Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

November 29, 2003 - Issue 101

Shiprock Native named Nevada PE Teacher of the Year

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Jeff King, Navajo, was recently selected as Nevada Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

King's hometown is Shiprock. He is Kiyaa aani (Towering House), born for Red Goat. His chai is Ta chee nii. His nali is Tangled Vines.

His mother is Ms. Florence King and his father is Jimmie King Jr. His paternal grandfather is the late Jimmie King Sr., who was one of the Navajo Code Talkers. His maternal grandfather is the late David Brewster, who was well-known around the Shiprock/Hogback area.

His wife is Cindy Bahr-King and his two-year-old daughter is Shaadiin.

He graduated from Navajo Prep (formerly Navajo Mission) and also graduated from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in education from Texas Tech University.

He worked for the Navajo Nation as a recreation coordinator for Shiprock Agency in the early 90s after leaving UNM. He worked as an Adapted PE specialist for the Office of Indian Education-Crownpoint Agency in 1996-1998. He served the BIA schools of Torreon, Ojo Encino, Alamo, Baca, and Canoncito providing adapted physical education to special needs children, driving 800 to 1,200 miles a week, most of it on the freeway and on dirt roads.

He taught one year at Newcomb High School and also coaching football and basketball. He has been teaching in the Vegas valley since 1999. He has worked at several schools, all of them year-round schools, most recently at Marion E. Cahlan-Edison ES, which is 85 percent Hispanic and located in North Las Vegas.

Currently, he is teaching elementary physical education at Lewis E. Rowe ES, which has a mixture of every ethnicity worldwide. Clark County School District is the sixth largest district in the nation. They build 11 new schools every year just to keep up with the demand. Last year, six elementary schools, three junior highs and two high schools were opened. That also means that CCSD has to hire 1,600 new teachers every year.

He said the school is at is very transient. Students come and go all the time. He was selected as Nevada Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year by his professional organization, the Nevada Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. The selection was based on five criteria including teaching methods, community service, role modeling, quality programming, and service to the profession. There were 40 candidates across Nevada.

Being selected qualifies him for consideration on the district level, which is the Southwest District of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, the leading professional organization for his profession. If selected on the district level, he will then be qualified for consideration at the national level.

He says he is the only Navajo PE teacher in the district and might be the only Navajo with a master's degree in Adapted PE.

"The Navajos that suffered the terrible wrongs of Ft. Sumner didn't endure so that our generation could lead lives of self-destruction and self-degradation," he said, "but rather so that we would have opportunities and the fortitude to create better lives for our people. It is an unyielding challenge that remains very difficult for so many natives."

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