{"id":16673,"date":"2025-07-22T13:16:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T20:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/?p=16673"},"modified":"2025-09-03T18:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:58:03","slug":"rooted-in-community-san-carlos-isep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/blog\/rooted-in-community-san-carlos-isep\/","title":{"rendered":"Rooted in Community: Indigenous Student Enhancement Program Expands to San Carlos Apache Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Piloted for the first time outside Navajo Nation, ISEP brings culturally grounded public health education to Apache high school students sparking new career paths, personal growth, and community dialogue.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a warm March afternoon at San Carlos Apache College (SCAC), eleven high school students stood before an audience of relatives, faculty, and researchers as they introduced digital stories they had created over the past week. Each short video traced a possible future: nursing, trauma surgery, fitness coaching, mental health support. But they also told stories of cultural awakening, identity, and what it means to come home to serve your community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The San Carlos Apache Tribe (SCAT) encompasses 1.8 million acres across Graham, Gila, and Pinal counties in southeastern Arizona. The reservation is the tenth largest reservation in land area in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, the Indigenous Student Enhancement Program (ISEP) has been a core part of the Navajo Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH)<\/a>, a partnership between Din\u00e9 College<\/a> and Northern Arizona University\u2019s Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER)<\/a>. On Friday, students presented their digital stories, marking the conclusion of the first-ever ISEP pilot held outside the Navajo Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marissa
Marissa Tutt (left), enrolled member of San Carlos Apache Tribe, and Kelly McCue Nation (right), researchers at NAU’s CHER, co-led ISEP .<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With help from SCAC Retention Coordinator Kevin Wood, CHER Graduate Research Assistant Wacey Begay, and CHER Associate Director Dr. Nicky Teufel-Shone, the program\u2019s Apache pilot left students with a new understanding of public health and possibilities for future careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As stated in a 2022 research publication<\/a> led by Teufel-Shone, the need for programs like this is clear: \u201cNative American populations are systematically marginalized in the healthcare and public health workforce. One effective approach to reduce health disparities and improve health care delivery among Indigenous populations is to train more Native American health professionals who integrate academic and cultural knowledge to understand and influence health behaviors and perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nicky
Dr. Nicky Teufel-Shone addresses a group of CHER researchers. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

New Setting, Familiar Vision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Originally launched in 2018, Navajo ISEP<\/a> was designed to inform and engage Navajo high school students about public health\u2014a field often unfamiliar to youth but urgently needed in Tribal communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navajo ISEP was built on the Din\u00e9 Educational Philosophy (DEP)<\/a> and the concept of H\u00f3zh\u00f3, emphasizing harmony, balance, and wellness. Navajo ISEP students spend eight days immersed in a residential experience, surrounded by mentors and cultural values interwoven with lessons in public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
2025 Din\u00e9 ISEP scholars joined Wacey Begay (left) and Janet Yellowhair (right) for a photo at the conclusion of the 2025 summer ISEP program at Din\u00e9 College.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

San Carlos, by contrast, presented different opportunities and constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll tribal communities are different, so it was a heavy lift to move it from one to another,\u201d said Marissa Tutt, CHER Research Coordinator, lead for the ISEP Pilot at SCAC, and enrolled tribal member of San Carlos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, Din\u00e9 College is on the Navajo Nation. There, students stay on-site the whole week. At SCAC, we couldn\u2019t house students. That meant it became a day-to-day program, and we just hoped the students would keep coming back each day, which they did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There isn\u2019t an established cultural framework like Navajo Nation\u2019s DEP, so the research team formed a curriculum adaptation committee. They worked with elders and cultural preservation leaders to shape content around Apache-specific values, traditional health knowledge, and foodways. With just six months of planning, Tutt and Nation pulled together a cross-sector team of community leaders, educators, health professionals, and cultural advisors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was more about what the community felt was important for future health professionals to learn,\u201d added Tutt. \u201cIt was hard, but we made it work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ISEP
San Carlos ISEP students holding traditional foraged foods found during Twila Cassadore’s forage walk. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Public Health through an Apache Lens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
ISEP was hosted at San Carlos Apache College in March 2025.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The result was a culturally responsive, day-based program held during spring break. Each morning, students returned to the designated classroom at SCAC to explore public health concepts and engage with public health professionals. Many of the students were learning about public health for the first time through hands-on lessons in epidemiology and nutrition to mental health and fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marissa
Marissa Tutt leads the classroom of ISEP students and their families on day 5 of ISEP.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Outside the classroom<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On day two of the program, students were invited to venture outside the college walls with two members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe\u2019s Forestry Department: Twila Cassadore and Seth Pilsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Twila
Twila Cassadore teaching ISEP students about foraged foods found in their community. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cassadore, a renowned Apache forager, traditional foodways and seed keeper, and advocate for Indigenous food sovereignty led students outside, identifying the abundance of medicinal and edible plants found in their community. According to Cassadore, there are over 200 edible plants on the San Carlos Apache Reservation such as the prickly pear and barrel cactus fruits, desert chia seeds, and acorns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with The Guardian<\/em>, Cassadore expressed the importance of traditional foodways and knowledge on overall wellness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very confident that when we go back to Apache foods, it doesn\u2019t just benefit us physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to reclaim, preserve and grasp on to this way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Twila
ISEP students eagerly await a chance to taste the edible barrel cactus fruit.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In tandem with Cassadore\u2019s lesson, Seth Pilsk engaged students on the history of traditional Apache Healthcare and health conditions in the community and tied them back to medicinal plants, traditional foods, and the healing power of the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilsk and Cassadore led the Traditional Western Apache Diet Project<\/a> gathering data on traditional Apache diets and food species, conducting interviews with hundreds of elders and traditional cultural authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louie Lorenzo Jr., a local substance abuse prevention coordinator with the San Carlos Wellness Center, spoke to students about clinical etiquette and the importance of preserving cultural identity among San Carlos Apache youth. Substance use disorder remains one of the most pressing public health challenges facing the San Carlos Apache community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentorship and exposure to public health<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As the week progressed, the research team led six public health lectures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n