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Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 20043.Benefits derived from the proposed service (up to 30 points):INTRODUCTIONBroadband, the future of telecommunications, promises to connect communities at ahigher speed with higher capacity, always-on, interactive internet services providing the aneffective means for economic and social development for individuals and geographically remotecommunities across the Nation. This proposal discusses the benefits and opportunities thatbroadband technology has to offer the residents of the small, rural community of Jeddito,Arizona. A reliable connection to the internet exists for many schools and underservedpopulations in America; however, many rural, hard-to-reach, underserved Native Americancommunities have yet to experience this key developmental tool (Bennett 2003). Broadbandcommunity connectivity will significantly contribute to the overall health and well-being of onesuch overlooked community of Jeddito, AZ – an extremely rural, isolated, hard-to-get-to NativeAmerican community located on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona.This project represents a community plan devised by the Cedar Unified Public SchoolDistrict, the Jeddito Chapter of the Navajo Nation, the Jeddito Dental Health Clinic, IndianHealth Services, the Jeddito Indian Education Committee, the Jeddito Community Land Use andPlanning Committee, and the Arizona Public School Computer Consortium at Northern ArizonaUniversity. The School District performed a needs assessment with a survey tool, conductedpersonal interviews, and requested Letters of Support from local community members regardingtheir interest in supporting and helping to plan and implement the community broadbandconnectivity plan (see supplemental information). Funding this project will join the RuralUtilities Service of the United States Department of Agriculture with the Jeddito community tohelp boost the local economy and promote self-respect, sovereignty, and political and socialempowerment by offering a reliable broadband service to Jeddito and surrounding communityareas.The primary goal of this project is to provide the resources to employ and support acommunity-oriented broadband transmission service to all critical community facilities,rural residents, and rural businesses and to acquire, expand, equip, and operate acommunity center that provides free access to broadband services to community residencesfor at least two years. The provision of broadband transmission service is vital for Jedditoresidents to have the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary tofoster economic development, and enhance education, healthcare, and public safety for theJeddito community and surrounding area.COMMUNITY PROFILEThe small, rural community of Jeddito or Jadi (Antelope Water) sits on a small island ofNavajo Nation tribal land just inside the eastern boundary of the Hopi Reservation innortheastern Arizona. The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute began in 1882 and continues to thepresent. In September and October 1944, many Navajo families were forcefully removed fromtheir homes on the old Hopi reservation to live on the Jeddito “island.” Jeddito “island” refers toa remote land island completely surrounded by the Hopi partitioned land. Jeddito, located onthe island proper, is home to many Navajo families who have been victimized by a century-longland dispute between the Navajo and Hopi tribes (Brugge 1999; Dempsey 2003a & 2003b). As aresult, Jeddito residents have been denied access to basic utility lines because they must cross6

Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 2004Hopi land to reach the Jeddito island. The Navajo-Hopi land dispute continues and the economicwell being of the Jeddito community continues to suffer.The town is located along the edge of the Jeddito wash at roughly 6400 ft. above sea levelwhere sage brush and scattered desert grasses blanket the landscape. Pinon and juniperwoodlands dominant the high mesas that flank the edges of expansive arroyos and washes thatdissect the landscape and define the social and political entities defined within this deserttopography. Horses, cattle, and sheep graze along the road frequently crossing over to takeadvantage of greener sagebrush pastures. “Jeddito is more rural than any rural Alaskancommunity I have ever worked in,” states Dr. Charles Weber lead dentist at the Jeddito DentalHealth Clinic.Distance to health care facilities is often prohibitive and dangerous for the criticalpatients and inefficient, outdated, and costly for many of the other residents. Local residents,school administrators, and dental health specialists have to drive to Keams Canyon just toreceive and send their mail. Social Services, public safety, and/or police protection are next tonon-existent. And when it rains, it pours -- our community shuts down due to a lack ofelectricity and phone services to the outside world.ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICESThe closest grocery store and affordable gas station is over 70 miles away with thenearest airport located just over 5 hours away. In 1999, the Navajo Nation reported that 81.6%of its residents do not have a reliable telephone service. The residents of Jeddito are no differentwith approximately 80% percent of the homes having an unreliable, poor reception, single linecell phone that only works on sunny days or on the highest hilltops. In the homes lacking phoneservice, service is not available or too expensive to purchase. Many families still live in atraditional home and do not have electricity, water, or heat. Children living in these conditionsspend a lot of time gathering wood, lighting kerosene lamps, and collecting water.ACCESS TO THE INTERNETThe Jeddito School is the only critical community facility with internet access. Currentlythe school is using a VSAT satellite for internet access with 64Kbps uplink and 256Kbpsdownlink. The current system is excessively slow and does not have the capacity to supportbroadband service or interactive applications for a single individual, never mind an entirecommunity. Internet access would be provided to the school which already houses andmaintains over 300 computers, two computer labs, and a parental involvement center, and to thesurrounding community via wireless links to the tower. Approximately 10% of local residentsown a computer and many of our residents showed interest in purchasing one once they knew areliable broadband service was in sight. In the past four years approximately 80% of ourcommunity households received television services via dish or direct TV satellite.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTThe success of broadband community deployment relies heavily on the networkinginfrastructure. Community centers provide first points of access to the technology for intracommunity networking joining together the critical community facilities and local residents and7

Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 2004businesses. Implementing a community led plan to create a broadband networking environmentbestows upon our underserved population the economic possibilities present only in a broadbandworld. The community center will be the focal point for training and instruction in technology,worker training, and distance education opportunities. It will also offer us the much needed andseverely lacking communication and research tools required by community members to increasethe overall well being of the family and community lifestyle.Our community possesses all the social problems that permeate rural, low income, NativeAmerica. High mortality rates result from a severely diabetic population, high levels ofalcoholism, poor healthcare, drug abuse (as early as 3rd grade), and domestic violence to name afew culprits. As adults, we juggle with the challenges of child care, job security, long commutes,and school. To obtain an advanced degree we have to drive over 2 ½ hours to our regionaluniversity and up to 1 ½ hours for other worker training and educational opportunities.Economically depressed does not adequately describe how our community has beenneglected. With a 5,347 per capita income and a median family salary of 12,778 we arecontinuously challenged to make ends meet. Our unemployment rate of 11% only represents the47% of the population who are actually a part of the labor force. Job opportunities in ourcommunity are limited primarily to education, social services, and public health. Many localartists travel over 6 hours just to sell their products to a middle man who makes a substantialsalary off of our talent.Jeddito local residents have many dreams and ideas of how we could escape theeconomic traps set before us – we truly believe the lack of communication is the primary limitingfactor contributing to our lack of economic success and overall well being. We need morecommunication lines running in and out of our community to harness all the social, economic,political, and education opportunities available and to transform our community to a highlyfunctioning, empowered, and self reliant community. “I feel like I live in the Third World,”states Bernice Bitsoie, Indian Education Committee Coordinator in Jeddito.Our community is on an upward trend but needs more resources to help boost theeconomy. For example, the Community Land Use Planning Committee is in the process ofimplementing a proposal to construct a community gas station, local convenient store, postoffice, hardware store, and an Indian Market. Many of the local residents are desperate tocommunicate with the outside world. We desire to send and receive information, perform basicresearch on things like auto and health insurance, retirement plans, online banking options, realestate opportunities, education scholarships, and basic communication with family membersattending colleges or universities located at great distances from their home.Many of the local residents lay their claim to fame through their art. A huge demand forthe famous Navajo textile weavings by art collectors, tourists, museums, and international artcollections could be fulfilled via e-commerce solutions. Currently, local artisans or collectorsdrive over 5 hours in all directions to sell and/or purchase Native arts and crafts. The unique artsand crafts of the Navajo and Hopi also include sand paintings, pottery, basketry, Native styleclothing, and painting. Jerry Jim, the school district’s technology administrator, has a brotherwho is a silver smith who would love to sell his work online and has all the skills, both artisticand technological, but does not have access to a local server that could provide a reliableconnection to host and deliver a secure e-commerce solution.We want to host a community website providing consumers with a one stop virtual visitto the Jeddito community. Students could learn about the unique circumstances that surround thegeographical, organizational, and political structure of our community and our Native History.8

Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 2004Consumers would have the capability to virtually shop our art, and find out about localcommunity public events. By hosting our own community website more people will be drawn tovisit, contribute to, and help sustain the economic well being of our rural, Native Americancommunity. The website would also be used for intra-community communication offering linksto employment and daycare opportunities, senior citizen activities, community healthopportunities, agriculture information, and an overall awareness regarding the community landuse and development plan.Our community-led plan to create a broadband networking environment and the creationof a tribal information economy will improve the depressed economic situation on the NavajoReservation generally, and the Jeddito community more specifically. Future growth and thestrengthening of tribal life depend on information technology as a means of economicempowerment (Casey, Ross, and Warren 1999:15).As a community, we have developed the following strategic goals in an effort to achievea higher level of economic independence and the overall economic welfare of our community.Economic Strategic Goals1. By February 2007, a broadband networking environment will connect a communitycenter with all critical community facilities with free service for two years and provideservices to local residents and businesses resulting in at least a 100% increase in internetconnectivity for the Jeddito economic sectors and a 25% increase for local residents.2. All local community members will have the opportunity to learn in a broadbandcommunication environment about how they can improve their present economicsituation resulting in a 10% increase of community members participating in the laborforce and a 2% decrease in the unemployment rate and an overall increase in the medianfamily income and per capita income by the U.S. Census 2010.STUDENT EDUCATION AND CULTURAL DETERMINATIONCommunity networking using a broadband infrastructure will create the integrationnecessary between home and school that ensures student and parent success in an educationalenvironment which ultimately translates to success in the economic sector. Students will havethe opportunity to build confidence in their technological abilities necessary for succeeding intoday’s world. Teachers, parents, and students will have access to online Native Americanoriented education materials, Adult Basic Education programs, GED Preparation programs,English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs, and community members will haveaccess to online degree programs and worker training. The resources from this grant willprovide our students, parents, and community members with the opportunity to successfulmembers of the dominant society while also maintaining and empowering them with regards totheir traditional upbringing. Education is used to “help preserve rather than replace Indiantraditions” (NIEA 2001, About NIEA).EDUCATION AT THE SCHOOLReports from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that asearly as the fourth grade, Native American students score below the national level in basicreading, math and history (NAEP, 2002). Most recent data from the Arizona AIMS standardized9

Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 2004tests (2003) indicate that by the fifth and eighth grades, more than 83% of students in the NavajoReservation schools do not meet any of the math, reading and writing standards, with only 2% ofeighth grade math students meeting the standards (compared to 21% of eighth graders passingstatewide). In the Jeddito community, by the fifth grade 97%, 83%, and 90% of the students donot consecutively meet the math, reading, and writing standards. And in the eighth grade 0%,18%, and 14% consecutively met the mathematics, reading, and writing standards. By all countsthese children are being left behind.Native Americans also have one of the highest dropout rates in the country, with about36% not finishing high school – almost twice the national average (Swisher and Tippeconic III,1999). These low graduation rates have a serious negative impact on local economies andcommunities that reverberates for years. NAEP (2002) lists several school-related deficits thathave been identified in research as critical factors in dropout rates across groups, includingNative Americans. The list includes: large schools, uncaring teachers, irrelevant curriculum,inappropriate testing, passive teaching methods, tracked classes, and lack of parent involvement.While not all of these indicators apply to the Jeddito and nearby White Cone schools located inthe Cedar USD at least two indicators are particularly worth noting, and these are ‘irrelevantcurriculum’ and ‘passive teaching methods.’ Yet, research indicates that Native Americanstudents are more responsive and engaged when the curriculum is culturally relevant andincorporates opportunities for interaction (e.g., McREL, 2002).Our school with its 421 (99.8% Native American) students and 127 personnel face avariety of challenges from high teacher and administrator turn over rates, inadequate resources,to the challenges associated with having a student population who are primarily limited EnglishProficient (up to 82%) and come from an economically disadvantaged home life. Consequently,our school has been underperforming and not met yearly progress according the standards set bythe State of Arizona and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. As a result, our children receivean inadequate education and are falling far behind the national average. And without adequatetechnological resources, we are not only falling far behind but wonder if we will ever catch up.“My daughter attends Hopi High School with her cousin who lives on the Hopireservation. They have many classes together and both have homework that relies onusing the internet as a research tool. We have a computer at home but we don’t haveaccess to the internet. My daughter wonders where her cousin gets all her information forher school reports and research papers. She does not have an equal opportunity to learndue to the lack of communication services in our community. I feel bad for her andreally want to do what I can to get her the resources she needs to live a successful life.”Gary Bitsoie, Cedar Unified School District Board Member and InformationTechnologist for the Hopi Health Care Center.Broadband services will also benefit administrators and the local governmental offices inregards to the timely submission of critical data to the Arizona Department of Education and theU.S. Department of Education. Much of the data submitted determines the level of fundingfrom both State aid and Impact aid. If the data is not submitted electronically, the school districtloses a part if not all of the related funding for a school district. For example, our studentattendance data at both the state and federal levels is only received electronically and must besubmitted every 20 days.10

Community Connect Broadband Grant ProgramScoring Criteria Documentation, FY 2004Furthermore, the grant resources will provide the broadband foundation necessary forcreating a community of culturally-aware teachers and bi-culturally empowered learners.Educators will have the opportunity to facilitate a learning environment incorporating bothformal and informal learning strategies. Informal learning strategies include learning throughoral tradition or storytelling, songs, games, and arts and crafts. Using video and audio recordingsthey will be able to capture the performance of the story, song, or the process of art and craftcreation. Using multimedia programming, they can create interactive educational experiencesfocusing on the Navajo language, culture, community, and the surrounding physical and culturalenvironments. So the lessons can be viewed as a set of organized resources that if used inconjunction with physical classroom or field trip experiences will instill a strong sense ofmotivation for the students.The bicultural students and their parents must learn “the norms of the dominant culturewhile deciding whether to maintain or abandon their own ethnicity (Young and Adler 2001:1011).” This process can be and has been a very painful experience for many of our youthespecially when mainstream society has a negative perspective of a minority culture. Thepressure for bicultural children can be an extremely frustrating experience.Together parents, teachers, and students would have the opportunity to explore museum,library, and web sites that house culturally relevant education materials that help the biculturalstudents to identify themselves with their own culture (i.e., http:// nettrain.unm.edu).Consequently, that student is taught to set goals and obtain power and self-identity thatultimately encourages lifetime learning and gives that child a true purpose in life.DISTANCE EDUCATIONSince its inception in 1981, online distance education, online learning, or web basedinstruction has evolved into a major educational technology serving millions of learners. Prior toits origins, an advanced education was primarily limited to the face-to-face interaction oftraditional recently gradua

internet from the Arizona Public Schools Computer Consortium at Northern Arizona University (hereafter APSCC). The CUSD uses a bi-directional satellite internet access device that is the GroundControl 4020 dedicated I