Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Students at Majestic Elementary Arts Academy received a real-life lesson in Native American culture and traditions in their classrooms recently. They were even treated to a taste of homemade fry bread. On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Majestic along with a representative from BYU who grew up in New Mexico as part of the Navajo Nation. She shares her incredible story with students and the Supercast as we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month.

We're here with the principal of Majestic Elementary Arts Academy. Introduce yourself and tell us about what's happening today.

Marianne Johansen:
My name is Marianne Johansen, and today we are celebrating Native American Heritage Month by inviting the Native American Arts and Culture Initiative Director from BYU. She's here reading a story called Fry Bread to our students, and she's talking about Native American history and Native American culture. And then we will be using her special recipe for fry bread and serving it to the students so they can kind of have that experience.

Eric, what do you want my man? Yeah, put this in the middle right here. Okay. Okay. Honey butter. That's where it's at, my friend. There you go, enjoy it!

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about why you invited BYU here to help. Tell us about that relationship with BYU.

Marianne Johansen:
Yeah, so Jordan District has an arts partnership with BYU and that has really helped us as we have started this Arts magnet school. They are helping all of our classroom teachers get their Arts Integration Endorsements. So one of their facilitators is here today helping Brenda, she's the Native American director that is here helping us read the story today. One of their professors is here helping her get the lesson pushed out, and she helped write the fry bread lessons that all of our teachers have been doing in class with their students over the last couple of weeks to prepare them for today.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is a culminating activity for some things that kids have been doing in class throughout the last couple of weeks.

Marianne Johansen:
Yes. So the professor that is here today, Jen Purdy, wrote the Fry Bread lesson plans in conjunction with input from Brenda, and our teachers were asked to do parts of those lessons. So that has included some videos of watching people make fry bread. That has included some information about Native American history and culture. And then the students using instruments or vocal play to make some soundscapes representing kind of those stories and that history and using some of that culture and those lessons.

Anthony Godfrey:
And the food, and the soundscapes, and the partnership with BYU, and taking advantage of the Native American Curriculum Initiative are just examples of the way that Majestic is focused on creating a really immersive experience for kids. Just making sure that their learning is at a deep level and involves some real life experiences.

Marianne Johansen:
Yes, exactly. And we really wanted to focus on making sure that we brought in somebody from the Native American culture that could really connect our students to those stories and to that experience. We definitely shoot for a high depth of knowledge on all of those subjects