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STEM Santa Fe
STEM Santa Fe engages a community of practice of STEM professionals who volunteer to deliver high quality, project-based STEM learning experiences to underserved youth in northern New Mexico. They aim to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM by designing programs that focus on students in groups underrepresented in STEM, especially girls, Hispanics, Native Americans, and students from low-income backgrounds.
STEM Santa Fe continues to deliver hands-on STEM education while focusing on some of the needs of our community that became especially vital during the pandemic: bolstering students’ engagement and addressing social-emotional learning while keeping their adult volunteers connected to the community. They persevered with all hands-on programming virtually by distributing materials and kits prior to each virtual workshop, and created a technology lending library to ensure the best experience for all students.
The mentor-student relationship is central to their work: aside from teaching students STEM skills, the experience enhances the development of both students and mentors. Working on teams of peers while guided by mentors supports students’ social-emotional learning, helping them improve their communication, problem solving, and growth mindset. STEM Santa Fe supports all mentors with training and orientation sessions that boost their skills in leadership and youth development work. College student mentors gain job experience with competitive wages and build confidence in their own skills. Even the STEM professionals who volunteer with students benefit from the relationship: they value the opportunity to give back to their community, gaining a feeling of fulfillment through using their expertise to help youth.
STEM Santa Fe continues to grow through the generosity of our community! They are always working to augment their programming and reach more students, currently serving around 600 students a year from all over northern New Mexico.
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The Santa Fe Community Foundation invited its nonprofit grantees to submit stories related to its May topic of Education.
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Last year, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian opened Carved Stories by Hopi artist Mavasta Honyouti. Featuring all sixteen low-relief carvings from the Coming Home series — created in tandem with Honyouti’s children’s book Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story — the exhibit recounts his grandfather Clyde Honyouti’s experience at an off-reservation federal boarding school. This Indigenous-led project offers a powerful and visually compelling reflection on Hopi life, culture, and history. As Brian Vallo notes, “Carved Stories… is both powerful and beautiful.”
Kha'p'o Community School
With support from the Native American Advised Fund, sixth-grade students at Kha’p’o Community School embarked on Our Voice, Our Stories — a year-long documentary project blending traditional Tewa arts and modern digital storytelling. Through pottery, weaving, sewing, and film, students explored their cultural identity and celebrated their voices as young Tewa people.
Truchas Services Center Preschool
The Truchas Services Center Preschool serves children from all the surrounding communities, providing supervision and appropriate curriculum for children ages 3 to 5 years old. The mission of the Pre-School program is "Children learning through playing".
