National Public Radio’s Morning Edition features a story on the value of education for one Arizona Navaho family living on a reservation. The Cooley family has sent six of their seven children off the reservation to be educated in Flagstaff, Ariz. Their youngest is headed there next year for middle school. Their oldest has a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. The story gives a glimpse into the difficulties that Navaho children face when they have to transition from a household without electricity or running water and a community that values silence, to the modern, noisy, electronic world they enter to get a better education. As an added bonus, on the same page you can take an audio tour of the Cooley family home, or Navajo Hogan.
For another perspective on reservation life, take a look at this Teacher Magazine blog by a Teach For America teacher. Jessica Shyu, now in her second year with Teach For America, is a special education teacher at an elementary and middle school on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.