Rebecca M. Benally

Rebecca M. Benally (born May 16, 1962) is an American school principal for Montezuma Creek Elementary School, and a current voting member of the Navajo Nation Board of Education. She is of the Navajo Tribe in south-eastern Utah by which the Navajo Nation extends.
She is consistently supported by the Navajo Council Delegates and many colleagues and parents.
In 2006, Rebecca M. Benally was directly appointed by the Navajo Nation President on the Navajo Nation Board of Education which oversees the operations of schools under its jurisdiction on the Navajo Nation as the vice-president of that Navajo Nation position. The Navajo Board of Education is very important in that it works to help transition the Navajo Nation model in education to a more Efficient system much like state school systems around the country.
Life and Education
Rebecca received her Bachelor's degree from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Upon receiving her bachelor's degree, she began her career as an Educator in Montezuma Creek, Utah.
Beginning her career in the field of education, she has provided opportunity programs for the Navajo children in and around the Montezuma Creek area.
Later she was admitted to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She received her Master's Degree in Educational Administration from BYU. She currently works as a Principal in Montezuma Creek, Utah.
Educator
Rebecca began at the Elementary school as a teacher's assistant then as a preschool teacher. She also began directing a research project in an early childhood grant program with Utah State University and served as an educational advisor/liaison between the State of Utah and Navajo Nation, a position to which she was appointed by Utah state governor Norman H. Bangerter in 1992.
While believing that education is a means to overcome many obstacles in life such as poverty she has directed a Family Literacy grant program to help adults achieve a GED or high school diploma and a ninth-grade reading level so that they may contribute to the workforce and become self-sufficient.
During the following decade she accomplished a significant amount of experience in the educational field starting from the position of a Special Education and Early Childhood teacher to a High School Assistant Principal to currently an Elementary Principal of Montezuma Creek Elementary School, Montezuma Creek, Utah.
Montezuma Creek Elementary School Principal
Rebecca became the Elementary School Principal at a point when American President George W. Bush began implementing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Act reauthorizes a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend. Additionally, it promotes an increased focus on reading and re-authorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).
During the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, she transitioned her ailing school into one of Utah’s leading public institutions for primary education. Since her tenure, the school has achieved an Adequate Yearly Progress four of the five years since No Child Left Behind became mandated.
Utah Governor Meets with Montezuma Creek Elementary School
In the Summer of 2007, Rebecca Benally met with and presented the Elementary School for Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. during his visit to the Montezuma Creek Elementary School to tour many of the Native American Schools within the State of Utah.
The Governor’s entourage toured the Montezuma Creek Elementary School. Principal Rebecca M. Benally took visitors through several
classroom in which summer school was in session. Following this, a luncheon was held with various Navajo Nation leaders and staff including: Navajo Council Delegate member, Kenneth Maryboy, Executive Staff Assistant, Andrew Tso, former Navajo Nation Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Tommy Lewis, Deputy Attorney General, Harrison Tsosie, and other distinguished leaders.
Literacy is Empowering Project
In November 2005, Rebecca along with her daughter, Rozanna Benally with the support of her immediate family began the Literacy is Empowering Project to promote literacy and pre-reading skills for Native children to increase standard academic language. And always to instill the 'love of reading.' This program was implemented at first to meet the needs to the local community and in time, expanded out reservation wide as well as other Native tribes such at the White Ute tribe of White Mesa, Utah.
Books are distributed throughout remote communities of Navajo Nation and bordering communities in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. The project is certainly a family and community project in hopes to connect in unity with compassion to make the life of a young Navajo child enjoy reading, while to increase and improve their literacy skills in areas such as vocabulary, comprehension, phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, fluency, oral language and phonics. Rebecca and Rozanna's motto, "Readers are Leaders."
It includes an annual fund-raising program and a book drive to provide free books and lessons for children ranging from Preschool to Eighth-grade students.
Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Salina Bookshelves, Navajo Nation First Lady-Vicki Shirley, Southwest Board of Cooperative Services, and many caring and supportive individuals and Vikki's Ink donated money to purchase books and book donations from the Utah State Office of Education, local community members and local business contribute routinely as well.
Navajo Board of Education
Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education
The Navajo Nation Board of Education is an 11 member board instructed to oversee the operations of schools on the Navajo Nation and exercise regulatory functions and duties over education programs on the Navajo Nation. It was established by the Navajo Nation education code, Title 10 which was enacted in July 2005 by Navajo Nation Council.
The board acts to promote the goals of the Navajo Sovereignty in Education Act of 2005 which include the establishment and management of a Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education, to confirm the commitment of the Navajo Nation to the education of the Navajo People, to repeal obsolete language and to update and reorganize the existing language of Titles 10 and 2 of the Navajo Nation Code.
It is the educational mission of the Navajo Nation to promote and foster lifelong learning for the Navajo people, and to protect the culture integrity and sovereignty of the Navajo Nation. A Navajo Nation Board of Education meeting is scheduled the first Friday of every month.
Rebecca held the Board President position until she stepped down in order to maintain the ability to vote on important issues and begin her dissertation topic research, in which the board president does not have the power to do.
Through a ballot election process, the Board realigned their officers in 2006. The new officers are:
Jimmy C. Begay - President (School Administrator Representative)
Tim Bitsilly - Vice President
Dolly C. Begay - Secretary
Rebecca Benally - Member
Vee F. Browne - Member
Virgil Kirk, Jr. - Member
Rose J. Yazzie - Member
Juanita K. Benally - Member
Katherine Arviso - Member
Navajo Nation Board of Education's purpose is to elevated the Division of Diné Education to a Department of Diné Education, the development Navajo-specific standards of education, and creates a database of information regarding Navajo student academic achievement.
Rebecca and other Navajo Education Board Members most notable want to develop a Navajo language and Culture based education system which Western Education Systems integrates Navajo Way of Life. It's proposed structure will uniquely form an independent Navajo Nation Educational system much like State Agency.
Continual Navajo Education Improvement
In July 2007, Rebecca Benally will give a presentation in Honolulu, Hawai'i at a conference called Wellness is a Lifetime Journey. Her presentation will most notably be about Coordinating Health and Academics for students to become successful academically.
Currently Rebecca is working at an unofficial liaison between the State of Utah and the Navajo Nation in order to maintain a smooth systematic process which both party's can work together in order to create a better educational infrustructure between the State Government and the Tribal Educational system.
Utah Division of Indian Affairs group honors Rebecca Benally with Educator Award
The Division of Indian Affairs honored recently people who have contributed to Utah's American Indians at its seventh annual Indigenous Day Awards and Dinner Celebration, themed "Utah's American Indian Youth — Our Hope, Our Future."
For the state of Utah, she was awarded Utah's Outstanding American Indian Educator Award for 2007 .

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