By Nichole Harwood
With over 1,000 vacancies for New Mexico educators open throughout the state, many have answered the call to step into new careers while learning to educate the future generation. Despite this, however, one new teacher quickly found that new educators weren’t the only thing the New Mexican education system needed despite the vacancies. Many classrooms lacked school supplies needed to aid those stepping into new careers as New Mexico educators.
Marsella Duarte was one of the many who answered the call for educators taking the leap from public servant to elementary teacher. Duarte holds a four-year degree in sociology from New Mexico State (NMSU) and worked previously in politics working in her father’s law office until he retired and passed away. In addition, she served as the Vice-Chair of the Bernalillo County Democratic Party. It was there she found out about the need for teachers and made a move to change her career path from public servant to the people to teacher of children.
After applying for multiple positions within Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), she was shortly after contacted to interview for a job at Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School, a school she had been a student of the inaugural second-grade class when it was built in 1989. The interview she said was the best in her life.
“I just felt at home,” Duarte said. “I love my principal, my assistant principal, and the administration – it was just meant to be.”
Despite the peace, she felt entering her new position; she quickly found that learning a new career was not the only hurdle she would have to overcome, finding a severe lack of supplies available to teach her first students. As the fourth teacher taking on the position of the kindergarten teacher to her class in the school year alone, she found that her children’s previous educator had to use much of their own funds to provide what little supplies they had.
Duarte said her experience, however, is not uncommon for New Mexico educators to walk in on, stating that while her school is not a title one school, APS often has to charge for the simplest things a teacher needs, from color paper to other supplies.
Duarte worked on building up her classroom with fourteen students despite the scarce supplies until she realized she needed to reach out to the community.
“I truly believe that people do care about kids,” Duarte said. “It’s just that if they don’t know what’s going on, then how can they help?”
Getting to work, Duarte used her previous position’s experience to benefit her student’s starting a GoFund Me campaign to raise money for school supplies. With a goal of $7,500, the community in a few short weeks has already helped to raise $560.00, with many members of the community reaching out to Duarte with words of encouragement.
“I am so incredibly grateful for any donation, everything is so expensive, and I don’t think enough people know about it,” she said. “They think that APS has such a large budget, but we have nothing, and my kids need so much.”
Not being a mother herself, Duarte said she felt an immediate connection with her students, promising both them and the parents that there would be no fifth teacher needed this school year and turning away job offers to continue on her path as an educator.
“I don’t have kids of my own, so I’m like super auntie; my students are my kids,” Duarte said. “They are incredibly amazing little beings, and I love them and adore them, and I am committed to them.”
With a goal to benefit not just her classroom but the entire school, Duarte hopes to raise enough money to provide a printer to her students and other students within the elementary school. In addition, she would like to continue to promote a safe space for her students where they can express their emotions and grow as individuals. While she and other teachers work hard to provide supplies for students, she admitted with a cheery laugh that it would go faster and easier with help from the community.
“These kids are our future,” Duarte said. “These are our future leaders, the ones that will be taking care of us as we get older and age out. They are the ones that are going to inherit the earth and the community, and if we give them a strong start in kindergarten and pre-k, then we’re setting them up for success rather than hardships and failures.”
Are you looking to support New Mexico Educators? To learn more about Marsella Duarte’s GoFundMe find the page here!
Are you looking for more articles about the Albuquerque community? Check out our latest art review Creativity Warehouse Review 2021: A Joyful Experience here!
