Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Mrs. Lou Finley, chosen among 10 Who Made a Difference by The New Mexican! Congratulations, Lou!

Lou Finley heads up the after-school reading program at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Fe.  I am so excited to tell you that she has been selected as one of the 10 Who Made a Difference, a tradition established more than two decades ago at The Santa Fe New Mexican to seek out people who add great value to our community.

I know Lou personally.  She "lured" me into her program three years ago with a letter to the editior.  And I can vouch for the fact that her selection is well deserved.  She does an incredible job of tutoring and running this reading program -- and has been doing so as a volunteer for 9 or 10 years.  Her story will be published in The New Mexican on Thanksgiving Day.  Read all about her there. 

And here you can learn more about her program.  I'm very proud that the Boys & Girls Club is among the organizations listed on ¡EngageVolunteer!

Congratulations, again, Lou!

Friday, October 23, 2009

UPDATE: Tutors Needed...or talk to Citizen Schools if you would like to share what you do best in life to help kids succeed in the real world!

UPDATE from Michelle Vignery, Campus Director for De Vargas Middle School
TUTORS FOR STUDENTS. We have found that from time to time many of our students need one-on-one attention. Some struggle with math, some with reading, others just need redirection to focus on their work. We need volunteer tutors from 3:30 - 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday and 4:00 - 5:00 on Mondays. You can tutor one to four days a week – it does not matter which days. All we ask is for a commitment to consistently communicate which days you will be at program, and which days you will be absent.

Tutors need not be certified teachers – or even have prior tutoring experience. They must be patient, kind, and enjoy helping students to succeed academically. For more info and information about a background check (which all Tutors must complete), please email me: memichellevignery@citizenschools.org

OR...become a volunteer Citizen Teacher!

Take your profession or passion and turn it into a life-changing apprenticeship for young people. It will be an unforgettable experience of growth and learning for you both.

The Citizen Schools New Mexico program gives adults the opportunity to help middle school students move to a long-term trajectory of success. We need volunteers for our DeVargas Middle School campus in Santa Fe at 1720 Llano Road. And for our Albuquerque program as well.

Devote 90 minutes only one afternoon a week for 11 weeks. Enable young people to learn real-world skills by creating real-world projects. (Lawyers turn their apprentices into prosecutors, artists cultivate young muralists, and gardeners lead a team of twelve-year-old green thumbs.) The culminating project will be a product, presentation or performance called a WOW! and presented to a public audience of family, school staff, and community leaders.

Read about the most recent WOW! on Dec. 4.  Click here.   And previous WOW!s included a video on lead contamination, a prize-winning solar car, an arts festival, a naval warship design, a CD of local music, even a financial plan for a new business- all created by young people themselves.

For further information, contact us:
Michelle Vignery, Campus Director for De Vargas Middle School 505-310-3213 michellevignery@citizenschools.org
Laura Valdo, Manager of Civic Engagement and Development, 
505-265-4332 or lauravaldo@citizenschools.org

OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE http://www.citizenschools.org/

OR FIND US ON YouTUBE http://www.youtube.com/user/citizenschoolsonline

Habitat for Humanity: Learn how to frame walls, install sheetrock, landscape, paint! Sound like fun? Join us!

Absolutely no prior construction experience required. You've seen touching news coverage of a family entering their new home made possible by their sweat equity and Habitat. Now come be part of that story! Help build affordable homes for Santa Fe area families.

Get all training on site. Learn how to pour concrete, frame walls and roofs, insulate, install sheetrock, build fences, landscape, paint and other cool construction tasks. The construction site is open Tuesday-Saturday 8:30am to 4:30pm. All volunteers should plan to work 8 hours on the site.

You must be age 16 or above to volunteer with Habitat in any capacity. You can register as a volunteer online at http://www.santafehabitat.org/ .

Any questions? Please contact us : info@santafehabitat.org or call (505) 986-5880.

