37,000 Books for New Mexico Schools

"Changing the world" — New England organization donates $500,000 in books to GMCS

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
The Gallup Independent
(photo credit: Brian Leddy)


GALLUP, NM — Carla Clauschee believes she “just happened to be in a lucky place at the right time” a decade ago.

Ever since then, students at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, N.M., have benefited from Clauschee’s lucky place and right timing. Now, students across McKinley County are also benefiting.

Ten years ago, Reader to Reader, Inc., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit located on the campus of Amherst College, contacted Clauschee, the librarian at Navajo Pine, about donating books to the school. In the years since, Navajo Pine has received more than $100,000 in books and $50,000 in computers from Reader to Reader, and some of its students have participated in mentoring and exchange programs with Amherst students that were arranged by Reader to Reader.

Last month, the organization shipped 37,000 books — worth $500,000 — to the Gallup McKinley County Schools for distribution to GMCS libraries and classrooms and even to other schools and libraries in the county. According to David Mazor, the founding executive director of Reader to Reader, the books were donated by Follett Educational Services.

“It is a wonderful gift to readers throughout McKinley County,” said Carol A. Sarath, GMCS’s library media coordinator who worked to facilitate the donation of the books, which involved recruiting and coordinating many local volunteers to unload, unpack, sort, stack, and distribute the books.

Opening possibilities

According to Clauschee, Mazor lives out the philosophy of “changing the world one book at a time.” Through his decade-long efforts to help her students, Clauschee believes Mazor has positively impacted the educational environment of Navajo Pine High School.

Mazor first contacted Navajo Pine, she explained, because it was on a list of needy U.S. schools. Since Reader to Reader’s first shipment of books, Mazor has tried to cater to Navajo Pine’s particular needs and help the school library keep up with the times, Clauschee said. Two areas Mazor has particularly helped, she said, is with the library’s Native American literature and its manga collection, a genre of comic-like literature that developed in Japan and is known for its graphic images.

“Our Native American literature collection blossomed,” Clauschee said of Mazor’s assistance. “Our manga collection is huge,” she added. “It’s one of the biggest in the state.”

“Where ‘Moby Dick’ was threatening,” she said, “manga lured them in.” Students then started reading more challenging literature after becoming manga fans, she explained.
In addition, Clauschee said Mazor went beyond just providing books to the Navajo Pine library.

“David realized that providing books did not mean they would be read,” she said. “He offered to find Navajo Pine students mentors.”

Using Amherst College as a resource, Mazor recruited Amherst students to act as academic mentors to Navajo Pine students, and the two groups would read and discuss the same literature using the collaborative Internet resource Wiki as their communication tool. That mentoring program eventually led to exchange program visits between the two campuses. When ten Navajo Pine students traveled to Amherst on an all-expenses-paid trip two years ago, they were able to tour the college, meet with authors, and attend sporting events.

“It was a trip to open their minds to possibilities,” Clauschee said.

Mazor has also visited Navajo Pine and presented unique awards to students who have excelled in the reading program. For example, Clauschee said, Mazor presented volleyballs — signed by the U.S. Olympic Volleyball Team — to top reading students at Navajo Pine who played volleyball.

When contacted at his office on Friday, Mazor said Reader to Reader’s mission is to make sure schools have well-stocked libraries and classrooms. “This is a necessity not a luxury, and we fight every day to bring books and computers to schools that desperately need them,” he said. “Schools like Navajo Pine are at the heart of our mission.”

Clauschee said she believes Navajo Pine is “still reaping the benefits” of all the good things Mazor has done for the school over the last decade.

Positive impact

One of the benefits that spilled over to the rest of the school district is Reader to Reader’s recent shipment of the 37,000 books from Follett Educational Services.

Mazor explained that although Reader to Reader had “the option of donating these books to any school district in the country,” his nonprofit selected the GMCS due to its strong relationship with Clauschee and Navajo Pine.

“People have just been thrilled,” Sarath said of the district wide reaction to the book donation. “We just have teachers and librarians oohing and aahing,” she added.

According to Sarath, the donation has included a variety of dictionaries, classroom sets of classic novels taught in the district’s secondary schools, reference books, elementary picture books, and teacher guides. Because of the donation, Sarath said, every K-3 classroom in the district received a primary dictionary, and at Church Rock Academy, librarian Jennifer Brown was able to send home a student dictionary with each K-5 student at the school.

