Education Briefs | 6 students earn proficiency in Diné award

WINDOW ROCK

Six students were honored with a prestigious award from the Navajo Nation Friday afternoon.

The students are Tomilethia Chee, Rydale Largo, Justin Castillo, Alexandria Begay, Adiidiin Jones, and Natiana King.

The students earned the Navajo Nation Seal of Bilingual Proficiency from the Department of Dine Education for the 2021-22 school year.

For earning Navajo language proficiency, each student received a state seal on their diplomas honoring this achievement and a new Pendleton blanket.

The award is earned by passing a standardized test, “the Oral Navajo Language and Culture Test,” designed to determine a student’s ability to understand and replicate oral Navajo and challenge their knowledge of Navajo culture.

The test is offered for grades four, eight, and 12. Only students who attend grant, contract, public, or Bureau of Indian Education schools are eligible.

Largo, 18, is from Pinedale, New Mexico. When asked what the award meant to him, he said, “Across the Navajo Nation, many youths don’t speak Navajo, and it’s this great honor for me to be one of the recipients that actually still remembers our language and our culture and always to carry on our tradition with our Navajo language.”

Jones, 17, is from Standing Rock, New Mexico, and attends Crownpoint High.

Asked the same question, Jones said, “It actually means a lot to me because I grew up in a family with just elderly. It’s an honor because I get to show and help my younger generation with their Navajo language. So, I think it’s a really good achievement.”

Begay, 19, is from Shonto, Arizona. She attends Gallup High.

She said, “This achievement is putting the representation for the family, friends, and doing something for yourself, for myself, being proud of it.”

Castillo attended Aztec High, Chee attended Rough Rock High, and King attended Navajo Prep.

Verna Thomas, a senior education specialist with the Department of Diné Education, said, “I really like these are awesome students. We only have a few Navajo speakers left as far as students are concerned, and I know as leaders, we worry.

“As administrators, we have to do something,” she said, “and this is like an encouragement for more students to test, more students to learn, more students to receive the award.”

Natachu named director of Zuni youth project

ZUNI – The nonprofit Zuni Youth Enrichment Project on June 23 announced that Tahlia Natachu would be the organization’s new executive director, effective July 5.

Natachu previously served as a youth development coordinator and director of development.

Natachu’s history with the project goes back to 2009, her sophomore year at Zuni High. As a basketball, volleyball, and track team member, she was invited to work as a counselor during the youth project’s first summer camp.

“I worked with the project for three years while I was in high school, and then I went off to college,” Natachu said. “I felt it was my responsibility to get an education and come right back.”

A 2012 Zuni High graduate, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Western Washington University in Bellingham, and a master’s in education from Portland State University in Oregon.

For two years, Natachu taught language arts with the Zuni school district.

Natachu said, “The project has always had such a special place in my heart. I loved the classroom, but I’d learned that our kids need so much love and support in other areas.

“If their fundamental needs aren’t met, then the school will never be a priority,” she said. “But if you help develop resilient, healthy youth, then they will do well in the classroom.”

NTU hosts ranch management camp

CROWNPOINT – On June 17, Navajo Technical University and the Veterinary Program held an internship with students pursuing careers in food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences.

The Innoventure Native Youth AG Camp involved ranch management and responsibilities. Germaine Daye, an associate professor of veterinary technology, gave the youth a taste of the hard work involving sheep and cattle.

The Ranch Management Youth Camp is sponsored by the Native American Agriculture Fund and USDA.

The USDA Forest Service Wild Horse and Burro Program is also offered at NTU as an internship opportunity for enrolled college students.

The program protects and manages wild horses and burros on public lands. Students gain knowledge of remote areas in Arizona, California, Montana, Oregon, and New Mexico that require a wide range of work and hands-on experience.

Daye said USDA funding would help organize more youth programs and camps, adding that they should be offered every academic year for students in grades ranging from elementary to high school.

Hozho Academy receives Learn-To-Ride Program

GALLUP – Hozho Academy, a charter school, received a complete Learn-To-Ride Program, including bikes, helmets, and curriculum from All Kids Bike, the Strider Education Foundation announced today.

This program will help 275 kindergarten students learn to ride over the next five years. Mimi Hillenbrand of South Dakota provided funding for this program.

The Strider Bikes were delivered to the kindergarten physical education class at Hozho Academy and will be incorporated into the curriculum during the 2022-23 school year.

Hozho Academy Principal Juliane Hillock, who applied for the program, said, “Learning to ride a bike in the small community of Gallup, N.M., is something not every child will learn how to do.
“Being able to integrate this program into a PE program will benefit our students by giving them confidence and experience for their future,” she said.

San Juan College holiday closure

FARMINGTON – The San Juan College campus will be closed for the Independence Day holiday on Monday, July 4. Viewers can watch the Freedom Days fireworks display from Sullivan Hill on Sunday, July 3, beginning at 3 p.m. Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome (no grills, alcohol, skateboards, or bikes). The campus will reopen with regular hours on Tuesday, July 5.

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