at the 9/11 Memorial, and walked through Ellis Island. These moments helped them understand their place in a broader American story—one that values resilience, identity, and justice.