Education

Taking action for change

Chato-Seaton, a senior at Monument Valley High and a two-year member of National Honor Society, writes about the value of giving back to your community. He will be attending the University of Arizona in the fall. Honor society members must maintain a 3.0 or above grade point average, exhibit excellent leadership, complete 90-plus hours of community service a year, and display outstanding character.

By Edward Chato-Seaton

WINDOW ROCK, May 8, 2008

Many people wish for a change for the better and wait for a divine act to happen. The fact is that change is possible only when those who wish for change act.

In Kayenta, Ariz., the National Honor Society at Monument Valley High has helped to make progress. Each member has had to make sacrifices with their time. With the addition of the ever-mounting schoolwork, doing so is not always easy.

The contributions to the community that honor society students have made are varied and numerous. The soup kitchen in the wintertime provides free meals to those who need one.

Along with the Toys for Tots program we do in the winter, we are each required to make a baby blanket for the Women, Infants and Children Program and the COPE Center.

As for honoring the elderly in our community, we collect donations for gift baskets to give to them. Another major event in honor society is helping our community honor our veterans.

Through all these projects we have all gained a unique experience. While helping others we have learned to work with each other in whatever project we undertake. As a student on the edge of entering the real world I wish to change our current situation for the better and, like building a house, all of these steps do add up.

Doing soup kitchens in the wintertime is a rewarding experience. While many of our community service projects require a degree of teamwork it is even more so in soup kitchens. For without a smoothly running system the dishes pile up and the people become hungry.

But when everything does run smoothly the whole time is pretty enjoyable. But giving a meal for those who need one is by far the more important thing. While we are giving thanks for the food we serve we understand that it is not so much a job as it is a duty. After all, a society shows its worth in how it treats its underprivileged.

During the Christmas season we participate in the Toys for Tots drive. While accepting donations from other people we pitch in our own cash for toys. Then with our gathered fortune we have a few people go on a mini-field trip to buy the toys. In the end each of those toys we pass out buys a hundred smiles.

The other winter activity honor society does is making baby blankets for the local Women, Infants and Children Program and COPE Center. In terms of labor it is perhaps the most time-consuming, especially if you have never made a blanket before, let alone sewed.

Each year our members create some very unique blankets that beg for a second look. It is also a thrill to see your blanket being used in public.

As Native Americans our elderly are our culture. They are the last link to our old world and ways. They need to be treated with the respect they deserve.

To do this we all gathered donations from around the town to put into gift baskets. During the actual event, where we gave out the baskets, I was impressed at how much patience our elderly had. Some of them had arrived when we were setting up and stayed until they received their gift basket.

It was enjoyable to see that many of them still had a sparkle in their eyes when we passed out their gifts.

Our veterans have an honor and position among our people all to themselves. Each one of them gave a part of their lives to protect ours, and some of them gave their whole life to do so. In addition some of them will forever be haunted be what they had to see.

As a community we can't let their sacrifice go unnoticed. So for the ceremony various organizations hold for the veterans, National Honor Society helped out. We did everything from serving the veterans food and refreshments as well as talking to them. The event was a chance to honor and be with our true warriors.

For all of us involved in National Honor Society, the various community projects we have been in have all given us unique experiences. From honoring our hometown heroes to cleaning up our land, we put all our effort into making a difference.

This drive to change things for the better will hopefully remain in all of us when we leave high school and when we make our ultimate return home.

Back to top »