By China Cassidy During last week’s meeting, the Navajo County Community College Governing Board honored board member Daniel Peaches who has just completed his sixth and final term on the board for a total of 35 years of service. Peaches is from Kayenta and graduated from Northern Arizona University before moving to New Mexico to study Indian law. Before being elected to the board, Peaches served in the Arizona State Legislature in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1984, and also served as staff assistant to Peter McDonald, who was the Navajo tribal president. Although his intention was to return to Kayenta after completing his legislative service, he was convinced by his peers that his compassion for education was much needed at the college, which at the time, had only been operating for 10 years. Over the next several years, Peaches would serve at multiple capacities within the college while still remaining active in the tribal government. Fellow board member and long-time associate Everett Robinson offered his gratitude to Peaches for his many years of dedication to the educational system. Robinson expressed, “Whether he was leading a Beauty Way to the four sacred mountains, urging the tribal council to grant self-rule to the Kayenta Township, or seeking more course offerings for Native students, Daniel Peaches earned the lasting respect of all generations.” Robinson continued, “Daniel, on behalf of the several hundred thousand students who transformed their lives through NPC, and the multitude of employees who benefitted by your wisdom and insight, thank you. I consider it an honor to have served with you these last 13 months and only hope that I can continue your legacy of public service to benefit future NPC students and employees.” Interim President Jeanne Swarthout who has worked with Peaches for many years and presented him with the plaques for his 25th year of service 2010 also offered. “I can’t even remember how many years I’ve sat in the board room with Mr. Peaches on the board. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to serve with Mr. Peaches and to have a friendship that goes beyond a service relationship. Mr. Peaches has always been a consistent voice for students (and) for education. He’s made a huge difference in hundreds of students’ lives in that way. We’ll miss you Mr. Peaches, we hope you have some lovely times ahead, but you’ve been part of this for so long, it is very difficult to say goodbye.” Before exiting the meeting, Peaches offered, “All I can say is thank you. I hope everything goes well with NPC and the staff.” In other business, the board: * Approved the 2020-21 Budget Development Assumptions and Guidelines. * Approved the purchase of a MuddTrax vehicle from Delve International for the amount of $99,876 after sales tax is applied. * Approved the annual renewal for the learning management system services Moodle, utilized by the college for support and hosting for 2020-21 in the amount of $50,315.17. * Approved the purchase of servers, storage and network switches from HyTech in the amount of $593,210.44.
