Posts Tagged ‘Barbara Couture’

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Bulletin

Artist's Rendering courtesy of Studio D Architects

By Gabriel Vasquez

Higher learning means higher earning, and The Bridge of Southern New Mexico is hoping to drive that message home to students already attending the Arrowhead Park Early College High School (ECHS) on the New Mexico State University campus.

The Bridge, a local nonprofit that has brought together teachers, students, parents, the education community and private industry, was the catalyst for the new high school – the first of its kind in the state – that opened July 2010 to 117 Las Cruces freshmen. For now, the school is operating out of Doña Ana Community College, but will begin operations from its new Arrowhead Park campus once construction is finished in August, said Tracey Bryan, president and CEO of The Bridge.

“To compete in the 21st century workforce, you need at least a two-year degree or industry certification to really have a shot to succeed,” said Bryan, speaking at a Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance business forum Tuesday, Jan. 4. “The Early College High School exists for the purpose of building a stronger workforce for the ultimate goal of creating a stronger economic future for Doña Ana County.”

To achieve the feat, The Bridge, born out of what was then the Regional Education Initiative, began seeking partnerships and board members from different areas of industry and education around the county. With partners such as Barbara Couture, president of NMSU; Margie Huerta, president of DACC; Stan Rounds, superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools; Cynthia Nava, superintendent of the Gadsden Independent School District; and Robert Garza, Las Cruces city manager, The Bridge has secured the human capital and money needed to move forward with the project.

“We have the top leaders in this county from all these different sectors,” Bryan said. “The reason The Bridge will and is already having an impact is because these people have the authority to make the decisions that need to be made.”

The curriculum for the new high school, which centers on an industry- and career-specific learning environment, was designed around “the best educational practices” in the nation, Bryan said.

“Nationally, (early college high schools) have a 90-percent graduation rate,” she said. “They (use) the best practices in education, such as small classes and applied learning, and the teachers can really work with students not just as teachers, but as mentors.”

If the Doña Ana County dropout rate was reduced by half in one year, those students who graduate high school would have a cumulative earning power of $3.3 million, and if those same students got a four-year degree, they’d earn about$12 million, according to a recent Arrowhead Center study Bryan cited. Additionally, the county’s home values would increase by $66 million if those students stayed in Doña Ana County and the state would stand to gain $212,000 in added tax revenue.

Getting students to understand the connection between education and future earnings is critical, Bryan said.

“We’re turning to the private sector for that,” she said. “Mentors, internships and building a strongpathway. We’re going to do it together.”

Students who attend the ECHS for four years will graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree, thanks in part to dual-credit classes offered at the school.

“The ECHS model is incredible,” Bryan said. “In our ECHS, we specifically sought students who were at risk of dropping out. They understand that they are trailblazers in their family and in the state.”

Bryan said so far, no ECHS students have dropped out since classes began. About 35 percent have perfect attendance, 14 percent have straight A’s and all students have passed their first dual-credit college course, computer literacy.

But to graduate on time with both a diploma and an associate’s degree requires intense academic focus, the main reason why the ECHS won’t offer the typical high school extracurricular activities.

“It won’t have a football field, it won’t have a band, none of those things,” Bryan said. “These kids will graduate with a two-year (college) degree and be ready to move on.”

Now that classes are up and running, The Bridge is seeking the participation of local business owners and industry leaders who want to donate their expertise or offer internships to students attending the new high school.

Kevin Boberg, CEO of the Arrowhead Center, said the new high school is on the Arrowhead campus because in the future, students will be able to secure internships and work study programs with employers within the Arrowhead Park, a business incubator currently being developed that’s already home to several high-tech companies.

For now, however, Bryan said The Bridge is encouraging any local business people who may be able to invest or offer mentorships or internships to ECHS students to contact the organization.

“Students need an adult to get the bigger vision of why they should stay in school,” Bryan said.

After its first four years, the ECHS will house up to 500 students in grades 9-12.

For more information or to contact The Bridge, call 528-7092 or visit www.thebridgeofsnm.com.

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Gabriel Vasquez

A spark of genius is returning to Las Cruces. The second annual Re-Energize America conference, slated for Thursday and Friday, June 3 and 4, will corral a group of national experts in the energy field to speak on various topics related to short-term planning for long-term energy independence. U.S. Representative Harry Teague is once again the program’s honorary chair.

