TUBA CITY, Ariz. — Tuba City Elementary School held its first induction ceremony for Navajo classroom Naat'aanii leaders on August 26. Each classroom president, vice president and council representative took the oath of office in front of their constituents (students, parents and staff) and received an official pin bearing the Navajo Nation Office seal.

Each class president has their own large desk in the sea of ​​pods, with a small Naat'aanii flag hanging in the upper right corner.

Fifth-graders Naomi Jensen and Nanava Theoldore from Lloyd Lee's Navajo class were elected school president and vice president, and four students each were elected as representatives to the council.

Jensen has a team of students including Chief of Staff Jusvienna Yazzi, Treasurer Esaiah Begay, Secretary Mariya Curtis, Leadership Director Logan Begay, Historian Angelo Surveyor, Student Council President Ilyssa Honani and Native Club President Michael Krause.

Meanwhile, kindergarten, first, second, third and fourth grades each have their own chapters with presidents, vice presidents and representatives. Navajo teachers Susie Store and Violet Tso appoint student body presidents and vice presidents for each grade level.

“It's a combination of both the Navajo Nation government and the Arizona state government,” Lee said of the school's unique Na'atani system, which he founded with three former students in 2015. “It's sophisticated and it's structured. If you think of it like a student council, it's a three-way government built into the classroom.”

Students from each grade level run for office and are then elected.

“We start giving them campaign speeches in second grade,” Lee said. “It's more about why they should vote. (In the lower grades) the majority of the reasons are, 'Because I'm a good person.'”

Once sworn in, Naatani leaders set classroom rules and expectations and vote on them.

Older students learn how to draft a proposal and write a resolution.

“Once they get the hang of writing their own agenda, I won't have anything to do with it,” Lee said.

Indeed, Naatani student leaders have been supporting the teachers.

“It's a structured system that helps Navajo teachers as a classroom management mechanism,” Lee said. “They are tasked with assisting teachers with certain things in the classroom. Part of what is expected of them is to be role models in and outside of the classroom. They have to think outside the box. They have to learn how to think critically, think analytically, and set smart goals.”

By helping with classroom management and holding each other accountable, Ms. Lee has valuable time to focus on teaching.

A council representative sits at each table and manages the team, the secretary keeps records of all council meetings and the treasurer learns about budgets, accounting and working with numbers.

“The students also learn a lot of leadership skills, such as public speaking, how to give impromptu speeches, team building and drafting proposals,” Lee said.

The 10 classes where Lee used the system have inherited and expanded Naatani's rulebook, as well as Arizona state and tribal laws, with successive leaders developing flags, logos and student planners written in the Navajo language.

“It's really cool to see our tradition continue,” said one of the founders, McKayla Johnson, a Tuba City High School graduate in 2023. “Even though it's been so many years since we founded (this), we never thought it would last this long. It's really heartwarming to know that there will be nearly 10 classes after us using the same handbook, applying the same rules and adding to it.”

Teacher of the Year nominees

Lee, a Salt Tribe native born in Bitterwater, is a Shonto native and graduated from Monument Valley High School in Kayenta in 2008. He began attending Shonto chapter meetings and participating in local community governance at a young age.

He also worked for the Kayenta and Page school districts. In 2012, at age 21, he was elected to the Shawnte Preparatory School Board, the youngest board member elected on the Navajo Nation. In 2013, he began working as a teacher in the Tuba City Unified School District and represented the district on the Native American Grant Schools Association, later becoming its president. In 2014, he became the Western Representative for the Shawnte Chapter, and it was from this association that he gained much of his knowledge of Navajo government.

“I'm going to model for the Na'tani just like I did for Western institutions,” he said. “I'm teaching them how to be senior officials, how to behave when they go out, how to control themselves to have ethics.”

Lee is a 2023 Education Foundation Ambassador of Excellence and was one of five finalists nominated for Arizona Teacher of the Year.

“The students are proud that their Navajo language teacher was nominated,” Lee said.

Lee’s Naatani Classroom Leadership System was one of the reasons he was nominated.

The Navajo Nation Tribal Council presented Lee with the Ambassador Award last year outside the council chambers in Window Rock, where he held up a plaque and certificate. Council member Otto Tso, who represents Tuba City, was guest speaker at the Aug. 26 installation ceremony.

“He was amazed that a school could actually teach civics in a practical way like this and said he would like to see more Navajo schools adopt this model,” Lee said of Tso. “He was so impressed, he wants to invite student leaders to Window Rock.”

The next Naatani leader will be selected and take office in January at the end of the school year.

Lee currently serves as vice president of the Kayenta Unified School District Board of Education and is running for another four-year term this year.