WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. --Air National Guard members from the 203rd Red Horse Squadron, Virginia Beach, Va., and the 240th Civil Engineering Flight, Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., began renovation and construction work here at St. Michaels Association for Special Education on May 16.
Work includes repairing buildings, culvert development and renovation, electrical upgrades, and new construction. This work is part of the National Guard's Innovative Readiness Training program, a civil-military affairs program linking military units with civilian communities for humanitarian projects.
The SMASE campus serves as a school and home for approximately 80 Navajo children and young adults with severe debilitating conditions. This school is the only certified special education school on the Navajo Reservation and is continuing to drawing students from the four corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.
"The continuous growth of the student population coupled with the increase of students identified with severe disabilities and health issues put a serious strain on our aging facilities," said Gillis Chapela, SMASE Executive Director.
Currently SMASE is in need of assistance with improvement to the overall campus infrastructure. As services continue to grow, their facilities and funds do not meet the current or future needs of their organization.
The IRT mission is the answers to SMASE's infrastructure needs. There is a two-fold benefit for those involved. Not only will the IRT mission benefit the Navajo children and young adults, but the ANG and the Department of Defense.
The IRT program leverages hands on proficiency training to benefit both the ANG and the community. The ANG receives much needed on-the-job training which ensures they are ready to perform when called upon for local or overseas missions. This arrangement involves support from the ANG IRT teams who provide design support, labor, and equipment while SMASE provides the materials for the infrastructure projects.
"The best IRT marriage is when it satisfies several different medals requirements mission essential task lists training requirements and has the secondary benefit to large impact to the community that we serve in that's the perfect marriage for an IRT marriage," said Master Sgt. Charles Stoyer, IRT Project Coordinator, ANG Readiness Center. "When I took a look at this project at St. Michaels, I said this was a no brainer, this is a perfect fit for our long term training venue for our ANG Civil Engineers."
The SMASE project came to fruition after they contacted the DoD and the National Guard Bureau requesting assistance through the IRT program. Overall the project comprises of a five year plan which included renovation projects on the campus, the construction of a new nurse's station, additional class rooms, an adult recreation center, a community center, as well as a transportation building for their school buses. These projects would not be able to be completed without the help of the ANG IRT teams.
"We are helping people that truly can't help themselves in an area that has a depressed economy we are stimulating the local economy just by our presence here and also helping the customer, everything we do here will certainly touch and improve their quality of life," said Stoyer.
The IRT mission at SMASE will help the campus continue to play a vital role in the Navajo community. Without this educational campus and the special care it provides, many special need children and young adults of the Navajo Nation would not receive the education and treatment they require.
"By maintaining special education best practices and keeping a family and Navajo centered environment, St. Michaels provides a home close to home for handicapped children and adults on the reservation who otherwise would have to trek to Phoenix to get the level of education, therapy, and medical care needed," concluded Chapela.