This project addresses the need for access to place-based and culturally relevant Earth science education at the elementary and middle school levels in Diné communities near Shiprock, NM. Much of the eastern Navajo Nation is a food desert, and access to nutritious traditional foods is crucial to the sustainable growth of Diné communities and addressing persistent public health concerns among the community. Through a partnership between Bidii Baby Foods and the Central Consolidated School District, students will have access to field trips to local farms to learn about Navajo foods, agriculture, and Earth system science topics. School based experiences using container gardens are needed to promote learning sustainable food-energy-water systems (FEWs) practices beyond a field trip setting. To do so, the community needs partners that are experienced in FEWs community projects in the Southwest and in tribal communities. During trips and school-based container gardening, students will be encouraged to connect their identity and place to issues of food sovereignty and water within their local community.
This project is focused in the eastern Navajo Nation in the communities of Shiprock, Newcomb, and Fruitland, NM that are served by the Central Consolidated School District. The school district is over 95% Indigenous and has a high percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged. As a public school system serving very rural, primarily Indigenous communities, Central Consolidated Schools will embrace a reciprocal relationship between schools and the local heritage crop-centered farm of Bidii Baby Foods. Zach Ben and Dr. Mary Ben of Bidii Baby Foods have worked to revitalize traditional sources of Navajo foods by growing heritage crops in the San Juan river valley and will contribute to providing the space to cultivate place-situated and culturally relevant field trips for students of the Central Consolidated School District. The community is working with AGU Thriving Earth Exchange to identify and connect with scientists to establish lasting partnerships that will help inform programming and Earth science education for students. With the help of AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, the community will nurture relationships with scientists who can deepen the scientific rigor for the project based learning as we begin outdoor learning. An expert in the field of agriculture, hydrology, botany, or a related field can bridge the community’s work with real life problem solving that will deepen students’ learning.
The community partners of the Central Consolidated School District would like to learn where place-based and experiential field trips proposed in collaboration with Bidii Baby Foods can connect with natural science education and issues of local importance (e.g. food, energy, water nexus) for students. The target students of this program are 4th and 6th graders from schools part of the district. Funding from the New Mexico Public Education Department will help support field trips and supplies for hands-on activities and school gardening to learn about traditional farming, crops, and locally relevant Earth system science. Working with teachers, principals, and local Navajo farmers, this project will develop programming that is culturally relevant, linguistically responsive, and experiential in nature. Scientists and experts in FEWs, community school programming, and Indigenous food and water systems are needed to inform the future directions, sustainability, and efficacy of the program. Students, parents, and teachers will have the opportunity to make connections between land, place, and food as they cook, explore, and interact with the farm, farmers, and the ancestral food that is grown in their community.
The project will not only develop experiential place-situated programming for students in the community, but also will support the creation of long-term partnerships among community members and scientists in the eastern Navajo Nation. Teachers involved in the programming implemented at the schools in the community will focus on field-centered instruction. The ultimate goal is to teach students how to grow heritage foods and increase their exposure to fresh produce through relevant and hands-on experience while addressing science curriculum standards.
October 2024: Field trips to Bidii Baby Foods (Newcomb Middle School, Mesa Elementary, Ojo Amarillo Elementary)
November 2024- January 2025: Plan and purchase supplies for outdoor learning activities
February-, May 2025: Set up supplies for outdoor learning activities. Organize and host three family engagement events with Zach and Mary Ben based around agriculture and traditional cooking. Additional field trips in April 2025.
Lisa Renner is a lifelong educator working as the district Community School Coordinator at Central Consolidated School District in Shiprock, New Mexico. Building partnerships to foster protective factors for families and children is my passion. I am looking forward to growing gardens across our three thousand square mile district to improve food sovereignty and health outcomes for the families we serve. It is so fulfilling to establish trusting relationships with community members, and I look forward to meeting scientists who can come grow with us.
Cam Chavez Reed (they/them) is a PhD student at The University of New Mexico (UNM) where they study how rivers record tectonic signals of the construction of modern landscapes in the US Southwest. A 13th generation nuevomexicane, they are passionate about sense of place and identity in geoscience and how place based knowledge can enable futures thinking approaches. Particularly, they focus on decolonial methods in geoscience and recentering reciprocal relationships between people and place in geosciences. They are passionate about integrating environmental justice into geoscience education.
The community needs help with establishing culturally connected, rigorous, and community-based instruction that also addresses New Mexico state science standards. The community partners need guidance on implementing garden-based instruction and navigating establishing these gardens at their schools. Water is a limited resource in the community, so learning how to most effectively and efficiently utilize water is important. Guidance in implementing a water catchment system in compliance with state and tribal laws would be helpful to ensure the sustainability of this programming. The community is open to students engaging on the project and is open to remote engagement, but local expertise and connections would be beneficial to the success of the project.
Thriving Earth Exchange asks all scientific partners to work with the community to help define a project with concrete local impact to which they can contribute as pro-bono volunteers and collaborators. This work can also position the scientists and communities to seek additional funding, together, for the next stage.
Central Consolidated School District
Central Consolidated School District is a public school district in western San Juan County, New Mexico that serves ~6,000 students across 15 schools. The primary communities the school district serves are Kirtland, Ojo Amarillo, Newcomb, Naschitti, and Shiprock in the heart of the Four Corners.
Bidii Baby Foods LLC
Bidii Baby Foods LLC is a family farm in Shiprock, NM established in 2021 by Zachariah Ben and Dr. Mary Ben. Their farm focuses on growing sustainable and nutritious ancestral foods to nourish future generations. Their goal is to advance food sovereignty, security, and nutrition on the Navajo Nation and communities in the Four Corners.
New Mexico Public Education Department
The New Mexico Public Education Department oversees the state’s public schools to ensure the success of students and to provide culturally and linguistically responsive education to students in the state.
