Mark Armijo Academy is taking bold steps to reshape education in Albuquerque, hoping to inspire the rest of New Mexico, and eventually, the nation. The school’s teachers and staff are unified around a passion for transforming the traditional school model to better engage students. And today, as education competes with the internet, smart phones, social media, and AI for student attention, students will find ways to engage themselves if school does not. Preparing students to be leaders in their communities and confidently face today’s challenges means embracing a necessary evolution in learning, one that empowers students with the skills and knowledge they need to be positive change agents.

Shawn Morris, Executive Director of Mark Armijo Academy, sees the gaps between the traditional school model and what students need in their classroom communities today. It is the same gap he noticed during his own education. He reflects on his own disengagement with school, which directed his focus to activities unrelated to learning, and since today’s students have access to limitless information at their fingertips, that potential for disengagement is amplified.

“Students will engage themselves if we don’t engage them,” Shawn says. But, he adds, “there are a ton of opportunities out there. We can change the trajectory of our students if only we give them opportunities.”

An educator for over twenty-five years, Shawn has dedicated himself to making today’s education reflect the challenges facing today’s students and their communities. At the heart of his efforts is an unshakable drive to remove barriers that prevent students from fully actualizing their success, whether that means a college education or diving directly into work and their careers. He understands that an evolving society means an evolving educational model, and since the earliest days of his career, he has encouraged out-of-the-box thinking to create student experiences more fulfilling and engaging.

Among the many ways Mark Armijo Academy aims to reinvigorate students and their love for learning are transformative experiences that expose students to a range of life possibilities. He wants his students to see that learning takes place in all aspects of the community and not just in the classroom at prescribed lesson times. While some of these learning experiences are tied directly to paid work, others tend to the social and emotional aspects of the students’ development. One such activity was the students’ time in Cottonwood Gulch, in which students spent a week without their phones, focused on experiencing the outdoors with an opportunity to eat healthy.

The team at Mark Armijo credits student opportunities and experiences, like Cottonwood Gulch, to the school's participation in Innovation Zones, which provides grant funding and technical assistance to high schools across New Mexico, encourages schools to explore non-traditional learning, and enables students to test and find their passions via hands-on, in-the-field learning through paid group and individual internships. The funding enables students to keep their focus on their passions and bettering their communities rather than working jobs that can be unrelated to a career path but provide compensation.

Shawn and his team believe that organizational partnerships are integral to centering the classroom in community. They understand that, for a variety of reasons, students are not always able to interact with cultural institutions in Albuquerque, so it’s imperative that school brings these places to the classroom. Students at Mark Armijo Academy have found their passions for biology, early childcare, ecological conservation, and other disciplines through its partnerships with a host of institutions including Central New Mexico Community College, Hispanic Cultural Center, New Mexico Early Learning Academy, New Mexico Department of  Workforce Solutions, University of New Mexico, and others. The school, he asserts, is one element in the community-school model, in which the community comes together to offer students paid internships and exciting opportunities. 

Mark Armijo Academy sees opportunities for growth in making their school a pillar of a learning community that extends beyond the physical walls of the school. They recently hosted a series of workshops with Enlace Comunitario addressing domestic violence for adult learners, and later this year, students will assist their community’s veterans and elderly with yard cleanup. 

“Schools should be able to provide health services, adult education,” says Shawn. “Anything we need for our families.” His enthusiasm for his school and optimism for his students’ future are infectious, and their successes continue to motivate him. Learning, he says, should not end with the last bell of the school day. 

“We’re at a crossroads with education,” he says. “We have the power right now to design education to meet the needs of our students, families, and communities.”