New Mexico Public Education Department

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New Mexico Public Education Department This is the official page of the New Mexico Public Education Department.

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Ms. Montana Hagler, the 2025 Milken Award winner for New Mexico, received the Milken Obelisk Award from Public Education...
10/23/2026

Ms. Montana Hagler, the 2025 Milken Award winner for New Mexico, received the Milken Obelisk Award from Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla. Montana was joined by her husband and fellow educator, Paden Hagler. Montana and Paden both spoke with Secretary Padilla about the importance of industry insight in career and technical education programs, as well as the value of career and technical student organizations (CTSOs), not only for building students’ job skills but also for strengthening their confidence and sense of local community. Montana and Paden both teach at Lovington High School, which they describe as “a 4A school with 5As’ worth of opportunity.”

Finish the week by helping students turn outdoor observations into a stewardship idea! Revisit your outdoor space and id...
10/23/2026

Finish the week by helping students turn outdoor observations into a stewardship idea! Revisit your outdoor space and identify one way to make it more welcoming for people or supportive of living things.

K–2: Draw one way to care for the space and explain why it matters.
3–5: Create a care reminder supported by something you observed.
6–8: Propose an improvement and explain who or what would benefit.
9–12: Develop a proposal using evidence, likely costs, and community perspectives.
Choose one feasible class action with school approval.

Outdoor Learning Week can be the beginning of learning outside all year! Submit your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our website!

Outdoor spaces tell stories about how people use and care for a place. Take students outside for 20 minutes to create a ...
10/22/2026

Outdoor spaces tell stories about how people use and care for a place. Take students outside for 20 minutes to create a map showing pathways, gathering spaces, plants, shade, and other features.

K–2: Draw and label three places students use.
3–5: Add a map key and describe how people use each area.
6–8: Map access to shade, seating, and pathways. Who can use these spaces comfortably?
9–12: Analyze how the space’s design supports learning, accessibility, and well-being.
Invite students to include names and descriptions in their home languages.

Ask: What makes this place meaningful to our school community? Submit your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our website!

Teachers, take learning outdoors with a simple nature-journaling activity. Choose one spot. Spend five minutes observing...
10/21/2026

Teachers, take learning outdoors with a simple nature-journaling activity. Choose one spot. Spend five minutes observing the whole scene, then five minutes studying one small detail. Sketch and label both views, leaving natural objects in place.

K–2: Draw the scene and one detail. Describe what changed when you looked closely.
3–5: Add descriptive words and questions to both sketches.
6–8: Identify relationships between your detail and its surroundings.
9–12: Use your observations to explain how a small feature connects to a larger system.

Close with: What did looking closely help you discover? Submit your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our website!

Your schoolyard is full of mathematics! Bring students outside for 15–20 minutes to explore shapes, quantities, measurem...
10/20/2026

Your schoolyard is full of mathematics! Bring students outside for 15–20 minutes to explore shapes, quantities, measurements, and patterns. All you need is paper, pencils, and optional measuring tools.

K–2: Find shapes or count and compare objects without disturbing them.
3–5: Measure an outdoor feature and calculate its perimeter.
6–8: Compare sunny and shaded areas by estimating or measuring their proportions.
9–12: Estimate a structure’s height using similar triangles or trigonometry.

Ask students: How can you explain your strategy and check whether your answer makes sense? Submit your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our website!

Teachers, kick off the week with a 15-minute observation walk! Visit your schoolyard or another accessible outdoor space...
10/19/2026

Teachers, kick off the week with a 15-minute observation walk! Visit your schoolyard or another accessible outdoor space. Ask students: What do you notice? What do you wonder? Record ideas through drawings, words, or voice notes.

K–2: Draw something you notice and share one question.
3–5: Record three observations and one question to investigate.
6–8: Look for patterns and develop an investigable question.
9–12: Connect an observation to a course concept and identify evidence needed to explore it.

Save students’ questions—you can return to them throughout the week! Submit your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our website!

Outdoor learning starts next week! ☀️🌳Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has proclaimed October 19–24, 2026, Outdoor Learni...
10/16/2026

Outdoor learning starts next week! ☀️🌳

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has proclaimed October 19–24, 2026, Outdoor Learning Week in New Mexico!

Outdoor learning helps students connect classroom lessons to the world around them, explore their communities, spark curiosity, and discover new ways to learn.

Keep an eye on our socials next week as we’ll be sharing daily ideas and activities you can try with your students to bring learning outside all week long!

Share photos of your students participating in Outdoor Learning Week and tag it under and

🎃🍂 Fall fun is back! Join us for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Fall Fest on Saturday, October 24, from 12 p.m. to 5 ...
10/15/2026

🎃🍂 Fall fun is back! Join us for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Fall Fest on Saturday, October 24, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Governor’s Residence!

Bring the family, dress up in your favorite costume, and enjoy an afternoon of free food, carnival games, arts and crafts, live music, a petting zoo, prizes, and more!

Free and open to the public! Registration is required. Visit governor.state.nm.us/fallfest for more information.

Being bilingual is a superpower! Your culture belongs in the classroom! TEACH New Mexico is offering a $1,000 Future Bil...
10/13/2026

Being bilingual is a superpower!

Your culture belongs in the classroom! TEACH New Mexico is offering a $1,000 Future Bilingual Teacher Scholarship for aspiring Spanish or Native language bilingual teachers in New Mexico.

Learn more and apply - https://ontch.org/FutureTeacherScholarshipsNM

Erik Chavarria, Construction and Electrical Trades instructor at the Career Technical Education Center (CTECH) in Hobbs,...
10/08/2026

Erik Chavarria, Construction and Electrical Trades instructor at the Career Technical Education Center (CTECH) in Hobbs, was recently awarded the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence! 👏🎉

Mr. Chavarria is one of 25 public high school teachers to receive this year’s honor. He is the first Tools for Schools Prize recipient from New Mexico and was awarded $50,000 to support his school’s program and a $25,000 personal award.

An Air Force Veteran, Mr. Chavarria stepped into the classroom to help address New Mexico’s skilled labor gap and teach the next generation of construction and electrical workers. He partners with Habitat for Humanity to provide his students with hands-on learning opportunities that directly impact the surrounding community. He has awarded over 2,400 total NCCER certifications and 164 NC3 certifications to students.

Congratulations to Mr. Chavarria for this well-deserved recognition!

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300 Don Gaspar
Santa Fe, NM
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