Academics

Educator Profiles

Virginia Velasquez

HS Student Living
San Felipe Pueblo

Virginia Velasquez is from San Felipe Pueblo and is the 21st Century Coordinator at SFIS where she oversees and directly manages the SFIS Summer School Program. Ms. Velasquez received her B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Albuquerque and her M.A. in Educational Leadership from New Mexico Highlands University. Prior to coming to SFIS, she worked for over 24 years with the Bureau of Indian Education as an Elementary School teacher in Sky City, Laguna and then San Felipe. She also held dual roles as both Principal and 1-3rd Grade teacher at San Ildefonso before transitioning to Havasupai to work as a Principal. After three years in Havasupai, Ms. Velasquez returned to Santa Fe for her daughter’s senior school year at SFIS. In 2007, she was selected into the 21st Century program at SFIS and has since served on the SFIS Leadership Team in planning for the school.
As an educator and administrator, Mrs. Velasquez enjoys the unique vantage point of observing student learning in and out of the classroom. Her role allows her to work with students in dorm, academic and home settings, providing a fuller understanding of all contexts that students are continuously engaging with. Based on her Elementary Education background, Mrs. Velasquez is a firm believer of student learning at all levels: “I’ve always felt that every child can learn. I still truly believe that students will rise to the challenge. We obviously experience ‘failures,’ but students have the ability to work— and we must critically question what it is that maintains a culture of apathy with grades.”
A passionate advocate for Native American students, Ms. Velasquez believes strongly in the academic capabilities of Native American students, the power of culturally-based education, and the empowerment of educators to make change today: I use the words of Regis Pecos [Co-Director of The Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School]—“Now that we’re in charge, what are we doing differently?” as the catalyst for thinking about becoming the leader in Native American Education. That’s my voice as an administrator on any committee or group that I’m in—to remind myself and others that there is another piece to these students that needs as much nurturing as the academic piece and that’s the cultural piece. It’s exciting to be in the conversation about how to institutionalize our core values. It’s easy to do the academic piece in our planning, but balancing the culture is challenging. I want our youth to be strong and confident in their Native knowledge as well as academics. I want them to know where they come from and find strength in that. I see so many of our kids getting lost—we’re losing it, we (adults) aren’t teaching them what they need. I want our kids to have a sense of belonging—that they can go anywhere and hold their heads high because they know what they come from. I’m passionate about building our kids, having them understand who they are and finding their strength. These are our kids. They are our future.”