Highlights From Dec. 13 LAPS School Board Meeting
LAHS Cross Country Teams and coaches honored for their 4A State Championships. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
The Los Alamos School Board met Tuesday Dec. 13 in the School Board Room for their last regular meeting of 2022. Board members recognized Erin Green for her service on the board. This was her last meeting as a School Board member.
School Board President Melanie Colgan also recognized members of the Los Alamos High School boys and girls cross-country teams along with their coaches on their 4A State Cross Country Championships.
School Board members heard a report on activities at Los Alamos Read More
UNM Community Advisory Committee Seeks Advice From Youth And Young Adults With Disabilities
Governor Selects Scott Groginsky Education Policy Advisor
Education Policy Advisor Scott Groginsky
From the Office of the Governor:
SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Thursday announced the appointment of Scott Groginsky as her education policy advisor.
Groginsky will work alongside Children’s Cabinet Director Mariana Padilla and state education department leadership to support Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ongoing work to continue improving New Mexico’s cradle-to-career public education system and building the strongest possible educational foundation for New Mexico children and families.
Groginsky will focus on improving student outcomes
Daily Postcard: Solitude On UNM-Los Alamos Campus
Daily Postcard: Winter break is underway as a statue stands alone on the campus Friday afternoon at UNM-LA. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com Read More
Heinrich Statement On Final Passage Of Bill To Unlock Early Childhood Investments In New Mexico
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, released a video statement on investing in early childhood education in New Mexico after final passage of the bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23).
The omnibus agreement, which passed the Senate and House and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law, includes language that Sen. Heinrich helped secure to unlock major investments in early childhood and K-12 education in New Mexico.
Afterschool Kid’s Club ‘Forest Explorers’ Begins Jan. 18
PEEC announces the afterschool kid’s club, Forest Explorers, is now available for grades 1-3 and 4-6. Courtesy/PEEC
From Pajarito Environmental Education Center:
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) has announced that its afterschool kid’s club, Forest Explorers, is now available for grades 1-3 and 4-6.
Forest Explorers will meet 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays Jan. 18 through May 3.
During this 3-hour drop-off program, kids go on hikes from Los Alamos Nature Center and engage in self-directed exploration and play in the canyons, creeks and surrounding forest. Children build forts, Read More
Sondra Wyman Submits Letter To Fill School Board Vacancy
Sondra Wyman
LAPS News:
Longtime Los Alamos resident Sondra Wyman has submitted a letter of interest to fill the vacancy in District 5, created by the resignation of School Board member Erin Green.
District 5 includes Mountain Elementary School.
Wyman’s three children attended Los Alamos Public Schools, including Mountain Elementary School. She worked for Los Alamos Public Schools for four years, first as a substitute teacher, then as a special education instructional assistant and then as Los Alamos High School Athletic Secretary before pursuing a career in the procurement field. She Read More
Luján Announces Nominations For U.S. Service Academies
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M) announced student nominations today from New Mexico for the United States Service Academies including Kelly Wetteland and Los Alamos and Carson Hick of White Rock.
“New Mexico has a long and proud tradition of serving in our Armed Forces. It’s a distinct honor as a United States Senator to nominate some of New Mexico’s best and brightest to U.S. Service Academies,” Sen. Luján said. “Each student nominated has demonstrated a commitment to serve New Mexico and the country, and I am confident that each student Read More
Leadership Changes At LAPS To Begin In January
Acting Superintendent Jennifer Guy
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Public Schools Acting Superintendent Jennifer Guy announced leadership changes at the high school and district level in a newsletter emailed to parents Dec. 20.
Guy assumed the district’s leadership role after Superintendent Jose Delfin went on administrative leave Dec. 11. The duration of Delfin’s leave is presently unknown.
Guy announced that beginning in January Los Alamos High School (LAHS) Principal Carter Payne will become Acting Assistant Superintendent, LAHS Read More
LAPS Acting Superintendent Gives Security Breach Update
By BONNIE GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Public Schools experienced a cybersecurity incident Aug. 8. Acting Superintendent Jennifer Guy updated the Los Alamos Daily Post today about the incident.
“We were first made aware of the problem when we had a difficult time restoring internet service,” Guy said. “Fortunately, our technology team caught the problem very quickly and isolated the activity. The district has worked closely with third-party computer specialists to ensure that a thorough review of all of our systems took place.”
In the course of the Read More
LAPS Announces 2022-03 School Board Student Liaisons
LAPS School Board student liaisons include, top row from left, Willow Chartrand, Lizeth Garcia and Samatha Kranthijanya, center row from left, Alea Kretz, Quintin Madsen, Emily McLaughlin and (bottom row from left, Fayrouz Mourad, Max Posada and Arianne Terrones. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
The Los Alamos School (LAPS) Board has appointed four new student liaisons for the 2022-2023 school year.
Juniors Willow Chartrand, Emily McLaughlin, Max Posada and Arianne Terrones joined seniors Lizeth Garcia, Quintin Madsen and Fayrouz Mourad to serve as liaisons. This is the seventh year there Read More
UNM-Los Alamos Community Internship Collaboration Wraps Up Eighth Year Anniversary With Graduation Event
CIC intern Sayra Villalobos celebrates at her graduation event with one of her mentors from SALA Los Alamos Event Center Allan Saenz. Photo by Sarah Jimenez
UNM-LA News:
The Community Internship Collaboration (CIC) celebrated another successful semester of matching UNM-Los Alamos (UNM-LA) student interns with local business mentors Dec. 8 at the graduation hosted by the SALA Los Alamos Event Center.
