Education Briefs: Student challenges idea that women can’t be welders

TULSA, Okla.

Meya Harvey, 19, challenges the opinion that women cannot become professional welders.

She said in a statement for the Navajo Times, “I go school at Tulsa Welding School. I’m currently going to school to become a professional welder.

“I started school in June,” she said. “Yeah, I barely started. I’m gonna be graduating in January.”

“It takes seven months to become a professional welder at TWS,” Harvey said, who attended Ganado High School.

Welding is a rewarding and challenging career that is extremely important for industry and construction.

“This isn’t a job where you can get bored easily, as you use both your mind and body in your work,” Harvey said.

“Employers in the welding industry may have some prejudice about employing women in the welding industry,” she said. “But what they fail to realize is that women hold a lot of advantages as opposed to men.

“Women welders are actually of far better health than men are,” she said. “The main reason for their improved health conditions is that they simply take better care of themselves.”

While women follow all the protocols when it comes to security and use all the safety equipment handed to them, a lot of men disregard this fact.

“Women welders are looking for their place in a man’s world,” she said, “and for that reason they are looking for support.”

Meya Harvey is Ásh??hi, Táb??há, Tódich’ii’nii and Ta’neeszahnii.

Retirees give NPC $100K for Native student transportation

SHOW LOW, Ariz. – In the late spring of this year, a retired couple, who want to remain anonymous, got in touch with Betsyann Wilson, executive director of Northland Pioneers and Family, the nonprofit organization that raises funds for NPC student scholarships.

The couple wanted to explore how they could help NPC’s Native American students earn college certificates and degrees.

They had learned about NPC Friends and Family through their estate-planning attorney. They had moved to north-central Arizona five years ago from southern California.

The couple visited the college, based on Show Low, and learned that NPC is a unique institution that serves an area of more than 21,000 square miles through nine campuses and centers, and a distance learning network.

They recognized that NPC students, especially those who reside on tribal lands, are challenged by the constraints of time, poverty, and many are the first in their families ever to attempt a college education.

The couple gave an initial gift of $100,000, which will fund the AndyVon Transportation Grant for Native American Students at NPC.

This gift will provide $1,000 to each student who qualifies this semester, to allow them to access to degrees and certificates that will help them transform their lives.

Information: Betsy Wilson, betsy.wilson@npc.edu or 928-536-6245.

Free tuition for C or better at Diné College

TSAILE, Ariz. — Diné College is offering free tuition for spring 2022 to all students who earn a 2.0 GPA, or a C or better, for the fall semester.

“The Fall 2021 Challenge” is offered to students who are enrolled full-time for the fall semester.

The college is offering a 50% tuition discount, as well as a 50% residential discount for student housing for the fall semester.

Also, fees for admission applications, technology and student activity are all waived.

College President Charles “Monty” Roessel said, “We understand the hardships that students have endured across the Nation during the last year and a half. It is our responsibility to give back to the people and continue to encourage our students to complete higher education.”

Priscilla Leonard, enrollment management director, said fall 2021 semester enrollment continues to climb steadily and classes began Monday.

For the fall 2021 semester, the college offers 361 online courses and 37 in-person courses. Bachelor’s degrees in creative writing and biomedical science and a Native American studies minor will be offered for the first time.

ConocoPhillips gives $60K for Native scholarships

FARMINGTON – Thanks to ConocoPhillips, San Juan College’s School of Energy now has $60,000 in scholarships available for Native American students.

The college will award scholarships to as many as 20 Native American students who are residents of New Mexico. Funds can be used to offset the cost of tuition, books and housing for those who qualify.

Students can select from a wide variety of programs offered by the School of Energy, all of which are in demand and are positioned for transitioning industry, including instrumentation controls and electrical technology, industrial process operator program, advanced petroleum production, industrial maintenance mechanic and natural gas compression program.

Over the past 25 years, ConocoPhillips has contributed nearly $850,000 in support of San Juan College and its students.

Information: Summer Begay, 505-566-4100.

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