Democracy in Action

Brent was interviewed on Channel 4 and Channel 13. Here's channel 13's video clip: Brent with the Governor (I could have killed he and Zach for acting goofy while the cameraman filmed their signs! I warned them that he was filming!!)

Cheryl helped organize a positive picketing event where Governor Bill Richardson was doing a book signing (it was not confrontational despite what the news anchor reported!). Brent (who brought friend Zach) and Brooke (who brought her friend Candace) were front and center! Brent was the "spokesman" of the group being interviewed by the TV news, newspaper, and Governor Richardson...(thanks to Cheryl's sign that the Governor LOVED). We wanted about two dozen people but ended up with about 40 - 50.

NOTE: Scroll down below thumbnails of newspaper pages to see the two pictures from the newspaper AND the story.

We made the FRONT PAGE! Here's the story as it looked in the Albuquerque Journal.

    About 30 West Side students, their parents and others crashed Gov. Bill Richardson's champagne book signing Wednesday evening in hopes they could persuade the governor to play Santa.
    Laura Horton, a member of a planning committee for a new northwest high school, said she organized "a friendly demonstration" to call attention to overcrowding at West Side schools.
    "We're here to ask the governor to play Santa Claus," she said. "From a kid's perspective all of the schools out here are horribly overcrowded. The state partially funded two high schools but they can't be built without the state's help. We're short about $108 million."
    The rally was held outside Bookworks on Rio Grande Boulevard where Richardson was scheduled to promote his new book, "Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life."
    When the governor showed up, he was greeted with cheers and children holding placards asking for two new high schools.
    "I'm glad you took the time to talk with me," he told the crowd. "I know we need schools and I committed money for them ... Now what is the issue you need to talk to me about?"
    Albuquerque Public Schools board member Robert Lucero told Richardson the district doesn't have the money to build the schools as quickly as they are needed and asked him to fully fund the two proposed high schools with money from the oil and gas surplus.
    "All right, I see you need high schools but I see a lot of elementary students here, too," he said. "Does this kindergartener need a high school?"
    "All of our schools are overcrowded," shouted a parent. "At 10:15 a.m. my kindergartener eats lunch."
    Richardson said he appreciated what he was hearing.
    "I especially like this sign," he said, pointing to a placard that said "We believe in the three Rs Reading wRiting and Richardson."
    Robert Ruiz, a seventh-grader at Lyndon B. Johnson Middle School, held up a sign that said "All I want 4 Christmas is a West Side high school."
    Lucero said the district appreciates what Richardson has done but would like to see a lot more.
    "The bottom line is that APS got $78 million for a $200 million need," he said. "We're grateful but the state has a $1.5 billion surplus from oil and gas revenue. Now is the time to step up to the plate and fix the overcrowding. If we get the two high schools built then we can funnel more money into other area schools."
    According to APS facilities master plan director Kizito Wijenje, over the next 10 years the West Side will need two high schools, two middle schools and four elementary schools.
    Just how bad is the overcrowding?
    Four Cibola High School students who attended the rally said overcrowding is so severe that it's difficult to move through the school's halls between classes. They said there aren't enough lockers or textbooks to go around and lunch is an experience some would rather miss than hassle with.
    "To get to class you have to be like a ram," 15-year-old Everett Lenberg said. "It takes at least five minutes to get from one classroom to another."
    Lenberg also said he didn't have a locker in which to store his books.
    "Luckily I don't have too many of them," he said. "They ran out of lockers before I could get one and I wasn't able to find anyone to partner with me."
    Debbie Humbles, whose daughter Jaiden attends Cibola, said dropping off and picking up her child is a nightmare.
    Jaiden said the crowding at the school's cafeteria has made it difficult to eat lunch.
    "By the time the freshmen get there, the food is pretty much picked over, that is if you can get in line," she said.
    When asked how she dealt with it, she said, "I don't eat."
    Before going inside to sign his books, Richardson pledged to visit Cibola next week to see the situation for himself.
    "I want you to come meet me, or better yet I'll come and meet with you and we'll address this," he said.
    Lucero said he was very pleased with the prospect of the future meeting.
    "The fact that he's coming to meet with us next week is quite an accomplishment," he said. "I'm going to have to buy a copy of his book."