“To send it home with them was fantastic,” agreed Brown, who added that the students were excited to receive their own home edition and a number of parents have stopped by the school to express their appreciation.

In addition to offering the books to all GMCS schools, Sarath said she tried to contact every other school in the county to offer them books, and schools have taken her up on her offer. Those who haven’t, she added, are welcome to see what books are left.

One book that is plentiful, Sarath explained, is a paperback Spanish-English dictionary. She has already distributed about a thousand copies of the dictionary across the district and would be happy to pass along the rest to other organizations and schools that work with Spanish-speaking people or students. Sarath encouraged interested individuals to contact her assistant Ruth Sanchez.

Clauschee sees this donation of 37,000 books from Reader to Reader to be further evidence of how Mazor’s “positive world view” impacts others for good. “I think everyone can benefit from David Mazor’s gift,” she said.

© 2010 Gallup Independent

Final Reflections

The Navajo Pine High School students visiting Amherst reflected on their trip. The verdict?

"Life changing!"

"Amazing!"

"It opened me up to a world of careers!"

"Thank you all!

"I'm so happy I came on this trip. I had so much fun!"

"I love Reader to Reader!"

"It was sooo much fun!"

“You changed me inside and out!”

Thank you David White and Exclusive Car Service for donating the comfy ride to the airport!

Enjoying Fall in New England

Is there any better way to see the fall foliage than the beautiful view of the Connecticut River Valley from the Summit House at the top of Mount Holyoke?

The Navajo Mentoring Program students finished up their visit to New England by enjoying panoramic views and taking lots of pictures including this group photo.

Yes, we call these itty bitty things mountains!




At just under 1,000 feet Mount Holyoke comes up a bit short compared to New Mexico’s Wheeler Peak, which tops out at 13,161 feet. But you can a great view of Amherst, Northampton, Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts. There is also New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock to the north and Mount Greylock to the west.

Lots and lots of smiles!

What a great way to finish our visit!

A Room Full of Inspiration!

The Amherst College Athletics Department gave the Navajo Mentoring Program students a fantastic, inspirational morning focused on the role of sports in a college career.

After a warm introduction, Assistant Athletic director Billy McBride took us on a tour of the facilities, including showing the students the weight room.

Fitness isn't just for athletes he pointed out. Then it was time for a group discussion. NCAA National Champion men’s basketball coach, David Hixon, shared his coaching insights.

They also got terrific advice from volleyball and softball coach Sue Everden, track coach Erik Nedeau, and women’s basketball coach G.P. Gromacki.

It was a very motivating, inspiring morning. After all, they are in the motivation business!

A very special thanks to Assistant Athletic Director Billy McBride and Athletic Director Suzanne Coffey for organizing the gathering.

Exploring the Robotics Lab

The Navajo Mentoring Program students got to see the latest in cutting-edge robots when they visited the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics at the University of Massachusetts.

The Lab studies “computational systems that solve sensory and motor problems. Experimental platforms include sensor networks, mobile manipulators, and integrated bimanual humanoids. Current projects focus on dexterous, force-guided manipulation, knowledge representations grounded in closed-loop interaction, human-robot interaction and communication, and computational models for learning and development.”

The students not only got to see groundbreaking work in robotics but also saw how the study of robotics begins by watching first year students learning to build very basic robots.

Talking to the Press

The Navajo Mentoring Program student visit to Amherst drew a lot of press attention, including the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Springfield Republican, and WGGB-TV 40. By the end of the visit the students had become old hands at being interviewed.

Here Kyle Clark is interviewed by Springfield Republican reporter Diane Lederman.

Cheering on the Celtics!

It was a dream team-up that made a dream come true! The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers were on the same side when it came to the Navajo Mentoring Program. The two teams teamed up to donate tickets so the visiting students could attend their first NBA game.

The students loved every minute of the game. They cheered like old pros.

Time for a Slice of Antonio’s Pizza

No college student in the Amherst area can live for long without a slice of Antonio’s Pizza. It seems to rank right up there with air.

The Navajo Mentoring Program students got to find their own favorite slices, with pineapple and ham seeming to compete with BBQ chicken and the taco pizza as favorites.

Now they really know about college life!

Learning About Web Design

One of the presentations that most captivated the students in the Navajo Mentoring Program was Howard Hanna’s inside look at the world of Internet Web design.

