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March 30, 2010

Penn Staters spend break on Ariz. Indian reservation

By Courtney L. Anderson Herald Sports Editor

SHARON — While many college kids hang out on the beach or party the nights away during spring break, 18 Penn State Shenango students spent a week on a Navajo Indian reservation in Tuba City, Ariz.

“They’re just like us only they’ve gone through much more than us to get to that point,” said Craig Haggerty of Greenville, who is studying to be a physical therapy assistant and minoring in business.

Haggerty and his classmates will give a presentation about their trip at noon Wednesday in the Forker Lab forum on the downtown Sharon campus. The event is open to the public. 

Director of Student Affairs Stephanie Chastain said the school organizes a different alternative spring break trip every year, where students perform community service and learn about the culture.

This year, the excursion was part of a three-credit course called Intercultural Community Building, she said. Students selected the location, Ms. Chastain said.

“It’s just amazing to us how we have so much here,” said Sophomore nursing major Brooke Stegkamper of Greenville.

When they first arrived on the reservation it was a big cultural shock, she said.

“Now we wish we were back there,” she said.

Each student was placed in a classroom of students up to grade 8 and spent about 30 hours tutoring the youth, Ms. Chastain said.

Haggerty said that the kids had a great response to them and had some very interesting questions.

Junior business management major Alicia Jeffries of New Castle noted that the Navajo did not focus on money.

A highlight of the trip was tacos with traditional frybread and lessons about the Navajo language and customs, including a social sweat in a traditional sweat lodge, which Haggerty called “intense.”

Haggerty said he was impressed with the way they try to preserve their own culture while accepting what’s going on around them.

He said that they stayed on what is called the “outer reservation,” where there are gas stations and fast food joints; the “inner reservation” is far less populated. The entire reservation is about 20,000 square miles, he said.

Some homes on the reservation had no running water or electricity, and school buses run from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. to accommodate kids who live far out and don’t have electricity at home to do their homework, Haggerty said.

Miss Stegkamper said she thought the standards in the Navajo school were higher than many others.

“It seems like they push there more,” she said.

 

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