On Wednesday February 21, 2018, from 5:30-7:00 PM, Dr. Pat Williams-Boyd will deliver a presentation at New Mexico State University entitled, “Schools as Community Hubs for Social Justice.” Here is the information provided by LCPS: Dr. Williams-Boyd will present research on the community schools model and will discuss its effectiveness in communities across the country. This event is free and open to the public, targeting all local residents, educators, civic leaders, parents, students, and the NMSU community. The presentation will be followed up with a brief local panel that will feature community school and education leaders in Las Cruces and El Paso.
Dr. Williams-Boyd is Emeritus Professor in the College of Education at Eastern Michigan University. She holds two doctoral degrees, one in ethnomusicology, the other in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in community schools, urban education and youth and families in poverty. Williams-Boyd has won awards for outstanding teaching and service to the profession both in her twenty-eight years in public school and in her twenty-one years as a professor at the university. She is an invited speaker at conferences in the United States, Europe and Asia. As well, her work on community schools and students in poverty is published in various journals and books and among other places she has been invited to present her research at Oxford University, Oxford, England, Beijing, China, Udmurt, Russia, Vilnius, Lithuania, Abu Dhabi, Florence, Italy. Germany, Austria and Turkey.
Community Schools is a model for school transformation that has been embraced by Las Cruces Public Schools and the City of Las Cruces, as well as a movement of local grassroots organizations, faith-based groups, nonprofits, health leaders, and business representatives. Community Schools transform public schools into neighborhood hubs with the help of a full-time onsite coordinator and a deep community needs and asset assessment. At community schools, families, staff, students, and community members become integral parts of a school’s vision and operation. In January 2017, Lynn Middle School was launched as the first community school in Las Cruces.
The presentation will take place from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at New Mexico State University’s O’Donnell Hall, Room 111, hosted by the Alliance for Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and a number of community sponsors including Families and Youth, Inc, the Children’s Reading Alliance, the City of Las Cruces, Las Cruces Public Schools, the Boys and Girls Club, Ngage New Mexico, the Success! Partnership, and the National Education Association – Las Cruces. For questions, please see www.NEA-LC.org/CS or contact David Greenberg at dgreenberg@lcps.net.