Vera Trujillo has accomplished every feat in the educational field, but her time spent as an administrator for the latter part of her career would have never come about, if not for her mentor and coworker, Patsy Archuleta.
Trujillo had already taught for 21 years in the classroom, but made the switch in 1995, when she accepted the job as the student services program specialist for the Pojoaque Valley School District.
Five years later, in 2000, she became Archuleta’s superintendent assistant .
The career change opened the door for Trujillo to advance to be the principal of Pojoaque Valley Middle School, a position she held from 2012, until her retirement this year.
“I’m a teacher at heart,” Trujillo said. “I spent most of my career in the classroom, but Patsy, who was a mentor of mine, thought it might be a good opportunity to see how I could help kids on the administrative side of the table.”
Archuleta only made the suggestion because she believed Trujillo possessed every aspect needed to be successful.
“She was bright, dedicated and smart,” Archuleta said. “Above all else, she had leadership qualities and was always an advocate for children.”
Trujillo invested 44 years working for schools in Santa Fe, Pojoaque and Ohkay Owingeh, but her journey has finally come to an end—for a second time.
She had already experienced the thrill of retirement at the age of 50, but it didn’t turn out to be as glamorous as she thought it would. She partnered in a bed and breakfast business in Santa Fe, but quickly realized that wasn’t what she wanted to do.
She returned to teaching at Ohkay Owingeh in 2006 to teach second grade, but never looked at the decision as going back to work.
“I enjoyed being retired, but teaching was always what I was content doing,” Trujillo said. “I never looked at this as a job I had to get up and go to everyday. I wanted to come because I thought I could make a difference in kids’ lives. It has been a great gig.”
Family ties
Trujillo knew from a young age that teaching would be in her future. She was introduced to the profession at an early age from family members.
Her uncle taught special-education at an institute in Los Lunas before the facilities were outlawed.
Trujillo often traveled south with him to attend classes and she enjoyed the instruction she observed, even at such a young age.
“The way he taught them, I just thought that was so cool,” she said. “At that point, I thought I would like to do that, or social work.”
Trujillo explained growing up in the late ‘60s was a time all about giving back to society. She also credited the era to her career path because of the lack of distractions that are relevant today.
“We read books, played outside and didn’t have cellphones,” she said. “We had one phone in the house, which my brothers were always on because the girls always called them. It was rare for me to get a turn on the phone. I went along with the theme of the ‘60s and wanted to give back (to the community) somehow.”
Born and raised in Santa Fe, she was the second oldest of six children, and the only girl.
Her mother, Estefanita “Fannie” Trujillo, who has since died, was the other catalyst for her career. She was the manager of the Trujillo Teacher’s Credit Union, which is now the Northern New Mexico School Employees Federal Credit Union, which is still in the same location near the Santa Fe Public School’s educational services center.
With the help of the National Education Association of New Mexico, Estefanita Trujillo ran for the Santa Fe Public Schools board of education and was responsible for a new collective bargaining contract for the district’s teachers in 1989.
“I had a good childhood,” Trujillo said. “My mom was a very strong, forward-thinking person and my dad was just a good man. He was just so easy-going and mellow, while my mom was the opposite, but she ran the home and raised six kids.”
Her parents provided a good life, but Trujillo said that obstacles still had to be overcome, like almost anybody. The tough times in life she experienced motivated her to help children in her profession. All people have life events that mold them, but overcoming adversity makes a person into who they become.
“For me, that was one of the biggest things I wanted for kids that I taught,” she said.
This philosophy was extremely important at the middle school level because of the transition period that most children go through at that stage of their lives.
“Everyday you just get to work and tell yourself, ‘OK, what’s going to happen today?’” Trujillo said. “What kind of emotion are they going to bring this time?”
Building connections
Trujillo received her Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from New Mexico Highlands University in 1974. It was the Goldilocks distance away from home.
“It was far enough away to show my independence, but close enough to where I could still come home to do laundry and those sort of things,” she said.
After spending 10 years teaching first through fifth grade for Santa Fe Public Schools, she took a rare opportunity to work in Germany.
Trujillo traveled with the United States Department of Defense to Amberg to teach general and special-education.
Her experience would not be forgotten, but there was something about the educational system in place there that couldn’t fill the void for a teacher-student connection.
“The kids there would leave every three to six months,” Trujillo said. “I’m just beginning to bond with them, then all of a sudden they’re gone and I’m sad and crying. I’m used to having them for a full year, so it was tough.”
The connections she couldn’t build in Germany forced her to adopt a hands-on philosophy, not just in her teaching career, but also as an administrator.
Just this past year in her final stint, Trujillo claimed she knew “about 85 percent” of the students by name.
“You have to do it, any way that you can,” she said. “When I was in school at Santa Fe High School, no one knew my name (in administration) besides my counselor when I was ready to graduate. I just think it’s important in a position like this to get to know everybody.”
It was not an easy task — and required a ton of effort, which involved constant conversation, classroom walk-throughs and even carrying around a pad and pencil to keep notes in after interactions.