The students got a hands on presentation where they learned about the HTML code that makes Web sites function. The presentation was scheduled for 45 minutes but ran twice as long because the students were completely enthralled. Several students loved the presentation so much that they want to become Web designers.

A special thanks to Howard Hanna for an amazing look inside the Internet.

Touring a College Campus

There’s nothing more perfect than a beautiful fall day to tour a college campus.

The Navajo Mentoring Program students learned about campus life at a small New England college when their reading mentor, Kathryn Libby, gave them a tour of the Amherst College campus.

The students also spent time on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, which offered them a contrasting look at the atmosphere of a big university.

The Amherst College tour took them across the main Quadrangle, through the library, dining hall, into classrooms, and the Campus Center. The tour finished with a visit to Libby’s dorm room, where they discussed the process of choosing and living with a roommate.

Getting a Charge Out of Laser Tag

The Navajo Mentoring Program students finished up the day having some fun playing Laser Tag.

The students particularly relished a round that featured their teachers, Reader to Reader staff, and the reading mentors versus the students.

The students won handily.

Even Navajo Pine High School Principal Henry Henderson got in the action!

Inside Northfire Recording Studio

The staff of Northfire Recording Studio took the Navajo Mentoring Program students into the world of 192-track recording. The state of the art studio has produced albums for groups such as The Alchemystics, Leah Randazzo, and Loose Caboose, to name a few.

The Northfire staff spent over two hours showing the students the technology that goes into modern sound recording and talking about the career of sound engineer. They also learned about the business side of financing and running a studio.

The students got their own turn at the piano, percussion, and singing into the microphone, and then watched and listened as the sound engineers digitally looped the recording and manipulated it to shape the sound into many different forms.

Our thanks to the staff of Northfire Studio for such an educational experience.

When Giants Roamed the Earth

The Navajo Mentoring Program team explored life in the Connecticut River Valley hundreds of millions of years ago with a visit to Amherst College’s Museum of Natural History.

The beautiful, new, glass-fronted building is the fifth generation of natural history museums at Amherst College and features free standing fossil skeletons of a mammoth, mastodon, dire wolf, saber-toothed cat, Irish Elk and cave bear. It also features skulls of a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops.

The World of TV News

WGGB-TV Channel 40 morning anchor Faye Hoffman took time on her day off to give the Navajo Mentoring Program students an in-depth tour of the TV station.

She detailed the many jobs that are required to put together a newscast, both on camera and behind-the-scenes. Here she shows the green screen that is used for the weather report.

Hoffman explained her own journey from high school in eastern Washington to Washington State University and into the world of broadcast journalism.

The students learned the key role that internships play in launching your career as Hoffman detailed how her summer internship at KNDO-TV in Yakima, Washington helped land her first job at a small station in Twin Falls, Idaho. The students also learned about the passion, drive and determination it takes to succeed in a highly competitive business.

Sushi was a hit!

Knives were flashing, flames were leaping, shrimp were flying through the air (tossed by the chef) and people were laughing.

The Navajo Mentoring Program students had their first ever taste of sushi and Japanese food as they delighted in the high energy, full sensory experience at Arigato Japanese Steakhouse.

There were a few nervous looks when the sushi was brought out. The consensus? Sushi was a hit!

Exploring the Magic Behind the Stage

The Navajo Mentoring Program students explored Amherst College’s Theatre Department, learning about the many jobs that go on behind the scenes in order to put on a play.

Jonathan Doyle and the staff of the Theatre Department explained that it takes five weeks to build the sets for a student production. They took the students through the computerized production drawings, model building, and the set building process. They also learned about lighting design and how each of the staff had gone from high school, to college, and into their career.

Navajo students find possibilities

(Andrea A. Albert, left, and Dakota Thomas, both 15, look through books in the Reader to Reader Inc. office in the Cadigan Center for Religious Life at Amherst College earlier this week. The girls are part of a group of eight students from the Navajo Pine School in Navajo, N. M., who are visiting Western Massachusetts.)




Springfield Republican
Sunday, October 12, 2008
By DIANE LEDERMAN

AMHERST - They live in a community of less than 2,000 people and virtually everyone who lives there is Navajo like them.

Their town of Navajo, N.M., has a supermarket and gas station, two schools, a church, day-care center, fire department and that's about it, according to 16-year-old Bettina Kinlichinie.

While Kinlichinie and the seven other students were a little apprehensive about boarding a plane and traveling 2,300 miles to a place they had never seen, what awaited them in places like Springfield, Hadley and Amherst has been "life changing," she said.

