Clearly New Mexico Highlights Youth at Community Pride Day

from Clearly New Mexico

Youth Shine at Community Pride Day!
A Clearly Guest Post by Anthony Fleg

Albuquerque – In the heart of the International District, one-hundred and fifty people gathered for “Community Pride Day: Our Food, Our Community” Wednesday evening at Van Buren Middle School.

Though many community leaders and elected officials were in attendance, it was an evening for them to listen, an evening to celebrate youth as they presented the projects they have worked on through the Citizen Schools afterschool program at Van Buren.

One group worked on understanding the stories and meaning behind the foods we eat. Kathy Rojo, a 6th grader at Van Buren, presented to the crowd on the importance of understanding new cultures through food. “We are trying new things, learning about all of the foods eaten here in the International District,” she said proudly. Her group provided and served a potluck for the celebration.

Laura Musumi, the teacher for the class and a staff member at Citizen Schools, said that her idea for this class started with a love of food. “We have so much diversity in this community, and we tried to show how you can find common ground with others through something as simple as food.”

A second group worked on community outreach, and after walking the neighborhood, decided that they would do something about the conspicuous piles of large trash items (e.g. furniture).
“Tonight, we are asking everyone here to join us in launching the Clean Community Campaign,” said Van Buren student Michael Rodriquez. The Campaign asks citizens to pledge that they will work hard to keep the community clean, including a promise not to pile trash in public spaces.
And if that wasn’t enough, the youth also created an “Inner Beauty Pageant,” with collages reflecting their unique talents and showing off their families.

One of the Citizen Schools teachers, Joanne Landry, explained, “There is so much inner hatred, so we wanted to create an opportunity for the youth to see their inner beauty…for some, I think this was the first time that they saw themselves in this way.”

Citizen Schools is a national organization that provides free afterschool programs for students in Title I schools, schools where many of the families live at or below the poverty line. Many of the teachers are volunteers from the community who have a desire to share a specific skill with students.

Joanne Landry, who also serves as a minister at the Interfaith Bible Church and as president of the Trumbull Neighborhood Association (both of which served as co-sponsors for the event) says that the community outreach class was a way for her to share her passion for public service with the youth.

Alayna Bowman, serving as a teacher liaison for Citizen Schools, was all smiles as she helped the youth clean up after the event.

“The teamwork and leadership we saw here tonight was something special,” she beamed, noting that she and her staff are already looking for more volunteers to teach this spring’s classes.
Maybe the evening was summed up best by City Councilman Rey Garduno’s comment, amidst the chatter of excited students preparing their presentations and families meeting one another.

“The noise of inclusiveness…you can see it, you can feel it here tonight,” he said.

City Council Voting Record: November 15, 2010

R-10-158
Approving An Application For A Waiver For A Governmental Liquor License For The
University of New Mexico Football Stadium Suites At 1700 Avenida César Chavez SE,
To The Extent Authorized By Law (Benton)
Motion: Do Not Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-159
Approving An Application For A Waiver For A Governmental Liquor License For The
University of New Mexico Student Union At 301 Cornell Drive NE, To The Extent
Authorized By Law (Benton)
Motion: Do Not Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-160
Approving An Application For A Waiver For A Governmental Liquor License For The
University of New Mexico Pit Suites At 1111 University Boulevard SE, To The Extent
Authorized By Law (Benton)
Motion: Do Not Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

OC-10-15
Change in District 3 Voting Member Appointee to the 2010 Redistricting Committee
Motion: Confirm
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-163
Authorizing The Giving Of Notice For Bids For The Sale Of City Of Albuquerque, New
Mexico General Purpose General Obligation Bonds In The Aggregate Principal
Amount Of $135,000,000 In One Series Of Tax-Exempt Bonds, Series 2011A;
Providing For The Publication Of A Notice Of Bond Sale And Other Related Matters;
And Repealing Resolution No. F/S R-10-98 (Winter)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-152
Approving and Authorizing The Acceptance of Grant Award For a 2010 Forensic DNA
Backlog Reduction Program From The United States Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs (Jones)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

To view the consent agenda, postponed bills, and other Councilors votes, click here.

