Española School District administrators will spend more than $9,000 to enhance some elementary school students’ self confidence.
The Española School Board unanimously approved, at a Feb. 18 meeting, awarding a $9,100 contract to Timothy Valdez to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Española Elementary. Board members Andrew Chavez and Pablo Lujan voted via phone.
According to the contract, teaching recreational Jiu Jitsu, a martial art that focuses on grappling and ground fighting, is necessary “to develop self confidence, integrity, responsibility (and) respect.”
Officials will pay Valdez an hourly rate of $45 for 10 hours a week, equaling $450 per week. The contract lasts 20 weeks.
They will also pay him a one-time planning fee of $100, the contract states.
Española Elementary Principal Julé Skoglund said she came up with the idea to start the program in January after meeting with Valdez. She said the program will service only certain grade levels that currently don’t have any school recreational activity classes as a supplement to physical education classes.
“We’re at a place to find an opportunity for the kids to do something creative or something physical in a way that’s not going to cost the District a full-time salary,” she said. “Our third, fifth and sixth grade students have (physical education) once a week, but nothing else.”
Skoglund said 230 students from 10 classes will participate in the Jiu Jitsu program. These include 100 third graders from four classes, 65 fifth graders from three classes and another 65 sixth graders from three classes.
Each class will participate in Jiu Jitsu for one hour weekly.
Skoglund said while the contract seems pricey for a recreational program, it saves the District some money in the long run.
“It sounds like a lot of money,” she said. “But, if you think about it, if we hire a full-time teacher, it’s going to cost four or five times that. We’re paying the same thing for our yoga instructor. We are paying a lot, but it’s worth the value.”
She said since the three grade levels’ music teacher took medical leave because of health problems at the beginning of the school year, students have not had any other recreational activity besides their regular physical education classes.
Kindergarten and first and second grade students participate in a recreational yoga program. Fourth graders participate in a dance program sponsored by the National Dance Institute of New Mexico.
Española Elementary physical education teacher Jay Tiangco earns $33,780 annually, according to the District’s School Year 2014-2015 salary list.
Officials will use money allocated for art education at the elementary school this fiscal year to pay for the Jiu Jitsu contract, Skoglund said. She said Valdez’s hourly rate is the same rate the school pays its yoga teacher.
Valdez said with the hourly rate he’s charging the school, officials are getting a sweet discount.
“That’s a really discounted rate considering how many kids I’ll be teaching,” he said. “Normally, to learn Jiu Jitsu, I charge $80 per month per child. There, they’re just paying me hourly.”
Based on Valdez’s normal rates for the school’s 230 students, officials would have paid $18,400 per month for five months.
Valdez, who owns a Jiu Jitsu school in Santa Fe, said the program will help develop the students’ personality and self esteem. This is the first time he’s establishing a Jiu Jitsu program at a school in the District.
“My main goal is to build confidence within every child in Northern New Mexico,” he said. “Kids who grow up with confidence seem to have a better success rate than kids that grow up shy and timid.”
He plans to start the elementary school program the first week of March.
Valdez, who is slated to open New Era After School Academy, a Jiu Jitsu school in Española, Feb. 28, said the program at the elementary school will not promote violence among youth.
“Jiu Jitsu is actually a gentle art,” Valdez said. “There’s no punching or kicking or striking at all. We have the tapping method, so if a kid feels uncomfortable, they could tap out.”
Skoglund said instead, the program will encourage self defense at the school and will prevent bullying. She said she trusts the instructor to keep the program civil and peaceful.
“(Violence is) not the goal at all,” she said. “It’s not about fighting. I believe we have a guarantee from the instructor. It’s Mr. Valdez that I believe in. He will teach the students how to use their strength in a more positive way.”