{"id":26285,"date":"2019-11-15T04:56:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T04:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/ftf\/?post_type=family-stories&p=26285"},"modified":"2025-08-08T22:29:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T22:29:48","slug":"tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children","status":"publish","type":"family-stories","link":"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/region-stories\/tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Tohono O\u2019odham Nation elder finds joy in guiding and shaping young children"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an elder and leader in the Sif-<\/span>Oidak<\/span> District on the Tohono O\u2018odham Nation, Marjorie Juan helps care for those who are often the most vulnerable in any community \u2013 children and seniors. She is a role model, inspiring the young people of her community to reach for more and to excel through education. <\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, Juan has found joy in guiding and shaping young children. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are precious,\u201d she said. \u201cI let them know they are special. I love teaching them the social skills and to respect, share and be honest.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The path to earning two college degrees was not a simple one for Juan, whose career in early childhood education on the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation spans more than three decades. <\/span><\/p>\n

Juggling work and family, it took 23 years for Juan to complete the coursework for her general equivalency diploma, or GED, but she never gave up. Once Juan passed that hurdle, her dreams grew. She is a proud graduate of the Tohono O\u2019odham Community College class of 2011 with an associate degree in early childhood education. In 2015, Juan received a bachelor\u2019s degree in early childhood education from Prescott College. <\/span><\/p>\n

Inspiring her along the journey of higher education was the Tohono O\u2019odham Community College Community of Practice, which is one of the 17 Communities of Practice developed by United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona\u2019s Great Expectations for Teachers, Children, Families and Communities. Great Expectations is funded through a grant from First Things First, which partners with families and communities to help Arizona\u2019s young children be ready for success in kindergarten and beyond. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been very hard for me to get my degree without the Tohono O\u2019odham Community College Community of Practice,\u201d Juan said. \u201cIt gave me a better understanding of the growth that takes place in early childhood, working with special needs children, working with parents, getting them involved in the school system. They helped me be a better teacher.\u201d The Community of Practice armed Juan with a toolbox of strategies to provide developmentally appropriate activities to children, including children with special needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe attended training s<\/span>essions in Tucson that were very valuable, especially in working with special needs children \u2013 children with hyperactivity and autism,\u201d she said. \u201cThey took us to Tucson to show us how the techniques work in actual classroom settings.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When Juan walked on stage to receive her diploma at Tohono O\u2019odham Community College, she became the first in her family to graduate from college. <\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpted from Great Expectations<\/span> <\/span>Realized, a publication from United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and First Things First.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The path to earning two college degrees was not a simple one for Juan, whose career in early childhood education on the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation spans more than three decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":21763,"template":"","tags":[137,164,273],"class_list":["post-26285","family-stories","type-family-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-tribal","tag-tohono-oodham-nation","tag-professional-development","regions-tohono-oodham-nation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTohono O\u2019odham Nation elder finds joy in guiding and shaping young children - First Things First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The path to earning two college degrees was not a simple one for Juan, whose career in early childhood education on the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation spans more than three decades.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/region-stories\/tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tohono O\u2019odham Nation elder finds joy in guiding and shaping young children\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The path to earning two college degrees was not a simple one for Juan, whose career in early childhood education on the Tohono O\u2019odham Nation spans more than three decades.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/region-stories\/tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"First Things First\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AZFirstThingsFirst\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-08T22:29:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Marjorie-Juan2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"793\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AZFTF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Tiempo de lectura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/region-stories\/tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/region-stories\/tohono-oodham-nation-elder-finds-joy-in-guiding-and-shaping-young-children\/\",\"name\":\"Tohono O\u2019odham Nation elder finds joy in guiding and shaping young children - 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