Native American Academic Summer Program

Dear Friends,

To say that southwestern Arizona gets hot in the summertime would be an understatement. With temperatures reaching as high as 115 degrees, it's all to easy to fall into the summer doldroms, and out in the remote Gu Vo District of the Tohono O'odham Nation, there isn't a whole lot for kids to do when it's too hot to play outside. Luckily, NAAF has a solution for the summer doldroms; our Academic Summer Adventure Program! 

The goal of the Gu Vo Summer Adventure Program is to promote education, build our youths’ self-esteem, spark curiosity, and shape strong, healthy, contributing members of society. The program focuses on teaching reading, math, technology, and health education. Also incorporated are the teaching and development of traditional Tohono O’odham art, handcrafts, language, gardening, and cultural history. Through the use of Cubelets (robotic building blocks that behave differently depending on how they are assembled) the children are taught beginning Robotics and Programming as they build and experiment. Between class periods, students will break for healthy snacks and exercise. Each day will provide the students with an active schedule that will enrich them both mentally and physically.

Our Acadmic Summer Adventure Program provides a safe, air conditioned place for students to go each weekday to learn, play and receive a healthy meal and snack. The students will take field trips to educational hotspots such as Kitt Peak, The Pima Air & Space Museum, Biosphere 2, as well as important locations on the reservation such as the historic village Kukatch—ancestral lands where the kids learn respect for elders and basic survival techniques.

The students, parents, and NAAF staff always have a great time during this program, and this year we are on track to serve more students than any previous year, with as many as 80 possilbe participants. We will keep you posted with pictures, stories and short bios about our students once the program is underway. As always, thank you so much for supporting the amazing students of the Gu Vo District. They face many unique challenges, and your donations help to give them the opportunities and rescources that they so need and deserve. Thank you!