Kids learn the Tewa spoken by ancestors (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Kids learn the Tewa spoken by ancestors

By John Sena
The Associated Press
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3250540

SANTA FE, N.M. - In one corner of the lunchroom at Tesuque Elementary
School, a group of students and two teachers stood in a circle
exchanging such day-to-day phrases such as ''How are you?'' and ''My
name is.'' But they were doing it in Tewa.
   The students spoke softly, unsure if they were saying the phrases
right and looking to their teachers for guidance. After a small
correction and a nod of approval from an instructor, the students
smiled and continued.
   The group of 10, members of the school's Tewa language program, meets
three times a week for 45 minutes and is led by Thelma Tapia and Arlene
Herrera. The program, limited to students from Tesuque Pueblo, is
unique and something officials readily call attention to.
   ''The biggest plus is that children from Tesuque Pueblo get a chance
to continue their language and culture,'' Principal Cliff Cisneros
said.
   ''There are not many children who are speaking the language,'' said
Tapia, who learned it from her parents and grandparents. She said many
children understand Tewa but respond in English.
   Herrera, who was part of a similar program that started at the school
in 1996 but ended two years later, said the push to speak Tewa also
exists outside the school.
   ''There's more encouragement, more effort in the community to speak
the language.'' she said.
   For Cisneros, in his eighth year as principal, the Tewa language
program is just one of the many good things happening at Tesuque. Mr.
C, as his students call him, can run down a list off the top of his
head: the school garden on land belonging to a neighbor, the art
program and a dedicated and close-knit staff; not to mention being one
of 12 schools in the district to make adequate yearly progress last
year under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Cisneros said he loves
coming to school because of Tesuque's rural setting.
   ''I come onto campus in the mornings and hear roosters,'' he said.
   The school's isolation, just 10 minutes from Santa Fe but nestled at
the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, also means it serves a
small population.
   Tesuque has only 139 students who come from nearby communities such
as Rio En Medio and Chupadero as well as Tesuque and Tesuque Pueblo.
   ''I know every kid by name,'' Cisneros said. ''I
know all of their families.''
   But being a rural school, where more than 70 percent of the students
receive free or reduced-price lunch, brings its share of difficulties.
Tesuque doesn't have access to some resources that students in Santa Fe
have, such as a public library.
   Student lunches are prepared at Atalaya Elementary School and shipped
in daily. While the school's population is much lower than that of many
other elementary schools in Santa Fe, it still has outgrown its
facilities. The crowded intimacy of a small school and the sound of
creaking wood floors might ring nostalgic, but they are not ideal for a
21st century school trying to accommodate new technology in one main
building and several portables.
   That problem will soon be remedied, though. At the end of this school
year, most of the buildings will be torn down to make way for a new
school. During construction, Tesuque Elementary School will be
relocated to portables on the campus of Gonzales Elementary School.
   Cisneros said the community is excited about the change and that
staff members can survive a year at ''Camp Tesuque,'' as he calls the
temporary site, if it means getting new facilities. Removing portables
will also mean more outdoor space for students, who have lately been
caught up in a jump-rope craze.
   During recess, warm weather or cold, students gather in groups
swinging ropes. So many students participate that school officials
scheduled a competition later this year. While Cisneros doesn't know
why the activity is so popular all of a sudden, second-grader Kristin
Lujan said the reason is pretty obvious.
   ''We just like to jump rope,'' she said.