Academics

Educator Profiles

Gena Secakuku

Residential Advisor
HS Student Living
Hopi/Santa Clara

I am from Polacca, Arizona and live in Santa Clara Pueblo. I graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1990, so I’m an alum and have been back and forth here. I’ve worked with the Department of Public Safety, Pojoaque’s Cities of Gold, and have also served as the Adult Juvenile Probation Officer for Santa Clara. I received my Tribal Probation Academy Certificate through Fox Valley Technical College, Wisconsin and have extensive training in drug and alcohol abuse prevention, intervention programs for children and adults, crimes against children training, and providing positive alternatives to prevent recidivism. At SFIS, I am a Residential Advisor (RA) and work with the boys High School dorm and specifically with juniors and seniors.
As an RA I monitor the well-being and safety of my students. I make sure that they are comfortable in their dorm life, and also assist with making sure that their homework is completed and that their academic life remains strong. I provide resources in many forms—from personal guidance, to assisting at times even financially because I know how hard it is for students to purchase little things. I let students know that they can come to me, whatever their needs, and I don’t like to see students left out, especially if they cannot afford something. I do treat students equally, but also like they are my own. I am a mother and have two daughters. I don’t have any sons, but I ended up with 25 sons this past school year! My role is to just be there for my boys—you never know what background they are coming from. You never know—you may be the only person that is comforting them and that is there for them to turn to. I let them know they can be open with me, and I will respect them as they respect me.
Every day is memorable here to me. Everything that happens is something new. With everyone I am the type to be open, bonding and to interact. There are memories being made every day during the school year. I also really value teamwork between staff and students. I saw this best when my boys were preparing to do their Senior Honors Project (SHP) presentations. The evening before the SHP Symposium, I stayed up very late to assist them with ironing their clothes so that they could get ready for their presentations. They were sharing their projects with me and how nervous they were, while I ironed their shirts and pants to help them get through this big day that they were going to have. I really valued that time with them.
Respect, tradition, culture and our environment are really important to me. Respect is so critical—because if you don’t respect the students, they won’t respect you. For example, there may be things that the boys cannot do because of cultural restrictions—such as taking trash out at night. I respect their cultures and won’t force them to do that. If they speak their language, at times they teach me a little. And I respect that—because our languages are important. I also teach students to have respect for their teachers and parents, so they can graduate and show their parents respect, to give that back to them. There are obstacles, but they need to learn from their mistakes, pick themselves up, dust themselves off and keep going.
I am passionate about spending time with my kids—I have two grandchildren, and my family is my life, my everything. Spending time with my family, and then coming back here and spending time with these boys and doing what I can is living life to its fullest for me. For my boys, I hope that they accomplish the goals they set in life. Whether it be finding work, going on to schooling, especially if they have the time to do it. Because time flies. I want for them to follow their dreams, their hearts, and to work hard because life can be tough, and they will need to work hard in order to get what they want.