Saturday, September 30, 2006

NEA president recalled as 'extraordinary teacher'

Kenn Rodriguez News-Bulletin Staff Writer; krodriguez@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Like the rock formations she once studied as a geologist, Terri Ortiz, 50, was a considered a "rare find" as a teacher by her colleagues.

"She's just a great resource," said June Pederson, principal of Daniel Fernandez Intermediate School, where Ortiz taught sixth grade. "She was just a really good person who loved teaching and students. Her students knew how much she loved them."

Ortiz passed away Wednesday, Sept. 27, after a year-long bout with cancer. She is survived by husband Steve Ortiz, a technical manager at Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, and two sons, Evan Tyler, 21, a senior at the University of Arizona, and Benjamin Garrett, 19, a sophomore at the University of New Mexico.

Born Terry Gwen Smith in Pawhuske, Okla., a small town near the Oklahoma-Kansas border, Ortiz graduated from high school in Houston before attending Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, where she earned a bachelor's degree in geology. After earning a master's degree in the subject from the University of Texas-El Paso, she began working at Sandia Labs.

Ortiz' work at the Labs led to her becoming a teacher in the mid '90s. After leaving the labs to raise her sons, Ortiz was hired by Sandia as a science advisor for the Los Lunas Schools. That experience inspired her to become a teacher, said friend and school colleague Monica Arguello.

"We led parallel lives," said Arguello, 43, who shared classes and carpooled with Ortiz when the two got their teaching degrees from the College of Santa Fe in 1996 and '97. "We both had sons who were into sports. We shared family vacations and sat in numerous gyms and soccer fields watching our kids play sports."

"She was extraordinary, one of the most dedicated teachers I ever met," Arguello said. "No matter how long it took or what needed to get done, she was at school late day after day. She was always one of the last ones to leave."

Ortiz eventually became a mentor for new teachers and then a representative for them as president of the Los Lunas chapter of the National Education Association for the past two years.

Sharon Morgan, who is currently the state president of the NEA as well as head mentor in the Los Lunas School's Teacher Mentor program, said Ortiz caught her eye as teacher and as a potential leader for the NEA

"She exemplified everything good about the profession," she said. "She was passionate about teaching and advocating for the staff. She was just so intelligent and such a creative thinker.

"But she always kept things real," Morgan said. "When she did training she kept things practical. She was always a teacher, whether she was with adults or kids."

Los Lunas Schools Superintendent Walter Gibson, who worked with Ortiz as a teacher and in her capacity as co-president of Los Lunas' NEA chapter, said Ortiz was easy to work with but no pushover when it came to negotiations.

"She could be extremely strong when she believed in something," he said. "She was never strident or offensive. She could argue but was always persuasive. I knew when she was advocating for something that it was probably the right thing."

Despite her illness Ortiz continued teaching, leaving for treatment on Sept. 14, just thirteen days before her passing.

"She really engaged the kids," Gibson said.

"You go into some people's classrooms and it's all teacher-directed," he said, saying he visited Ortiz' classroom just a month ago. "In her classroom, the kids were actively engaged all the time. She must have done a huge amount of planning."

"She was a real hands-on teacher," he said. "That's why the kids loved her so much."

A memorial service for Ortiz is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2, at the Los Lunas High School Auditorium.

In addition, a fund has been set up in Ortiz' name through NEA-Los Lunas. The endowment will be used to fund scholarships for student going into education and for science-related materials and/or activities for teachers, said Morgan. Donations to the Terri Ortiz Memorial Fund can be sent to NEA-Los Lunas, P.O. Box 3511, Los Lunas 87031.

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