The Path December 2024

$1 Million in Gifts from Garcia Automotive Group Family

Gifts Honor Beloved Former Faculty Members

Albuquerque Academy is proud to announce it has received two gifts totaling $1 million through generous contributions from a family with close ties to the school – the Garcia Automotive Group Family. These new funds were developed in honor of former faculty members Vincent Cordova and Darell Gage, who positively shaped the young lives of many alumni, including more than a half-dozen Garcia family members. Founded 70 years ago with the visionary philanthropic support of the Simms family, Albuquerque Academy was built on the generosity of others. This new gift from the Garcia family highlights the profound impact the Academy community continues to have on the future of its students and the future of New Mexico.

The two newly established funds, each named to honor a cherished faculty member, will provide ongoing support to areas of the school that reflect the passions and expertise of these educators.

The Vincent Cordova Summer Scholars Program – This endowed fund honors the dedication and career of Vincent Cordova, a former Academy teacher, administrator, and coach who was an early advocate of diversity at the school, paving the path to today’s enrollment of 57% of students of color. The fund supports the Academy’s Summer Scholars Program (formerly known as the Multicultural Summer Honors Program), a six-week, full-scholarship summer program that includes academic enrichment, creative arts, experiential education, and community building. Families from all cultural backgrounds with current 4th-grade students are encouraged to apply to the 2025 Vincent Cordova Summer Scholars Program.

The Darell Gage Courts – This fund was established in memory of Darell Gage, who taught and coached at Albuquerque Academy for almost 50 years. It funds enhancements to the Albuquerque Academy Racquet Center, which comprises 14 newly refurbished tennis courts and eight dedicated pickleball courts. This gift has helped current tennis coaches Tim Cass and Amy Badger secure an additional grant from the USTA for further capital upgrades and new programming that will establish the center as a community hub for racquet sports.

These generous gifts from the Garcia family remind us that Academy educators have a positive influence on students’ lives well beyond the classroom and well beyond the years students spend with us on campus. We are a lasting and interdependent community.

Head of School Julianne Puente expressed the Academy’s gratitude for these remarkable gifts: “Our teachers are the heart and soul of Albuquerque Academy, and it is incredibly moving to see how their dedication has shaped the lives of our students and their families long after they’ve left the classroom. These funds will help ensure the dedication of Vincent Cordova and Darell Gage is long-remembered.”

Vincent Cordova is a beloved and respected former math teacher and basketball/track coach at Albuquerque Academy, where he served for 33 years (1969-2002). He is known for his dedication to both academics and athletics, balancing roles in the classroom and on the field. His coaching included mentorship in character, leadership, and perseverance. Vince is a respected figure among his colleagues as well. Over the years, Vince’s administrative roles included director of tuition assistance, director of admission, dean of students, and dean of multicultural education. He coached the boys basketball team to state championships in 1981 and 1984.

Darell Gage taught math and coached at Albuquerque Academy for 50 years (1965-2015). Darell was known for his ability to make even challenging mathematical concepts accessible to students, caring about them in the classroom and on the courts. Additionally, Albuquerque Academy’s current 21-year state championship run in boys tennis began under Darell. He is the all-time winningest high school tennis coach in U.S. history, including coaching 21 singles state champions and 40 doubles state champions. He also coached football and basketball.

The Garcia family, with its generational roots in Old Town Albuquerque, owns and operates franchised automobile dealerships in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and El Paso. The Garcias, foundational community developers in commercial real estate and automotive retail, are longtime supporters of education – a value instilled by their mother, Sheilah Garcia, and father, Julian Garcia. The family remains committed to the preservation of New Mexico’s rich culture through its patronage of education and the arts. Two generations of Garcias have attended Albuquerque Academy. Darell Gage and Vince Cordova personally championed and encouraged all five of the oldest Garcia family alumni.

“Our family has been associated with Albuquerque Academy for more than 50 years,” says Ed Garcia ’86. “My siblings and I feel we owe the Academy, Mr. Cordova, and Mr. Gage much gratitude. We are honored to be able to ‘carry some water back to the well’ from which we were so fortunate to drink. My wife, Diana, and I believe the strength of the academic program is as strong as ever as we watch our son, Graham ’30, progress every day.”

“Darell Gage was an Albuquerque Academy legend; he was my favorite teacher, coach, and confidant as a young man,” says Carlos Garcia ’96. “‘Dege’ was just a wonderful person. He never gave up on a student, no matter what. And you can’t consistently coach kids to the success he had in sports without possessing something very special. A few of my years at the Academy were tough. I’m not sure I would have graduated without his personal attention, care, and concern. I will always be grateful to him. We remained very close until his passing a few years ago. I am still fortunate to be able to visit with his wife, Trudy, and his sons.”

