No Place Like Rehoboth

The Navajo Code Talkers Communications Center was built in honor of the Navajo Marines who devised an unbroken code during World War II. The Center serves Rehoboth’s elementary and middle school programs and houses a K-8 library, technology training center, project lab, and small group space. On display is an excellent collection of Navajo Code Talker histories, uniforms, and personal paraphernalia. The facility also incorporates southwestern and Native American-inspired elements in its design; symbolic of how Rehoboth is working today to integrate Native American studies into its curriculum. Opened in August 2004, the Navajo Code Talker Museum is a continual reminder of the great sacrifices that have been made and the historic and cultural significance they hold for current and future generations

RCS has two observatories - the Rehoboth telescope and the Calvin-Rehoboth Robotic Telescope. In 1996 a former RCS parent generously donated funds to the science department to purchase a Meade LX200 10" telescope. In 1998 the school received a donation and a matching grant to construct a road and a concrete pad south of campus and also purchase a fiberglass dome to permanently house this telescope.

Because Rehoboth has 300+ days of clear skies per year, low light pollution, and is located at an elevation of 6600 feet above sea level, this makes it an ideal location for an observatory. Hearing about the RCS observatory facility and location the Calvin University astronomy department contacted RCS in 2004 requesting permission to partner with RCS to build a remote robotic observatory on the same site providing both observatories with electricity and internet access. The Calvin observatory houses a 16-inch aperture Ritchey-Chretien telescope.  Also, housed in the observatory is the Rehoboth Seismic Station used to detect major earthquakes from all around the globe.

The RCS observatory provides a visual experience for student groups, staff, star parties, and volunteer groups. The Calvin-Rehoboth robotic observatory is managed and remotely controlled by Calvin University students and faculty for astronomy labs and special projects. Imaging programs are set up to run automatically throughout the night and then uploaded to Calvin the next morning.

The ropes course at Rehoboth was built in 1996 and 1997 with a generous gift by Robert and Laurie Smickley of Brookfield, Wisconsin. The course was built with the help of a group of students from Calvin College who came back to build the course with Don Tamminga after spending a semester here at Rehoboth in the Calvin extension program in the Southwest. The climbing tower was built the summer of 1996 and the rest of the ropes course was built over a two week period during the summer of 1997.

The course consists of four separate high units including a climbing tower, a pamper pole, a unit called the dangling duo, and the pentagon which has ten elements or initiatives on it. The high elements are designed to focus on individual challenges and learning. The course also contains 10 low elements that focus on group work and cooperation. In 2008 an indoor climbing wall in the auxiliary gym of the Sports and Fitness Center. The wall was built by Rehoboth staff and students. 

The ropes course and climbing walls have been used in a variety of ways over the past ten years with no doubt the most significant being leadership development among Rehoboth students themselves who are trained to be facilitators on the course leading other groups from within the school and groups from the outside including other schools, juvenile probation, police officers, cadets, church groups and some staff member development among businesses and government agencies. The ropes course has been a catalyst for other outdoor adventure-based programs here at Rehoboth and has inspired numerous students to pursue careers or vocations in the area of outdoor leadership and education, as well as numerous interests in climbing.

Interested in renting or using the ropes course? Please contact Don Tamminga at dtamminga@rcsnm.org for more information. The course is available for rent with or without facilitators, depending on the experience you bring with you.

Enter the Rehoboth Christian School campus, and immediately your eyes lock on to the unique beauty of this special place. More than 15 miles (24.14 km) of trails crisscross the wide-open spaces, framed by the jagged Hogback Mountains piercing the bright blue New Mexico sky.

These trails are part of Rehoboth’s story, having served as grounds for generations hikers, runners, and mountain bikers. Red rock, sandy hills, clay fields, sagebrush, and juniper trees put the geological wonder of our area on display for everyone trekking through the acres of paths. It’s not just about recreation either. Rehoboth’s PE program, academic classes, sports teams, and school clubs all use the trail network as part of their learning during the school year; and whether it’s the wide sandy areas or the hard-packed single track, there’s a place for everyone regardless of their age or skill. 

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. Psalm 24:1

The Rehoboth Cemetery is owned and managed by the Rehoboth Cemetery Association. Rehoboth School has agreed to assist the Association by coordinating burial arrangements and payments. The policies and procedures regarding burials at the cemetery are included in this pamphlet. If you need more information about the cemetery, call Rehoboth School at 505-863-4412.

Below is an excerpt from a story written by Dr. James Schaap. To view the complete story in the June 2009 issue of the Banner, please click here.     

“Most white folks would say the cemetery at Rehoboth is not a well-kept place. Yet, even months after Memorial Day more fresh adornments festoon the burial sites, per capita, than almost anywhere off the rez: a miniature basketball and hoop on the grave of a young woman who only a year earlier had helped her Gallup team to a state championship; (half-empty bottles of Coke half-buried in the dirt; stuffed animals galore, ceramic angels, all kinds of toys; rosary beads hung from a homemade wooden cross jammed in the ground beside a small statue of Mary in a Navajo blanket; hundreds — maybe thousands — of plastic flowers.) — this seems a bit overstated, and comes off as quite pagan.

Arlington National Cemetery’s impressive orderliness makes it seem the soldiers buried there are still heroic and selfless. But at Rehoboth cemetery, the dead are remembered strikingly, memorably. Everywhere you look there is personality. So many stories. So much sadness. And much faith.”