Native American After-School Program

Dear Friends,

Our students in GuVo District hope you are enjoying the beginning of winter holidays! They and NAAF educators have been busy with the academic school year.

The Bureau of Indian Education schools for Tohono O'odham Nation (TON) are delivering a hybrid model of face-to-face school days per District and alternating with remote learning days. NAAF's After-School Program (ASP) and our GuVo Community Remote Learning Center (RLC) merged to provide virtual and on-site sessions for students, preschool to 12th grade. 

The 2021-2022 ASP curriculum includes our foundation of Tohono O'odham language and himdag (lifeways) with a major emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and experiental learning opportunities. Since COVID-19, a major site for fun, safe and inspiring learning is Ruth's Oidag (garden). This outdoor classroom celebrated a first year birthday by growing and expanding into two new sites. Adriana, NAAF Program Coordinator leads oidag sessions both in-person and virtually through video. She teaches botany and ecology with empahsis on contemporary STEM and O'odham traditions. Fresh produce from the oidag is included in the daily meal service to each child's household, and seeds and plants are also delivered for student families to build their own home gardens. Ruth's Oidag is also the site for seasonal celebrations! NAAF hosted a "haunted garden" tour shared via video for students with a virtual costume contest and celebration of Novmber as Native American Heritage month, with a "Rock your traditional attire" week.

New curriculum for ASP includes Botvin's LifeSkills for wellness and evidence-based primary prevention. Malena, a new RLC teacher, works with Adriana to teach the curriculum and adapt the K-6th grade lessons for preschoolers, a new area of focus for NAAF. Currently, there are no preschool programs for the western region of the TON, a reservation the size of Connecticut. Malena and Adriana connect this wellness and health curriculum to indigenous, evidence-based health models from organizations like Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Notah Begay III Foundation and SAMHSA's Tribal Training and Technical Assistance Office.

NAAF has teamed up with the Tucson Girls Chorus (TGC) to begin a new music program for ASP students! This is the only music curriculum for GuVo District students and they are loving it! Two middle school students are also training with the wonderful TGC teachers to learn music theory and application to teach young children. NAAF and TGC are sharing music cultures back and forth in these sessions, teaching appreciation for all global music cultures.

As part of NAAF's STEM and traditional O'odham farming programming, the team has also expanded into animal husbandry! We are raising chickens with fresh eggs for community families. Wonderful volunteer workers from both the community and cooperating universities built coops and educated staff on chicken and egg maintenance. Thank you Dustin, Ervin and Andreas! And NAAF teachers welcomed the first baby chick just last week and are hosting a naming contest for the ASP students.

Finally, our beloved language professor, Selina filmed fun Tohono O'odham winter festivitity phrases that we share for your families! The video is included as a link. 

Our very best to your winter celebrations and our sincere gratitude.

Jen

Links:

• Selina teaches festive phrases in Tohono O'odham