One-on-One reading program, HOSTS. Trust me...it doesn't get much better than this!

From Gaye Pollitt:
HOSTS stands for Help One Student to Succeed. It's a during-the-school-day reading mentorship program at Cesar Chavez Community School for 2nd - 5th graders. I'm in my third school year of being a mentor myself, and I'm hook-line-and-sinker-in-love with the program and its incredible results. And did I mention the children!??!!! Since you get to work with the same child week after week, you develop a precious relationship and get to view first-hand the progress your child is making.

You can be involved for as little as 30 minutes a week ... but I'm betting you'll sign up for more.

Contact Debby Maas, dmaas@sfps.info, dedicated and enthusiastic HOSTS Administrator, about the 2010-2011 school year. You'll be glad you did.

DIRECTIONS:  Turn RIGHT off Cerrillos (headed south) onto Jaguar (at the traffic light for Jaguar and Gov. Miles Road).  Turn RIGHT onto Avenida Contenta (at the STOP sign).  Turn left into the school parking lot.  HOSTS classroom is facing the parking with a sign in the window.

PAST EVENT: Apprenticeship program showcase, Dec. 4th, and CURRENT Call for Volunteers.

WOW! Event
A demonstration and celebration of
all that the students have learned
during their 10-week, volunteer-led Apprenticeships.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Doors Open 5:45pm.  Opening Ceremony 6:00pm. 
Closing Ceremony 7:30pm.
Being held at Santa Fe Community College Jemez Rooms

Families, teachers, and the community at large are invited. 
Presentations will include
Animation. Assistance Dogs of the West. Crime Stoppers.
Culinary Arts.
Documentary Photography, 2050: Landing in the Future.
 Money Madness with Guadalupe Credit Union.
Computer Modeling with Project GUTS.
Site Santa Fe Art. The Scientific Method with Genzyme.
and Web Design.
Since its 2008 launch in Santa Fe, Citizen Schools at De Vargas Middle School has engaged approximately 50 volunteers from throughout the community to share what they know and love with young people in real-world projects.

During 9-12 week apprenticeships each semester, students learn about a wide variety of subjects such as the scientific method, computer modeling, geology, animation and the training of assistance dogs. “My favorite part of Citizen Schools is the apprenticeships because they let me see what people do professionally and I can see what my friends are good at”, said one student.

Now they’re ready to “teach-back”! The students and I would like to extend a special invitation to you.  We hope to see you there!  JOIN US FOR FUN, FOOD, CELEBRATION AND MORE!

For more information, contact me:  Michelle Vignery, Campus Director, Citizen Schools New Mexico, De Vargas Middle School.  505.310.3213 or michellevignery@citizenschools.org.

ALSO read more about Citizen Schools ... and please consider becoming a Citizen Schools Tutor or Apprenticeship Teacher.  Details here.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Help create the Government you want!

Send individual messages to our Congressmen! 
Want to get results?  Want to voice your concerns, opinions and ideas? While names on a petition get noticed, they do not have near the weight as constituents making individual efforts.
SO DO IT ALL...Call. Email. Visit their offices. And sign petitions!


Email or fax to the contacts below.
PLEASE NOTE: Those website/email links below do not accept "attachments," therefore, your message needs to be written into the electronic "form" that's provided.
SUGGESTION: Write your message in Microsoft Word (or equivalent) and copy/paste it into the form. That way you can PERSONALIZE the message you send to each Congressman, plus save a copy for yourself.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D- NM)
DC PHONE: 202-224-5521
NM PHONE: 800-443-8658
DC FAX: 202-224-2852
http://bingaman.senate.gov/contact/types/email-issue.cfm

Senator Tom Udall (D- NM)
DC PHONE: 202-224-6621
NM PHONE: 505-346-6720
DC FAX: 202-228-3261
http://tomudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Representative Ben R. Lujan, Jr. (D - 03)
DC PHONE: 202-225-6190
NM PHONE: (505) 984-8950
DC FAX: 202-226-1528
https://forms.house.gov/lujan/contact-form.shtml

Representative Martin Heinrich (D - 01)
DC PHONE: 202-225-6316
NM PHONE: 505-346-6781
DC FAX: 202-225-4975
https://forms.house.gov/heinrich/contact-form.shtml

Representative Harry Teague (D - 02)
DC PHONE: 202-225-2365
NM PHONE: 575-393-0510
DC FAX: 202-225-9599
http://forms.house.gov/teague/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Education funding will be threatened again by budget cuts! Please stay involved.

GOOD JOB!!!! I really feel like we made a difference during the special session.  While even 1% is unacceptable, imagine what would have happened if 2,000+ people had not marched to the Round House and hundreds had not shown up during the session as watchdogs!?

For now, thanks for all your attempts to influence the outcome.  We have a special concern on ¡EV! about education funding because of all our volunteer efforts for literacy and education.  Although still unacceptable, at least the resulting cuts to education  are less than a 1% cut...for now.

However, keep the contact information for Governor Richardson.  You're going to need it -- to influence the Governor during the January 2010 legislative session.  The "battle of the budget" will once again be addressed and threaten education.
Phone:  
(505) 476-2200
E-mail form:
http://www.governor.state.nm.us/emailchoice.php?mm=6

Sunday, October 11, 2009

PAST EVENT: DWI Town Hall Meeting, Santa Fe

From Richard Roth, PhD, Executive Director, IMPACT DWI, Inc.

Learn more about what's happening specifically in Santa Fe and about the Governor's 2010 proposed DWI legislative crime package. 

Join the first Santa Fe Town Hall Meeting addressing the Governor's DWI package
6:00pm-7:00pm at Santa Fe Community College, Jemez Room
Wednesday, October 21.  Presenters will be
DWI Czar Rachel O'Connor
MADD Director Lora Lee Ortiz
Santa Fe DWI County Coordinator Rebecca Beardsley

Learn what you can do to help.  Sign up to mobilize change through community action!

For more information, please contact Christine Thomas, Managment Analyst, Office of the Drug and DWI Czars, Office of the Governor.  505-231-6637 or Christinee.Thomas@state.nm.us

Thursday, October 8, 2009

PAST EVENT: Demonstration for Education, Fri, Oct 9 in Santa Fe

Editor's Update: My congratulations to AFT for an incredibly successful and highly organized rally last Friday. They came from Albuquerque with 2,000 t-shirts and went home with none. They handed out food and drink while folks gathered and distributed water along the rally route from the Railyard to the Roundhouse. AFT presented enthusiastic and well-informed guest speakers. They asked rally goers to complete huge WHILE YOU WERE OUT message sheets that were first hung on "laundry lines" for all to read. Later they were delivered to the Speaker of the House and Pro Tem of the Senate. The messages were heart-felt, candid and full of suggested options to teacher pay cuts and student value cuts. They distributed postcards addressed to Governor Richardson for rally-goers to sign demanding he protect kids and teachers from budget cuts.  Below is the info we provided in advance of the event.

DEMONSTRATION..RALLY..MARCH..IN SANTA FE
Santa Fe Rail Runner Depot
410 S. Guadalupe Street
Parking - Manhattan St. Garage & lot @ 500 Market Street
Sack lunch, water, t-shirts for first 2,000
NOON, Friday, the 9th..Meet-Up & Rally at Rail Runner Depot
12:30 pm – March five blocks to Roundhouse
1 - 3:45 pm – Roundhouse Demonstration & Media Events
YOU NEED TO ATTEND!

