Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Its roots go back to 1909 when the Spanish American Normal School was founded as a bilingual college for teachers. The ENLACE Initiative funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation continues this long-standing tradition of improving education in the Greater Espanola Valley, while working with similar efforts in Northern, Central, and Southern New Mexico. New Mexico is part of a Kellogg's national initiative that includes thirteen areas in eight states in the U.S that have high Latino populations.
ENLACE (ENgaging LAtino Communities for Education) is also a Spanish word meaning to link or weave together. W.K. Kellogg Foundation's goal is to foster innovative, cooperative partnerships between schools, colleges, community-based organizations, businesses, parents, and students to increase opportunities for Latino students, weaving together a system of support for students to be successful all the way through high school and into higher education. The three continuous threads for ENLACE include a common vision of a brighter future for Latino youth, collaborative work in coalitions, and a focus on strengthening public school-college-university-community partnerships.
As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), NNMC will be strengthened in its role to become a catalyst for positive change for Hispanic students within Espanola and surrounding communities with the ENLACE initiative. The Northern New Mexico ENLACE project is a collaboration of NNMC, Santa Fe Community College (SFCC), and Highlands University (HU). These three post-secondary institutions are linking to public schools, regional education networks, and community-based organizations. NNMC's ENLACE project is working directly with Espanola Public Schools, CESDP (Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations), and La Jicarita Enterprise Community. In the fall of 2002, we will be implementing the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Curriculum at Espanola Valley High School, which is a college preparatory curriculum that provides weekly tutors for the AVID elective class students twice a week. These tutors will be college students from NNMC and trained by CESDP. AVID will provide the support students need to excel in this rigorous college-prep curriculum, so that they can then succeed in the college or university of their choice.
The NNMC ENLACE project will include future efforts to engage local parents in their children's education, mentoring activities with area business people, research conducted by students themselves, and innovative partnerships to improve the educational opportunities for students in Northern New Mexico.
Partners
Santa Fe Commnity College
Highlands University
University of New Mexico
CESDP (Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations)
Espanola Public Schools
Mora High School
Penasco Independent Schools
La Jicarita Enterprise Community
GEAR-UP
CH2MHILL
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)
WIA (Workforce Investment Act)
Program Activities
Implementing ENLACE/AVID at Espanola Valley High School
Students As Community Researchers Summer Institute
Students Conducting Interviews, Focus Groups, and Surveys in their Communities
Tutoring AVID Summer Institute Training for Espanola Site Team
Youth Leadership Conference - September 12-14, 2002
Educators as Leaders Conference - October 9-11, 2002
Parents' Meetings
Mentoring Programs
Links
ENLACE in New Mexico
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
ENLACE in Albuquerque
IDRA Newsletter
AVID
Other ENLACE Sites
For further information about ENLACE contact:
Paul Romero
921 Paseo de Onate
Espanola, NM 87510
Phone: (505) 747-2251
Fax: (505) 747-5436