Curriculum Projects

HEAL Team

 

K–12 Educational Materials Website: Healing. Education. And. Learning (HEAL) NM features curriculum that centers the previously untold histories of marginalized peoples, communities, and realities. This repository addresses key tenets of the Martinez/Yazzie legal ruling of 2018 that was renewed in 2025.

The Units/Lessons include critical questions, learning outcomes, and links to primary documents accessible to all teachers. Visit: https://healborderlands.org

Elisa

 

Peoples of New Mexico Film Series: These educational films aim to engage and shift the dominant narrative of NM and US history by uplifting previously omitted and/or sanitized histories of marginalized peoples, communities, and realities.

Watch the films here: https://healborderlands.org/curricula

Pasos Ajenos Exhibition

 

Traveling Museum Exhibition: Pasos Ajenos is a 12-installation bilingual art and cultural exhibit that aims to gather and engage diverse groups in one space, creating a conversation for a substantive narrative change on issues of power, race, gender, labor, (im)migration, border health, poverty, and other topics.

Visit: https://pasosajenos.org

BEST Murals Project

 

New Mexico/Borderlands Murals Project: The BEST Murals place art in highly visible campus locations to re-represent Borderlands Peoples and their histories and cultures, and to respond to the community’s wishes to see themselves reflected in campus art.

An ongoing project, murals are in Garcia Center, Astronomy, and O’Donnell Hall. Check out the mural booklet:

View the BEST Mural Booklet (PDF)

Think Inside the Box Micro
Think Inside the Box (Micro): Colorful, locally-designed, and fabricated classroom kits are resources for teachers to implement meaningful lessons in the classroom that align with the NMPED Social Studies standard Ethnic and Cultural Identities. The kit contains games, activities, and posters to spark creative inquiry about place-based learning and cultivate critical thinking skills that foster deep conversations about social understanding.
Think Inside the Box Macro
Think Inside the Box (Macro): Mobile museum offers students and teachers opportunities to explore thematic content and place-based learning, interpretive planning, and exhibit design as a novel approach to curriculum co-development. The 40-foot custom-built shipping container will be displayed on NMSU’s campus in Preciado Park as a pilot to build and understand the impact of culturally and linguistically sustaining curriculum. The mobile museum will serve as a space for professional development.
Cordova Sisters Archival Project
Cordova Sisters Archival Project: Collection recognizes, validates, and preserves the efforts of the Cordova sisters, Nadine and Patsy, in their work to teach Chicano history in ways that affirm and foster pride and resilience in New Mexican communities. The Cordova sisters taught in rural Vaughn, NM in the 1990’s. This project represents the struggle for inclusive and culturally responsive teaching and underscores the importance of archiving material related to marginalized voices in education. 
Visit: https://healborderlands.org/cordova-sisters
Borderlands Oral History Project
Borderlands Oral History Project: Federally funded podcast, Jaggie Sounds, amplifies voices from the Borderlands to supplement K-College curriculum that is place-based within a broader global context. Youth from our community partner, Learning Action Buffet, feature prominently as interviewers on this podcast.