Sunset Hills teacher chosen for NMPED State Ambassadors leadership program

Sunset Hills Elementary second grade teacher Kimberly Landry likes being in the know.

Landry was a teacher leader liaison with the New Mexico Public Education Department but found that liaisons do not get as much information to pass along as ambassadors do so she applied for the NMPED State Ambassadors leadership program.

"I want to find out more information and I want to be that teacher voice," Landry said. "You don't see a lot of people from Alamogordo in those meetings. So, I think this part of the state really needs to have their voice heard."

Landry was named one of 21 New Mexico Teachers selected for the 2021-2022 New Mexico Public Education Department State Ambassadors leadership program.

"(New Mexico Public Education Department) chose us based on our leadership skills, our ability to communicate with our district leaders and our school leaders," Landry said. "Through this program we actually get to bring information from the State to our district level and our school level."

New Mexico 2020 Teacher of the Year Mandi Torrez leads the program and sends out monthly newsletters.

Landry attends monthly meetings where she and the other Ambassadors meet with people from New Mexico Public Education Department and discuss policy, testing and any changes that might be coming, Landry said.

"For example, at this last meeting that we had, I did talk with (NMPED Deputy Secretary of Teaching, Learning and Assessment) Gwen Warniment and she was discussing how (the New Mexico Public Education Department) contract with iStation is coming to an end with the State and how they are wanting teacher feedback (about iStation)," Landry said.

iStation is an e-learning program.

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Landry is a part of a group with four other teachers on Education Rising, a program/ plan to encourage new teachers to continue teaching, she said.

"So far, we've talked about creating a statewide mentorship program that is consistent across all districts," Landry said. "Now, there is a mentorship program, but it's not the same in each district."

The other teachers in Landry's group are from Farmington, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe.

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The five teachers have compared each district's new teacher mentorship program and how they are alike and how they differ.

"If we could create a plan that's cohesive, then it would be effective in keeping teachers," Landry said. 

There are other groups within the leadership program that discuss things such as policy and media outreach.

There is a total of five groups, Landry said.

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"Kim is very involved with the PED," Alamogordo Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Cara Malone said. "Kim is great to send the latest (information) that she gets from her ambassadorship."

In Summer 2020, Landry reviewed English/Language Arts curriculum with New Mexico Public Education Department and in 2018, she reviewed math curriculum, Landry said.

"Publishers give us their curriculum and we review it based on our standards and how they align to the Common Core," Landry said. 

Landry also serves on the English/Language Arts team and as a new teacher mentor at the district level.

Landry has been teaching for nine years. She started as a substitute teacher when she was 19. 

"I took every job that was open, so I was a custodian, I was a lunch lady, I was an (educational assistant) I was a secretary, I was a teacher," Landry said. "Then I got a long-term teacher position at North (Elementary) teaching kindergarten from January to May right after I became a teacher."

Then there were no teacher openings for Landry and she briefly taught fifth grade in the Tularosa Municipal School District.

A few school and grade changes later and Landry is teaching second grade for the second year at Sunset Hills Elementary.

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"'I love second grade," Landry said.

Sunset Hills Elementary is located where North Elementary had been for decades. Sunset Hills combined North and Oregon Elementary schools and opened in December 2019.

Landry is from Alamogordo originally having attended North Elementary, Chaparral Middle School and Alamogordo High School.

Landry has a son at Chaparral Middle School which where her husband works as a school nurse.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.