Tewa language program unique to school (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Tewa language program unique to school

By John Sena The New Mexican
October 31, 2005
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/34400.html#

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 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. Although it is limited to students from Tesuque Pueblo, the
school’s program 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 at the school, 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 the 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 one 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 , in fact, that school officials
decided to hold a competition later this year, with the winners getting
prizes.

Cisneros said he doesn’t know why the activity is so popular all of a
sudden, but for second-grader Kristin Lujan, the reason is pretty
obvious. “We just like to jump rope,” she said. Contact John Sena at
995-3812 or jsena at sfnewmexican .com.