From: Dr. Eugene R. Thompson
Director of Educational Leadership
To keep you updated with activities taking place through the CSPD efforts on the Navajo Nation, I am sending you a “Friday Fax” with information about current and upcoming professional development activities.
This past week, training and technical assistance was provided as follows:
The Level I residential training for home-living assistants comes to the Western Navajo Agency this Saturday for approximately 52 participants. The three-credit course through the University of New Mexico-Gallup is identified as ECME 115 – Guidance of Young Children. The participants will be divided into a north and south cohort for five Saturdays. The first class meets this Saturday at the Kayenta Community School (north schools) and the Greyhills Academy High School (south schools). The classes will rotate from school to school including Kaibeto Boarding School, Leupp Schools, Inc., Dennehotso Boarding School, Tuba City Boarding School, and Northern Arizona University. A huge thank you goes to each of the school principals for hosting the classes and making facilities and meals available for the participants and also to the ELO and education specialists at the agency for their support in making this class possible for their dormitory staff.
The upcoming five-credit course (Spec Ed 201 & Spec Educ 204) Level II residential course for the Fort Defiance Agency is near finalization. The schedule will be announced early next week. Registration information will be sent to each school principal in Ft. Defiance Agency. The credits will be thorough the University of New Mexico-Gallup and all classes will be held at the UNM-Gallup campus on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The course will focus on counseling, professional communication, tutoring, and computer skills. Stay turned for further information.
A teleconference was held with the Navajo Nation Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Service to plan a Navajo reservation-wide Disabilities Conference for Parents in the very near future. Further information will be provided later.
Plans are also underway for a one-day Parent Conference on Reading at the Alamo Community School on March 1. Although the school is doing most of the planning, our project will be assisting with providing the keynote speakers to address reading. The theme of the one-day parent conference is: Alamo Community School . . . where we love to read and we read to succeed!
Training plans are also in process with the Shiprock Agency to conduct training in March that will address needs in placement, invitation, eligibility, and transition for teachers and paraprofessionals.
Finally, we are very happy to announce that Ms.
Genevieve Begay accepted the Northern Arizona University project coordinator
position. She will replace Diane Lenz
who supported the Chinle and Western Navajo Agencies in the coordination of
professional development training activities. Ms. Begay will begin her new
position on February 1, 2005 and her office will be located at the Institute
for Human Development, Northern Arizona University (across from Diane’s
office). She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a master’s
degree in Counseling and school principal certification. Her 20 years of experience
in education as a teacher and counselor includes developing and monitoring
IEPs and participating on IEP teams for students with disabilities. She is
articulate about issues regarding inclusion of students with disabilities
in regular classrooms and the importance of determining the least restrictive
environment for each student.
Fluent in Navajo, she is also very sensitive to cultural and family issues.
She sees this opportunity to support general and special education teachers
in their efforts to improve their collaboration on behalf of students with
disabilities. The Improving Communities of Practice project at the Northern
Arizona University and the University of New Mexico is confident that she
will bring a wealth of experience and perspective to the important work of
our project. Welcome Genevieve! In the near future, we will be providing her
telephone number and email address. We also thank Diane for the wonderful
work she has provided the project over the 2.5 years and in the meantime will
be orienting Genevieve on her new position.
You may contact us at any time regarding professional development training plans and/or activities for the current or future school years. We always look forward to hearing from you as to how we might facilitate a plan for your agency or school or for providing technical assistance or training above and beyond what we have currently set out to do in the present scope of work.
Curriculum Mapping workshop for teachers and the curriculum director at the Rock Point High School.
Level I residential training for Western Navajo Agency home-living assistants and residential supervisors at the Kayenta Community School for north schools and the Greyhills Academy High School for south schools.
Meeting with the Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) at the University of New Mexico-Gallup to discuss partnerships and collaboration for professional development activities.
Curriculum Mapping workshop for teachers and the curriculum director at the Chinle Boarding School.
Curriculum Mapping workshop for teachers and the curriculum director at the Jeehdeez’a Academy.
Genevieve Begay starts as the NAU project coordinator for the Improving Communities of Practice project.
You may consult the CSPD Activity Calendar on the Navajo
Nation on the CDD website at: http://CDD.unm.edu/cspd/
for further information. Have a great week.