It Takes a Tribe

A former Mesa high school teacher, charter school administrator and employee of a technology-based educational company, one of Torres' primary jobs was to find a way to track all the students at Fort McDowell. That involved contacting more than 100 schools, researching family living situations and setting up a database of all the tribe's 483 students. And it entailed convincing schools to send her report cards and notify her about disciplinary actions so she can monitor how the kids are doing, not just where they are.

This year she and other tribal educational specialists intensified efforts with high school seniors, holding weekly meetings beginning in January to help guide them through their final semester. And they began file folders on all the other high school students — sort of a dossier with a four-year plan for each child.

Parents are kept informed along the way.

"We're not spies," she says. "We care about them."

---

'Hman 'shawa, the tribal school, sits on a bluff facing the Four Peaks mountains, an ancestral home of the Yavapais. Its entryway is lined with boulders imprinted with petroglyphs etched by their people thousands of years ago.

The school's name means "for the little ones" in Yavapai, although the work that goes on there involves even the oldest members of the community.

'Hman 'shawa is different from other schools.

Here, there is no teachers' lounge.

Nor are there lunchroom attendants, playground monitors, or weekly early release days so teachers can have time to plan their lessons and attend meetings.

Officials believe every moment a child is in school presents an opportunity for learning. And whatever problems a child faces at home — alcoholism, drug abuse, lassitude — that child will be nurtured before, during and after the traditional school day by a cadre of committed teachers.

Students report to their classes at 7:40 a.m. each day. Twenty minutes later, they head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Each teacher and aide stays with their classes not only during instructional hours, but also during breakfast, lunch and recess. They carefully coordinate their rest-room breaks, so one can hurry to the unisex rest room in the office while the other one stays with the class. One of the teachers also rides the bus as it delivers the children back to their houses.

"We are with the children all the time," explains kindergarten teacher Vada Gates. "We don't take breaks."

She is not complaining.

Educators aren't afraid that the children will get into trouble without their watchful eyes. It's just that they don't want to waste a minute of valuable teaching time.

With the tribe's history of educational deficiencies, the number of kids from troubled homes, and the cultural obstacles that await the children off the reservation, officials believe, every moment counts in these early years.

Unlike in public schools where only the poorest students qualify for federally funded meals, here everyone eats two meals a day, no questions asked.

Rather than encouraging families to provide nutritious breakfasts to help their children start their day ready to learn, the school simply feeds everybody.

At breakfast and lunch, students are taught to wait until everyone at their table is served. Then they say a prayer:

"We give thanks for the world so fair. For the sun and the rain and friends who care. Amen."

Sitting right next to their teachers, the boys and girls are constantly learning. Grown-ups stress manners, nutritional value of food, proper use of utensils.

There are basic survival skills being taught: Eat well, be ready to learn, get along with others, be gracious and be grateful.

Outside on the playground — where there are no bells or whistles — teachers also continue to watch over and instruct the children.

Four nights a week, all students are assigned homework. For the 3-year-olds, it might be listening to a story and giving a summary in class. Or it might be to play a traditional Yavapai game with a parent or elder such as "nohowe," a game that involves hiding a stone under a pile of dirt and guessing where it is.

Anyone is welcome to stay after school in staffed homework rooms to get homework help. Some students just want to get their work done before they get home. Some need extra help. And some come from dysfunctional families where no one is available to help them in their homes.

'Hman 'shawa has a 5 to 1 student-teacher ratio. Every class has a certified teacher and an aide for a dozen or fewer students. Pupils are provided everything they need for school without any wish lists sent home to parents, annual fund-raising efforts, or teachers dipping into their own pockets.

The school supply room is amply stocked and the teachers say they can easily get approval for any extra things they need for instruction.

Does all this really make a difference?

"It makes a tremendous difference," says Gates, who has taught Fort McDowell children for two decades.