Demographics
The school where I plan to implement my unit is located in Tsaile, Arizona. Tsaile Public School is located in a rural area of northeastern Arizona. Tsaile Public is one of the seven schools under the Chinle Unified School District. It is the only school that is located about 30 miles away from the other schools. Tsaile Public School is considered an elementary school whose enrollment is from preschool to eighth grade. The school’s yearly enrollment ranges from 420 to 450 pupils. There are other schools nearby that are outside the school district which students have the option of attending, although this becomes a concern for our school since students who hop between schools are not stable academically because they do not always acquire all skills when they switch. The ethnicity of the students at Tsaile Public is primarily Dine people or descendants of another tribe. About one to two percent is of another ethnicity, such as Hispanic or Anglo. The school provides free meals for all students enrolled through a grant that the school applied and qualified for.
The community of Tsaile is very quiet and small. An estimated 1,200 people live in Tsaile. Tsaile is located at the base of Chuska Mountain. It is located within the boundaries of the Navajo Reservation. Tsaile is unique and very beautiful. It is unique because it is partially located in the forest where tall pine trees grow and partially located in the open rocky land towards Chinle. On the weekends, families often go fishing at a nearby lake. There is only one convenient gas station or store and a community college, known as Dine College, which is considered the main campus throughout the reservation. The older Dine people that live in and out of the Tsaile area live by the traditional values and beliefs of the Dine culture. The younger generation is engaged in learning their own Dine language and practicing more of a modern culture of Dine involving tending to livestock, especially sheep, hunting, fishing, and family events. Many members of the older generation still practice ceremonies to maintain harmony in their households. They will often gather for ceremonial purposes or a casual get together. Some families will leave for trips or social activities and events in the community. Just about everyone knows everyone else in their neighborhood.
While the older generation people tend to their livestock and family values, the younger generation is in a new era of society. This generation grew up with media and technology that is always within reach, meaning that the younger generation is more into media, technology and high-tech equipment and don’t have time to be involved in their family’s customs or traditions. This of course is the influence of western civilization. Most of the younger generation are accustomed or should I say assimilated into the main stream society. For example, many families will take themselves and their youngsters and travel about 70 to 90 miles to watch a movie at a theater weekly, or simply prefer watching films through Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) at home. As for reading text-based books, there are no book stores in the area. There is a small college library located at the local Dine College. There aren’t many books to read, but enough to provide the college with resources. There is a very small section of the college library that is dedicated to the children’s books. Most of the children get their reading materials at the local school, and at the expense of the parents. The Tsaile Public School runs a book fair quarterly so that students can purchase books in efforts to raise the reading scores. Just as in the other schools around the reservation, our Dine students are not fully literate or equipped financially to buy books, which makes it difficult for students to have reading as a part of their culture. Some families feel that reading hinders them with their responsibilities at home. Those who see the benefits of reading see that they want their child to succeed academically. The fascinating thing about living in Tsaile is the benefit of culturally relevant materials. The Dine College houses a lot of history of the Dine people. Some of the authors teach their topic at the colleges. These instructors or professors at Dine College are links to the culture and the cultural history of the Dine Nation. Using some of theses reading materials and resources is an added support for the Tsaile Public School. The resources available through Dine College support make the culture relevant for students who are English Language Learners.
Comments: