In Step with Winston at the 2011 School Supply Drive

What a great start to the school year! I have spent time in classes and schools throughout the district, and things seem to be running smoothly so far. Students are reading, writing, calculating, experimenting, discussing, and debating. And on practice fields, along trails and in gyms and stadiums, they’re competing in soccer, football, cross country and volleyball. Good luck to our fall sports athletes and teams!

I’m happy to report that many of our students whose families struggle financially to pay for school supplies now have the tools they need to learn. We often are the recipients of school supply drives sponsored by other organizations, and we greatly appreciate that support. But I challenged our leadership team, the Board of Education, the APS Education Foundation and School and Community Partnerships to sponsor our own school supply drive. Thanks to their hard work and the generosity of dozens of local businesses, more than $10,000 in supplies was collected. Fifty grocery baskets overflowing with school supplies were paraded into the board room during a recent meeting. It was an incredible site to see! The supplies have since been distributed to students in need, and the Board of Ed is already talking about an even bigger and better school supply drive next year.

I want to thank all those who raised money, donated and collected supplies and got them in the hands of our students. It’s amazing what the community will do to support our children and Albuquerque Public Schools.

I recently joined UNM President David Schmidly and CNM President Kathy Winograd at a meeting of the Economic Forum where we talked about our symbiotic relationship and the great opportunities it’s provided our students. The proof is in a report unveiled by the UNM Center for Education Policy Research. I encourage you to take a look: The Education Impact Of The APS/CNM/UNM Partnership: Current Results & Future Visions

Finally, I want to invite you to attend one or more of our seven meetings to gather public input on goals for the district. We’ll be holding a meeting in each of the Board of Education districts over the next few weeks. Here’s a list of the meeting dates, times and locations.