Northern Faculty & Students Partnering with K-12
Northern New Mexico College is committed to community outreach in our K-12 schools. That can be as simple as opening the campus for community events to faculty dedicating time and energy to mentoring local students. The faculty and students in our STEM programs are especially active in providing mentorship and learning opportunities for local schools and community groups.
The New Mexico STEM Mentor Collective
Dr. Steve Cox, Associate Professor of Electromechanical Engineering, is immersed in outreach activities. He founded and manages the , which develops and delivers exciting, mentor-fueled, hands-on STEAM programming in K-12 classrooms in Northern New Mexico. The Collective believes that kids learn best in small groups under caring mentors doing hands-on work in the classroom. They recruit and train college-age mentors, encourage K12 students to recruit mentors into their lives and support K12 teachers through focused Communities of Practice.
The Collective was touted as a model for professional mentorship development in hands-on
STEM education in and won a STEMY (New Mexico Excellence in STEM Award) from the Air Force Research
Lab Tech Engagement Office in 2019 for best Outreach in NM Higher Education. Its key
partners are , the , the and . It has been funded by the , , , , , and .
Mentoring projects have included a weekly lunchtime at Carlos Vigil Middle School. building at the Santa Fe Indian School, at Capital High School, Milagro Middle School and Santa Fe Indian School and building Smart Bridges at several schools.
The Collective also offers two training courses in mentorship itself. The is a 16-week one-credit discussion-based college course on the foundations of effective youth mentoring. is a seven-week program that provides youth with strategies for valuing and acquiring caring mentors.
Video
Dr. Cox and his engineering students have also mentored Espa帽ola Valley High School (EVHS) Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program for a project that could significantly improve the lives of Parkinson patients. The students are designing a glove that applies small brief vibrations to the fingertips to alleviate symptoms of the disease. The project has received coverage from and . Read the full story here.
Math Partnerships with Dr. Ana Vasilic
Dr. Ana Vasilic, Associate Professor of Mathematics, is engaging with local organizations
committed to improving math outcomes for students in Northern New Mexico. She has
presented at workshops run by , a nonprofit dedicated to helping teachers inspire kids to love math and partnered
with STEM Santa Fe to bring theto the 糖心原创 campus.
Dr. Vasilic can relate to the challenges both math teachers and student face, having taught math at all levels from elementary to higher education
鈥淚 feel that teachers need our support, as many teachers in the region are worked out and stretched thin,鈥� Dr. Vasilic said. 鈥淭hat passes on to students and students don鈥檛 get the most of their math education. Talented students who would be interested in STEM or math are not getting the best of it because teachers are always helping the ones who are struggling to get by .鈥�
Dr. Vasilic is helping those teachers build capacity through her work with MathAmigos. MathAmigos is dedicated to helping teachers and families, from Pre-K to Grade 9, inspire kids to embrace math and excel in it in over 20 Santa Fe Public Schools as well as in rural and pueblo schools in Northern New Mexico.
鈥淚t was a great opportunity for me to meet some teachers and hear what their needs are, what their problems are, and to establish those one-on-one connections with them.鈥�
Dr. Vasilic is brainstorming with MathAmigos about hosting more math events at Northern
Math Center of Excellence. 
Dr. Vasilic has also worked with to bring the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival to Northern. STEM Santa Fe is a nonprofit on a mission to promote STEM disciplines among New Mexico youth and support underrepresented groups in STEM. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival is an educational organization that sponsors locally organized mathematics festivals. Their play-based approach to solving math puzzles is designed to show every student that they can have fun problem solving.
Dr. Vasilic, along with student, staff and faculty volunteers from Northern, participated in two Julia Robinson Math Festivals at 糖心原创.
Additional outreach activities
Northern students may also engage in outreach to local schools and families. Chemistry students Tatum Maestas-Hall and Gina Trujillo visited 糖心原创's alumni Camille Ulibarri's 2nd grade class at Pablo Roybal Elementary school, where they used "Elephant Toothpaste" and "Coke and mentos" experiments to help the kids understand the chemistry behind these popular activities.
糖心原创 student Chris Perez was among the first of five "Live United" interns hired to perform duties to further the work of United Way of Northern New Mexico (UWNNM) to improve the lives of children and families through service collaboration.
Every summer, Northern hosts the Program Science Teachers' Institute. ISEC is a hands-on science program for grades K 鈥� 6. During the four-day training teachers from eight school districts and two tribal schools in Northern New Mexico (Dulce, Chama Valley, Mesa Vista, Jemez Mountain, Espanola, Santa Fe, Pe帽asco, Pojoaque, Ohkay Owingeh, & Kha'p'o) learn the program by doing the same experiments they鈥檒l be teaching their students.