Education

Maudicel Chavez, the great-granddaughter of Big Mountain matriarch Katherine Smith, will graduate as salutatorian of Odessa Career & Technical Early College High School on May 15, one week after she walked the stage with an associate degree in criminal justice from Odessa College.

Four Diné doctoral students have been named 2026-27 Elouise Cobell Dissertation Writing-Year Fellows, a national award that provides $30,000 to Native scholars completing their dissertations.

A San Juan College High School senior has earned the Navajo Nation Seal of Bilingual Proficiency at the superior level, the highest recognition the Navajo Nation awards to students who demonstrate exceptional fluency in the Diné language.

Chellena “Chen” Castillo has been named the 2026 Youth of the Year by the Boys and Girls Club of Flagstaff and will represent the organization in the Arizona Youth of the Year competition.

A University of Arizona librarian, a law library administrator and a Navajo Nation water resources official will receive the 2026 Haury Indigenous Resilience Leadership Award for their work preserving and organizing the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources’ historic and contemporary document collection.