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The Collaborative Teachers Institute is a group of early childhood teachers in Santa Fe interested in pursuing advanced, collaborative professional development. Participating programs and teachers study children's interests through a reflective practice approach.
The Collaborative Teachers Institute helps teachers achieve their potential so that the youngest children in Santa Fe can achieve theirs. The CTI is a project of the Santa Fe Baby Fund developed by Santa Fe Community Foundation and is run by Santa Fe Community College, Early Childhood Center of Excellence.. |
Who We Are
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LEADERSHIP Helen McDonald Helen is the Pedagogical Director of CIT. Gigi Yu Gigi is the former Pedagogical Director of the CTI and still works on consultation to support professional development. Gigi has been working in the field of education as a teacher, researcher, professional development provider, and higher education instructor for over 20 years. Her work focuses on developing the teacher as researcher through the study of children’s interests. She works with organizations to create reflective, collaborative, and job-embedded professional development practices. She holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the Curriculum, Aesthetics, and Teacher Education program at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. From 2012-2014 she served as New Mexico’s Program Manager for the Wonder of Learning project, a traveling exhibit from the early learning programs in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Catherine Dry Catherine is the former Director of the Santa Fe Baby Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation. Katie helped develop and grow CTI to the program it is today. Katie now works for the New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership supporting policy and research. The Baby Fund seeks to raise awareness about the critical importance of the prenatal through age-four period of life through advocacy, public awareness campaigns, public forums, investment in the nonprofit sector and promotion of philanthropy. The Baby Fund is incubating the CTI as a way to increase access to high quality early care and education in Santa Fe. Catherine was a Commissioner on the Children and Youth Commission for the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico. TASK FORCE Aurora Hvidsten Santa Fe School for Arts and Sciences Aurora is in her 8th year as a co-lead preschool teacher at Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences. She holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz and and MS ECE from the Erikson Institute of Chicago. Aurora was involved in the 2014 Wonder for Learning Collaborative through the North American Reggio Alliance and has co-lead various Reggio based workshops through-out Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Taos. She has been involved with the CTI since 2015 and is currently a contributing member of the CTI task force. Kim Shakespeare-Jones Santa Fe Opera Early Childhood Initiative Kim has worked in the field of arts education for the past 17 years. She has worked with The Santa Fe Opera’s Education and Community Program Department for the past 15 years in various administrative capacities, most recently as Manager of Strategic Planning & Evaluation for its Active Learning Through Opera (ALTO) program; and as the Founding Manager of its Early Childhood Initiative (ECI). She is also in the process of obtaining her certification as a Pedagogical Coordinator in the Reggio Emilia Approach through Webster University and Reggio Children. Kim’s involvement with the CTI has helped inform and shape the development of the ECI, and enhanced her understanding of innovative early childhood practices. Kim is also an artist, who enjoys working with early learners in the classroom. She received her BA degree in Film from the University of California. Suzanne Maheshi Shakespeare Jones Santa Fe School for Arts and Sciences Suzanne has worked at Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences for the past 15 years; where she is the lead co-teacher for a Reggio-inspired preschool/pre-k classroom, and Director of the Early Childhood Department. Suzanne has been teaching young children in Santa Fe for over 19 years. Before coming to SFSAS, she worked as an art educator with early childhood organizations and schools in Santa Fe. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pasadena Art Center College of Design in California, as well as a Level Two Professional Teaching License in Early Childhood from the State of New Mexico and has been a facilitator of several early childhood workshops in New Mexico. She has been the recipient of a Fund for Teachers grant, which enabled her to attend an International summer study tour in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She is an active member of the Collaborative Teacher’s Institute and is on the steering committee of the Early Childhood Institute in Santa Fe. These experiences have influenced her teaching practice of the Reggio approach. Patricia Azuara - Santa Fe Public Schools Helen McDonald - La Casita Jennifer Salinas - United Way Early Learning Center at Aspen Melissa Scott - Pando Little School Juliet Staveley - Santa Fe Public Schools, PreK Programs PARTICIPATING PROGRAMS American Indian Language Policy Research and Teacher Training Program, University of New Mexico Garcia Street Club La Casita Kids Campus, Santa Fe Community College First Presbyterian Child Development Center Pando Little School Santa Fe Community College, Kids Campus Santa Fe School for Arts and Sciences Santa Fe Opera Early Childhood Initiative Santa Fe Public Schools - PreK programs United Way of Santa Fe County |
Our History |
In 2014, the Santa Fe Baby Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation convened early childhood programs in Santa Fe to learn more about the shared services approach to running Centers and programs. As we discussed the challenges of running successful programs, two interests emerged for this group of teachers:
In 2019 The Collaborative Teachers Institute moved under the umbrella of Santa Fe Community College Early Childhood Center of Excellence. CIT currently focuses on offering monthly opportunities for teachers to come together to discuss their role in deepening and expanding young children's learning. |
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