ADL’s Mountain States Regional Office has made several valuable connections to educators and students and has begun to deliver education programs in New Mexico. ADL’s education work has reached as far south as Anthony, New Mexico, which is located in the most southern part of New Mexico, close El Paso, Texas. Shannon Davis, a teacher at Gadsden Middle School in Anthony, connected with ADL’s education work through a pamphlet sent to her school about the Mountain States Region’s A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice student essay contest this spring. Her 7^th and 8^th grade students researched, wrote and submitted essays to ADL’s 2018 contest.  Ms. Davis found a valuable way to connect her students to the history of the Holocaust and to the idea of standing up against injustice just by participating in the ADL project.

Tara Raju, ADL Regional Director of Education, met Ms. Davis on a recent trip to Albuquerque where both Raju and Davis attended a full-day workshop featuring ADL’s Echoes & Reflections program, which was presented as part a week long Holocaust Education program presented by The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights and coordinated by veteran educators in the region. In addition to Ms. Davis, Ms. Raju met 30 dedicated educators from all over the state of New Mexico who spent a week of their summer vacation learning about new resources, information and strategies to teach the Holocaust to their students.  The conference provided a perfect opportunity for Ms. Raju to introduce educators to a wealth of ADL information and resources, including lessons plans, educator blogs and other materials. Educators expressed appreciation for being able to use ADL’s resources directly in their classrooms.

During her trip, Ms. Raju also met with educational leaders and representatives from the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque. She met with leaders at Albuquerque Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, and began to lay the groundwork to launch ADL’s flagship No Place for Hate initiative in New Mexico. At the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, Ms. Raju trained consulate staff about issues of bullying and cyberbullying in schools, and provided resources that the consulate can share with members of the community. Plans are in place to provide two additional workshops to consulate staff this coming fall regarding hate crimes and the anti-immigrant movement, all as part of a relationship ADL has established with the Government of New Mexico.

Building relationships continues to be a critical part of the ADL Mountain States’ regional work in New Mexico to ensure ADL is meeting the community’s needs. Additionally, ADL will continue its focus on providing resources to schools, law enforcement, community members and more.