—by Alfredo Lujan, Director’s Assistant; and Susan Miera, BLTN Coordinator, at Bread Loaf/Santa Fe, 2013

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Bread Loaf/Santa Fe, 2013, can only be described as fast-paced with intense energy. The summer session, attended by ambitious and energetic students and an All-Star faculty, hosted several illustrious speakers and was the site of much fun and productive planning. Speakers Cindy Selfe and Dickie Selfe, presented a very successful workshop: “Research 2.0:  Leveraging Collaboration, Media, and Community in Support of Social Activist Projects.”  The workshop presented the advantages of using digital tools, interviewing techniques, and vital community issues to create relevant research projects that raise community awareness. In addition, Pam Childers and Malcolm Childers presented workshops entitled “Starting and Sustaining Writing Centers with Peer Readers” and “Creativity in Writing Centers.” Also, Bread Loaf graduate Richie Meyers, now a cultural anthropologist trained with an emphasis in cognitive anthropology and sociolinguistics, spoke to the student body on “Indigenous Education and Teaching”; and Susi Long, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina, gave a talk entitled “‘We’ve Been Doing It Your Way Long Enough’: Culturally Relevant Teaching That Challenges the Status Quo.”  Her presentation demonstrated how writing centers can support marginalized and disenfranchised student populations.

The Bread Loaf Teacher Network met weekly to discuss topics for collaborative work in the coming academic year. Summer’s end saw a reunion of former BLTN members and a meeting with current BLTN students. Conversations resulted in a planning of a Four Corners Conference to be held in the fall or early winter. Those plans are still in the making, but network members plan to spearhead education initiatives on local, state, and national levels. The first day of the conference will involve education leaders presenting ideas for the future of education in rural America. The second day will consist of workshops run by Bread Loaf teachers, both current and former, on topics of interest in the classroom.

Renowned contemporary American poet and Bread Loaf Professor Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo) read from his collection of poems. Internationally famous Lee Marmon, of the Laguna Pueblo and father of Leslie Marmon Silko, presented a slide show of his photographs.  New Mexican writers Joan Logghe (Santa Fe’s Poet Laureate 2010-12), Laura Jagles (Tesuque Pueblo), and Alfredo Lujan (Nambé Chicano) presented a tri-cultural reading.

In addition to the above planning, meetings, presentations, and workshops, Bread Loaf students enjoyed culturally and regionally relevant daily “dawn patrols”; a raft trip down the Rio Chama; field trips to Bandelier National Monument, Tent Rocks, Ojo Caliente, AAA Isotopes baseball games, and “mudding” at the La Sala in Galisteo, for a fun, adventurous and educationally busy summer at Bread Loaf/Santa Fe, 2013.