Carla Clauschee Honored as Librarian of the Year

Navajo Pine High School librarian Carla Clauschee accepted her award last week as Reader To Reader’s Librarian of the Year for 2008.

The award was presented at a community dinner of parents and teachers that was held at Navajo Pine during the Navajo Mentoring Program team’s recent visit.

Ms. Clauschee was chosen from the over 400 librarians that participate in the Reader To Reader program for her outstanding service to the students of Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico.

Ms. Clauschee has worked closely with Reader To Reader to build outstanding collections of Japanese manga, Native-American Literature, and poetry at her school library. In all, Reader To Reader has donated over 7,000 books for her general collection and Ms. Clauschee’s guidance and hard work has made her school library a model for her district.

In the fall of 2007, Reader To Reader launched the Navajo Mentoring Program which links Navajo high school students with Amherst College students for online book discussions. Ms. Clauschee played a key role in the development and implementation of the program.

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to MS. Clauschee and are pleased to recognize her with this award.

Reading to Kids at St. Michael

On our recent trip to the Navajo reservation, Allen Macleod of the Navajo Mentoring Program team spent part of his time at St. Michael Indian School in St. Michael, Arizona.

Allen spent two long days reading books to the children in grades K-6. He went from classroom to classroom reading the books of their choosing. It was a wonderful time for all as Allen’s passion, in addition to being a stellar high school student, is voice-over acting, so he can really bring a book to life.

Allen was originally scheduled to spend one day with the St. Michael students but the students begged him to come back a second day and he enthusiastically agreed.

Founded in 1902, “St. Michael Indian School provides students from local Native American communities with a quality education that is rooted in Catholic values, is sensitive to Native heritage, teaches leadership skills, and enables students to contribute in a culturally diverse world.”

While the primary focus of Reader To Reader is on public education, we are always willing to help schools in disadvantaged communities that are working to meet critical needs. St. Michael Indian School is such a place.

Learning About College

Amherst College Professor Marisa Parham conducted a workshop at Navajo Pine High School, Navajo, New Mexico, on how to choose the right college for you and how to pay for it. The three day workshop was part of the Navajo Mentoring Program.

The workshop took place in the school library; a wonderful place to gather everyone together.

Time for School!

On Monday the Reader To Reader’s Navajo Mentoring Program team arrived at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico.

The team is spending the week working with the students on a wide range of issues including helping them understand the process of choosing a college, and how the career paths they seek are connected to their educational choices.

Reader To Reader has a long history with Navajo Pine High, having donated over 7,000 books over the past seven years to their library and classrooms, and in 2007 we launched the online book discussion and mentoring components of the Navajo Mentoring Program at the school.

Now it's time to get started!

Touring Dine College

Reader To Reader’s Navajo Mentoring Program team tours Dine College in Tsaile, AZ.

Dine College is the primary higher education institution located on the Navajo reservation. Dine is a two-year college that helps Navajo students build their skills so they can transfer to four year colleges and universities such as the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico.

Interestingly, many students take three to five years to get their two year degree due to their work schedules, the amount of remedial work they may need, and their family obligations. Students range from recent high school graduates to 65-years-old.

Ed Curtis of Dine College detailed the educational opportunities for Dine students. The school graduates over 200 students a year with associate degrees.

In addition to the main campus, the college has eight satellite sites spanning the 27,000 square mile reservation.

Over the past five years Reader To Reader has donated hundreds of new books to the Dine library and over $20,000 worth of brand new mathematics textbooks.

Kyle Clark Honored as Outstanding Mentoring Program Student

Reader To Reader’s Navajo Mentoring Program team stopped at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico to present an award to high school junior Kyle Clark for his work in the Navajo Mentoring Program.

Kyle was selected as the top student for his outstanding dedication which helped him
make the most reading level advancement of any student in the program.

In addition to receiving a plaque honoring his achievement, Clark will be taking an all expense paid trip this October to Amherst College, where he will spend a week learning first hand about the college experience and the host of careers made possible by a college education.

He will meet Pulitzer Prize winning authors, artists, writers, scientists, and visit numerous cultural and historical attractions, robotics labs, museums, and much more.

Kyle will also work with the Program’s college reading mentors and sample some of their classes.

Everyone at Reader To Reader congratulates Kyle on his achievement.

(Pictured are Kyle Clark and Reader To Reader executive director David Mazor, and Kyle and his sister and aunt with the mentoring team.

Reader To Reader Heads to the Navajo Reservation

A team of nine Reader To Reader staff, Amherst college student reading mentors and a Amherst college professor of literature are heading to the Navajo reservation in Arizona and New Mexico.

The team is part of Reader To Reader's Navajo Mentoring Program. The group will spend a week working with Navajo high school and elementary school students, leading book discussions, talking about college life and the whys and hows of attending college.

A key part of the trip is cultural exchange and knowledge building, and the reading mentors stopped to explore Pueblo Bonita at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

The mentors are spending three days touring various historical and cultural sites in advance of their work in schools on Monday.