Category: News

Jessica Lanham has returned to her childhood home — the United World College-USA.

“I’m loving it,” said Jess, the daughter of UWC-USA math teacher and residential tutor Shirleen Lanham and retired art teacher Colin Lanham. “It almost feels like summer camp.”

A freelancer designer with a background in art direction and visual design, Jess needed a break from her California life. She also missed New Mexico.

“I had strong desire for New Mexico and the landscape, and this will probably be my parents’ last year here,” said Jess. “I was in a housing situation where I would have to move.”

So she left San Francisco and arranged to offer workshops to UWC-USA students in exchange for an art studio on campus. The studio is on the top floor of Sasakawa. She’s absolutely loving it!

“It’s been super easy to fall into the community here,” the 33-year-old said. “There’s a younger faculty who are very welcoming and friendly. I’m just really grateful for that. I like to join in on the student activities.”

At age one, Jess moved from UWC Swaziland to UWC-USA with her family. Since UWC provides faculty housing, Jess and her brother, Nick, grew up on the campus where their mother has taught for 32 years. Colin taught here for 30 years before retiring in May 2018.

“I loved growing up here,” Jess said. “Two of my good friends were (retired English teacher) Anne Farrell’s daughter and my other friend was Anna Curtis, Linda Curtis’ (retired dean of students) daughter.”

“We would get into all kinds of mischief,” Jess added. “We ran all over campus and played down by the river. Our mothers never knew where we were.”

In high school, Jess befriended some UWC-USA students. She always looked up to them, and attended cultural day shows and other performances.

“It was just a real treat to have this as my backdrop of growing up and getting to go to all those things,” she said. “I thought they were the coolest people and couldn’t wait to be a UWC student.”

The wait turned into reality when Jess left Robertson High School in Las Vegas to attend UWC Atlantic College in Wales, graduating in 2005.

“Atlantic College was really different from UWC-USA,” said. “They had more students than here, and it was a very different climate.”

At UWC-USA, she experienced the fun, but not the stress of the academics and the international baccalaureate.

“The IB was hard and it kinda kicked my butt,” she said.

Taking IB art allowed Jess to completely immerse herself in fashion and installation. Prior to going to Atlantic, art was just a hobby. After UWC, Jess went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on a Davis Scholarship.

“I went there with the intention of doing fashion design and ended up hating the program,” Jess said. “So I took an introduction to etching class and fell in love with print making.”

She received a bachelor’s of fine arts in printmaking in 2009 and moved to San Francisco, which is known for its print-making community. Her brother and boyfriend at the time also lived there.

Concerned about finding work to pay her student loans, Jess taught herself graphic designing and worked at editing house. She ended up in marketing, working as an art director. After four years, Jess wanted a challenge and got into freelancing.

“I’ve got a pretty good steady business now,” she said. “It allows me to have flexibility and mobility, so I’m here for four to five months.”

While in Montezuma, Jess continues to run her business and is working on light installations created on silk fabric. She plans to present her designs and artwork to students.

 

 

 

 

The United World College-USA’s Cultural Showcase series will launch Saturday, Nov. 23, with a two-hour stage production dedicated to exploring the theme of color as it manifests across time, place, culture and consciousness.

“Our new thematic approach to the traditional cultural shows will allow us to explore the nuances of culture as a concept and to explore intersections and divergences of a single idea throughout our individual and shared cultural spaces,” said Melinda Russial, director of arts and culture and the international baccalaureate music program at UWC-USA.

The performance production and exhibition will be entirely student created and directed, and reflect works from across disciplines of music, dance, theater, film, poetry. and visual art, Russial said.

The format replaces the cultural show tradition of featuring three regions of the world during one academic year and three more the following year. This gave every student the chance to participate in at least one show.

With the new format, students also will have the opportunity to learn about and celebrate cultural practices from their individual regions through the new Community Cultural Event series, Russial said.

“We have recently celebrated Diwali with rangoli, cricket games, Bollywood dance lessons and Guy Fawkes Night. Other highlights will include a Lunar New Year Celebration, Nawruz Celebration, Eurovision Contest, Quinceañera, Coronation of Kings and Queens of Africa, and Black History Living Museum.

