Monday, June 8, 2009

In my memory, I will always see a town that I have loved so well

When times got tough, there was just about enough, but we saw it through without complaining.
That's not true; we complained plenty. But click here anyway for the rest of the Phil Coulter song.



Dulce, New Mexico, 87528
________________________________________________

entering Dulce ...


old BIA houses ...





new buildings ...

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Vaya con Dios, my pals and housemates


Ms. Rose, I'll miss you so.


Rock on, Ms. Hogan!


See you in New York, Mrs. Andrake?


Say it ain't so, Mr. G!



You've been a great boss, Boss!


XO, Ms. Kristin. Muah!


You're the best, Ms. Cindy.


Thanks for everything, Ms. Grace.




School's out for summer


Well we got no class
And we got no principles
And we got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes

School's out for summer
School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces



Picnic at Mundo Lake on the last day of school.




Rockets












Our big kids spent a few days at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. They built model rockets and launched them for us on the last day of school. The device above is used for measuring rocket trajectory.



Izzy's New Mexico birthday


My grandson, Kainoa Robert Francis Waikiki (sometimes known as Izzy), brought his mom and sister to Lumberton for his fourth birthday. He got to practice being a 4th-grader for a while, and celebrated his big day with a picnic, birthday cake, and piñata at Coach's house.




Monday, May 25, 2009

Maybe It Could Be True

by Lester
Once I was walking down the street. I saw a cardboard box. There was something shiny under it. It was a bike! It wasn’t broken or anything. I got on the bike and it was just my size! I rode it to school. After school I rode home. I was so happy that I pulled into my dad’s parking spot. When my dad got home, he ran over my bike. I was very sad. When I was taking my bike to the garbage can, it started to move. I got scared and ran. When it was done moving, it wasn’t broken anymore! I was happy again.

I kept putting my bike in my dad’s parking spot. One day I went outside and saw my dad selling my magic bike. I couldn’t stop him. He had already sold it. He said, “Sorry, Son.” I ran inside and got all my money - $100.00 – so I could buy my bike back. It was too late. The man who bought it was already gone.


by Elijah
It was May 7, 1794. There was an Indian from South Dakota named Kunsaka. He was tall. His age was 17. He liked to fish in the winter because the fish were so cold.

Kunsaka had a problem with his tribe. They weren’t getting enough buffalo for food and hides. One day Kunsaka went into the field and prayed for more food and water. At night Kunsaka prayed to the spirit buffalo. Then he heard a weird noise. It sounded like a buffalo crying. The next day, the chief got hit by a buffalo. He lost his sight and his hearing. Another member of the tribe was killed by a wolf. Kunsaka felt so sad. He blamed the animals.


by Danesha
Gaweasaca was ten years old. It was December 25th. It was cold that day in the early afternoon, even though the sun was on Gaweasaca’s back. Eskimos came and camped by the river. The Eskimos did not like the people from Gaweasaca’s tribe. They captured her and threw her in jail. There was a guy named Deon. He was 21 and had short brown hair. Deon was nice. He helped Gaweasaca break out of the prison. He helped her find her way home. On the way, they saw a snake. It went around Gaseasaca’s ankle. It felt bumpy and rough. Deon threw sticks at the snake and it turned into a deer. The deer became Gaweasaca’s pet.

by AJ
It was the fall of 1856. Geronimo was on his way to Dulce to fight against the Jicarilla Apaches. He had a problem. “I am not going to fight against my cousin,” he said. They stopped the war because of the cousins. Later Geronimo said to his cousin, “Get your guys and I will get mine. We will protect our land on the west. We must fight against the white people.”

After the fighting, Geronimo never saw so many dead people, both Indian and white. It made him sad because some were his friends.


by Ariana
I have a magic bike. It’s purple. It got it from a ghost town in New England. It looks like an ordinary bike, but the first time I took off with it, it flew into the sky. I said, “Wow!” Then I knew it was magic.

The first people I told were Jalene and Danesha. They didn’t believe me, so I took them for a ride to London. They believed me then!

My bike can go faster than lightning. When I whistle, it comes to my call. When I go somewhere without my bike, it forms a force field. My bike has laser beams, jet power, GPS, a portable TV, and a bed for me. It can turn invisible when enemies approach. It can connect me to my friends and family. The one bad thing about my wonderful magic bike? It makes my friends jealous.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Hang in there, kiddos

Another couple weeks and we'll set you free.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Cinco de Mayo



We held off our celebration until ocho de Mayo, the eighth of May.


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mathis undaunted


The season is over, but isn't this the best basketball photo you've ever seen?

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Gathering of Nations


A pow-wow is an event celebrating Indian culture. There's a big one this weekend in Albuquerque called the Gathering of Nations. It has turned Dulce and Lumberton into ghost towns. Everyone has gone south.

Lots of our kids will be dancing in Albuquerque, including Jalene, my 5th-grade student, seen here in her magnificent regalia.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Santuario de Chimayó

During Holy Week, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the Santuario de Chimayó, a church that dates from 1816 and is revered as a place of healing. Many people walk from Santa Fe, 28 miles away, and some even from Albuquerque, 90 miles away. We walked thirteen miles from Pojoaque.

Inside the santuario is a room which contains el pocito (the little well). El pocito contains la tierra bendita (the holy dirt) which has curative powers. This room also contains poems, crutches, baby shoes, and other things left behind by those who claim to have been cured.









Heading home, our tired feet got a ride in the back of some benevolent stranger's pickup.