For more details, visit some of these sites:
AFT (scroll down mid-way on the first page of this link): http://nm.aft.org/
BETTER CHOICES NEW MEXICO (a new organization worth knowing about!): http://betterchoicesnewmexico.com/
Listen as public radio station KUNM 89.9 FM interviews ATF
President Ellen Bernstein about the October 9 rally, march and
demonstration in Santa Fe to stop lawmakers from cutting the
student value again.
Click here: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/tpIQcA11HQaC/

SIMPLY PUT...
Our kids don't deserve this kind of treatment.  Their families cannot afford this.  Our entire community will suffer.  THERE ARE BETTER WAYS and we've got to make our voice heard.
1. Restore preK-12 student value cuts, higher education cuts, public services cuts, & stop state budget cuts.
2. Close tax loopholes for out-of-state corporations.
3. Roll back tax cuts for richest New Mexicans.


Organizations endorsing this event as of 10/2:

ABQ Teachers Federation
Better Choices New Mexico Alliance
American Federation of Teachers - New Mexico
New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
New Mexico Building Trades Council
Northern Federation of Educational Employees (Northern New Mexico College, Espanola)
Rio Rancho School Employees Federation
ABQ Educational Assistants Association
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes
Cibola County Federation of United School Employees
Central New Mexico (TVI) Employees Union
Taos Federation of United School Employees
Cuba School School Employees
Penasco School Employees
Jemez Mountain School Employees
Zuni Federation of United School Employees
Santa Fe School Employees Federation
ABQ Secretaries and Clerks Association
National Education Association - New Mexico
McKinley County Federation of United School Employees
NM Alliance for Retired Americans
New Mexico Labor United
Catholic Church of New Mexico

Friday, October 2, 2009

The State's $11.8 billiion (with a "b") investment assets account. And schools are being asked to cut their budgets another 10%?

This "Op-Ed" is written by a financial specialist and Grassroots activist:

States can balance their budgets by 1) increasing revenues (taxes and economic growth) 2) cutting expenditures 3) borrowing 4) taking money they already have from their investment accounts.

The State of New Mexico is not 'broke!'  It has $11.8 billion in investment assets (value as of  6/30/09).

The State distributed over $400 million from these investment funds in calendar year 2009 through June 2009, and over $700 million in fiscal year-to-date.

The $550 million budget shortfall represents approximately 5% of the state's total investment assets.  And a much, much smaller per cent if we were just talking about education funding.

Can the state afford to increase its distributions from its investment assets to cover the shortfall? One could easily argue that, while the state had $3.4 billion in investment losses in fiscal year-to-date, representing a 22% loss in its asset base, that it could weather another 5% loss.

Admittedly, the State Investment Council is restricted in its use of funds, and even in the method and timing of distributions. However, the Governor and legislature must surely see that people are desperate. Desperate times call for strong leaders. We need a strong leader that understands and sees the financial solution is within reach.

For those of you with the fortitude to wade through this New Mexico State Investment Council 42-page Investment Performance Report (FY 2009), here is the source for the above data.  Click here.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

PAST EVENT: CALL TO ACTION...Community Forum on DWI, Wednesday, July 8th, 6pm

From Dr. Richard Roth, a DWI researcher and citizen lobbyist for 11 years:

Impact DWI
will sponsor a Community Forum on DWI next Wednesday, July 8, from 6-9pm in the Jemez Room at Santa Fe Community College.

"...Because of the recent tragic crash that ended four young lives in our community, Impact DWI is sponsoring a Community Forum to provide an opportunity for citizens to share opinions and mobilize for actions to reduce DWI in New Mexico. I will provide background information."

Bring your suggestions or write them down on forms that will be provided at the forum. There will be an open mike for sharing ideas. All suggestions will be posted at http://www.impactdwi.org/ and distributed by email to those who provide an email address. As leaders come forward for various initiatives, working groups will be formed.

Impact DWI, Inc. is a community action and advocacy organization whose mission is to reduce drunk driving and alcohol abuse. It is run strictly by volunteers. Read about our volunteer activities and the outcome of this Community Forum by clicking here.