A Seventh-day Adventist Boarding School Serving Native American Youth Since 1946
Restoration HIS Object of Education Terry Benedict instructs Tosh. (Josef Kissinger)
“To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in His creation might be realized.…This is the object of education, the great object of life.” E.G. White, Education, p. 15.
He was only in the third grade when he first came to
Holbrook Indian School (HIS). He was introduced to drugs and alcohol at the age of seven. Being accidentally locked out of the house at night and sleeping under the porch with the dogs to stay warm, although frightening, seemed normal to Adrian. It was all he knew. When his mother left him at HIS he cried himself to sleep for weeks. Then a transformation began to take place. Adrian couldn’t read when he came to HIS, but a teacher gave him the desire to learn and soon he caught up with his reading level. He was baptized and has since recruited other members of his family to attend Holbrook. He graduates from HIS this year and plans to go to college. Holbrook Indian School is a first- through twelfth-grade Christian boarding school for Native American youth. Located in Holbrook, Ariz., just a few miles from the 34
PA C I F I C U N I O N R E CO R D E R
Navajo Nation, HIS serves indigenous youth from many tribes: Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Supai, Lakota, Pima, Crow, and Micmac, to name just a few. Our students come to Holbrook for various reasons. Some are seeking a Christian education; others have nowhere else to go. Many of our students are dealing with unimaginable trauma. HIS has been providing a safe place for Native youth to live, learn, and grow in Christ for more than 70 years. Operated by the Pacific Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church, HIS also manages Chinle Adventist Elementary School (CAES), a firstthrough eighth-grade day school located in Chinle, Arizona, Navajo Nation. CAES is about two hours from HIS. More than 80 percent of funding comes from individuals who have a desire to support Native American ministries and Christian education.