2023 Conference Archive
SWAG - Sparking the Heart in Schools and an Indigenous District
Summary
The Central Consolidated School District is in the heart of the beautiful Four Corners region of San Juan County in the northwest corner of New Mexico. It borders Colorado to the north, Arizona to the west, and Utah to the northwest.
The District, which serves approximately 6,000 students in 15 schools, plus early childhood preschools, covers nearly 3,000 square miles of undeveloped and rigorous conditions. Our student demographics includes 93% Native American (Navajo/Dine), 4% Caucasian, 2% Hispanic, >1% Asian, and >1% Black. In 2018, our community suffered a great challenge with the closing of the existing powerplants and mines, which served as the main economy and employment for our families. This left our community with broken homes as parents had no choice but to leave their generational lands in search of work and their children in single parent homes or with grandparents to raise their grandchildren. Then in 2020, the world-wide Covid Pandemic hit the Navajo Nation reservation hard, and our children once again faced loss of parents and family members who served as their main SEL support. Our district had no choice but to dive deeper into the supports needed for our students to return to school safely bringing their emotional traumas with them.
During our presentation, participants will better understand the unique needs of indigenous students in rural community schools, through the lens of the work from our Northwestern New Mexico district and how to build a SEL program that incorporates Western philosophies with traditional beliefs and practices that are rooted in a community. Through the demonstration of the CCSD SEL Matrix, participants will take home a model that “weaves” CASELs framework, CLRI, positive behavioral instructional supports, interventions and Indigenious beliefs with stragetegies that strengthen pro-social behaviors in the classroom. In small rural communities, these practicies not only support positive school cultures, but also work towards building a community that has struggled with poverty and the challenges of grief and anxiety post Covid.
SWAG - Sparking the Heart in Schools and an Indigenous District
The Central Consolidated School District is in the heart of the beautiful Four Corners region of San Juan County in the northwest corner of New Mexico. It borders Colorado to the north, Arizona to the west, and Utah to the northwest.
The District, which serves approximately 6,000 students in 15 schools, plus early childhood preschools, covers nearly 3,000 square miles of undeveloped and rigorous conditions. Our student demographics includes 93% Native American (Navajo/Dine), 4% Caucasian, 2% Hispanic, >1% Asian, and >1% Black. In 2018, our community suffered a great challenge with the closing of the existing powerplants and mines, which served as the main economy and employment for our families. This left our community with broken homes as parents had no choice but to leave their generational lands in search of work and their children in single parent homes or with grandparents to raise their grandchildren. Then in 2020, the world-wide Covid Pandemic hit the Navajo Nation reservation hard, and our children once again faced loss of parents and family members who served as their main SEL support. Our district had no choice but to dive deeper into the supports needed for our students to return to school safely bringing their emotional traumas with them.
During our presentation, participants will better understand the unique needs of indigenous students in rural community schools, through the lens of the work from our Northwestern New Mexico district and how to build a SEL program that incorporates Western philosophies with traditional beliefs and practices that are rooted in a community. Through the demonstration of the CCSD SEL Matrix, participants will take home a model that “weaves” CASELs framework, CLRI, positive behavioral instructional supports, interventions and Indigenious beliefs with stragetegies that strengthen pro-social behaviors in the classroom. In small rural communities, these practicies not only support positive school cultures, but also work towards building a community that has struggled with poverty and the challenges of grief and anxiety post Covid.
