In Albuquerque, New Mexico we are lucky enough to have access to a wealth of community resources. While some classrooms are limited in terms of access to field trips to many of the locations, many organizations have volunteers and staff who are willing to come in to schools and work with teachers.
Local businesses support many of these organizations and often provide funding though grants and scholarships. I encourage teachers to contact many of these organizations as many businesses and organizations have mandates that include educational initiatives. Globalquerque! is Albuquerque's annual celebration of world music and culture. Over a weekend artists conduct workshops and concerts to educate our community about their culture, traditions, using music and art as avenues for dialog. Music is a great avenue for teachers from all disciplines to communicate with and engage their students. One year teaching 6th grade physics, I used music to learn about sound and students created their own instruments. Using Globalquerque would be a great additional local tool, as well as students using music from their own culture.
CULTURAL EVENTS
ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESSES
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Prior to teaching I worked for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and was responsible for organizing the annual Teacher Open House, an annual event where many of the organizations listed below had booths. Teachers from all over the city and the surrounding communities are able to meet and talk with these organizations about the resources available for the classroom as well as funding and free supplies that may be available. In order for students to make correlations to global issues with their own lives, it's imperative that they learn about local issues. Teacher Open House is a good starting place.
Albuquerque has many businesses and industries, many local, but others that bring large international perspectives. Our schools and community receive significant support through these businesses. One large employer is INTEL, and their philanthropic ventures include community service and financial support through collaboration with United Way. In addition their website includes videos of Intel's global science research. Using local research is a great way to help students understand that science is happening in their backyard. Currently students at Sandia Prep are working with Dr. Larry Crumpler and the MARS ROVER EXPEDITION. They are actually part of the research being conducted during Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 and will help make decisions about some of the research being done on Mars!
MUSEUMS AND ARTS & CULTURAL CENTERS
CULTURAL LOCATIONS
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Local & Community Resources
This page was created with a lot of help from Jen Chavez Miller and Dana Van Tilborg, both TGC fellows, great teachers, and good friends here in New Mexico