Kayenta, AZ—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monument Valley High School’s ‘MV Reads’ program recently received a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council. The grant allows them to host Dr. Laura Tohe, Associate Professor of English at Arizona State University, and her lecture series titled, “Armed with Our Language, We Went to War: The Diné/Navajo Code Talkers” and a  commissioned libretto for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, “Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio.”

You are invited to attend the program, which is scheduled for November 17, 2008 at the MVHS SAC Auditorium. There will be two sessions: 9:30-11:15 a.m. (Navajo Code Talkers) and 12:15-2:45 p.m. (“Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio”).  If you are available, we invite you to participate in this event and recognize the importance of activities like this one in Kayenta.

The Arizona Humanities Council is funded by both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Arizona Department of Education. Without this funding, hundreds of community groups, libraries, cultural sites, and museums across Arizona would be without a valuable source of programming money. We use the Arizona Humanities Council’s resources to build and feature exhibits, bring informative speakers and other resources to our community, host reading-and-discussion groups, and support local research into history and cultures.

I hope you will consider attending our program, as opportunities such as these in Kayenta are a rarity. Thank you for your support of the Arizona Humanities Council and MV Reads and the important role they both play in our community.

Treva C. Gilmore