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Science Fair Medal
The Central Consolidated School 2017 District Science Fair was actually three science fairs held over three days: The Elementary Science Fair was Feb. 7; the Middle School Science Fair was Feb. 9; and the High School Science Fair was Feb. 13. All three science fairs were held at the District’s Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center in Shiprock.
 
“They did amazing. It was incredible to watch the journey these kids have been through from the school fair to this,” said teacher Deb McGee with Kirtland Elementary School. “It’s exciting to see. I’m so proud of them.”

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Mesa Elem Father Son 80 by 72
Students, parents, and teachers proved education is a family affair during a parent night Feb. 21, 2017 at Mesa Elementary School in Shiprock. It was a chance for the students to show parents their finalized school science fair projects on display.
 
“We had about 40 projects, an increase. And the projects are quality,” said Jeff Hammons, the enrichment teacher at Mesa Elementary. “The kids can actually direct a project where they steer it to where they want it to go, and they really take ownership of it. And they can see a completed project. The kids take pride.”
 
The importance of a school science fair in education was well known to parent Ned Begay who was there to see his son Nevaughn’s project, which took 1st place for physical science in his grade.

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CCSD Logo Artist 80 by J72

The new Central Consolidated School District logo is simplistic yet also complex.

Its overlaying messages of educational partnerships with the Navajo Nation (the Shiprock), New Mexico (the Zia symbol), and the U.S. Department of Education (the blue ring)—combined with an eagle in flight and a report card symbolizing student success through hard work—add up to a complex design on a very small canvas. The district is a public school system under the state of New Mexico.

The new CCSD logo was designed and drawn by Shiprock High School senior Malachi Lee, who used colored pencils under tight guidelines: The design had to be recognizable when the logo appeared as small as an inch in diameter.

Art is a family affair for Malachi.

“It’s pretty much in my family. I grew up around my uncles, and my brothers, and my dad pretty much doing art …. The stuff I like to do is what reflects on to me. I let my hand do the drawing and see what comes out in the end.”

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Judy Nelson Elementary Opens J9 80 by 72

A little boy showed up alone in the doorway of the new $20 million Judy Nelson Elementary School. He had tears in his eyes, was scared, and barely spoke. He was one of the last students to arrive. It was Jan. 3, 2017—the first day in the new school.

Judy Nelson—standing in the school’s doorway—had greeted students as they arrived. On the wall behind her was a bronze plaque with the name of the school—her name—on it. It was 8 a.m. and most of the school’s 595 students were now in their new classrooms.

Ms. Nelson was never a teacher, but she carries the same message of unconditional love, compassion, and caring for students. She began that message in 1967 when she was hired as secretary of Grace B. Wilson Elementary School in Kirtland—a position she kept for 50 school years before retiring in June 2016.

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Christmas Parade 80 by insert
Arnold Pete’s ears were freezing.
 
The Central Consolidated School District Maintenance Department worker was playing the guitar while singing a variety of Christmas songs on the CCSD float during the Dec. 9, 2016 Shiprock Parade of Lights, which began at 6 p.m. at the Shiprock Chapter parking lot after it was dark.
 
The temperature was around the freezing mark. Arnold couldn’t cover his ears—a musician has to be able to hear his music as he plays.
 
Proving one is never too old to be a kid at Christmas, the Maintenance Department put together an “I’ll be Home for Christmas” float depicting a reindeer pulling Santa’s sled. Maintenance workers and their families on the float waved and tossed candy to children standing on the sidewalk with their parents.

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KECC Dad w Son J1 80 b 72Jeremiah Powless watched his 5-year-old son cover a gingerbread house with icing and then with candy. The gingerbread house was actually graham crackers stuck to a tiny milk carton with marshmallow cream.
 
It turns out that education can be good for the stomach—as well for the intellect and parent-child bonding.
 
The Kirtland Early Childhood Center father took time off of work December 13, 2016 to be with his son. Parents, guardians, and children filled the KECC cafeteria working on their Christmas projects.
 
“I’m a working professional. But I think it’s very important to make time for your children,” Powless said. “These are the type of activities they’re going to remember. So it’s really important to my wife and I—we both work—that one of us always show up.”

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TBA Christmas Band 80 by J72C
The songs and lights of the Christmas season can be a magical time for both children and adults, filling us with memories of Christmas past and with new memories.
 
Schools throughout the Central Consolidated School District held holiday music programs for two weeks in December at the District’s Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center in Shiprock, the Brooks/Isham Performing Arts Center in Kirtland, and at the schools themselves.
 
Tse’ Bit Ai’ Middle School featured its Jazz Band students, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band in a Dec. 5, 2016 Winter Concert at the Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center. It followed up with its Beginning Band students performing Dec. 8 in the same location.
 
“What I liked best about the performance was all of us being together to show the community what we could do, where our talents are in school, and how music is important to education,” said Jacob Harvey, an 8th grader in the Advanced Band at Tse’ Bit Ai’ Middle School in Shiprock.

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SHS ROTC Toys for Tots 80 by 72bIt will be a brighter Christmas morning for many San Juan County children thanks to Shiprock High Marine Corps Jr. ROTC cadets collecting new toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots in San Juan County, New Mexico.
 
“This is kids helping kids. A lot of these toys are going to go to the indigent families in the area,” said Jason Crawford, a Marine Corps veteran and the Toys for Tots coordinator in San Juan County. “A lot of the layoffs that have happened this year, people being unemployed. It’s hard times around there because of our gas field.”
 
