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Back to School
Roswell Daily Record
Chaves County school districts introduce many changes
By Lisa Dunlap Roswell Daily Record Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur public schools have a number of new developments for the upcoming academic year, according to their superintendents. The new plans range from grounds improvement, to academic program launches, to efforts to reconnect with the community. Dexter: Improve instruction, community outreach
Submitted Photo Heather Garner, Dexter schools superintendent
The new superintendent for Dexter Consolidated School District, Heather Garner, said that the top priority is to focus on implementing a districtwide instructional framework for kindergarten to 12th grade that includes using data to improve teaching practices and student outcomes. “When we are talking about student outcomes, we are looking for growth, not just proficiency,” Garner said. “We know that our students are struggling in some areas, like across the nation, but let’s not focus on whether or not they are proficient. But let’s see where every student is and then pinpoint how we will help them show growth based off our teaching strategies.” Garner said the district will name a director for the initiative to be responsible for collaboration across the elementary, middle and high school faculty. The initiative also will involve a lab where teachers can observe successful instructional practices.
The school also plans a new approach to help students readjust to a social learning environment after the COVID-19 period when many kids spent long hours and more than a year isolated from others, often without much adult interaction, and learning only via computers. She said this “restorative” process is meant to reengage students in the educational process and refresh their awareness about the attitudes, behaviors and “cooperative learning” wanted in the classroom, on the playground and among students. She said the process is meant as an intervention prior to any type of formal disciplinary or suspension actions. Dexter Middle School implemented the practice last year, Garner added. “They had great success. They only had one physical altercation and it was very minimal, and that is awesome for a middle school,” she said. A third priority is relaunching events that will connect the schools with the larger community. That is expected to start in the fall with Homecoming week activities in September and the Fall Festival at the elementary school, Garner said. The events will involve all three schools, all departments and units as well as community residents, organizations and businesses. She said the district wants to “build our community rapport and relationships back and bring back some of those fun, family traditions that Dexter was so known for.” Other community-district events during the year are expected to include a spelling bee, Science Night, Math Night, a “Dexter’s Got Talent” competition, and a Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) Night to introduce students and guardians to the financial aid application needed when applying for grants, federal loans or scholarships for college. Garner said the largest
construction project for the year is the rebuilding of the bus barn, located off campus a few miles from Dexter in an area of the county known as Greenfield. The structure was destroyed in a fire that the Dexter Fire and Rescue Department indicated occurred in February 2021. Garner said that the foundation has been poured and construction for the structure should begin soon. Hagerman: New website, expanded technical education options
Submitted Photo Curtis Clough, Hagerman schools superintendent
The Hagerman Municipal Schools’ new website is more than a graphic redesign, said Hagerman Superintendent Curtis Clough. He said the new site launched July 1 will improve communication and foster more connections among the community and the district’s students, staff and faculty. The website address remains the same at www.bobcat.net. “It is a first-class communication tool that is really catered to student and parent needs,” Clough said. “An example would be that we will have a district master calendar of all events, but the parents can sort it by what buildings their students are in. They don’t have to see the entire master calendar. If their kid is in our elementary, they can click on the elementary and only see the elementary events.” Other selections could be by activities or teams. The site also will allow livestreaming of events, and a phone app (or application) is available so people can be
alerted as soon as new information is added to the site. The district has been working on it since April, and Clough said he and others are still learning all of its features. The district is also adding more classes and more programs to its career technical education offerings, what prior generations used to refer to as vocational or occupational education. The district is offering an Ag Science/Ag Mechanics Career Academy after hiring its second agricultural education teacher for grades eight to 12. Some students will be able to enroll in dual credit course at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales and will be academically prepared to enter the college’s degree programs after high school graduation. An Educator Rising program will be one of the first offered in eastern New Mexico to prepare students to become teachers, with 15 students enrolled at this time. A full-time welding instructor and another vocational instructor are upgrading the welding program that would allow some students to graduate with up to three certificates and possibly a national welding industry certificate. That program is aligned with ENMU-Roswell. The district also is starting a cybersecurity program for high school students and a beginning computer coding class for seventh and eighth graders, with ENMU-Ruidoso as the partner on the high school program. Clough said every seventh and eighth grader will take coding, and already 12 high school students are enrolled in the cybersecurity program, which could allow students to become certified as computer tech assistants as well. “Right now we have roughly 74% of our students taking at least one CTE class,” he said, adding that percentage is prior to final registration. “One of the things the board did when they hired me last year was point
By mid-year, 36% were testing at that Level 3. By the end of the year, 54% were. “I feel like we have done a good job establishing some systems for our little ones and for teachers to have some time to work together and look at data,’ she said. “We want to replicate that success all the levels. We have the systems all the way to eighth grade, but high school is always a bit more challenging to align teachers’ schedules.” She said the district has selected a new interim assessment for the high school, chosen because of its similarity to the SAT, so that teachers and students can be assured that students are learning what they need to. “We are going to provide the teachers with time to work together, to learn it and reflect on it,” she said, “because we know that when we do that, things work and we make progress.” In terms of campus improvements, the district received a 2022 capital outlay award of $150,000 to purchase and install shade structures over the playground, with Begueria saying that outdoor time is vital for students, especially younger ones. The district also will use its own funds to renovate the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms for the high school. “It is always an ongoing process when you are a smaller district,” she said. “It is never-ending.” In prior years, the district added secured fencing for the campus, repaired roofs and added a canopy to connect the cafeteria to a classroom building. Begueria said the new projects are expected to be completed during the academic year.
out the number of kids we have that wanted to have work-related experiences and being able to get those courses that aligned to their desired pathways.” He said many Hagerman High School graduates delay going to college. More often, graduates work for at least a couple of years before entering college. Surveys of students have informed the district about which programs and classes to offer. “We look at career and tech ed as a primary means for them to be successful at school and graduate,” Clough said, “because they are motivated to come to school, working in an area or pathway they have a passion for.” Lake Arthur: Build on K-2 growth, upgrades for campus
Submitted Photo Elisa Begueria, Lake Arthur schools superintendent
Lake Arthur Municipal Schools Superintendent Elisa Begueria says that her district will strive this coming year to replicate the kind of success it has had with some of its youngest students. At the New Mexico Coalition of Education Conference in Albuquerque on July 13, state Secretary of Education Kurt Steinhaus commended four elementary schools in the state with English-learner students in kindergarten to second-graders showing significant progress in their early literacy scores. At Lake Arthur, its students started the year with only 9% scoring at satisfactory levels, or Level 3 or above on the Istation tests.
Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or at reporter02@ rdrnews.com.
The Newspapers in Education program
By Barbara Beck Publisher Roswell Daily Record The Roswell Daily Record and the Roswell Independent School District collaborate on Newspapers in Education to use the newspaper as a tool for instruction. We offer the newspaper for use as a learning tool. The newspaper provides copies to the schools, free of charge. The program is mostly funded through the “Roswell Daily Record” and we are always looking for sponsors for the program. Students use our newspaper as a meaningful resource for
learning. The NIE program varies according to the needs of our educational community. It is a very flexible program. A middle school might use the newspaper in a math class calculating percentages while an elementary class might use NIE newspapers for a social studies project, exploring the history of Roswell and Chaves County through one of our articles on the topic. Our newspaper is used as an instructional tool in many subjects and grade levels around town with both public and private education. Typically, most teachers use NIE with a focus on language arts, reading, social studies, math and science. NIE programs are used throughout grade levels in elementary, middle or high school settings. The goal of our NIE program is to use the newspaper to help teachers with the subjects they are already teaching. It is not intended to simply teach about the newspaper, although it can be used for that also. A good NIE program helps teachers learn to develop their own
activities using the newspaper. Several studies have shown that children and/ or adults who regularly read a newspaper demonstrate significant gains in reading skills. A study conducted by the NAA Foundation showed that students who use newspapers might score significantly higher on standardized tests than students who do not read the newspaper.
NIE programs offer many benefits. NIE builds readership and reading skills. Newspaper advertisers also love it when a shopper tells them they saw their product in a newspaper advertisement. Our community appreciates those who show an interest in the education, health and safety of their children. NIE can help children in all of those areas. There is no substitute for a newspaper. Television, radio and the inter-
net can give the news quickly. Understanding the news usually comes, however, with the longer, more thoughtful appraisal of facts and details found only in newspapers. Younger readers quickly learn that a newspaper is more than news. It is feature articles that tell them of interesting people and activities in the community as well. NIE builds community goodwill and helps improve local education. By providing copies of the newspaper, we are giving teachers the opportunity to use the most up-to-date textbook on the market. The closer to home a story is, the more motivation there is to read that story. A student in Roswell is more apt to find his or her name in the Roswell Daily Record than in a larger regional daily newspaper. Our newspaper covers our students’ community. Community news is important to the functioning of our democracy because most citizen involvement occurs at the local level. The community newspaper is geographically closer to its reading audience and it is
also easily accessible under normal circumstances for tours by students because we have our own printing facility and always have. Not many newspapers have their own press anymore, as they are now much harder to find. Teachers, please send in photos of your children’s school events or photos of their volunteer efforts throughout the year to be spotlighted. There are also writing opportunities available for teen writers. For
more information contact editor@rdrnews.com. NIE is a benefit to schools and the community. Please take the time to consider reading a newspaper and supporting NIE. Barbara Beck is publisher of the Roswell Daily Record. She has a Master’s degree in Education, graduating with honors, and taught for 11 years in elementary, middle school and community college.
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Roswell NM 88201 ph 575-623-2757 fax 575-623-2758 tadpoles_daycare@yahoo.com 5 Star Center
Providing care for children 6 weeks to 5 years old. Featuring NM Early Pre-K (3 yrs old) & NM Pre-K (4 yrs old) Pre-K programs are free to all families.
Back to School
Roswell Daily Record
Friday, July 29, 2022
RISD plans next 5 years of capital projects By Juno Ogle Roswell Daily Record As the Roswell Independent School District prepared its latest five-year master plan of capital projects it sought input from the public about what they would like to see in the schools in the future. Jeremy Sanchez, RISD construction coordinator, presented the 2022-27 Comprehensive Five Year Capital Improvement Master Plan at the July 12 meeting of the Board of Education. The board approved the plan by a vote of 4-0; board member James Edwards was absent. The previous master plan, updated in 2016, included two projects that have been completed — Parkview Early Literacy Center, 1700 W. Alameda, finished in 2017, and Del Norte Elementary School, 2701 N. Garden,
opened in fall 2020. Two projects identified in that plan with needs for upgrades were Mesa Middle School, 1601 E. Bland, and Nancy Lopez Elementary School, 1208 E. Bland, both of which are now in different project stages. Washington Avenue Elementary School, 408 N. Washington Ave., and Mountain View Middle School, 312 E. Mountain View Road, were also identified for upgrades. Those projects are all carrying over to the new five-year plan. “Mesa Middle School is under construction. Anticipated final completion of that project would be next year, December. Nancy Lopez Elementary is in the design process and we are anticipating completion of design at the end of this year,” Sanchez said. The $22 million Mesa Middle School project saw
a groundbreaking in October. The New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Council is funding 71% of the construction. The district’s share of about $6.1 million will be paid from the $14 million general obligation bonds approved by Chaves County voters in 2019. The project will add a second gymnasium with bleacher seating for 600 to Mesa, which has been the only RISD middle school with only one gym. In addition, the project will add a twostory classroom wing, a new pick-up-and drop-off plaza and a new track and field to the school, which was originally constructed in 1958. For Nancy Lopez Elementary, designers will be able to offer an option of a completely new school after the board approved a notice of intent to purchase eight acres just north of Mesa. Plans will
also be drawn up for a renovation of the current school at 1208 E. Bland. “Mountain View Middle School and Washington Avenue have matching state funds, but we are in an early planning stage so we have not entered the design process,” Sanchez said. Design for those two schools are tentatively planned to start at the beginning of 2023, he said. “That really is the bulk of what we would be doing as a school district for the five years looking forward,” Sanchez said. Kerrianne Wolf, a senior associate director with contracted consultant Cooperative Strategies, outlined the process of working with the district to create the five-year plan. That included two community meetings in December and March with surveys that received more than
1,000 responses, she said. One thing the surveys revealed is that 69% of the respondents support maintaining facilities that don’t house students, such as the Administrative and Educational Services Complex, 300 N. Kentucky Ave. She said in other districts, people wanted to see improvements only in buildings where students were learning. “But here they want that support for the staff as well,” she said. Respondents also wanted to see outdoor spaces prioritized, such as offering more shade structures, improved pick-up and drop-off areas for both buses and parents, and outdoor learning areas. “Outdoor learning areas aren’t just blacktop and grass where students go outside and sit. They need to be appropriately furnished, appropriately equipped and
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have appropriate fixtures for students to really engage in that appropriate learning instruction,” Wolf said. The surveys also showed people would like to have access to school facilities such as playgrounds, gyms or auditoriums outside of a school’s operating hours. That of course, would have to be balanced with security issues, she said. Parents also wanted to see greater security measures, the surveys showed. “There was also a desire for additional cameras, metal detectors and security vestibules,” she said. City/RISD reporter Juno Ogle can be reached at 575622-7710, ext. 205, or reporter04@rdrnews.com.
School resource officers return to RISD By Juno Ogle Roswell Daily Record A childhood wish to be a cop and a desire to work with children to help them be comfortable around police are what led two Roswell police officers to their new roles as school resource officers in the Roswell Independent School District. Anna Romero and Cristal Gonzales are the first school resource officers in RISD in two years. In June 2020, as the city sought to cut its budget amid uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Roswell Police Department reassigned its three school resource officers to help fill vacant positions in the patrol and detective divisions. A staff shortage prevented the department from dedicating any officers to the schools until now, RISD School Safety Liaison LJ Harrell said. Romero will be stationed at Roswell High School and Gonzales at Goddard High School, but they will also be available for the district’s middle and elementary schools, including Sydney Gutierrez Charter Schools, he said. “There’s two of them for 23 schools, so they will pop around to any problems we have at any school. They’re going to be busy all over the place,” Harrell said. Both participated in an RPD active shooter training in June conducted at the First Baptist Church along with other members of RPD and area law enforcement. Gonzales said she anticipates that in the high schools especially, they will deal with students fighting or with reckless driving in the parking lots, but they
might also need to give referrals for welfare checks for students who are suspected of being victims of physical or sexual abuse. They will work in conjunction with the district’s 13 unarmed security guards at the middle and high schools, but their main role isn’t necessarily for security and law enforcement, Harrell said. “The main reason we have them is to build that rapport with kids to have that officer presence,” he said. “Sometimes the only presence the kids see of a police officer is when mom and dad had issues and a police officer showed up and that was the scariest day of their lives,” he said. Gonzales said she had situations in her childhood that when the police showed up it made her feel safe. “I remember seeing how those officers came and responded and I said ‘We’re safe now.’ To be able to do that for other people, it’s great,” she said. She has been with RPD for five years, but before that, she worked in a variety of jobs that she said eventually led to her childhood wish to be a police officer. Working at a clothing store and learning to sell the merchandise helped her learn to talk easily with people, she said. “It wasn’t easy for me to talk to just anybody,” she said. “I really put myself out there.” She moved from that job into caregiving roles at Tobosa, where some of the people she worked with didn’t have verbal communication skills. She learned about communicating with body language from that job, she said. She went from that job to
a daycare and then as a CNA at Casa Maria. She said she loved the CNA job, but after awhile realized she wanted something else. One day patrol cars went by the nursing home with their lights and sirens running and she knew what she wanted to do next, even though her mother had always discouraged her from the idea of being a police officer. “Everything just fell into place, but I had to work for it,” she said of applying to the RPD. Romero has been with the force since 2019, starting as a police services aide and then becoming a full officer in the patrol division in December 2020. Service aides handle calls that are customer-service oriented such as assisting with traffic accidents, traffic control and taking reports for some types of crimes. “It gave me a good opportunity to see if I wanted to become an officer without being an officer and then finding out too late it’s not for me,” she said. Romero said her goal as a school resource officer is the same as what parents want — to make sure their kids are safe — especially since she is a parent of an RISD student as well. “I have a kiddo and she goes to school, so I do want to help create a good environment where she knows that’s it OK to talk to us and interact us. She’s around cops all the time, but I want other kids to feel that way as well,” she said. City/RISD reporter Juno Ogle can be reached at 575622-7710, ext. 205, or reporter04@rdrnews.com.
2601 w. berrendo rd. roswell, nm phone: (575) 622-2242 FAX (575) 622-2008
Open 7am-6pm M-F email: generationsoflearning@yahoo.com
Juno Ogle Photo LJ Harrell, safe schools liaison for the Roswell Independent School District, left, introduces two new school resource officers of the Roswell Police Department, Anna Romero, center, and Cristal Gonzales at the July 12 meeting of the Board of Education.
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Back to School Roswell Daily Record NMMI emphasizes leadership program this year
By Lisa Dunlap Roswell Daily Record New Mexico Military Institute plans to continue its efforts to strengthen cadet leadership skills, and it is working with an expanding group of international schools to bring more students to the school here. Those are just two of many changes expected for the 2022-23 academic year for the high school and junior college, which saw some cadets returning in late July and has an Aug. 11 start date for classes. NMMI, which had 820 cadets enrolled in fall 2022, is considered a “specialty” school in the state because it receives some state funding. The Commandant’s Leadership and Character Development Program began in January 2022 and has been awarded a grant from the New Mexico Higher Education Department. While additional information will come in the weeks ahead, the program is described in a letter posted to the NMMI website by Maj. Gen. Jerry Grizzle, NMMI president and superintendent, as a mean to improve intrapersonal skills such as social and emotional learning, mental health and wellness. The four-semester program also is meant to strengthen leadership principles used at the troop, squadron and regimental
levels in the cadet corps. The Institute is also returning to a practice that will separate high school cadets and college cadets into two squadrons, which Grizzle indicated is supported by cadets, faculty and staff. Commandant Col. Thomas Tate said in a video announcement that junior college students will live in Saunders barracks, while high school cadets will live in Hagerman barracks. “High school will lead high school. College will lead college,” Tate said. “We’re not separate corps. We are going to be one corps united under two squadrons or battalions.” The B oard of R egents recently approved an admissions agreement with Colégio Tiradentes in Brazil. NMMI Director of International Affairs Christhina Starke said the K-12 school has about 15 locations, with plans to expand to 30 sites within a few years. The school serves the dependents of military and law enforcement officers and has more than 25,000 students, Starke said. The admissions agreement provides a discounted tuition for Colégio Tiradentes students, who Starke said have to adhere to strict procedures. Under the admissions agreement, Brazilian students will not have to pay the full international student tuition, which
Daily Record File Photo NMMI cadet troops present themselves for review during a November 2018 event on Stapp Field. NMMI will divide its corps into high school and college squadrons this year.
for students outside North America is $15,920 for the coming year. Instead, they only have to pay 150% of the in-state tuition rate, which is $2,000 for 2022-23. For the coming academic year, 30 Colégio Tiradentes students are expected at the Institute, with 15 being exchange students. NMMI then will have the opportunity to send up to 15 of its cadets to one of the Brazilian school locations for the spring semester or an extended summer program, Starke said. Similar admissions agreements already have been established with schools in
Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates as well as the Western University Exchange. Starke said that she is also working now on agreements with schools in several other countries, including Georgia. “We have been expanding our partnerships as we expect to see an increase in our student recruitment,” Starke said. NMMI is at work on many campus improvement projects as well. On July 13, it opened to the public the renovated Cahoon Armory, a five-level athletics and physical education administrative
office building with instructional space as well. Current projects include continued upgrades of the bathrooms, or sink rooms, in the barracks; renovations to the JRT, the student union building; the continued effort to implement energy cost-saving equipment, lighting and controls across the campus, or Post; the installation of video alert and surveillance systems for the Post; reroofing of the Godfrey Athletic Center, the Toles Learning Center and Wilson Hall; and $825,000 in improvements to underground water supply valves for various buildings, which
still requires final approval of the New Mexico Board of Finance. The Institute’s 2022 general obligation (GO) bond project, which will be under consideration by statewide voters in November, is the renovation and 7,500-square-foot expansion of the Bates Dining Hall, originally built in 1918. The Institute has been approved by state legislators to receive $4 million toward the project. Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or at reporter02@ rdrnews.com.
ENMU-R introduces ACES Ambassadors By Lisa Dunlap Roswell Daily Record A new student group has been formed at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell to create more connections among current students and introduce the community and prospective students to the local college. The Achieving Career and Educational Success (ACES) Ambassador group was formed in April. Ten students will serve next year. Five are regular college students and the others are enrolled in college classes as Early College High School students. “We are starting our training in the beginning of August, so they will go through a three-day training on how to be an ambassador for the college and all that entails,” said Tyrah Esquibel, pathway strategist for the Cultivating Success Initiative (CSI), created by a federal Title V grant to the college. Esquibel said that she and other administrators, in listening to students, decided that the a student leadership group could help develop a more robust student life at the college — which has a large number of parttime students and students who work full time — as well as ease high school students into the college environment. Esquibel said she also thinks the group will help develop ideas for future student-related improvements. “After the pandemic, we saw a decrease in student engagement on campus,” she said. “We just wanted to turn things around and create student life where people are starting to come together again and creating this college as more of a community and a family where people can meet and gather together.” One of the first organized
activities of the group will be a “welcome back” night in August as fall classes begin. Other events both on the campus, in the community and in local high schools will occur during the year. Students, who went through an application and interview process, are expected to meet at least once a week and participate in at least three outreach activities and two high school visits each semester. They make a one-year commitment to the group. While the college is still deciding whether ambassadors will receive compensation, Esquibel said she thinks personal development rather than money is motivating the students. “A lot of the students who joined are looking for a way to grow themselves as leaders,” she said. “They aren’t really in it for the money. They are in it for the opportunities involved.” Erubiel Barrientos, a May 2022 Dexter High School graduate who plans to study gas and diesel mechanics, is one of the new ambassadors. “I wanted to be part of the group so that I can make a difference,” he said. “I feel that I can connect with people and help others make connections with people.” The 2022-23 school year at ENMU-Roswell also will bring other changes. The college is working to open a food bank somewhere on campus, having received a New Mexico Higher Education Department grant to start it. It also will open the newly renovated Automotive & Welding Technology Building to students this fall. Campus improvement projects expected to begin this academic year or the next including renovation and upgrades to restrooms and sewer and sanitation
Submitted Photo Steven Starkey, activities director for the Cultivating Success Initiative at ENMU-Roswell, speaks to some of the ACES Ambassadors during a May meeting.
lines; the addition of exterior lighting and surveillance cameras and systems to enhance campus safety; and an upgrade to fiber optic cables. The school is also waiting on a state decision about whether it will receive $1 million for the expansion
of its Health Sciences building to accommodate more nursing students. In addition, a $2.48 million general obligation (GO) bond project will come before statewide voters in November. That would fund the addition of sprinkler
systems for the Arts and Science Center, the Occupational Technology Center and the Physical Education Center in 2023 or thereafter. 2022 Community-college events of significance include two in November, a Veterans’ Day event and the
Turkey Trot-David Gonzales Memorial walk and run that benefit local nonprofits and charitable organizations. Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or at reporter02@ rdrnews.com.
Back to School Friday, July 29, 2022 C5 Arts education takes many forms throughout community
Roswell Daily Record
By Christina Stock Roswell Daily Record Art is practical and necessary not only for the development of the brain, but in everyone’s life. Art touches everything — an artist designed the appearance of the chairs we sit in, the bottles we buy and the glasses we pour our water into. During the pandemic, schools from coast to coast that had neglected their art programs in the past were working hard to include it in their virtual learning plans. Why? Because arts is integral to the social, civic and mental health of children and concern was raised by parents and educators about the mental toll the pandemic shutdown could cause in children. According to EdSource, a nonprofit organization reporting on key education challenges, educators and artists championed mandates to restore arts and music education to public and private schools, as a way to help a “generation COVID19 grapple with their feelings about growing up in a time of tragedy.” The Texas Commission on the Arts offers a program sending high-quality artists to schools throughout the state providing performances, workshops and residencies. These artists offer programs specifically designed to work with the school curriculums. In Chaves County, the Roswell Independent School District already has a successful plan in place at the Creative Learning Center. It does not depend on artists visiting sporadically — instead, it is a local program. The center’s 12 educators travel to all elementary schools each week to bring visual and performing arts lessons to all K-5 students. The program is Arts Connect. For those who are not familiar with the program, it is due to Max Coll, who sponsored the Fine Arts Education Act. Coll served a total of 32 years in the New Mexico House of Representatives and died March 27, 2014. When he passed the Fine Arts Education Act in 2003, the bill established and funded art, music, dance and drama in grade schools. As a result, Roswell artist and educator Elaine Wiggins-Howe started the Arts Connect initiative, which is today RISD’s Creative Learning Center. RISD, private schools and homeschooled children find support in the community. Following are some samples of the opportunities children have who are interested in art. Many of the visiting artists who are fellows of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program are art educators and volunteer their time talking to the children at school or during the programs of the Roswell Museum and other organizations. The Historical Society for Southeast New Mexico Museum opens its doors to educate children not only about the history of the region, but also about art and architecture. Asked how many classes visit the museum, its Executive Director, Amy McVay Tellez, said, “As far as 4th graders almost every school in Roswell. Private, Gateway, All Saints, we even
Christina Stock Photo Alice Balderrama, standing, left, is supervising her crafts table during the Family After Hours event at the Roswell Museum in 2019. Balderrama is a performing arts educator at the Creative Learning Center.
had home schoolers and we have done Immanuel Lutheran. In middle schools and high schools, we have partnered with history clubs. We always welcome that. Kim Wiggins (a local artist) and others have done presentations next door (in the society’s archive building). We are always open to additional opportunities.” One of those opportunities is working with children of the KAPS (Kids’ Arts Programs) of Roswell Community Little Theatre. These children are learning to become actors and are planning, on Sept. 17, to reenact famous Roswell citizens at the society’s event, “The Living Museum: Local Legends.” One of RISD’s high school’s principals, Mario Zuniga at Goddard High School, has a son who is an artist. He said in a phone interview that his son recently had an exhibit in Albuquerque. Zuniga grew up with the arts as well. “I graduated high school 40 years ago in 1982. In a little place called Reserve, New Mexico, and my mother had five boys. I’m the oldest, and she made all of us go to band. And we all played an instrument during high school. I always wanted to play piano, but I wasn’t good at it. But my fourth brother is a band teacher in a big high school in Fairfax (High School) in Phoenix, Arizona. He was a pianist, he is a good musician.” Asked about arts in school, Zuniga said, “Art is very important, it activates the right brain, which is the creative imagination. As our band teacher says, Mr. Everitt, he talks about how art makes us human. That’s why creativity is so important along with the arts, it is something that keeps us engaged and keeps us human.” Asked what he would like to include or build up if he had all the funds necessary, Zuniga said, “Other schools have dance, a fulltime orchestra program — expanding it to all forms of art. We have the digital pieces, we have publishing, the traditional art, painting. But just incorporating everything.” Candace Cantu is in a unique position being a teacher and the mother of three. Two of her children are attending local public schools. This is Cantu’s second year as media arts