A second Cultural Show case will be held in the spring featuring the theme of memory.

 

 

The 2019 CROP Hunger Walk for Las Vegas, N.M., raised $10,139, surpassing its $10,000 goal.

Held on Oct. 26 on the Montezuma campus, the event included 210 participants who collected pledges to complete either a 1- or 3-mile walk, Swinton said.

In related matters, UWC-USA students held a mock Oxfam Hunger Banquet a few days before the CROP Walk, which gave them a hands-on lesson on how one’s income translates into how well one eats.

During the banquet, students and employees were assigned to a different social background to participate in a simulation of global hunger inequality. Everyone was randomly chosen to have a lunch that might be typical for low-, middle- and high-income earners.

Of the estimated 260 participants, 70 percent were in the low-income group, 20 percent in the middle-income and 10 percent in the resource-rich group

“We tried to imitate the real-world class-distribution as much as possible with our limited resources,” said one of the event’s organizers, Vicky Wang ’20, USA-Fla.

The resource-poor had beans and rice. The resource-medium had chicken, broccoli, rice, and brownies. The resource-rich had salads, beef, fruits, and a much wider variety of choices. Each group had something to drink, but simply a wider variety was given to resource-rich.

Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty and help people build better futures, hold the powerful accountable, and save lives in disasters. Started in 1974, the Oxfam Hunger Banquet gives everyone the opportunity to make a difference, both locally and globally. The banquets are volunteer-led interactive events that bring statistics about poverty to life.

Applicants for Davis Scholarships to attend UWC-USA or one of of the 17 other UWCs, must complete their applications by October 31.

Check out the UWC website for more information about the UWCs around the world or the admissions section of the UWC-USA website for more information about Davis Scholarships.

Questions about the application process can also be directed to the Admissions Office at admission@uwc-usa.org.

“After three summers at Concordia Language Villages,” says Mads Benishek, “I approached my United World College experience with more of an open mind than I would have otherwise. I came to UWC very open to what it could be; I was prepared for the challenges of a roommate, a new place, a new community, and the kind of intensive learning that happens in an immersion environment.”

Concordia Language Villages and the United World College were established in 1961 and 1962, respectively. Both thrived in part because of an acute sense that youth were the answer to the difficult questions that the Cold War posed. At Concordia Language Villages (CLV), young people are immersed in a language and cultural summer camp where learning a language is the means to achieve intercultural understanding. The United World Colleges are two-year residential high schools on five continents where students develop the skills of peacemaking as they learn and work together.

Both focus on building the capacity for youth to see the world differently while forming powerful relationships with others during an intensive, immersive international experience.

Both programs have strong program and mission similarities and, not surprisingly, there are a number of CLVers who became UWCers. Asked to reflect on their experiences, two villagers who later received Davis Scholarships to attend their last two years of high school at a UWC, shared the ways that the programs complement each other.

Leo Penny, a senior at Brown University double-majoring in biology and geology-chemistry, feels that his three summers at Sen Lin Hu, the Chinese Language Village, prepared him for UWC Waterford Kamhlaba, one of the two UWCs on the African continent.

“I was definitely pushed to learn an impressive amount in both programs,” Leo said. “At CLV, we were encouraged to be curious about the target language and culture; I dove into both and was rewarded for it. UWC also celebrated the same kinds of curiosity but the focus on the International Baccalaureate and the academic program was the most challenging and rewarding.”

Mads Benishek, an alumnus of Lac du Bois, the French Language Village, attended the UWC in Flekke, Norway graduating in 2009. He also returned to CLV as a staff member after his two years in Norway. “CLV prepared me for a UWC experience by teaching me to expect surprises and helping me become more comfortable not understanding everything all the time,” Mads said. “CLV helped me learn to be curious about things that are different, like food or customs or habits.”

The parents of both Davis Scholars saw changes in Mads and Leo as they progressed from CLV to UWC. “While we had no idea about UWC at the time, we think that our family’s CLV experience was actually a kind of test run for what would become our UWC experience a few years later,” said Gretchen Penny, Leo’s mother. “For Leo, CLV was a way to experience a different life and culture, if only for a couple of weeks in the summer. As his parents, we found that CLV tested our comfort and confidence in Leo’s ability to be successful without our constant attention and support. This turned out to be important when it came time to send Leo across the ocean to a distant UWC campus.”

