SMART BOARD

Education news and events

HESTIA FUND AWARDS $190K TO HELP STUDENTS, FAMILIES

The Santa Fe Hestia Fund has awarded more than $190,000 in grants to 13 local nonprofit organizations to help support students and their families during the coronavirus pandemic.

The group is a women’s giving circle in its 12th year of supporting programs for Santa Fe middle schoolers. According to a news release, this year marked the highest amount the group has ever distributed. The list of grantees included:

◆ Breakthrough Santa Fe

◆ Communities In Schools

◆ Community Learning Network

◆Cooking With Kids

◆ Gerard’s House

◆ Girls Inc. of Santa Fe

◆ Hands-On Heritage

◆Mariachi Conquistador

◆ Reading Quest

◆ Scrub Club

◆ The Sky Center

◆ Solace Crisis Treatment Center

◆ STEM Santa Fe

The Santa Fe Hestia Fund is supported by 38 local members and conducts in-depth research into all applicants.

“We are so impressed by the commitment and creativity that these non-profit organizations have demonstrated in continuing to serve our community despite the almost overwhelming challenges of the past year,” said Rachel White, the 2021 Santa Fe Hestia Fund chairwoman. “These groups provided essential and important services to students and their families, including food deliveries, counseling, tutoring, and Wi-Fi connections.”

SFCC WRITING PROGRAM TO HOLD ONLINE READINGS

Santa Fe Community College’s Library and Creative Writing Program will hold a series of online readings of original works throughout April and May.

All of the online readings are free and open to the public, but you must preregister at tinyurl.com/sfccspringreadings to attend. The schedule of events is as follows:

◆ Noon to 1:30 p.m. April 22: Students in Emily Stern’s creative nonfiction class. Register by April 21 to receive virtual meeting link.

◆ 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. April 29: Students in Genevieve Bett’s exploring creative writing spring 2020 class. Register by April 28 to get link.

◆ 5 to 6 p.m. May 6: Santa Fe Community College’s annual faculty and staff springtime reading. Register by May 5 for the link.

◆ 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 12: Students in Terry Wilson’s exploring creative writing class. Register by May 11 for the link.

TWELVE SCHOOLS ON VIRUS WATCHLIST, TWO IN SANTA FE

The state Public Education Department announced that 12 schools appeared on the Environment Department’s watchlist for the week ending March 19, signifying they had at least two rapid responses in a 14-day period.

Santa Fe Public Schools’ Atalaya Elementary and Taos Municipal Schools’ Taos High School were the two local schools to appear on the list.

NMHU PROFESSOR RECEIVES EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD

New Mexico Highlands University announced that forestry professor Julie Tsatsaros’ research on water quality improvement adjacent to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef received an Editor’s Choice Award from the scholarly journal Water.

Tsatsaros is the lead author on the paper, Improving Water Quality in the Wet Tropics, Australia: A Conceptual Framework and Case Study, published in November. She worked on the research with scientists from Australia and the Czech Republic.

Her research also will be the basis for an upcoming publication for which she is the lead author, “Supporting Community Led Water Quality Water Monitoring in River Basins Adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia”. The paper will be published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin in May.

Tsatsaros said the research framework is a case study that can be applied to both freshwater and marine environments anywhere in the world.

“The research shows how multiple stakeholders in rural watersheds can contribute to successful water quality management outcomes for freshwaters that drain to the Great Barrier Reef,” Tsatsaros said. “We integrated physical science and community involvement, especially from the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation. This organization assisted in all phases of a pilot water quality monitoring program and after the initial study, continued to monitor the water quality through its Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger program in partnership with local, state and federal agencies and organizations.”