Delegate Johnson applauds Navajo Pine college students’ innovation at science honest
NAVAJO, N.M. –Council Delegate Casey Allen Johnson lately demonstrated his assist for science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM) training by serving as a choose at a science honest competitors held at Navajo Pine High School, a School of Technology underneath Gallup-McKinley County Schools, on February 11.
“Our Navajo students are so brilliant in their ideas,” Delegate Johnson mentioned. “Seeing our students think outside the box and explore topics that interest them tells me they care about the Navajo Nation. Whether they realize it or not, they are finding solutions that help advance our Navajo science community, and I congratulate all participants.”
The science honest marked the primary time in a number of years that Navajo Pine High School hosted the occasion, which additionally offered college students with a possibility to learn the way the scientific technique applies to their every day lives, in accordance with science trainer Kim Etsitty.
“Science fairs are especially important for our Indigenous students because they show that Indigenous science is real science and deserves recognition,” Etsitty mentioned. “They also create opportunities for students to see themselves as scientists, engineers, and researchers. At the high school level, these projects can open doors to STEM programs, internships, and stronger college applications.”
With roughly 18 poster boards on show, scholar initiatives coated pc science, chemistry, environmental science, biology, engineering, and social science. Topics included the exploration of fruit conductors, soil pH ranges within the Navajo Nation, and the antibacterial use of rabbitbrush as a pure disinfectant.
To assist palms-on studying, Etsitty invited Delegate Johnson to take part as a choose and welcomed Native scientists from the Navajo Natural Heritage Program, who symbolize quite a lot of scientific disciplines. The program works to revive riparian habitats in creeks throughout the Chooshgai Mountains, operates a seed lab on the Navajo Nation Zoo, and helps dormant agricultural efforts at North Leupp Family Farms.
Delegate Johnson additionally applauded the efforts of the rising scientists who will take part in an all-bills-paid journey to the National American Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (NAISEF), the biggest nationwide STEM competitors and studying expertise for Indigenous college students. The journey to NAISEF in Oklahoma City, Okla., is pending approval from Gallup-McKinley County Schools, Etsitty mentioned.
“This opportunity for our students affirms access to Native knowledge systems and encourages research grounded in Diné values,” Delegate Johnson added. “Participation in NAISEF supports sustained engagement in STEM pathways and provides students with opportunities to present and share their data with peers.”
Delegate Johnson congratulated the general science honest winners, recognizing Hailey Yazzie and McKayla Tsosie for his or her first-place environmental science challenge, “Matchstick Forest,” and Leila Tsabetsaye, Ava Tsosie, and Alexia Kisemh for incomes second place in environmental science with their challenge, “What Absorbents Clean Oil Spills the Best.” He additionally recommended Abel Arthur and Jakobe Rodriguez for receiving first place in pc science for his or her challenge, “Weights and Robots.”