This Education Advocate Is Helping New Mexico s Indigenous Communities Get Online
A lack of infrastructure on tribal lands has made access to the internet a longstanding issue.
By Jack Graham
Feb 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Working with rural tribal communities in the southwestern US state of New Mexico, Kimball Sekaquaptewa knows more than most about the challenges of remote schooling.
As chief technology director at Santa Fe Indian School, she serves more than 700 students in 19 rural pueblos, and has spent the last year working to get them online with limited access to high-speed internet.
It is a mission that the 47-year-old mother of three says will benefit the area s Indigenous communities long after the coronavirus pandemic is over, as getting connected expands opportunities for everything from jobs to shaping policy.
Working with rural tribal communities in the southwestern US state of New Mexico, Kimball Sekaquaptewa knows more than most about the challenges of remote schooling.
The school leader getting New Mexico s tribes online reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Wi-Fi available at 7 Doña Ana County community centers
From Staff Reports
LAS CRUCES - Doña Ana County partnered with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, ITDRC, to make free, outdoor Wi-Fi service available at community centers.
“Within Doña Ana County s colonias, just like in all communities, families should have easy access to quality and affordable internet service,” said Sen. Tom Udall. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the stark digital divide in colonias and other New Mexico communities, where residents face a persistent disadvantage in accessing education, healthcare services and the modern digital economy.”
Students can either drive to the parking lots of the community centers or access the projectConnect network just outside the building, maintaining social distance of at least six feet from others and wearing a mask. To access the service, students and interested community members should connect to the network named “projectConnect by�
PED Secretary Ryan Stewart On Yazzie-Martinez Motion
PED News:
SANTA FE New Mexico Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart issued the following statement Tuesday regarding a plaintiffs’ filing in the consolidated Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit:
“While it is the policy of the Public Education Department not to discuss pending litigation outside the courtroom, I would like to acknowledge the hard work being done by districts and charter schools, internet service providers, non-profit partners like the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, collective action by the New Mexico Homework Gap Team and the Public Education Department to bridge New Mexico’s digital divide.
“The problem of internet access, so critical for education during this pandemic, is not new to New Mexico and will not be resolved entirely in one year. Nevertheless, with the help of our partners, we have been able to put thousands of digital devices into the hands of New Mexico students who lacked them,