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The goal of this project is for students to see themselves as Explorers as they experience New Mexico’s wild places through adventure and place-based learning to inspire curiosity, cultivate lifelong stewards who feel responsible for the preservation of local and global wilderness areas, and to empower youth to action in authentic, sustainable ways. I am profoundly grateful to the National Geographic Society for funding our  Middle School Planetary Stewards grant project  during the 2018-2019 school year.
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Jennifer Chavez-Miller

Jennifer Chavez-Miller is a full-time Education faculty member in the Alternative Teacher Licensure Program at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over two decades as an educator , Jennifer has taught elementary, middle and high school students, and served as a curriculum coordinator and an instructional coach at both school and district levels. As a 2010 New Mexico Golden Apple Fellow, 2014 Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Fellow to Finland, 2018 National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, and 2019 National Geographic Grantee and Explorer, Jennifer has cultivated her own attitudes, skills, and knowledge to create opportunities for students to develop global competence and an Explorer mindset using literature, technology, geography, outdoor experiences, and inquiry to connect students with the world.
This project is dedicated to all of the students I've had the privilege to teach, to know. They have shaped my journey as a teacher in ways that I could never have imagined as a young girl playing school in my grandparent's kitchen. They have opened my eyes, my heart, and the door to the world. They've inspired me to be courageous, to try and fail and try again.

Again, I'd like to extend my most sincere gratitude to National Geographic for their support for the work of teachers and students across the world. This project was life-changing for our students and for me, too.

A special thank you to the Cottonwood Gulch and the Wilderness Society for envisioning and funding the Students in Wilderness Initiative and for allowing us to pilot this program to inspire our next generation of planetary stewards. Thank you for providing monthly in-class lessons and for taking  on expeditions into the wild, teaching us all outdoor skills, and modeling the joy and love for being in nature.
A special shout-out to the 8th graders and teachers at SVA with whom I got to share this remarkable exploration of New Mexico Wilderness. I loved being with this generous, creative, kind, adventurous, bold, and intelligent group of students in the classroom and out in nature. That day we arrived at the Gila River - a moment we'd waited for all year - was a gift. There was laughter and joy, and I cried from the sheer joy of what my life was at that moment, on that day, over my two decades as a teacher.
Finally, I offer this final dedication to Marisol who left this world much too early, less than a year after our expeditions and just days before her 15th birthday. As teachers, we hope and strive to connect with all of our students. Connecting with Marisol was easy, was a joy. She was curious, open-minded, and open-hearted. She was clever and creative. She had things to say. We got to know each other quite on our 4-day backpacking trek into the Gila Wilderness. The hiking wasn't always easy, but she never gave up. We'd fall back and take it slow. We'd talk about singing (her beautiful voice was a delight and gift to us all) and about how she wanted to see the world. Sometimes we stopped to catch our breath and we would really take in the scene before us - sky above, river below, trees around.

Marisol had the heart of an Explorer.
We miss you, kiddo.
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