Albuquerque, NM ― Teach Plus New Mexico has selected 20 highly-effective teacher leaders as Fellows of its second New Mexico Teaching Policy Fellowship. During the nine-month program, Fellows will work on key state-level issues, such as high quality Pre-K, teacher recruitment and pipeline, and high quality professional development for New Mexico’s educators. The program empowers teachers to magnify the impact they have in their classrooms through personal interactions with education leaders and opportunities to advocate for policies that will better serve New Mexico teachers and students.
“In the Fellowship’s inaugural year in New Mexico, Teach Plus teachers helped to create a more balanced and sustainable teacher evaluation system,” said Hope Morales, Teach Plus New Mexico Policy Director. “We’re looking forward to another impactful year ahead and to helping shape policies that improve education for New Mexico students.”
“I am excited to be part of a grassroots education policy initiative informed by the perspective of teaching professionals, and by the lived reality of the school and community stakeholders they serve and collaborate with on a daily basis,” said Fellow Ian Sunderland, 6th grade teacher at The International School at Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque.
The new Fellows come from traditional district and public charter schools across the Land of Enchantment. Many of the incoming teachers have won teaching awards and hold teacher leadership roles with their various schools and districts.
The New Mexico Teaching Policy Fellows are:
Juan Aragon, Albuquerque Public Schools
Ian Sutherland, Albuquerque Public Schools
Ruth Gallegos, Central Consolidated Schools
Kim O’Byrne, Las Cruces Public Schools
Shelbi Simeone, Las Cruces Public Schools
Susana Rios, Ph.D., Las Cruces Public Schools
Andrea Infantino, Rio Rancho Public Schools
Emily Holtz, Rio Rancho Public Schools
Shari Hicks, Roswell Independent School District
Dorinda Thompson, Roswell Independent School District
Debra Woodward, Grants/Cibola County Schools
Dawn Bilbrey, Texico Municipal Schools
Brittany Griffith, Santa Fe Public Schools
Jill Hutchinson-Bass, Santa Fe Public Schools
Katelin Cincis, Clovis Municipal School District
Aja Currey, Las Vegas City Public Schools
Kayli Laney, Reserve Independent School District
Edward Pena, Cobre Consolidated School District
Darlene Fortier, Bernalillo Public Schools
K. Celeste Murray, Farmington Municipal Schools
About Teach Plus:
Teach Plus empowers excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. Teach Plus programs are designed to place highly effective teachers at the center of improvements in schools as leaders of their peers and outside schools influencing policy decisions that affect their classrooms. The programs develop excellent teachers into leaders who achieve change and mobilize others in their school, district, state, and across the nation to bring change to scale. Since its inception in August 2007, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 26,000 solutions-oriented teachers across the country. www.teachplus.org