Kinlichinie and her friends were brought here this week by Reader To Reader Inc., which began a mentoring program with these students and Amherst College about a year ago, said David S. Mazor, Reader to Reader Inc., founding executive director. The students and their college counterparts read the same books and discussed them online. Amherst College mentors visited the Navajo students in May, he said.

On their five day trip, the high school students visited such places as the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Amherst College's Mead Art Museum, sat in at a session at the Springfield Housing Court and met with Judge Dina E. Fein and attorney Myles Jacobson. They also went behind the scenes of the Amherst College Theater Department.

"They don't have a lot of opportunity," Mazor said. "The graduation rates are very low." The idea was to bring them here to introduce them to people in all types of careers, so it "would give them a reason to stay in school. "We wanted to connect them with (people who have) the passion they have for their careers."

Kyle S. Clark, 17, is a junior who recently moved from Navajo to Albuquerque, to attend a city school. The others on the trip still attend Navajo Pine High School.

Clark enjoyed observing Springfield Housing Court and learned that to be a judge, "you don't have to be a lawyer. That was really interesting," he said.

At court he talked to Jacobson about law. He never had the chance to talk one on one with a lawyer before. Clark said the talk is "going to make me work harder. It's going to make me pursue my dream."

Meeting Amherst College Assistant Athletic Director Billy T. McBride and the other stable of Amherst College coaches, helped Clark realize he can be a better basketball player "if I set my mind to it. That gave me some confidence."

Kinlichinie, a junior, particularly enjoyed a session on Web design with Amherst College Web developer Howard J. Hanna.

"Before, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to go into," she said.

While Mazor founded Reader to Reader Inc. about six years ago to provide books free of charge to needy school libraries and public libraries across the United States, it was through that program he found the need in this community transcended that.

He did a lot of fund-raising to bring the students here and was aided by Amherst College and places such as Whole Foods in Hadley and the Pub here, which provided free meals.

Reader to Reader is holding a fund-raiser Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. at the 19th annual Children's Illustration Exhibition at Michelson Gallery in Northampton, an event that is honoring author Norton Juster.

In addition, Reader to Reader is trying to raise money to bring the eight Navajo students back for a month next summer. Those wishing to donate to that venture may send a check to Reader To Reader, Inc. c/o Cadigan Center, 38 Woodside Ave., Amherst, MA 01002. Donors should mark it for the Navajo Pine High School project.

Reader To Reader on TV!

Watch ABC Channel 40-TV’s feature on Chef Bill Collin’s fantastic cooking class with the students in the Navajo Mentoring Program. A very big thank you to Chef Bill for donating his time and expertise and to Whole Foods Market in Hadley for the mountain of food.

http://www.wggb.com/global/story.asp?s=9134873

Exploring the Art Museum

Our visiting Navajo Mentoring program students explored the world of art at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.

Educator Christine Pagliav started us off by taking us back in time over 3,000 years as she explained what the museum knows and doesn’t know about its ancient Assyrian Reliefs.

The students then explored the works of great artists, including Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Monet, and Rubens.

We discussed the various styles; the precision of the realist paintings and the texture of the impressionist works.

For all the students this was their first time in an art museum. They all said it wouldn’t be their last.

Thought Provoking, Informative and Delicious!

The second day of our Navajo Pine High School student visit to Amherst was amazing.

We started our day with a fascinating discussion with noted screenwriter Daniel Giat; the Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

They discovered the passion of the writer to bring a personal vision to life on the screen.

The students engaged in a provocative and thought provoking discussion on making Native American films historically accurate in the context of Hollywood and the entertainment world.



Next up was learning about the legal profession from lawyer Myles Jacobson. Attorney Jacobson took the students into the courtroom where they not saw the court in action but met the judge when she came down from the bench and spent time talking with the students.


Time for dinner!

Tonight’s menu, Chicken Cacciatore, green beans, a heavenly salad, and an apple compote served over ice cream, all cooked by Chef Bill Collins and the students.

Chef Bill taught an inspiring, engaging and absolutely delicious cooking class, taking the students into the world of the culinary arts.



What an amazing day!

Our special thanks for the donation of time and wisdom from Daniel Giat, Myles Jacobson and Chef Bill Collins. They really gave from the heart to these students.

And a very special thanks to Whole Foods in Hadley for hosting our group and donating hundreds of dollars of food.

Yum!