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Newspaper Archive of
Navajo Times
Window Rock, Arizona
March 17, 2011     Navajo Times
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March 17, 2011
 
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THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 PAGE O"1 NAVA JO TIMES II II H " ' .................................. f Hill II IIIlll[llfll ii i,inl,mH ii lllll , ,,,, ,, , .............. , 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)