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THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 PAGE O"1
NAVA JO TIMES
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, PIglON, Ariz. - Joely Allen may
not have won the grand prize at the
Navajo Nation Science Fai, but her
project tackled an environmental
issue that was the topic of a lawsuit
against the U.S. Forest Service.
Allen, 14, an eiglath grader at
Pifion Accelerated Middle School,
won first place in chemistry at the
fair.
"Science," she mused. "Actually,
I never thought I would take
to it much but I care about the
environment."
That led Allen to test the chemical
difference between natural and
manmade snow.
Another catalyst for her project
was the lawsuit against the Forest
Service by the Save the Peaks
Coalition and nine individuals
who oppose using treated sewage
effluent to make snow at the Arizona
Snowbowl near Flagtaff.
"I don't like what they are doing
to the environment because for me,
home is not just the house I live in or
the area I come from, it's the actual
land because that's what provides
for us and that's how we're able to
build homes and live on this Earth,"
Allen said.
Allen wanted to test the snow
at the Snowbowl but there were
conflicts in scheduling a visit.
Instead, she collected satnples in
January from the Sunrise Ski Resort,
located in the White Mountains near
Greer, Adz.
The resort has 65 ski trails on
three mountains and makes artificial
snow on 80 acres, or 10 percent of
its terrain. It is owned and has been
operated by the White Mountain
Apache Tribe since 1970.
The White Mountain Apache
is one of 13 tribes that oppose
sng at the Snowbowl on
grounds that it would degrade the
San Francisco Peaks, a fragile alpine
ecosystem where the ski area is
located.
With assistance from the Navajo
Tribal Utility Authority, Allen
tested the artificial snow samples
Science fair winner tackles timely issue
BY NOEL LYN SMITH chemical oxygen demand.
NAVMO TIMES She learned through research that
E. coli is a pathogen commonly
found in wastewater, and its
presence is an indicator, or marker,
that many other disease-causing
bacteria may also be present.
She selected ammonia as a
marker for the presence of gaseous
pollutants andchemical oxygen
demand to measure organic
pollutant levels.
'... home is not
just the house
I live in or the
t
area I come
from, it's the
actual land
because that's
what provides
for us ... '
"There was a very significant
difference between the amount of
chemicals in the manmade snow
and the natural snow," Alien said,
adding that the levels did not exceed
federal safety standards.
"The natural snow showed a
pretty safe level, a strong base,
and the manmade snow was high
but it did not pass the level that
would make it dangerous to the
environment or to the people
interacting with it," she said.
She also learned about the impact
of endocrine disruptors on fish,
which can disrupt the organism's
development and behavior.
According to research conducted
at tl University of Colorado ,
amphibians living downstream from
outflows of treated sewage effluent
show changes in their reproductive
organs, with the males becoming
more female.
During the Navajo Nation Science
Fair, Allen received suggestions
Joely Y. Allen, an eighth grader from Pifion Accelerated Middle School, collects samples of snow from Sunrise Park Resort in January for her
project that analyzed artificial snow and natural snow. (Times photo - Leigh T. Jimmie)
step her research should take. She is
continuing her research and looking
at other chemicals to test, and would
like to develop her project into a
four-year study including samples
taken from the Snowbowl.
"I don't really know if she's my
kid," her mother Cassandra joked
in mild amazement. "I was telling
her yesterday that her generation is
the problems that we've created."
Allen is Naakaii Dine'6 (Mexican
People Clan), born for Ma'ii
Deeshgiizhnii (Coyote Pass Clan).
Her chei is Puerto Rican and her
nilf is bilag,'iana.
This was the first time she had
participated in the Navajo Nation
Science Fair, held March 1-3 in
Window Rock, but not the first
quality.
Last year Allen tested her school's
toilet and tap water for aproject she
entered in the 2010 Arizona Science
and Engineering Fair. She won the
silver medal in chemistry in that
competition and earned a trip to
the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair in San Jose, Calif.
In 2009, she won a gold medal
for E. €oli bacteria, ammonia, and from some of the judges on the next going to have to be the one to solve time she's experimented with water for physics and astronomy at the Harvard University.
