photo by: Courtesy of Lawrence Public Schools

David Farve, the Lawrence school district's new Native American Student Services Coordinator

A Lawrence High and Haskell alumnus with a background in Native health care and cultural nonprofits is the Lawrence school district’s new Native American Student Services coordinator, the district announced in a news release Thursday.

David Farve, a Mississippi Choctaw tribal member, will start in the role effective immediately pending school board approval, according to the release. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1989 and has an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree from Haskell Indian Nations University.

Farve currently works as a learning and development specialist with the Southcentral Foundation, a nonprofit health care organization that serves nearly 70,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Anchorage, Alaska, and the surrounding area, according to the release. He worked as a youth advocate and public relations specialist for the same nonprofit from 2004 to 2008, and from 2007 to 2014 he did public relations work for the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

“I am excited to return to the community I grew up in,” Farve said in the release. “Working with NASS will give me an opportunity to give back to my hometown and the Indigenous community. Having NASS gives our youth a place to find hope, learning, and mentorship to succeed in school and life.”

The district’s previous Native American Student Services coordinator, Kenneth St. Pierre, resigned in December 2023, as the Journal-World reported. Cynthia Johnson, the district’s executive director of inclusion, engagement and belonging, said the district’s NASS Parent Committee was involved in interviewing candidates for the position.

NASS supports approximately 530 students who represent more than 100 tribes. Its offices are located at Broken Arrow Elementary School, 2704 Louisiana St.