Albuquerque Public Schools
La Cueva History Teacher Named Upstander of the Year
The New Mexico Holocaust & Intolerance Museum honored Sharmila Goradia for promoting inclusion, empathy and understanding in her classroom.
La Cueva High School history teacher Sharmila Goradia has been named Upstander of the Year by the New Mexico Holocaust & Intolerance Museum. The award was recently presented at the museum’s annual gala, recognizing Goradia’s work to build a classroom culture rooted in inclusion, understanding and compassion.
“The foundation of my curriculum is based on inclusion and acceptance of others,” Goradia said. “I encourage my students to see similarities in the human experience. We care about our loved ones and our friends; we love, we hate; we have dreams and aspirations. By helping students see similarities in everyone’s experience, connections can be made and understanding and compassion can occur.”
Goradia has also partnered with the museum to give students hands-on opportunities to share those lessons with the community. Over the past two years, her classes have collaborated with museum staff to design and create public exhibits, gaining real-world experience in research, design and storytelling.
“The museum’s dedicated staff is eager to expand their educational programs and reach more schools, and they cannot do that without support,” Goradia said. “Supporting the museum supports our kids, my kids, and yours.”