The cadets—for the third Saturday—will be collecting new toys Dec. 10, 2016 at both Farmington Wal-Marts, Kmart, Big Lots, Sam’s Club, and Sportsman’s Warehouse. Twenty-five Shiprock High cadets also collected toys and monetary donations Nov. 26 and Dec. 3 at those locations.

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Ojo Amarillo Elem Veterans 80C by 72

Army Ranger Staff Sgt. Quentin Mason, an Ojo Amarillo Elementary School parent and a veteran who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, sat with other parents in the bleachers during the school’s annual Veterans Day ceremony, held Nov. 11, 2016, in the gymnasium.
 
More than 500 students from kindergarten through the fifth grade—the entire school—performed a variety of songs following the posting of the Colors by the Upper Fruitland Veterans Association Color Guard.
 
The National Anthem was sung by a student in Navajo and English. Students also sang God Bless America, You’re a Grand Old Flag, and Yankee Doodle.
 
“The beginning when the Flag came in, seeing the Colors, and the kids singing got emotional for me. I’m usually not emotional. I don’t know why,” Mason said. “I always teach my kids about that, being a veteran, to respect it.”

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Judy Nelson Retires 40 by 72Trees, Gym, and Music Room—Saved from Ruth N. Bond Elementary—Are Now Part of the New Judy Nelson Elementary School

A tree that stood in front of Ruth N. Bond Elementary now stands in front of the new Judy Nelson Elementary School.

The tree never moved—just the schools.

The tree, boxed in by a chain-link fence for protection from being run over by earth movers, survived the demolition of Ruth N. Bond Elementary in the fall of 2015 and the construction of Judy Nelson Elementary in 2016 on its footprint.

The gymnasium and music room were also kept, as well as large mature trees across from the front of the gym and on the playgrounds in the back of the school.

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JNE Principal Carlson 80 by GPrincipal Steve Carlson Reflects on Receiving the National Distinguished Principal for New Mexico Award

Principal Steve Carlson attributes his school’s success to his students and staff.

Judy Nelson Elementary earned an A on the New Mexico Public Education Department’s 2016 School Grade Report Card, while Carlson received a 2016 National Distinguished Principal Award for New Mexico from the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

“It’s an incredibly big honor … but it’s really not about me,” Carlson said about the principal award. “It’s more of an honor that speaks to the entire staff and the people I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years.”

Judy Nelson Elementary School exceeded the statewide benchmark on its 2016 School Report Card for school growth—its improved student performance and its current standing—as well as growth of its highest performing students, and for its opportunity to learn.

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Naschitti Elem at Window Rock 80 by 72 by J3The description of a rooster by a Naschitti Elementary student drew laughter from several Navajo Nation Council delegates and audience members when the student, holding a puppet Rooster, said in Navajo, “I am a rooster. I eat corn and I wake up people.”

The Council delegates quietly smiled as they watched Naschitti Elementary students perform Winter Stories in the Dine language. It was Oct. 18, 2016—day two of the Navajo Nation Council’s Fall Session in the Council Chamber in the Navajo Nation capital in Window Rock, Arizona.

“They really enjoy participating. … The kids all know their self-identify, especially their Clans, where they’re coming from, who their relatives are,” said Naschitti Elementary bilingual teacher Alverna Smith.

“They’re proud to be Dine. They feel confident about themselves,” she added.

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Ojo Amarillo PARCC Ceremony 80 by J3A

Ojo Amarillo Elementary School awarded approximately 150 certificates to students in grades 4th, 5th, and 6th for demonstrating proficiency and / or growth on their PARCC assessment scores for math and / or English Language Arts from 2015 to 2016.

The Ojo Amarillo Elementary ceremony, which took placed in a packed gymnasium full of parents, students, and staff, was part of the District’s PARCC Pride Day—held Sept. 23, 2016—for all 15 schools. Some Central Consolidated School District schools celebrated on different days.

“The students are very proud,” Ojo Amarillo Elementary Principal Abena McNeely said about receiving the certificates. They took the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, known as PARCC, last spring.

The Superintendent Academic Excellence Award for Academic Achievement on the PARCC certificates were also presented to the top two students in each grade level district wide.

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CCSD Students Basket Dance 80 by 72 A

It was a celebration of education and being life-long learners.

Students from all 15 Central Consolidated School District schools took the stage to showcase their work at the Northern Navajo Nation Fair in Shiprock, New Mexico. They performed Sept. 29 -30, 2016 inside the CCSD tent near the Exhibit Hall, less than 100 yards from the carnival and rodeo grounds.

“Our children made the difference. With the community having the impact of the Gold King Mine spill (from Colorado), we didn’t have all the farmers that we thought. People come here (to the Fair) for that. They come here for the produce, that’s what we’re known for,” said Dr. Colleen W. Bowman, the District’s interim superintendent.

“But we’re growing our children … we’re showing that we are able to grow from our community. And it was all of our schools. We had Kirtland, Ojo Amarillo, Newcomb, Naschitti, and Shiprock band together, and being able to support each other. That was really great.”

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CCSD Students Maintained Trails 2Five Central Consolidated School District high school students and a 2016 graduate spent several weeks in the summer of 2016 building and maintaining trails in the Hiawatha National Forest on the U.P.—the upper peninsula of Michigan.
 
“It was really green, really different, and the fact there was a lake in front of us gave us an opportunity to swim a lot,” Newcomb High School senior Corminda Henry said about being at the Clear Lake Education Center on the U.P., tightly sandwiched between Lake Superior to the north and Lake Michigan to the south.