As Albuquerque Academy approaches its 70th school year, it is eager to build on this momentum. The school invites others who share this deep connection to honor a cherished faculty member with a gift that ensures their legacy continues to shape the Academy’s future. With the $4.53 million raised in the 2024 fiscal year and these new gifts, the Academy is well on its way to exceeding its $7 million fundraising goal by June 2025, opening the door to even greater possibilities.

Girls XC Named National High School Small School Champs, Boys Ranked Second

The Academy girls cross country team has been recognized as the National High School Coaches Association’s 2024 National High School Small School Champions!

Chargers cross country “is a storied program unparalleled in success,” said the NHSCA in a social media post. “Tradition runs deep, expectations run high, Albuquerque Academy has claimed over three dozen State Championships including sending a few teams to Nike Cross Nationals.”

Head Coach Adam Kedge was recently elected into the NMHSCA Hall of Fame and previously has been selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as Cross Country Coach of the Year.

NHSCA noted these key accomplishments for the 2025 Chargers:

• At the NMAA 4A District Championships, the team earned a perfect score of 15 points.
• At the New Mexico State Championships, the Chargers won the blue trophy with 49 team points.
• The Academy participated in the Championship Section against the largest and top schools from around the southwest at their Nike Cross Regional meet.

Schools with a total high school enrollment of 700 students or less qualify for this honor.

1. Albuquerque Academy XC, New Mexico
2. Perham XC, Minnesota
3. Lansing Catholic XC, Michigan
4. Whitmore Lake XC Michigan
5. Branson HS, CA
6. Oregon Episcopal XC, Oregon
7. Enterprise XC, Oregon
8. Immanuel XC, California
9. Pewamo-Westphalia XC, Michigan
10. Ririe XC, Idaho

And Charger boys cross country took the second spot, nationally, for small schools. NHSCA recognized their efforts in winning the New Mexico 4A State Championships “with a 16:17 5000-meter team average, placing all five in the top 15” and their 29th-place finish at the NXR Southwest Region Championships.

The Implacable Ranalda Tsosie ’96

Teaching the Next Generation of Indigenous Environmental Scientists

By Ted Alcorn ’01

As her mother remembers it, Ranalda Tsosie ’96 did not tell anyone she had applied to Albuquerque Academy until she was accepted.

Somehow, word of the school had reached the eighth grader at Red Mesa Junior High, up the road from the Four Corners on the Navajo reservation. The eldest child in a multigenerational household, living at times without electricity, Ranalda had grown up hauling water from a local windmill for livestock and the family’s needs. Her days were long — up at 5 a.m. to bus down dirt roads to school and returning after practice as late as 8 p.m. But when the girl set her mind on something, she went out and got it.

“I wanted to go to a high school that was challenging, that would challenge my potential,” Ranalda recalled.

The teenager relocated to Albuquerque, where her aunt was a nurse at Presbyterian delivering babies on the graveyard shift. Financial aid covered her tuition, but each day her aunt would leave 75¢, and Ranalda would ride the public bus up paved Wyoming Boulevard to the campus gates.

At the new school, a freshman trip to Bear Canyon cemented Ranalda’s first friendships, some that have lasted to this day. “I was sort of intimidated, but also excited at the same time,” she said. She joined the softball team and thought about volleyball, “but it was the year that they introduced the bun huggers, and I was like, ‘hell no.’” So she ran cross country instead, where she found camaraderie and the chance to test herself against the faster runners, and against herself.

She was surprised to win a place on student council — and still suspects the vote was rigged in her favor. And her orbit kept widening, through a domestic exchange to North Carolina and then in Germany for her senior year on a U.S. State Department scholarship.

By the time her peers were looking to get out of New Mexico for college, she was looking to come home. She served her tribe as Miss Northern Navajo, fell in love, had three kids, and raised them alongside four nephews and nieces. And then, more than 20 years after graduating from the Academy, she went back to school. Associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees, and then a doctorate, with a thesis focused on water contaminants in the community where she grew up.

Which is how Dr. Tsosie is now directing the Environmental Science program at New Mexico Tech. Among other subjects, her lab is working on point-of-use filters that people could use at unregulated sources, like the wells Ranalda drew water from as a child.

Her goals are in part pragmatic: to improve the quality of life of Indigenous people living with the legacies of mining and industrial pollutants. But through her research she is also demonstrating how to integrate the Diné worldview and methods with Western science, which she says is vital to working with and in Indigenous communities. The title of her latest National Science Foundation-funded paper, “T'ah kóó hóniidló,” attests that “we are still here.”

As a proud member of the Navajo Nation, she is mindful of what her ancestors fought for and died for so she could be here, and transmit it on. “The resiliency of Indigenous people comes through, all the way to my grandson’s generation,” she said. “It’s continuing.”

To shine a light on the transformative power of tuition assistance, Alumni Council member Ted Alcorn ’01 is telling the stories of alumni who were grateful recipients during their Academy years.

