May we introduce you to New Mexico?
To Public Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski: Since you are new to the state, you may not realize we have the richest and most diverse history of science in the United States.
Undoubtedly, you have by now heard of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories.
New Mexico has many science-related national parks, museums, areas and monuments, including Aztec Ruins, Bandelier, Carlsbad Caverns, Chaco Culture, the Manhattan Project, Pecos, Petroglyph and White Sands and has been home to many renowned scientists.
New Mexico is the home of America’s best examples of continental rift, calderas, volcanic and fossil formations.
Our home exhibits evidence of geological timelines studied by scientists throughout the world.
The Land of Enchantment boasts more life zones than virtually any other state in the country, supporting a vast diversity of flora and fauna that engages outdoor enthusiast from sports hunting to ecotourism, both ofwhich are also premier in the country and provide a huge economic contribution to our state’s economy.
Furthermore, our skies boast the migratory bird flyway and Monarch butterfly migration (essential pollinators), which are assisted by numerous wildlife refuges across the state.
Dinosaur tracks prints at Clayton Lake State Park to the Sun Dagger, a famous archeoastronomical Native American site; Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands also are world-renowned.
Are you familiar with the Very Large Array, Magdalena Ridge Observatory and other highly prized observatories in New Mexico?
You mistake the social and political science impacts to education in New Mexico with your misguided intent on “revolutionizing” applied science education in our state.
You are off base. Oh, just in case you do not know, our state’s baseball team is called the Isotopes. There is a reason for that.
We do not need our cultural legacy to be weakened by your interpretation of 21stcentury science teaching standards.
From north to south, east to west, above and below, geologic past to present and all points in between, we are science.
The problems in our education system will not be solved by you using your ambitions to appease a sector you perceive to represent the larger whole.
Jo Ahlm is a resident of Raton. She is a native New Mexican, born in Roswell, and has lived in all four corners of the state.