With school districts relying on remote learning to slow the Coronavirus, broadband internet is an essential component of student success. Add canyons, mountainous terrain, and uninhabited wilderness to the equation, and connecting students to online learning resources becomes seemingly impossible.
This is the exact issue the San Juan School District, located on and near the Navajo Nation in Southern Utah, has been facing since last spring. In an area so geographically diverse, it can be challenging for school buildings to receive internet access, let alone the homes scattered throughout the dramatic landscape. Faced with no other option than remote learning, students in this area are struggling to keep up.
“Being invited to be a part of providing WiFi for the Navajo Nation has been a great honor to VIKOR,” says VIKOR CEO, Craig Snyder. “With the Nation being hit so hard with COVID-19,” says Snyder, “the need for remote learning and connectivity is vital to the well-being of the students and their families. We look forward to a successful conclusion of this project and being involved in similar projects throughout the Navajo Nation in the times ahead.”
VIKOR partnered with the San Juan School District and Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS) as the main contractor in building the infrastructure that will connect 500 homes along this region with the worldwide web. The effort is designed to finally provide students access to classroom resources while facilitating connections for the rest of the community who may currently feel disconnected from work, school, family and healthcare.
Todd Adams, Project Manager at VIKOR, says, “We are committed to working with San Juan School District and UNHS well into 2021, to see this project to completion.” Adams continues, “Being involved in this project had been an exciting adventure. This area is remote, with little technological advances, so bringing this type of opportunity to the families in the area is a big step in helping them reach a new level in their ability to learn and communicate, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
With the help of residents within the Navajo Nation, working under the management of Corey Johnson of Interlinx Solutions, Adams and his team have already installed over 100 towers. Necessary broadband equipment for these new towers, in addition to many other existing towers, will soon be installed. The company said they are committed to working with the San Juan School District on additional projects well into 2021.
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