Think Summer Catalog Coming Soon

2025 Program: June 9-July 18

Looking for summer fun that keeps minds sharp and bodies active? Since 1984, Albuquerque Academy’s Think Summer has offered dynamic enrichment and recreational programs for students entering K-12. With interdisciplinary courses, active learning strategies, and exceptional teachers, Think Summer makes education inspirational and seriously fun.

The 2025 Think Summer Catalog will be available on our website by the start of winter break! Join our mailing list now.

New Charger Cheer Team Ramps Up School Spirit

After four decades, Charger cheer is back! The new 48-member, no-cut, all-gender team made their debut at the boys varsity basketball game on December 3, where they honored cheer alumni Karroll Candelaria-Bauer ’81, Becki Branch ’84, Dee-Dee Butterfield ’84, and Robin Napoleone ’84.

The squad was founded by seniors Miel Padilla and Izzy Romero with the goal of boosting team spirit and school pride, which they certainly achieved at their first game after only two weeks of practice. They’ll be cheering at all home varsity boys and girls basketball games.

Because the Academy was not co-ed in its earliest years, the first Academy cheerleaders were girls – sisters, cousins, friends and girlfriends – from other schools. In 1983, when the team was made up of Academy girls, the yearbook noted that “the squad believed that cheerleading didn’t just mean leading the crowd at games, but that it also meant raising all-around school spirit…. Thus, besides sports, the cheerleaders supported many other activities. For instance, they painted ‘good luck’ signs for the Drama Department and the Band, and they helped make decorations for the Youth and Government dance.” However, the following school year, the cheer team chose to disband, citing, in a letter to the editor of The Advocate, that the boys were disrespectful and treated the team ungratefully.

The goals of today’s cheer team are unchanged, says cheer coach and Academy parent Cristin Kiburz. “Their ultimate goal is to raise all-around school spirit. This is exactly why Miel and Izzy went to the Academy administration this year to request starting a cheerleading team.”

Building Connections: Young Alumni Gathering and Alumni Holiday Party

Young Alumni Gathering: Nearly 60 alumni from the Classes of 2020-2024, along with this year’s seniors, joined about a dozen staff and faculty members at Common Grounds Café. The evening featured a warm welcome for the Class of 2025 from the alumni community, an update from Head of School Julianne Puente highlighting current school-year achievements, and remarks from Alumni Council member Audrey Lee '23 about the council’s work. Audrey also shared the many ways to stay connected to the school and one another, including the alumni directory available in the ChargerHub alumni portal.

Alumni Holiday Party: About 60 alumni attended the Albuquerque Academy All-Alumni Holiday Party at the Albuquerque Press Club! It was a joyful evening filled with warm connections, familiar faces, and new friends. Alumni Council President Christina Bachicha spoke about the vital role of Alumni Council members, encouraged others to get involved, and highlighted the remarkable success of our Giving Tuesday campaign. Future events will provide more opportunities to celebrate the incredible Albuquerque Academy alumni community.

Thespians Shine at New Mexico Festival, Qualify for International Stage

Twenty-four students from Albuquerque Academy’s Thespian Troupe attended the New Mexico Thespian Festival and NMAA One-Act Competition along with over 560 students from 25 other schools. They made friends with students from other schools, participated in workshops such as Dancing to Hamilton and Creating Short Films, and watched over 20 one-act plays. For 17 Chargers, this was their first time attending the festival.

Twenty-one Academy students competed in individual events known as Thespys, which included acting, musical theatre, costume design, and stage management. Of all the Thespys adjudicated, only 25 qualified to participate in the International Festival in June. The following Academy students earned a spot.

• Lilah Durbin '27 for Costume Design (with a perfect score, one of three in the whole state)
• Lou Small '25 for Solo Acting (monologues)
• Modupe Grace Erinle '27 for Solo Acting (monologues)
• Grace Jindra '27 for Solo Acting (monologues)
• Addie Nayback '25, Jamie Lujan '27, and Diego Chavez '26 for Group Musical Theatre
• Nori Little '25 for Solo Musical Theatre
• Addie Nayback '25 for Solo Musical Theatre
• August Steele '25 for Stage Management

In addition, the students performed the student-written and directed one-act “Play On” by Lex Kelly ’24. The production placed second for stage management, sound, and lights, led by August Steele ’25 for stage management, Emrys Bendt ’26 for sound, and Ari Rosner-Salazar ’25 for lights.

The state student board consists of seven students from the 31 registered Thespian Troupes in New Mexico. After a highly influential term, August is stepping off the NM Thespian Student Board later this year because he is a senior, and Lillian Geballe ’27 was elected to the board.

Academy Voted Best in the City

A huge thank you to the Charger community for the show of support as Albuquerque Academy was named Best Private School in Albuquerque the Magazine's 2024 Best of the City readers poll. While there are countless ways to measure our school’s success, word of mouth is critical to the future of the Academy. The opinions of those who know the school best – students and alumni, parents and employees – make a tremendous impact. We love having a community that tells their friends and neighbors about the many ways the Academy positively benefits our city and state.