Public Hearing on the Future of the Internet

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 6:30 pm

Albuquerque Journal Theater

National Hispanic Cultural Center

1701 4th Street SW

Nm Flier Full Page

Meeting with Kirtland Air Force Base Regarding Air Noise

My office has received numerous calls and email regarding noise from Kirtland Air Force Base disturbing residents of the SE Heights. Last week my office and a constituent met with Kirtland Air Force Base leadership including Col. Robert Maness, Commander of the 377^th Air Base Wing and Col. Joseph Hastings, Vice Commander of the 58^th Special Operations Unit. The Base leadership is committed to being a good neighbor to the SE Heights of Albuquerque and is willing and open to working with us. However, they did make it quite clear that they are unable to stop their operations and trainings they perform on the base. Their operations at KAFB are critical to the mission of the United State Air Force.

They assured us that they take noise complaints seriously and shared with us that over the last couple of months, there has been a major spike in noise complaints. I believe that if the “spike” becomes the norm, then they will be forced to modify their operations. I encourage folks to continue filing noise complaints with KAFB.

I offered to host a public meeting with the 377^th Air Base Wing and 58^th Special Operations Unit to allow the public to speak about the noise coming from the base. They were hesitant to host a separate meeting from their regularly scheduled Citizen Advisory Board Meetings. The next CAB Meeting is November 23, 2010 and they encouraged residents to attend this meeting and speak to this issue during the public comment period. Again, if there are number of residents speaking to this issue, they will be forced to revisit their operations.

Col. Maness and Col. Hastings were supportive of an idea to have a regularly scheduled CAB Meeting being devoted specifically to the noise issue from the base. CAB Meetings are held quarterly, so we look forward to that meeting which will occur next calendar year (April, 2011). Col. Hastings proposed having ongoing meetings on noise in the early fall of each year, as this is the time of year where they usually see a spike in noise complaints.

I would like to thank everyone for participating in this discussion and would like to encourage you to continue your participation. Keep filing your noise complaints with KAFB by calling the Public Affairs Office at 846-5991 or email at marie.vanover@kirtland.af.mil. My office will continue to keep in communication with KAFB and you can contact me 768-3152 or email me at reygarduno@cabq.gov or my staff person Julian Moya at julianmoya@cabq.gov.

APS Affirms Migrant Policy

From the Albuquerque Journal

By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
Affirming a policy that has been in writing since 2006 and in practice since before then, an Albuquerque Public Schools committee voted Monday to strengthen language banning immigration officials from its campuses.
The revision was passed with no discussion, and was one of nine policies updated at the meeting, part of a monthslong process of bringing the rules in closer alignment with what is actually being done in the schools.
The ban on immigration officials was laid out in a policy adopted in 2006 but has been inconsistent in the district's written rules.
The policy was adopted during APS's negotiations with lawyers for three Del Norte High School students from Chihuahua, Mexico, who were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol outside the school in March 2004.
That incident prompted a policy that banned school employees from investigating students' immigration status or offering any information about a student to immigration officials. The same rule also said school employees must initially deny immigration agents access to students on campus.
The 2006 policy directs school employees to ask administrators whether any request for information about or access to students by immigration officials is lawful before providing it.
The policy, which deals with keeping students safe on campus, currently requires "close monitoring" of all campus visitors, including law enforcement, social services and immigration officials. The proposed revision would strike that language and add a sentence that explicitly says, "Immigration officials shall not be permitted on school campus at any time."
Board member Lorenzo Garcia, who often speaks about the rights of immigrant students, said strengthening the language is a positive move.
"The important thing is to keep children safe," he said, adding that schools should establish an environment where students and parents feel secure.

Read the rest of the article here.