“Developing a comprehensive energy plan that incorporates both traditional and renewable energy resources is critical in cementing southern New Mexico as a leader in the energy industry,” Teague said, announcing the event.

The two-day conference, to be held at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road, will offer attendees the opportunity to discuss domestic solutions to energy problems with leaders in government, industry and academia.  Job creation will be a focus of the conference.

“This has been one of my top priorities while in Congress, working with great organizations like NMSU to develop research and production programs that take advantage of our state’s unique resources,” Teague said.

According to the program’s agenda, the conference will go “beyond policy discussions,” with a distinct focus on how participants can help develop a short-term plan for long-term sustainability. Participants will listen to panelists speak about creating new energy jobs, jobs through investments in energy efficiency, the technology behind energy independence, new energy jobs for New Mexico, creating new energy entrepreneurs, new jobs in nuclear energy and the role of oil and gas during the transition. Active discussions will be held during panel sessions.

“Energy is one of the most important issues we’re faced with in this country,” said Abbas Ghassemi, director of NMSU’s Institute for Energy and the Environment, announcing the conference. “Energy availability, sustainability, delivery and impact on natural resources like water and reliable and dependable sources of energy are so significant to the sustenance of the way of life that we have.”

NMSU’s Institute for Energy & the Environment is sponsoring the conference with support from the Arrowhead Center’s PROSPER Project, International Relations Institute, Water Resources Research Institute and the College of Arts and Sciences.

At last year’s conference, the event featured an impressive lineup of speakers that included Steven Chu, U.S. secretary of energy; Dick Williams, president of Shell Wind; Diane Denish, lieutenant governor; Jeff Trucksess, president of Green Earth Fuels; Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association; Paul Foster, CEO of Western Refining; and Tom Bowles, science advisor to Governor Bill Richardson.

“At Shell, we operate on three hard truths,” Williams said during last year’s conference. “One, our source of energy is going to die. Second, the easy-to-get stuff is gone. Third, anything we do has an environmental stress.”

Panelists and speakers this year include Barbara Couture, president of NMSU; Jim Ford, vice president of federal government affairs for ConocoPhillips; Jason Pyle, CEO of Sapphire Energy; Steve Fischmann, state senator; Russell Schmitt, president of CleanSwitch; Jon Goldstein, secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department; Jeff Bingaman, U.S. senator; Margie Tatro, director of Fuel and Water Systems for Sandia National Laboratories; and Arun Bose, program manager for the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Several other speakers from various sectors related to the energy industry are also slated to make an appearance.

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required and is limited to 400 participants. At last year’s conference, more than 400 showed up for the two-day event.

“We hope participants and audience members alike will participate in coming up with solutions,” Ghassemi said. “Solutions to these problems are very complex in nature. It is not as simple as coming up with a technology … to solve all the problems.

“(Attendees) will be able to participate in developing a plan on how to go about achieving energy independence. We cannot come up with a solution that is forced down; it really needs to be a grassroots, working up as well as the highest level of our local, state and federal governmental policies that meet each other halfway.”

Other conference sponsors include ConocoPhillips, Lockheed Martin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Sapphire Energy and the Carlsbad, N.M., Department of Development.

“We have not come close to reaching the limits of renewable energy technologies and now is the time to collaborate our efforts and resources,” Teague said. “Building off the success of last year’s conference, this year’s Re-Energize America will once again bring together policy, industry and academic experts and help move New Mexico’s energy future forward.”

For more information on the conference and to register, visit energize.nmsu.edu or call Karen Mikel at 646-2162 or Aggie Saltman at 646-9323.

The Board of Regents of New Mexico State University announced a series of public receptions with the five finalists for President of New Mexico State University and their spouses.

The reception for Richard Herman was held on Monday, November 2nd at the NMSU Stan Fulton Center, 3rd Floor, 1815 Wells Street, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The receptions for the other finalists will be held at the NMSU Golf Course Clubhouse Player’s Grill, 3000 Herb Wimberly Drive, Las Cruces, New Mexico at the following times and dates:

• Barbara Couture, Wednesday, November 4^th, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

• Lisa Rossbacher, Friday, November 6^th, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

• Mike Ortiz, Monday, November 9^th, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

• Jim Oblinger, Monday, November 16^th, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Please RSVP by phone to (575) 646-7737 or by email to jolie@nmsu.edu.

Candidate profiles and input forms are available at http://www.nmsu.edu/presidentialsearch/index.html. Input forms will also be available at each reception.