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Communities

Española

The community of Espanola, in northern New Mexico, hosted a Tomorrow’s Leaders program in 2007 and 2008. New Mexico First has worked in partnership with ENLACE (Engaging Latino Communities for Education) and Espanola Valley High School to implement the program. 

The ENLACE program received a federal grant to sponsor the S.A.D.D. program in the schools.

The Espanola Valley High School program was successful in gaining permission from the school and the Espanola School Board to allow eligible juniors and seniors to have more food choice by leaving campus during the lunch period. The students chose to focus their town hall on the facility needs of charter schools. They invited students from three other charter schools in the area to develop recommendations for how to improve their facilities. The students chose to focus their implementation efforts on raising the profile of charter schools statewide and improving opportunities for charter school students and families to connect with each other. 

Curriculum

Overview

Program Overview

New Mexico First’s Tomorrow’s Leaders program engages young people in local public policy and government. We use our proven town hall model to get youth involved in the democratic process and educate them about issues facing their communities. Participants in the Tomorrow’s Leaders program research, plan, and facilitate their own youth town halls, producing recommendations for local leaders. The skills taught through the program easily match the objectives of most core school courses. The goal is to involve an academically and socially diverse group of young people.

The Tomorrow’s Leaders program has been implemented in communities throughout New Mexico. Each group is comprised of 10-20 youth. Each is led by at least one adult leader and sometimes, a youth assistant. The adult leaders are usually local teachers, community leaders, or business members. Where possible, the youth assistant is an alumnus of the statewide Youth Alliance program. In locations where Youth Alliance alumni are not available, the youth assistant is often a student leader from a local college. 

New Mexico First provides week-by-week lesson plans and activities, preparing the participants to convene their local youth town hall. This town hall is each group’s major community activity. The events are typically held in a morning or afternoon, and they are attended by an additional 30-50 youth from the community. In the weeks following the youth town hall, participants in the Tomorrow’s Leaders program present the recommendations from the event to fellow students as well as local officials at school board meetings, city council meetings, or county commission meetings. The youth also develop their own media press releases on the results of their town hall. 

Each community also sends two youth delegates (and an adult chaperone) to New Mexico First’s statewide town hall. Travel, lodging, meals, and registration expenses are covered by the program. The statewide town hall is held on an important topic facing New Mexico. The youth delegates from the Tomorrow’s Leaders program, who by this time have conducted their own local town halls, are well prepared to participate on equal footing with adults. Furthermore, they bring important youth perspectives to the deliberations. 

Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors who have generously supported this program.

Lead Sponsors

Hatton W. Sumners Foundation
Daniels Fund

Community Sponsors

J. F Maddox Foundation
Sandia National Laboratories