Saturday, October 27, 2007

State Principal of Year

Katherine Gallegos Elementary's Mildred Chavez honored for making a difference in children's lives

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

Los Lunas Principal Mildred Chavez can't walk through the hallways of Katherine Gallegos Elementary without greeting and being greeted by students and staff alike - she even chats with the guy bringing in pallets of supplies through the front door.

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"We had 425 kids at KGE when I first started," she said. "I knew every child's name, knew their parents. We now have 734 kids, and I don't know every student's name, which bothers me. But I make the effort because, when you see them in the hallway and say 'Hi Mark,' they have the sense that this is their home."

Chavez was honored along with 50 other elementary school principals on Oct. 18 and 19 in Washington, D.C., as New Mexico's National Distinguished Principal for 2007. She's received letters from Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Pete Domenici, who she also got to meet with while in the nation's capital.

Chavez said the principals were presented engraved bells at the ceremony and all rang them as part of the presentation.

"When we rang the bells, I thought 'We are education' — I wanted to cry, it was so strong," she recalled. "I thought, 'This is why I'm here.' These people are what education is all about."

The honor is something Chavez said she didn't expect - despite being a well-respected educator for her 11 years at Katherine Gallegos Elementary.

She said she got her first notification in April after KGE teaching coach Denise Cannon put together a letter of nomination at the behest of district Superintendent Walt Gibson.

"I called Walt, and I said 'Thank you so much,'" she said. "He said, 'Well, do it.' And I said 'There's nothing I do that nobody else does.' He said, 'Mildred, I want you to do it.' So I said, 'I'll think about it.'

"Toward the end there, I was still contemplating whether to do it, and I just said, 'Lord, I'm placing this in your hands,'" she said. "If this is meant to be, then you guide me."

Cannon, who wrote the initial nomination letter, said the nomination was well deserved.

"Everything she does is for the community and our school," Cannon said. "She's a tremendous leader. She puts the children first and bases her decision on what's best for them. She's the reason KGE is as strong as it is.

"She has a talent for picking people who are hard workers and love being around children and are dedicated to their profession. She does what teachers love. She's fair and forthright and lets us know what she expects. Once a teacher gets on (at KGE) they don't want to leave."

Chavez said she was "overwhelmed" by the nomination.

"My feeling was, as educators, we all strive to do the best for our children, and in my mind we all do that," she said. "We all work and do our best. Then I started thinking about completing the application, filling in my résumé and thinking about my beliefs, and I thought 'This (résumé) is pretty good.'"

The daughter of Dan and Amelia Hernandez of Los Lunas, Chavez graduated from Los Lunas High School in 1975 and started her career in the Los Lunas Schools in 1980 after graduating from the University of Albuquerque. She spent 13 years at Los Lunas Middle School, earning her master's degree in education from the University of New Mexico while teaching language arts, speech and drama.

She became a site specialist at Los Lunas Elementary and KGE before accepting an assistant principalship at Daniel Fernandez Intermediate School in 1995. Two years later, she took over at Katherine Gallegos Elementary.

"Many years ago, when I was in high school and I worked at the community public library, Katherine Gallegos was the librarian at the time," she said. "I worked with her for four and five years through high school and college, and we were good friends. So when the opportunity came up when KGE opened up, I thought 'Wouldn't it be something if I could work in the school that was named for her?' And, lo and behold, it came about."

In more than 10 years at KGE - while raising her three daughters, Jennifer, Kimberly and Amanda, with her husband, Ambrose - Chavez said she's found that family is important both in school and out.

"Family is so important in this realm," she said. "One of the things I said is someone has to believe in you. For us to achieve, someone believed in us and believed that we were good.

"You see it today, our kids, they deal with so many obstacles and hardships, and we've got to be the strength so they become successful adults as well," Chavez said. "It's a circle and a cycle, and we've all got to work together to get there. And family is so important. I was fortunate that I had people who believed in me. I feel really strongly about the kids I work with because I believe in them."

Chavez said many of the students at KGE have obstacles and challenges, like students across the country do. But they also have strong families.

"I think that's what makes Katherine Gallegos a strong school is that we have a strong community," she said. "And that's how I feel about my kids here at school — my kids feel this is a place of security where they can learn. They're going to be safe and successful because, if you take care of them, they'll achieve."

Before she went to Washington, Chavez' students gave her thanks by making drawings and pictures - one reads: "The principal helps people." Another says, "The principal works for us." When Chavez visits a classroom, a first-grader shows her his penmanship with the message, "Mrs. Chavez is the best principal."

She smiles as widely as she did in her pictures holding her award bell. Chavez said she couldn't have won the award without the help of the staff at Katherine Gallegos and the inspiration of the children.

"We have a lot of strong, intelligent people here, and they're my backbone," she said. "I made sure to let them know 'I'm here because of you.' If I didn't have them, it wouldn't be. So they're very important."

Her award comes as she begins to think about a new assignment - Chavez was recently named the new principal for the new Westside elementary school being built to ease crowding at Katherine Gallegos.

"It's really bittersweet because I've invested a lot into this community," she said. "And it's my community, so it's OK. But it's really hard leaving KGE."

She said she'll take her experiences at Katherine Gallegos Elementary with her to the new school. She also says she's still in awe of the award.

"One of the things that Walt always tells me is 'You know one of the things I admire most about you is you've got courage to do things that a lot of people don't,'" she said. "And I think that courage comes about because I've been here long enough to know what I can and can't do, within my school and in the community and within myself. It's been wonderful.

"(But) I think I'm still processing everything," she said with a chuckle.

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