Since 2020, Future Focused Education and our partners around the state have gathered in Albuquerque to reimagine public education at the EdUprising Conference. If you’re looking for a place to learn about the most cutting edge internship, capstone, and re-engagement practices in New Mexico, look no further. While the theme changes from year to year, our commitment to sharing the best practices remains the same and it shows. The conference has grown every year to include more voices and more innovative educational practices. 

The 2025 EdUprising Conference aims to transform education in New Mexico, helping to make it as dynamic as the state’s students. This March 7-8, educators, policy makers, administrators, community leaders, and students will create the future of education in New Mexico, not to mention showcase the incredible ideas that our state’s young people have.

“Young people in New Mexico are brilliant,” says Ronnie Reynolds, an educator in New Mexico for over twenty-five years as well as a consultant at Future Focused Education and presenter at this year’s conference. “They’re passionate about community issues and want opportunities to come up with solutions.” 

The conference provides students with opportunities to connect with mentors and community members and discuss the unique moment in which we find ourselves–our new graduation requirements have educators and students in the state energized around things like community capstone projects and expanded work-based learning programs.

This year, EdUprising features a youth conference strand to further engage young people. On Saturday morning, youth will own the keynote speaker session to share what they have learned the day prior.

“We’re grassroots, and we’re learning from young people’s voices,” says Dr. Patricia Jimenez-Latham, Senior Advisor for Communications and Outreach at Future Focused.

Since the conference’s inception in 2020, Patricia has prided it as an event by New Mexicans, for New Mexicans, with the wisdom of our communities driving changes in the student learning experience. Students and educators will have opportunities to tackle complex issues such as creating a graduate profile, empowering rural students, advancing educational equity, and AI & assessment. An educator for over forty years, Patricia understands this crucial moment for education in the state and that our students are the future. She hopes the young people who attend will return to their schools empowered to be changemakers in their schools and communities, and that more will attend in the future.

The conference has space for fifty students and their chaperones, with a waiting list for eager participants hoping to take part. And it is not only students who benefit from the conference; educators and policy makers have a tremendous opportunity for networking and growth.

“Educators are on the cutting edge of this reimagining of the education experience,” says Patricia. We at Future Focused prioritize creating partnerships between students and educators, through one-on-one mentorship, capstone projects, and X3 Internships–which are paid, work-based learning opportunities in which students connect with working professionals to gain real-world experience, school credit, and the support of a caring adult mentor. X3 is just one of the many initiatives we feature to promote lasting partnerships within the state. “Young people want and need mentors in their life,” she continues, emphasizing that our state’s education improves when we have teachers that understand and live in their own communities.

Ronnie agrees with Patricia. For the last four years, he has helped facilitate groups of teachers that support educators in generating new ideas and then implementing them. The teacher networks he and EdUprising help create continue to prove invaluable in imaging possibilities for our students’ education. This year, Ronnie will present on two topics: connecting with communities in both urban and rural settings, and an introduction to capstone projects and the materials needed to organize and successfully complete them. 

Providing students with genuine opportunities for problem-based learning and solution generation, with the guidance of trusted mentors, allows them to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways, and their excitement is infectious. 

“A lot of times, students don’t see themselves as positive contributors,” says Ronnie. “But if you ask them ‘Would you be willing to work on community issues and come up with ideas?’ they always say yes.”

“There is a tremendous opportunity right now in New Mexico,” Ronnie continues. The combination of the right legislation, educators, and students opens a world of possibility that has allowed New Mexico and Future Focused Education to spearhead education transformation in the US.

More than anything, we want all our conference participants to connect with like-minded individuals and enjoy themselves. This annual opportunity charges the brightest minds and fuels our passion to reinvigorate New Mexican education and create authentic learning environments that act as a North Star for the rest of the country to follow. Our desire to make schools a safe place for young people to explore their passions and build relationships with adult mentors is what motivates this conference—to have bright, courageous young people who have the capacity to decide for themselves what is best for themselves, and for their communities.

Want to know more about the 2025 EdUprising Conference? Check out our website and register today!