It Grows as It Goes

Ms. Tilp’s Advanced Placement Government visited the Roundhouse today. We had a special treat and were honored to meet outgoing Governor Richardson and get to talk with him for about 5 minutes. Governor Richardson explained the value and importance of our democratic government. “What is important is that you guys need to participate in a democracy…because government effects your lives alot.”  Yes, that is Governor Richardson in the middle!

Our trip encompassed a tour of the Legislative Chamber and talk by Trish Lopez of the NM Film Office about opportunities for students to take part in the development of film in New Mexico by becoming part of this flourishing industry and its attractive jobs and careers. Also, we learned from Eric Witt, Deputy to the Governor for Economic Development, also a native New Mexican, who explained about economic growth industries in New Mexico and the forecast for the legislative agenda under Governor-elect Susannah Martinez.

New Mexico is one of two citizen’s legislatures in the US, meaning average citizens take on the role of legislators. It is in a beautiful building called the Roundhouse and in addition to the business that goes on there, the artwork is nonpareil as can be seen in this buffalo head made entirely from recycled materials collected from all over the state.

I structured my lesson around comparing federal, state and tribal government. I asked the students what they learned and they enthusiastically agree that a field trip accompanied by appropriate reading, curiosity and engagement on the structure of government peeks their curiosity, stimulates their interest and makes them better learners and citizens.

Art, Music and Salad

This All Saint’s Day November 1^st will be my 5^th year in Santa Fe. It has been an inspiring, exhilarating, uplifting and patience-seeking time. Santa Fe has the reputation of being a culturally unique and creative space.

Students in this photo (right) off Agua Fria Road posed with permission in front of one of Santa Fe’s most beautiful murals. When asked to pose for a ‘peace photo’, they readily agreed. A word about the Railyard, it houses Warehouse 21 a youth center for the arts, music and teen space an important innovation in this town as there is not much ‘hang-out space’ other than with sports teams, part time jobs or gang related trouble zones.

The gang problem is real here as evidenced by two students this past year tragically killed by kids with guns. But graffitied walls allotted to students who have violated graffiti regulations are also everywhere. We are supposed to be the #3 art market in the US. In addition to the fancy Canyon Road, Site Santa Fe is an open space art exhibit near the newly created Railyard. Next door is a Farmer’s Market and adjacent there is a sustainable garden exhibit run by some of the schools with water rocks and acequia (acequia are the southwestern irrigation ditches which have been here for 100’s of years) to demonstrate water conservation and use.

A remarkable part of Santa Fe is the convergence of fiction and reality. We have a fantastic NM Film Office which attracts film makers with tax incentives and enticements for hiring local set designers, artists and couturiers. No Country for Old Men (and I guess women) was filmed in the state. We have a school system which tries to involve the arts in all aspects of student life and some marvelous time for celebration. For instance, this Saturday October 15^th will be a Santa Fe Music Fest beginning on Canyon Road and featuring some of our students and teachers. But our schools’ track record in passing standardized testing is dismal:

“The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED), in compliance with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, is required to assess our schools to determine whether they have made adequate yearly progress (AYP) which means that they have met the academic testing standards set by the state. This year, all of our secondary schools did not meet the required academic standards that have been established by the NMPED.”

Whole Foods Supermarket has a large bright red apple painted on their exit sign saying that they contribute to healthier life styles for children by providing organic food and salad bars for Santa Fe Public Schools. So I contributed $1 because here is a place where it is really possible to get something done about student appetites and diet. Our students tend to be very active with lots of sports activities in their lives and healthy menus-- Beans, vegetables and salad. New Mexican and Mexican style tacos, frito pies, pizza with green chile and ‘christmas’ burritos are a standard. My favorites are chiles rellenos and chicken with mole. How one longs for these specialties when gone from Santa Fe!

Hyde Park nearby offers a magnificent place to peep at the leaves and marvel at fall foliage. Most adults take advantage of the outdoors recreation possibilities but fewer young people have ever been or taken a hike in the Sangre de Christo mountains about a mile from our school.

A bright spot in my school is our Capital Green Project a community garden started about two years ago by some dedicated faculty, students and local officials. Earth Care, a local non-profit has taken the lead in stimulating more green spaces with training for facilitators. Teachers unite science, language and social studies curricula to this outdoor hands-on space. Earth care has seconded Americorps volunteer, Katie Maley to the garden project. Katie and I taught students how to use a compass, striding and different types of soil for my NM History class. Another teacher uses Spanish vocabulary acquisition to her lessons and another science teacher has started a composting project.

New Mexico Memories

The Skunk Chooses You

When I was a child, I had an incredible longing to have a live skunk. My mother and father wanted to give me one until they found out that it had to be de-smelled. I do not know how or where I would have kept it; my sister had a horse but it had a stall in the stable down the road. My caretaking of a gerbil was short lived—it bit me and I could not manage it any longer. But what about the skunk? It seemed like such a gentle and interesting animal. I loved its nocturnal instincts, its blackness and its white stripe. I don’t know what possessed me to love the idea of a skunk but I did. It lasted for a long time until one Christmas when I received a silky smooth stuffed skunk. I did like it but it was not able to playful and slink around at night like I had seen. On occasions in the summer, I would get a whiff of a skunk, not a direct hit mind you, just a perfumy air that made me realize someone had offended it. It would come late at night in the darkness and I remembered my wish and how it was being realized. I got over the idea of having a live skunk. Later in life someone said to me, “You don’t choose animals, they choose you.” How did the skunk know to choose me? I don’t know, it was a spiritual feeling, something that I could not rationalize.

Recently I visited the Bosque in southern New Mexico where cranes are attracted on their southern migration, to large fields of retired fallow seeded fields. Early every fall morning, there is a giant lift-off of sand cranes. It is a bit chilly at 5am; the gray sky lightens and there is a collective honk and groups of cranes in unison signal their intention by picking up their feet and flapping.
I am pretty accustomed to doing my own thing while living here in Santa Fe. I can be creative or lazy in the evening, watch my favorite show MI-5, play on Facebook or take a walk along the Alameda. We had the most spectacular snow last year that I have had since I arrived. The base of snow alone was 70 inches. And I live at 7,000 feet so lots of powder snow. My niece, Reeve, and I were able to go skiing last weekend. Even on a weekday, when it snows enough, school is closed. I put on my x country skis & take a tour around town.

In the Spring and Fall, I love to ride my Nantucket-licensed bike up and down the strait and narrow which runs alongside the Santa Fe river. That is what Santa Feans call the Alameda. My neighborhood is like a barrio. There is a coyote fence around the property. We can see each other through it. It is quiet near the dog park unless the police pull over some drunk drivers.School this year has taken up 100% of my energy, enthusiasm and patience. Budget cuts for the State and for the school district seem imminent. I have enjoyed implementing my curriculum using President Obama’s book Dreams from My Father. Students began by doing their own family trees and making mandalas of their lives. We have studies all the different roles of the President: Commander in Chief, Chief Legislator, Chief Citizen. Students have been able to evaluate the performance of the President. Most of them identify with Obama: parents of a mixed race, living with grandparents, absentee father etc. For our community service project, all 50 students worked in the Community Shelter. Here is what one teenage girl wrote: