On Oct. 14, Leadership Albuquerque was focused on education.
The group of participants spend the majority of the day at the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Chambers where Jeremy Oswald, Leadership ABQ chair and Albuquerque market president for Citizens Bank, welcomed the group.
Oswald said the “K-12 Education Program Day” would cover how education is a big fight against poverty in the state and for the future of the state’s economy.
“I wish we had three days to cover education topics,” Oswald said. “There are so many dimensions of this issue that are worthy of our consideration. But, we’ll try to give a solid overview today and illuminate many of the key discussion areas that are happening in education right now in New Mexico and across the nation. And, at one point, we’re really going to challenge you to think about what the purpose of education is in our society.”
The group heard from APS Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey, as well as participatedin a moderated panel discussion with the APS Board of Education president and vice president.
Leadership Albuquerque participants also learned about the state’s growing charter school arena and how each fits into the public education system as they fill a demand within the community.
“One of the key beliefs of the Chamber, with respect to public education, is that we believe every child is capable of learning and improving every year,” Oswald said. “And that every child – regardless of their background – should have access to a quality school and education. Without a great education, a person’s opportunities in life are constrained. Education is a difference maker in individual lives. Education is capable of stopping the cycle of intergenerational poverty in a family. Education is key to developing a strong local workforce for our economy.”
Durán Blakey spoke about the efforts APS is making in education and how she is focused on academic improvement, as well as her eagerness to embrace high-performing public charter schools as part of the APS family, and her willingness to think strategically – and make difficult decisions – relating to the best use of APS buildings for kids across town.
Leadership Albuquerque then listened to “Sold a Story Podcast” by Emily Hanford. The podcast has upended America’s literacy instruction practices and state-level public policy on how reading is taught, contributing to significant academic gains in some states and ongoing policy debates in others.
Amanda Aragon, NewMexicoKidsCAN executive director, then spoke to participants about how her work in the public sector affirmed her passion for education and motivated her to engage more stakeholders in collaborating to improve New Mexico’s education system, which led her to launch NewMexicoKidsCAN in 2018.
Leean Kravitz, the Chamber’s Federal Government Advocacy chair, Leadership Albuquerque vice-chair and Fidelity Investments vice president, then introduced APS School Board President Danielle Gonzales and Vice President Courtney Jackson for a moderated discussion on the role of the APS School Board.
Aragon talked to the participants about the Education Changemakers Fellowship, which is a fellowship that equips New Mexico community leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to positively impact our state’s K-12 public education system.
Lunch then took place at Buca di Beppo.
After the break, Scott Darnell, of the N.M. Student Success Coalition, presented a class exercise called “What is the purpose of education?”
The class was split into seven small groups and provided every group with 10 tokens that they had to allocate across the purposes of education they believe are most important. Discussion took place regarding the allocations.
Kravitz then introduced Matt Pahl, executive director of Public Charter Schools of New Mexico, who spoke about “Understanding Charter Schools.”
Soon after, Oswald introduced Kim Finke, principal of Cibola High School; Trey Smith, executive director of East Mountain High School; and Heather Mock, head of school at Sandia Preparatory School, for a moderated panel about leading schools and lifting students.
The Chamber thanks all of the guest speakers as well as this year’s Leadership Albuquerque class in keeping education at the forefront of community discussion.