instructor at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. In a phone interview, Cantu talked about the programs available for high school students and art. “I do have such a wide range of students from high school all the way, I want to say, 50/60 years old,” she said. “I have dual-credit classes available. They don’t have to have their high school diploma yet, they can take classes while they are in high school. I have an instructor at Goddard that teaches a few classes for dual credit that feeds into our program. I also teach students from several different high schools in Roswell, some in person, some online. I have a lot of high school students, on average at least 50% of my classes are high school. “We are such a large, growing industry, the world is all online now, this is where the future is heading,” Cantu said. According to Cantu there are two programs available under the umbrella of media arts. One of those is graphic design, the other film technology. “In the graphic design department we have an associate degree route or certificate, and then for the film technology we also have a certificate or associate degree available,” she said. Asked about the importance of early art education, Cantu said, “It is so important. We go over basic skills such as lines and color pallet and symmetry. Stuff that we hope is learned in school before. It is so important to have a well-rounded understanding in general, and we also do a lot of research in art and where graphic design started from. And really, that was before advanced technology was around. Our pro-
gram coincides with some of our art classes on campus, so in the degree plan they have to take one or two art classes as well. “There are so many open positions for graphic designers and careers in the film industry, it’s really booming,” Cantu said. “There is definitely a need and really, Roswell has a need. We’re looking at different businesses and they’ve reached out for advertising, branding and things they didn’t even know they needed in this evergrowing, changing world. There are so many remote positions that they (the students) don’t even have to leave Roswell if they don’t want to. We have so many opportunities that we didn’t even know before.” Local business owner Dene Van Winkle is a living example of how art is directly connected to one’s livelihood. The mother of two and grandmother of four owns Imagine That, specializing in scrapbooks and gifts. In a Facebook message Van Winkle wrote, “All four of my grandchildren started school at the age of three in the pre-K program. I personally believe that arts are very important in the development of children. The earlier they are involved I think the better it is. “I had my children involved in art when they were very young, and I believe they are very successful adults today. There is vast evidence showing that children in the arts are much more academically advanced, especially in math reading and writing. There is vast evidence and research that shows arts improve children academically and behavioral,” she wrote. Van Winkle wrote that as a little girl she loved mak-
ing scrapbooks. “I’ve always loved art. Today, I own my own craft store — proud to say going on 18 years,” she wrote. Tara Lara is the mother of four children, ages 18, 17, 14 and 12. Lara is also a teacher. “I know the benefits of art from the teaching aspect and the parenting aspect. As I watch my students learn and grow, as 4-year-olds, is phenomenal. The growth of their fine motor skills, creativity, fine tuning the ability to use scissors — just amazing. “My children have attended both private and public schools here in Roswell. They have been lucky to have art in their curriculum. I love what I have seen them learn, their artistic and drama capabilities. I do believe that children who participate in arts in school would be more successful. It helps with motor skills, social skills, decision making and risk taking. All that can be used in different areas of life. Whether it may be handson art, making decisions on what colors mix and blend well as well as dimensions. The drama arts, that makes children come out of their shell and have confidence on a stage. I love the broad range of things they learned in their private school experience and have noticed wonderful benefits from it. Of the private schools contacted in Roswell, Rev. Benjamin Tyler Holt of Immanuel Lutheran School responded to share his view of the arts in school. In an email he wrote, “At Immanuel Lutheran School, a Christian and classical school, we rejoice to surround ourselves with what is true, beautiful and abiding. Art is never neutral. In chapel, every day, we sing and hear the timeless poetry and sublime music of the
Christian Church in hymns that comfort every soul. Sing the ‘Te Deum’ or the 17th century hymn ‘Jesus, Priceless Treasure,’ and you’ll know what I mean. At lunch, every day, we pray in English and in Latin, teaching our bodies to receive their daily bread with thanksgiving. We learn how to learn and rejoice to do so. We read, every day, from the best of Western civilization, learning from Dickens, Kipling and Tolkien — to name only a few of the more recent ones. And we haven’t even had an art class yet.” Holt wrote that the school’s art classes include more than crafts. “We want our students to see and be humbled by the beauty of the great works of art, those of Da Vinci, Rembrandt and Audubon. We want our students to learn from them, to grow in knowledge and appreciation of what has come before them, and then — standing on their shoulders — to make their own contribution. You can’t do this without high expectations, so we strive toward the lofty goals of those who’ve come before us.” Next to the schools and organizations mentioned, the Roswell Symphony Orchestra provides opportunities for up to 800 fourth-grade students to hear a concert from composers and for many, it is their first encounter with classical music. High school students have another unique opportunity, the best musicians are selected to shadow the orchestra’s musicians and not only learn from them, but actually perform in a concert. This is just a glimpse into the various arts education programs available in the area.
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