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BYU Alumni Bring Indigenous Arts to Utah Classrooms

BYU Alumni Work to Enrich Utah Classrooms with Native American Arts

Brenda Beyal
Brenda Beyal (BS ‘83, MEd ‘99) manages the Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI) and helps integrate Native American arts in curriculums.
Photo by Heather Francis

Brenda A. Beyal (BS ‘83, MEd ‘99) is a Diné (Navajo) schoolteacher who also manages the Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI), which teaches teachers how to include the art of indigenous peoples in their classrooms. She says using the arts can instill confidence in students.

By teaching the arts in general and Native American arts in particular, says Beyal, “we hope children and teachers will be open to other ways of learning, be more inclusive, and have more empathy and compassion for all people. We can learn from everyone and not walk a narrow path in life.”

Read the full Y Magazine article here.