Benjamin Grignon is a teacher of traditional Menominee arts, he represents the Menominee Nation, and approaches culturally-responsive education by using Menominee language, culture, and art to promote and preserve tribal history as a pathway for future generations and positively influence the education of the youth in his community.
He will spend his time at the Swenson Center researching the John Olof Viking papers, 1892-1955 (MSS P:4).
Grignon is working on his Doctorate of Education in First Nations Education at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and is focusing on integrating the stories of his people to educate his students. He is looking forward to researching the Swedish/Menominee cultural exchange in Upper Michigan in the late-1800s and early-1900s.
Grignon is the 2019 Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year and the recipient of the 2020 National Education Association's Leo Reano Memorial Human and Civil Rights Award.