Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n
Saturday morning was emotional for LaVerne Jackson, who had tears in her eyes as she walked along a newly paved sidewalk toward a brand new school on the Gila River Indian Reservation.<\/p>\n
On her walk, she passed bus stops and crossed a bridge \u2014 things that she said are simple, yet incredibly significant.<\/p>\n
Jackson, a member of the tribe, recalled growing up in the area and often going to the old Gila Crossing Community School during its recreation hours for lunch.<\/p>\n
The school was considered old even when Jackson was young, and it hadn\u2019t been revamped in the decades since.<\/p>\n
She remembered seeing rodent feces in the old trailer stuffed with dusty, outdated books that served as a library.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt broke my heart,\u201d she said. \u201cNo wonder our education is in the spot that it\u2019s in and people choose to go off (the reservation).\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson also attended school off the reservation, but has grandchildren who attended the old facility and will now be taught at the new and improved Gila Crossing Community School.<\/p>\n
For that, Jackson said she\u2019s extremely grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible, all the technology that\u2019s in each room,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s scary to me because I grew up without it, but it\u2019s a push forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be able to succeed in whatever it is, it\u2019s right at their fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just the Rez anymore \u2014 they have access to the whole, wide world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re going to continue as a people\u2019<\/p>\n
The K-8 school\u2019s innovation was mentioned by nearly all of the speakers, which included Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney and Rep. Greg Stanton during a nearly two-hour program Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
The school, at 4665 W. Pecos Road in Laveen, has advanced technology and myriad ways to accommodate students of different abilities.<\/p>\n
Approximately one-third of the chairs in the school\u2019s elementary classrooms are wobble chairs, a flexible seating option meant to help students who are fidgety or need extra sensory stim-<\/p>\n
All teachers will have microphones that will stream the sound through several speakers on the ceiling, so all students can easily hear the teacher regardless of where they\u2019re seated.<\/p>\n
A special education classroom also features a 10 foot-by-10 foot sensory room with subdued colors, carpet instead of tile and soundproof walls in an effort to accommodate students who are overstimulated.<\/p>\n
But innovation and modernization to the school doesn\u2019t imply an erasure of tradition.<\/p>\n
Project planners made sure to emphasize the tribe\u2019s culture every step of the way, a mentality that\u2019s evident throughout the school.<\/p>\n
The layout of an outdoor pavilion area is meant to symbolize a flowing river, for example, and the security gates were designed to look like the traditional Ocotillo fences that are common within the tribe.<\/p>\n
All of the artwork and designs throughout the school were crafted by members of the community or students at the previous facility, with many of the works depicting plants and animals native to the area.<\/p>\n
Signage throughout the campus also features phrases in the tribe\u2019s tongue next to their English translation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNyyuum \u2018iiwa xotk!,\u201d which means \u201cI am glad to see you!,\u201d and \u201cSap Eth Tha:k Em \u00d1ei!,\u201d which means \u201cIt makes me feel good to see you!\u201d are two of the phrases in the school\u2019s outdoor area.<\/p>\n
During a tour of the campus, Jackson asked whether a home economics class would be teaching students how to prepare traditional foods.<\/p>\n
To her delight, a school official said that they would be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives me hope that we\u2019re going to continue as a people,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to fade, we\u2019re not going to die out \u2014 we\u2019re not going to let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018If we can build a casino, why can\u2019t we build a place for our children to learn?\u2019<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Arizona Republic Saturday morning, Lewis said the tribe was \u201cmaking history\u201d with the opening of the school.<\/p>\n
The project utilized a financing method that\u2019s never been done in Indian Country before.<\/p>\n
The community self-financed the school\u2019s construction and then struck a leasing arrangement with the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Education to get repaid.<\/p>\n
Though it took a lot of money, hours and energy to make the project come to fruition, Lewis said it was worth it because of the competitive edge it\u2019ll give the approximately 500 students expected to attend the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are our future and investing in a school like this ensures that they\u2019re going to get every advantage possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lewis said he hopes the school serves as a model of how to improve infrastructure across Indian Country, adding that officials are already looking into other potential schools and facilities on the reservation they can renovate in a similar fashion.<\/p>\n
That would be a dream come true for Jackson, who said she hopes education is a priority for all tribes moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can build a casino, why can\u2019t we build a place for our children to learn?\u201d she said. \u201cIf we can build this casino for a year, why are our children attending a condemned school?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tribal leaders implied that Gila Crossing Community School is just the first step in improving infrastructure on the reservation, but for Jackson, it was a huge one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I die tonight, I\u2019ll be dying happy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
TynanGroup partnered with Rider Levett Bucknall and Johnson Construction Management as the Project Managers on this innovative project.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK Saturday morning was emotional for LaVerne Jackson, who had tears in her eyes as she walked along a newly paved sidewalk toward a brand new school on the Gila River Indian Reservation. On her walk, she passed bus stops and crossed a bridge \u2014 things that she said are simple, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n