Mads’ mother, M.E. Emma DeJonge, speaks to the confidence Mads gained in both programs. “Mads always had a strong sense of self and came back from French camp with even greater confidence. He returned from two years at the UWC in Norway with a depth and clarity about his identity and values that struck me as being incredibly rare in an 18-year-old. Mads returned with an internal sense of ‘this is who I am, these are my values, and this is how I am going to walk in the world’ that was vividly clear, amazingly strong, yet as quiet as a whisper to those around him.”

The 18 UWCs around the world and all CLV programs in 15 languages rely on a foundation of strong community to deliver the programs. At CLV, when a community is stronger and more supportive, villagers of all ages are more willing to muster the courage to speak a new language. For students attending a UWC, they find that they must learn to trust one another to work together in classrooms and during community service and activities. The focus for both is on how these community-building skills and experiences will help alumni forge coalitions and alliances to tackle the challenges our world currently faces.

The UWC and CLV missions seek to give youth the skills to build effective communities across political, cultural, linguistic, and social divides to work toward a more peaceful and sustainable world. Gretchen Penny summarized the benefits of the programs working in tandem with each other: “Both of these experiences gave Leo the confidence to seek out new opportunities, regardless of – or maybe because of – geographic or cultural differences.”

Concordia Language Villages offers language immersion programs in 15 languages for youth 7 – 18. U.S. high school students are eligible for Davis Scholarships to attend the last two years of secondary school at one of 18 UWCs around the world.

UWC-USA mental health counselor Diana Padilla was named the 2019 Provider of the Year by the New Mexico Primary Care Association.

The association represents 19 organizations with more than 160 primary care, dental, school-based and behavioral clinics throughout the state.

Diana, who works afternoons and evenings at UWC-USA, and is on call on weekends, said she enjoys working with international students and the challenges they bring to counseling in the United States.

“I married an international student, so I feel like I saw first-hand what it’s like for someone to come to another country to learn,” Diana said. “They often need a little more support and help.”

 The challenges of providing counseling in a multicultural setting are significant, but not insurmountable.

“We’re trained to take cultural differences into account when we work with students,” she said.

Other cultures stigmatize mental health disorders more than the United States, Diana said. She helps students see where they are and wants to listen and encourage them as they figure out how to become healthier.

 Getting enough sleep seems to be the biggest issue among students.

 “We find that when students are getting enough sleep and taking care of their other basic biological functions like drinking enough water, eating a healthy diet, and exercising a little, the big problems start to feel more like small problems,” Diana said. “But sleep is often at the heart of it all.”

 She feels fortunate to work alongside Dan Cressman, UWC-USA’s other counselor. “Dan has been a great mentor, and I’m lucky to work with someone so insightful.”

Students start off the year with presentations on mental health services at UWC-USA, the importance of taking care of basic biological needs, and getting to know the students.

“I love learning about other cultures and getting to know the students,” Diana said. “It’s an exciting and stimulating place to live and learn – it just goes so much better with plenty of sleep.”

The public is invited to the Climate of Change Fair at the United World College-USA from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, on the Montezuma campus.

The free event will include 25 activities for children, performances and castle tours. Food concessions will be available.

The fair is being held in conjunction with UWC Day, an annual global celebration of the UWC mission and values, which takes place on Sept. 21 every year, to coincide with the UN International Day of Peace. Each year, UWC Day is celebrated by thousands of people worldwide, including students and staff at UWC schools and colleges, national committees, UWC alumni and friends.

The Montezuma campus is among 18 worldwide and has 235 high school students from 95 countries. Its mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

The new United World College-USA Campus Services program kicked off today with students, teachers and staff working alongside the custodial, maintenance and grounds employees to clean and spruce up the Montezuma campus.

The student/employee crews swept and mopped floors, vacuumed classrooms, cleaned windows and bathrooms, and dusted the interior of the castle, Edith Lansing Fieldhouse and Kilimanjaro Dormitory. Work crews also weeded, picked up garbage, raked and trimmed hedges on lower campus, in front of the castle and around the Nelson Mandela Peace Garden.