Arizona Science and Engineering
Fair.
'Tm not doing them for the prizes
or the medals," Allen said. "I want
to make my ideal known. That's the
most important thing to me."
As for the future, Allen would
like to become a doctor and has
her sights set on attending Brown
University, Stanford University or
Many Farms makes 5th year of AYP
does a 400-student high school in
the middle of the reservation end
up with such stellar scores?
Simple, said Dillon. They make
AYP a priority.
"We made a concerted effort
to improve our math and reading
scores," the principalsaid.
Freshman math classes are
kept small so teachers can catch
students who may have gotten into
high school without the necessary
proficiency, and spend extra time
bringing them up to speed.
A computer program that
simulates'Arizona's Instrument
to Measure Standards, the infamous
AIMS test, is used, along with Fast
Forward - an innovative program
to raise reading levels.
An exceptionally low faculty
turnover rate also helps, according
to Dillon. Some of that may
be attributable to the school's
partnership with Indiana University,
which sends student teachers here
for their internships.
"The interns stay in the dorms
and are able to work with the
students on their homework after
hours," Dillon said.
Of course, all the teachers' efforts
would be fruitless if the kids didn't
want to make AYP as well.
Being a five-year AYP school is
"awesome," said student Cheresa
Shay, "but it takes extra 'work."
Arizona Department of Education
spokesman Andrew LeFevre said
statewide, 70 percent of Arizona
schools make AYP each year,
although that figure is lower for
reservation schools. However, as
Many Farms is a Bureau of Indian
Education School, it is not subject
to the same standards as state
schools.
"They use our AIMStest, but
how they interpret the results is
up to them," he said.
Still, "For a small reservation
school like that to make AYP
five years in a row is certainly a
significant achievement," he said.
AYP - a measurable increase in
math and reading scores mandated
by the No Child Left Behind Act
- so Dillon and student council
adviser Carol Ridley went to
lengths to outdo themselves for
the five-year fete.
"One year, we made this banner
that said 'We made AYP,'" Dillon
recalled. "I put rocks on top of it,
then tied balloons to it. I told the
kids to move the rocks; and the
poster rose up from the floor.".
That was pretty cool, but the
consensus was that this year's
BY CINDY YURTH
TSEYI' BUREAU
MANY FARMS, Ariz. - It's not
every day Nav.ajo A-listers like
Radmilla Cody and the 49 Laughs
comedy team come to your school.
Then again, it's not every school
that makes adequate yearly progress
five years in a row.
Many Farms High School
Principal Brian Dillon thought that
was something to celebrate, and
so on March 4 every student was
handed a commemorative T-shirt
and herded into the auditorium for
a surprise celebration with Cody
and the comedians.
The entertainers said it was a gig
they were happy to get.
"It's good to be a part of history,"
commented comedian Pax Harvey.
"With all the bad news we've
had recently, this is a real bright
spot," added James Junes.
"I just wish I knew what AYP
stands for," quipped Ernest Tsosie
III. "'All you people?'"
The school has hosted a
celebration every year it's made
party easily trumped the floating
poster. The problem was keeping
it a secret from the kids.
'With all the
bad news
we've had
recently, this
is a real
bright spot."
The faculty did so well at staying
mum that a delegation from the
student council approached Dillon
last week with plazas for an AYP
celebration, convinced the adults
were blowing it off this year.
But the question of how they
kept the party a surprise pales in
comparison to the question, how
Comedian James Junes autographs a student's souvenir "AYP 5 Years in a Row" T-shirt March 4 at Many Left to right, 0Pax Harvey, Tatanka Means, James Juries, Radmilla Cody and Ernest TSosie III perform at
Farms High School's AYP celebration, which featured Radmilla Cody and the 49 Laughs comedy team. Many Farms High SchoolMarch 4 in honor of the school's fifth consecutive year making adequate yearly
(Times photo - Cindy Yurth) progress. The school has made AYP six out of the last seven years. (Times photo - Cindy Yurth)