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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1961)
OREGON STATE LIBRARY S / G ç_^ DEC 2 8 1961 Volume 58 CHEMAWA, OREGON, DECEMBER, 1961 Number 2 EMPLOYEES HEAR GUEST SPEAKERS Mrs. Almira D. Franchville, As sistant Chief, Branch of Education, from Washington, D.C., addressed Chemawa employees at an all-staff meeting on Thursday, November 9. She brought greetings; from Mrs. Hildegard Thompson, Chief, Branch of Education, and told'of her meet ing the new Cdmmissioner of In dian Affairs, Mr. Phil Nash. She also commented on progress made in establishing th e G S 9 teaching position. Mrs, fYanchville spent ./several days working at Chemawa in the interest of additional mental health services for the school. Her visit to this jurisdiction left us in a calm and optimistic atmosphere. > Mr. Quentin Rowland from the State Employment Office in Salem, Oregon,,, spoke to-the group of em ployees at the all-staff meeting on Wednesday, November 29. Mr. Rowland brought the fact that th?. need for employees in technical and managerial jobs will increase as. the need for unskilled labor decreases. He saidthat em phasis is on education, but that |t still is the person who counts on the job. L-R: Mr. Dan Cahill; Miss Elmira Franch ville, Assistant Chief, Branch of Educa tion; Mr. Albert Smith; Mrs. A. Smith. In background, Mr. Max Penrod, Super intendent, Chemawa. Youth Conference Attended During the last few days of Nov ember and thé first few days of December, Mae Wagner, Mae Barr, Helen Tsosie, Lee Lapahie and I were privileged to attend the Sec ond Annual Navajo Youth Confer ence at Shiprock, New Mexico, as representatives of our school. The trip to Shiprock was a won derful experience for me. I stayed in a motel for the first time in my life. I paid for Mae Barr’s and my. meals and also for the motels. I had good food. I had pancakes and sausage for breakfast, roast beef and sandwiches for my other meals. I want to thank the employees who madedt possible for me to attend thfe, Navajo Youth Conference. We saw many interesting things as we rode along in the car. We saw a hole in a rock, antelope in eastern Oregon, and little 'streams that came out of a mountain. We saw the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. We saw the Snake River, and we visited the Detroit Dam here in Oregon. Coming to Shiprock was exciting after many hours of travel. I saw the big rock that looked liké a sail ing ship. We stayed at the school dormitory and ate at the school din ing room. Our meetings were held in the school gymnasium. We en joyed very much the guest speak ers and the entertainment that was furnished by the, elementary school children. Mrs. Hildegard Thompson spoke to us at the banquet and she told us of the need for a good edu cation in order to perform the du ties that will be required of us in later years. We enjoyed the talk Helen gave. She represented our school in the speech contest and she did very well. The rest of us did not? speak before the large group. g Sometimes we met in smaller dis- cussibn groups. I went into the group that was called “Language.” I learned in this group that some of the schools are restricting from ac tivities their boys and girls who talk Navajo. Some schools have^ English classes in the dormitories. One of the recommendations was that the Navajo Tribal Council should put books throughout the reservation for the tribe to read. Navajo parents or guardians who know how to speak English should talk to their, children in English more often. I was very happy to be chosen to represent Chemawa at the Navajo Youth Conference. I hope that next year other students will have the opportunity to g o .In fact, I wish all the students could make the trip and enjoy the experiences that have been my privilege to enjoy. — Arthur Ahkinga
