Visiting the Oldest State Capitol in the Country: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Students at Santa Fe High School participate in an activity where we discuss local community issues and sustainable solutions.

After six weeks of the Midwest and 18 hours of driving down south, we were thrilled to be greeted by blue skies and mesas in every direction. We are wrapping up a wonderful 10 days in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For a city of only 80,000 residents, Santa Fe feels like it has as many schools as a mid-size city like Milwaukee. In fact, several teachers we chatted with commented on how it sometimes feels rather unnecessary for a city of this size to have so many school choices. Of course, many of these schools fall in the charter and private categories, so they are not accessible to all residents.

The one consistency we can all agree on during our time here has been that every school has a beautiful view which has offered a nice backdrop during our days working with students.

Students at Santa Fe High School discuss the challenges of creating sustainable development while on the MVP bus.

A class explores the photo cubes at Santa Fe High School. Having the cubes in open locations often means students who are not visiting the MVP bus still have an opportunity to interact with the exhibit.

A student takes notes on the MVP curriculum.

The discussion of creating local change was particularly fruitful at Santa Fe High School, as students delved into the reason that the New Mexico school system ranks so poorly nationally.

Santa Fe High School students explore how sustainable development has played out in the MVP sites.

Students at Rio Grande Elementary School line up to board the bus. Despite unexpected snow fall, the students were extremely excited to engage with the exhibit.

A Rio Grande Elementary School student feels a jar full of teff, a staple grain in Ethiopia.

Rio Grande Elementary School students pose for a photo outside the bus.

Rio Grande Elementary School students, some still in 5th grade, explore the cubes.

Docent Quinn Berkman discusses the impacts of foreign business interventions with students at Rio Grande Elementary School.

A major local theme that came up (often at the prompting of students) was water access.  Given that Santa Fe is located in a high desert climate, rain can be sporadic and unreliable. We discussed how this impacts negotiations across state lines to ensure that everyone has access to water, which is considered a basic human right.  Globally, there are approximately 2.1 billion people who do not have access to clean water; there being an important distinction between having access to water versus having access to clean water. In the United States alone, more than 2 million Americans do not have access to running water or a toilet in their homes.  This recent study shared that the Native American population are most affected by this type of poverty. Approximately 10% of New Mexico’s population is made of indigenous people which is a reminder just how important this discussion is for students in New Mexico. In fact, many students shared that they get their water supply from wells built close to their homes rather than relying on the city’s public water supply.

There was also a lot of discussion around infrastructure and roads in regards to the climate in New Mexico.  One of the most overlooked efforts of the Millennium Villages Project was improving basic infrastructure such as roads.  In Santa Fe especially, there are many unpaved roads which can make driving very difficult if it rains or snows, and students were able to connect to and understand the struggle of relying on uneven dirt roads in their day to day lives.

Santa Fe Preparatory School students discuss their observations from the MVP exhibition.

Students at Santa Fe Preparatory School visit the MVP bus.

For students who were visiting the MVP exhibit in multiple classes, teachers prepared a scavenger hunt. The items on the hunt encouraged students to engage more deeply with the photos on their second visit.

Santa Fe Preparatory School students discuss their observations.

Docent Quinn Berkman asks Santa Fe Preparatory School students how lack of water access or poor infrastructure may effect their daily lives.

Santa Fe Preparatory School students discuss a photo from Bonsaaso, Ghana.

Students from Mandela International Magnet School walk out to the MVP bus.

A student is asked to identify by smell one of the marketplace items: cocoa beans, a major crop in Ghana.

Mandela International Magnet School students discuss the photo cubes.

Mandela International Magnet School students search for a photo of a marketplace on the photo cubes.

Docent Jordan Roth leads a discussion on how factors like infrastructure, education, and food access can impact sustainable community growth.

Students explore the photo cubes at Mandela International Magnet School.

As we wind down our time in Santa Fe, we are preparing for our penultimate stop: Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city.