Heritage Language Department at work

by Brenda Whitehorse
SJSD Heritage Language Director
The SJSD Heritage Language Department fosters an ongoing commitment to honoring students’ diverse heritage by celebrating the unique cultures and languages native to San Juan County.
This year’s Heritage Language Conference emphasized counseling, health, and mindfulness, highlighting ways to achieve personal goals while prioritizing self-care and mental well-being.
Each Heritage Language conference brings a new focus—rotating themes that include Fine Arts, Science/Math, Social Studies/Language Arts, Counseling, and Career & Technical Education (CTE)—with heritage and language woven throughout, engaging a broad audience over time.
Language preservation is an urgent priority across Indian Country, and language revitalization is a collective effort involving tribal governments, communities, families, and schools.
Through consultations with the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in White Mesa, our district has made progress in addressing student needs with the support of grants, including the Native Youth Community Project (NYCP) grant, Title VI Indian Education discretionary funds, and Johnson O’Malley funds through the Navajo Nation.
These resources enable the integration of Native language classes in four elementary and four secondary schools.
We are also developing a Ute language app to support students in learning to speak Ute. Additionally, the NYCP grant has facilitated a paraprofessional pipeline that enables Native American paraprofessionals to pursue teaching credentials through courses at the USU-Blanding campus.
To ensure that student perspectives are central to decision-making, the SJSD has established a district-wide Native Youth Student Council.
This council serves as a platform for Native students to express their views and actively participate in planning Heritage Language events across both district and school levels.
Through the council, students engage with critical topics such as kinship practices (k’é) and the preservation of their languages.
The council also prioritizes college and career readiness, study skills, well-being, mindfulness, and, above all, the preservation of students’ heritage language and culture.
To further support these goals, the Native Youth Leadership Conference, specifically tailored for Native American students in grades 9–12, focuses on leadership development, college and career preparedness, and culturally relevant education.
Through these efforts, students gain insights into essential cultural values and develop skills that are vital for both personal and academic success.

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