Diné named a Champion of Change
Submitted Sam Slater, middle, sits with the four other Native youths selected as 2016 Champions for Change.
Submitted
Sam Slater, middle, sits with the four other Native youths selected as 2016 Champions for Change.
Sam Slater calls two places home.
During the school year, Slater, of Bethesda, Md., attends a private school in Washington, D.C. But the 18-year-old high school senior spends his vacations at his ancestral home on the Navajo Nation.
“I have two homes,” Slater said during a phone interview this week. “When my family is in D.C., we are in the far, far Eastern Agency. But we also look for ways to stay connected with our Navajo community.”
For the last 10 years, Slater and his family have offered a Navajo immersion program for students at Slater’s school. Students travel to Round Rock, Ariz., and spend two weeks learning about Navajo culture, government and history.
The program was born from curiosity, Slater said. It grew when the family realized it had a chance to help educate young people about Native culture.
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