Santa Fe Steps Forward to Support Teachers at the Academy’s Institute for Teaching
This spring, a major foundation and two beloved restaurants stepped forward with generous donations to support the Academy’s work with teachers in Santa Fe.
The LANL Foundation, whose innovative philanthropy has touched the lives of hundreds of teachers, new parents, and aspiring college students across New Mexico, first approached the Academy in the summer of 2015 to facilitate an experiential workshop at its annual education conference. The Academy was honored to mobilize a team of ten “depth facilitators” who invited some 200 teachers into a morning-long exploration of their journeys into teaching.
Six months later, the LANL Foundation showed its generous support of our depth work for teachers by awarding us a $1500 “small grant” to work with the just-hired staff of Santa Fe Public School’s new Early College Opportunities (ECO) high school. ECO’s visionary director, Dana Richards, came toward the Academy to ask for our help in developing a 4-day workshop series that will help the teachers of that school “let go” of their old patterns of teaching and step into a new pedagogy that will be based in experiential learning, holistic projects, and teamwork amongst staff, students, and community partners. We can’t wait to begin working with Dana and his team!
We’re also proud to share that two of Santa Fe’s always busy restaurants, Café Fina and Jambo Café, stepped forward to generously provide a full meal, at no cost, to the 36 teachers who signed up for our 7th annual Teacher Renewal Summer Institute. The great majority of these teachers come from Santa Fe Public Schools, who supports them with stipend payments in a three day intensive exploration of who they are as teachers, and what is theirs to do. This year’s Institute was built on the theme of collective leadership, and included arts experiences, Qi-Gong, and an opportunity for teachers to come together and bring new vision, passion and creativity into learning and schools in Santa Fe when they return in the fall. Please help us thank Café Fina and Jambo Café by patronizing these restaurants!
