This coming Wednesday, August 13th, 6PM at the Nave Ade Clubhouse (4460 Dancing Ground Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87507), I will host a meet and greet such that interested folks can come and discuss their views on the relationship between schools and the greater Santa Fe community. While I won’t have a formal agenda, I will introduce myself and provide a bit of context about my campaign.

Primarily, I will address two (2) items that are foundational towards the reason I want to serve on the school board: 1) the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit; and, 2) the relationship between Santa Fe’s students and the future Santa Fe economy.

Why these two (2) things, specifically? According to the Yazzie/Martinez case outcome, all NM school districts must provide equitable access to a college/career readiness education. This education sould be accessible regardless of a student’s ethnic, lingistic, socioeconomic, or geographic background. For the last three (3) school years, I have served on the SFPS Executive Equity Council and I can safely say that we have done a ton of work in the area to ensure that SFPS is compliant with the judge’s order. However, I do think more can be done. We shouldn’t stop at the case’s outcome, we should seek to establish partnerships with local higher ed and local government agencies to find ways to provide at-risk youth with opportunities to find healthy means of economic expression.

These means are at the heart of why I believe. As a native Spanish speaker, I had teachers who connected materials with my upbringing (especially Mrs. Pacheco). If it wasn’t for these teachers, I may never had access to school stuff. Without them, I more than likely would have floundered. Not only that, but learning to write computer code at twelve (12) provided the basis of my entire career. I was lucky to have access to both linguistic and economic opportunities. They provided a life for which I am eternally grateful.

It is this sense of gratitude that drives my desire to serve. While I have served and volunteered in different capacities, I want the opportunity to draft and execute educational policy that can provide the same basis that life provided me. I hope to see a whole mess of folks this Wednesday, August 13th at the Nava Ade Clubhouse. We can chat and learn (and maybe I can even start earning some votes). Thank you, all, for reading…Sigue Adelante!

(as an aside, if you want to support my campaign through a donation: