5th Annual Service Learning Trip to the Navajo Nation
- January 4 to 12 or 13 (To be decided), 2013
- Attend three pre-trip workshops on Navajo history, culture, and education
- Spend the week team-teaching at Monument Valley High School in Kayenta (We will read the screenplay to Smoke Signals with students this year).
- Field trips to Canyon de Chelly National Monument and Monument Valley Tribal Park, with additional possible trips to other parks and Grand Canyon National Park
- Participants: 10 students from the College of Ed. secondary ed. program plus two drivers (Mark Dressman and another driver to be determined)
- Cost: $400-450 (Includes most expenses—transportation, housing, entrance fees, school gift, and meals at MVHS this year; you’ll cover your own meals when we are traveling)
Itinerary
Jan 4-5: Travel by rented minivan from Champaign to Dolores, CO.
Jan. 6: Travel to Monument Valley High School in Kayenta via Four Corners and Canyon De Chelly National Monument;
Jan. 7-11: Trip to Grand Canyon National Park; Teaching at Monument Valley High School; side trip to Monument Valley and local ruins; attend available school and cultural events; stay at the school; return to Dolores Friday night
Jan. 11 or 12-13: Return from Dolores to Champaign.
About Monument Valley High School and the Navajo, or Diné
Monument Valley High School is a state-funded public school located in Kayenta, AZ, 20 miles south of Monument Valley Tribal Park, in the heart of the Navajo Nation. School enrollment is 800+ students. Many students live very traditionally and speak Navajo at home.
The Navajo are the second-largest group of American Indians in the United States. The Navajo Nation comprises the land between four sacred mountains in northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southeast Utah. It is approximately the size of West Virginia and is the largest Indian territory in the US. Culturally, the Navajo are known for their complex ceremonial traditions, their weaving, and silver jewelry. The Navajo language is considered one of the most difficult in the world to learn and was used as a code in the South Pacific during WWII.
This trip is open to 10 students in the secondary education program at UIUC. For more information, contact Mark Dressman at mdressma@illinois.edu.