Doorway to the future: Navajo Prep opens Diné Bizaad Institute
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Logan Nez of Lukachukai, Ariz., a junior at Navajo Preparatory School, practices leather tooling during the grand opening of the Diné Bizaad Institute on Oct. 27 in Farmington. The new institute integrates Navajo language, culture and material arts into student learning.
WINDOW ROCK
The doorway for Navajo youth to reclaim its voice opened Monday at Navajo Preparatory School.
The opening of the Diné Bizaad Institute in Farmington marked more than the renovation of a former dormitory and library. The new space is designed to reinforce the Diné way of life and strengthen the Navajo language for students.
For Head of School Shawna Becenti, the institute represents years of vision and perseverance.
“This has been an initiative for Navajo Prep since I became head of school,” she said. “One of our strategic initiatives was to create a Diné Bizaad center. That original goal then morphed into creating an institute rather than just seeing it as one space and one opportunity.”
To read the full article, please see the Oct. 30, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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