Besides the usual business and responsibilities involving finances and budget, building a consensus with teachers and the ability to coincide with the superintendent, Trujillo said that looking out for children’s safety is the number one priority in administration.
“The safety issue has become more on the front burner than ever before,” she said. “Parents now tend to release their kids more and I don’t know if that’s a good thing because there are more challenging influences now.”
Just because safety is of the utmost importance, it didn’t mean Trujillo wanted to be pushy or known as a villain; mutual respect is what she sought.
“Before I got here, they used to run this school like a little high school,” she said about the middle school. “Kids weren’t allowed in the hallways, weren’t allowed to talk in the hallways and there was just a missing connection between the staff and students. What I’ve learned about kids is if you don’t respect them, they won’t respect you.”
Looking to show her respect for the student population, she would do anything to get involved. Including dropping in to physical education classes to play basketball and even eat lunch with students in the cafeteria.
“They probably thought, ‘Who is this weird lady,’” she said laughing. “But, you have to show them you care and teach them to be proud of who they are and get to class on time. I tried to drill those things (in their heads) everyday. I think the kids will remember how I helped bring pride back into the school. Those are the things I did that I really value. I wanted them to view the principal as a person, not someone to be afraid of or never want to have any contact with.”
Birth of a principal
After coming back from her first retirement while at Ohkay Owingeh, Trujillo was approached by her son, who was a senior at Pojoaque Valley High School in 2008. The current principal at the time had left abruptly, so he suggested that she apply for the job.
“That’s how I became a principal,” Trujillo said. “It was a good job, but they were tough and long days. You often had to work from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and I had a lot going on in my personal life at the time. My mother was sick and I needed more time to take care of her.”
After holding the position for two years, she reverted to teaching, again at Ohkay Owingeh, this time with fourth graders. The seesaw continued to move and she then found herself as the new principal For Pojoaque’s Sixth Grade Academy and middle school from 2012 and on.
“I started my Pojoaque career here at the middle school,” Trujillo said. “Then, I went full circle and ended my career right back here where I started, which is pretty cool.”
Once in the middle school position, she really started to learn the ins-and-outs of the job. Classroom environment rose to the top of the list of concerns.
“You always want to make sure they’re getting the best education possible,” Trujillo said. “For classroom environments, you want to know for sure if there is truly being a lesson taught and are the kids getting it. That is the big key for me. If kids aren’t engaged, they can still sit there and be compliant and be on their best behavior but have no clue what is being taught.”
Front line
Building a repertoire with teachers is obvious, but Trujillo also learned the importance of constructing a strong front office staff. They are the first line of defense and contact with parents and must operate smoothly for issues to be resolved.
She developed a strong relationship with her secretary, Priscilla Cordova, over the last six years.
“We’re losing the best of the best,” Cordova said. “She’s an amazing woman and the kids always come first for her. Anything the staff needs, it’s an open-door policy. We have worked well together and it’s an honor to work with people like her. This has become more of a work family and really — this has become our home.”
Cordova has even nominated Trujillo to fill a missing piece in her life she always dreamed of.
“I never had any sisters growing up, but always wanted one,” Cordova said. “I chose her and adopted her as my big sister.”
Retirement
When asked what advice she would give to an upcoming or new administrator, Trujillo offered a look at one of the projects she will be working on to begin her retirement.
“I will be writing a book,” she said. “I’ve saved stories over the years, but I’m not sure if I want to write it about surviving administration or about trying to encourage future educators. The future of this business is a frightening thing to me, thinking about what we’re going to be facing as a nation.”
She explained that finding teachers to hire has become more of a troubling task, especially in Pojoaque.
“The pool has become smaller,” Trujillo said. “When you have to fight offers from other districts like Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Española, it’s hard because there are incentives (from the other districts) that are more appealing than what we can offer. Fortunately, we’re in good shape right now as we just have a few math teacher openings that should be able to get filled.”
As for her own position, she will be replaced by Mario Vigil, who was formerly at the intermediate (fourth though fifth grade) school. Trujillo said the middle school will be in “great hands” with Vigil.
Besides babysitting duties of her step-great-grandchildren, Trujillo will spend a lot of her time trying to revive old fruit trees on the land she owns. She also wants to pick up her old hobby of painting, something she hasn’t done for over 10 years.
Traveling will also be on the horizon, including a special planned trip to Costa Rica in the fall. She has friends in the country who may try to convince her to live out her retirement in paradise.
“I always heard it was a great place to retire,” Trujillo said. “I’m going to go check it out, at least. Who knows (if I will be convinced).”
When she took a moment to reminisce about her long and eventful career, it was tough for her to summarize what she will most miss, but knew the reality of her retirement would not be realized until the first bell of the 2018-19 school year rang.
“Someone told me that when the first day of school next year hits, when I’m not going to have to get up and have to be there, that’s really when it’s all going to set in,” Trujillo said.
Although she has not taught in the classroom since 2012, Trujillo’s final thoughts drifted back toward the reason she got involved with education in the first place — the children.
“There is nothing like being in that classroom and having those kids’ attention,” she said. “When you teach them something new and they get it, the lights (in your head) just go off. It’s a very special feeling.”