New Mexico Programs

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Sangre de Cristo Communities and Schools Consortium Organizing for Power Circles of Wisdom

Sangre de Cristo Communities and Schools Consortium

Coordinator: Eric Romero
New Mexico Highlands University
TEC 121 School of Education
Las Vegas, NM 87701
Phone: (505) 426-2204
FAX: (505) 454-3110

E-mail: eromero@cesdp.nmhu.edu

Schools/Students Served: The Sangre de Cristo Communities and Schools Consortium is located in the north central mountains of New Mexico. Ten school districts, with a total student population of 16,701, are involved in the work of the consortium to varying degrees.

Background: Teachers in the consortium have identified the state's standardized testing accountability framework as a major challenge to place-based teaching and learning. The communities of the consortium are challenged most by low employment and struggling economies; in many schools, education is a secondary concern to that of employment and subsistence.

Goals: Because of distances between the districts, the principal objective of the consortium is to network students, teachers, and communities. Excited about and skilled in place-based education, the consortium's activities are comprehensive to cover a range of work from student leadership development, youth entrepreneurial training, curriculum development, and sustainable community planning. The Sangre de Cristo Consortium is working to overcome challenges in the communities and schools. Their main strategy is teacher and student collaboration for the design of meaningful curriculum; it is important for students to comprehend what makes a sustainable community, and to work toward achieving this goal.

Accomplishments: The consortium has worked to assess the schools and districts, identifying best practices and initiating pilot projects. They will sponsor a variety of inter-district place-based institutes to share progressive teaching and learning activities.

Organizing for Power

Director: Eleanor Milroy
New Mexico Organizing Project
5500 Villa Canela Court, NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Phone: (505) 269-2453

Email: ejmilroy@aol.com

Schools/Students Served: The focus of the work of Organizing for Power is Gallup-McKinley County, New Mexico, the largest rural school district in the US.

Background: New Mexico has the highest percentage of rural children in poverty of any state in the U.S. Minority children make up 62% of the school population. Per-pupil spending is in the lowest quartile, teacher salaries are low, and the state has been sued by the Zuni reservation for not funding facilities. The Gallup-McKinley County area is the largest rural school district in the US, the size of the state of Connecticut. The school population is 76% Native American (mostly Navajo and Zuni), 15% Hispanic, and 8% Anglo. Over 80% of the children are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. The district has 151 school buses covering over 1.7 million miles each year at a average cost per pupil of $400. The district loses one-third of its teachers each year. Of the 25 worst performing schools in New Mexico, 11 are in this district. Many parents of Native American children were forced to attend boarding schools off their reservations, and have very negative feelings about the public schools.

Goals: This project, begun in fall 2000, intends to widen the organizing work being done by Albuquerque Interfaith to include rural areas of New Mexico. Albuquerque Interfaith is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), and seeks to find and develop community leaders who can work together to analyze the issues in their communities and the state of New Mexico and figure out how to impact policy in a number of areas, but especially school funding. The New Mexico Organizing project in Gallup-McKinley County will follow the IAF model of organizing, conducting at least 1,000 individual meetings; supporting leaders to conduct 200 house meetings; conducting 25 "research actions" and 15 leadership development trainings; and holding a 10-day training for at least 15 leaders from the area.

Accomplishments: The first statewide organizing action, which included 50 leaders from the Gallup-McKinley area, was held in October 2000.

Circles of Wisdom

Coordinator: Louise R. Naranjo
Santa Fe Indian School
1501 Cerrillos Road
Box 5340
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone: (505) 989-6340
FAX: (505) 989-6317

E-mail: lrnaranjo@sfis.k12.nm.us

Schools/Students Served: rcles of Wisdom serves Pueblo communities located throughout the state of New Mexico, including approximately 2,400 students and 12 schools (grades K-12).

Background: Circles of Wisdom works with the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, 11 Pueblo day schools, and the Santa Fe Indian School toward a goal of creating a curriculum which is aligned K-12 with state standards and incorporates community-based education. Native American students make up 100% of the population with which Circles of Wisdom works. Most live in traditional Native communities. The richness of this traditional life is in contrast to the fact that 90% of the children live in poverty (as defined by the USDA free lunch program).

Goals: The work of Circles of Wisdom focuses on capacity building, tapping communities and local schools into the richness of traditional Native life to inspire students to achieve academically while maintaining their cultural lives. Circles of Wisdom�s vision is to have a Pueblo educational system supported by curriculum that is driven by community priorities. To accomplish this, the five pieces of the program ? research, technology, youth leadership, curriculum development, and professional development ? must come together in community-school partnerships that honor the intricacy of Pueblo protocol. The end result will be the documentation of a successful process for working with Pueblo communities, access to technology as a means for strengthening Pueblo communities, and culturally appropriate, interdisciplinary curricula that are aligned with New Mexico state standards and the needs of Pueblo youth.

Accomplishments: As Circles of Wisdom moves toward their program vision, community relations are their highest priority in everything they do. It is imperative to develop and nurture strong partnerships of schools and communities to prepare young people for the challenges they face as Pueblo people and as capable participants in the technological age. They have advanced to a new level of collaboration with the Pueblo communities and have provided avenues for community input on curriculum development in all content areas. There are varying degrees of community involvement with Circles of Wisdom. Throughout the work, community is the focal point; the Community Based Education Model (CBEM) embodies the very essence of community-driven curriculum. Each of the six Pueblos involved define the direction of field work that the students will be doing in their community. At the start of each year, community members identify the priorities of the community in the area of environment and work together with the CBEM teachers to integrate those priorities into the curriculum. In addition to the CBEM program directly addressing community issues through their curricula, the 12 schools with which Circles of Wisdom works incorporate community based education approaches through the development and implementation of mini-grant projects. The mini-grants were conceived as a way for teachers and staff from the day schools and Santa Fe Indian School to create curricula that combine community priorities and state standards. Yet another way the issues and needs of the communities are addressed and needs met is through a summer internship called "Community Connect" in which Santa Fe Indian School staff members serve as resources for the community.