UNM-LA has been partnering with local businesses to provide meaningful work experiences for students and meet local workforce needs through the CIC program since 2014.
The evening of Dec. Read More
LAPS: Stay Safe This Holiday Season … Have The Talk
LAPS News:
According to the 2019 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, nearly 30 percent of Los Alamos High School (LAHS) students reported being current alcohol users and answered that the most common place to drink alcohol was in private homes. Nearly 47 percent had vaped and 30 percent had used marijuana.
All of these products are readily available and the alcohol, vape, and cannabis industries have had great success using colorful designs, fruity flavors, high alcohol or THC (the main psychoactive compound in cannabis products) content, sleek packaging, and targeted advertising Read More
LAPS Announces Preschool Openings For Spring Semester
LAPS announces openings for the Preschool program for the spring semester. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
Los Alamos Public Schools has openings for the Preschool program for the spring semester.
Spots are available at most elementary sites.
A child who is 4 years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. (MDT) Sept. 1, 2022 may enroll for preschool for the second half of the 2022-2023 school year. Forms are available in both English and Spanish. Go to this link for more information and to register using either a computer or smartphone.
Preschool students return to school after the Winter Break Jan. 5, 2023.
Students Read More
Sixty-one Barranca 6th Graders Complete DARE Program
LAPD Cpl. Samantha Terrazas presents Barranca Mesa Elementary student Natalie Pacheco with a certificate for completing the DARE program. Courtesy/LAPD
LAPS News:
Sixty-one sixth graders at Barranca Mesa Elementary School graduated last week from the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program. LAPS Officers Chris Ross and Samantha Terrazas guided students through the 10-session course.
“This is a prevention partnership between LAPD and LAPS,” Barranca School Counselor Alyssa Romero said. “When Sgt. Ross mentioned a decision-making model of the DARE Program that LAPD was implementing, Read More
Northern New Mexico College Student Hope Lopez Attends Prestigious SACNAS Conference In Puerto Rico
Northern student Hope Lopez attends prestigious SACNAS conference in Puerto Rico. Courtesy/NNMC
NNMC News:
ESPAÑOLA — Two recent experiences expanded the horizons of Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) student Hope Lopez. The first was winning second place for her research poster presentation at the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (NMAMP).
The second was attending the 2022 Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Chapter Officer Leader October Retreat (COLOR) at the 2022 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Read More
LAHS Key Club Raises Funds For Thirst Project
LAHS Key Club President Ming-Yuan Lo presents a $1,000 check recently to Lieutenant Governor Adeline Feng of the Southwest District’s Sangre de Christo Division. Courtesy/Kiwanis
Key Clubbers Yeanwoo Park, Ethan Singell, Chloe Li, Rebecca Li, Adeline Feng and Ming-Yuan Lo operate the cotton candy machine during a summer concert. Courtesy/Kiwanis
By MORRIE PONGRATZ
Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos
Millions of people worldwide are without clean, fresh drinking water. The Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that works with the support of young people to end the global water crisis by building Read More
ECECD FY24 Budget Contains Ambitious Goals For Building World Class Early Childhood Education & Care System
ECECD News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) presented its Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget today before the Legislative Finance Committee, requesting a budget of $453,696,000, an increase of $28,365,300 over FY23.
Of the proposed budget increase, $16,000,000 comes from the Early Childhood Trust Fund (ECTF); $7,307,000 from General Fund; and $5,058,300 from federal revenues.
ECECD is also requesting $153,843,900 in one-time General Fund special appropriations for FY24 to maintain and expand vital early childhood programs and services Read More
Elaine Struthers Joins Northern New Mexico College As Coordinator For Community Engagement & Partnerships
Elaine Jean Struthers
NNMC News:
ESPAÑOLA — Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) announces Elaine Jean Struthers, Ph.D., OTR/L, as its new Coordinator for Community Engagement and Partnerships.
Struthers will be directing Northern’s community engagement efforts for both the Española and El Rito campuses.
“I’m excited to be out in the community and to meet people, and really live the experience of what is meaningful and valuable to people in the Española Valley and surrounding areas,” Struthers said. “I really want to get to know the people and understand the region.”
After growing up in Southern Read More
NBC News Features Another Segment On Los Alamos High School Teacher Lynn Ovaska’s ‘Letters Of Gratitude’
A NBC news crew films teacher Lynn Ovaska Nov. 15 on her mission to teach gratitude to her students at Los Alamos High School. The segment was broadcast nationwide Nov. 20 on ‘NBC Nightly News (link). A longer segment, geared to kids so it highlights more staff and students, aired Saturday Dec. 17 on ‘NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition’ hosted by Lester Holt (link). Courtesy/NBC Screenshot
LAHS student Lourdes Le Doux reads a letter of gratitude to her grandparents Roberta and Harold Martinez during a Nov. 15 filming by a NBC News crew in Teacher Lynn Ovaska’s classroom. Le Doux wrote her gratitude Read More