“Everyone on campus works from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays students, program staff, admin staff and facilities staff,” said Alex Curtiss, experiential education coordinator for UWC-USA. “Not all adults need to lead, but all should be visibly participating, shoulder to shoulder with students.”

Participants received bandanas with the slogan “We Are Crew, Not Passengers.”

“This is intended to break down class divides between students, facility staff and faculty,” Curtiss said. “It will also build a bridge that will create long-term accountability and love for a shared space.”

Every project has a clear path, he added.

“There may be obstacles and hiccups throughout the process, but we do not start a project until the ‘how’ has been clearly sorted out,” Curtiss said. “Experiencing physical labor helps students better empathize with others.”

Three UWC-USA alumni received Gateway Scholarships from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) for last-minute course openings.

Recipients were:

• Cristian Mendoza Gomez ’19, USA-Calif., for the Wilderness First Responder Program in San Francisco
• Max Saylor ’14, USA-Vermont, for the North Cascades Mountaineering Prime in Washington
• Talia Augustidis, ’18, United Kingdom, for the Whitewater River Expedition in Utah

The scholarships are worth a total of $9,115.

“We are super excited for UWC-USA’s relationship with NOLS to continue to grow,” said Anders Fristedt, co-director of the wilderness program at UWC-USA. “What started as two scholarships a year has now grown to seven for the summer of 2019.”

NOLS is non-profit dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoors skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions and in classrooms. NOLS partners with organizations like UWC-USA through its Gateway Partner Program to engage exceptional youth in expeditions.

Mendoza, who finished the first responder course his week, said he was extremely excited to receive the scholarship.

“Thanks to the wilderness program at UWC-USA, I have fallen in love with backpacking and can continue to work in this field with a WFR certification,” he said. “The course has been extremely educational, fun, and an experience I will carry with me forever.”

Mendoza will continue his education at American University in Washington, D.C., on full-merit-based scholarship worth $260,000 over four years.

Additional recipients for 2019 were Evan Myers ‘20, USA-Oregon, for rock climbing; and Ekaterina Tsavalyuk ‘20, Russia, Valentina Cuellar Rodriguez ’19, Colombia, and Kyra Geissler ’19, USA-Ill., all Alaska backpacking and sea kayaking.

Kathy Hendrickson never misses a Cultural Day Show. She finds something surprising or poignant every time she attends and she appreciates that the students are so pleased to share stories about their countries. A true friend of the school, Kathy gives tours of the Castle and the Dwan Light Sanctuary through her company, Southwest Detours, to visitors from across the country and around the world.

Each year Kathy donates the proceeds from two of her biggest tours – large groups from Santa Fe – toward scholarships at UWC-USA. Her relationship with the school is more than a partnership, however. She believes in the mission and is one of the best Get-Away Family moms the school has ever seen. “It’s a very rewarding experience meeting these students from all over the world,” Kathy says. “We get to learn their customs and they get to learn ours; it’s a lot of fun. But what I most enjoy is hearing about their life experiences. We are so insulated here in the U.S. Many of these students come from very different countries – some from places where getting by is very challenging. Listening to them tell stories about their lives helps us see that the world is bigger than Montezuma or the U.S.

Andrii Bezman ’18 came to UWC-USA from the Ukraine in 2016 and felt a little unsure of himself when he arrived. He attributes both Kathy’s tremendous support as a Get-Away Family and her welcoming home as an important part of his success in Montezuma.

“It’s actually astonishing the number of people who know about UWC-USA because of Kathy’s efforts and our partnership with Southwest Detours,” says Carl-Martin Nelson, UWC-USA’s director of marketing and communications. “Kathy speaks eloquently to the UWC mission and is so enthusiastic about our students and the program that visitors start to feel the same excitement.”

“The people who come on my tours are fascinated by the history of the Montezuma Castle,” Kathy explains. “But when they get here, they often are even more intrigued by the school and the UWC mission. I love introducing hundreds of people every year to the school – and I always encourage families from Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico to consider the Get-Away Family program.”

More information about the Get-Away Family program is available on the UWC-USA website.