You’re Invited to Anna, Age Eight Day at New Mexico’s Roundhouse
NMSU Cooperative Extension’s Anna, Age Eight Institute celebrates the third “Anna, Age Eight Day” at the state capital to share our progress with the 100% New Mexico initiative on January 29.
by Dominic Cappello
December 13, 2021
Local champions committed to childhood safety and family health will be gathering at the New Mexico Roundhouse to share with state lawmakers and the public the innovative work of the Anna, Age Eight Institute. The Institute’s 100% New Mexico initiative is currently in ten counties, empowering local stakeholders as they build back better, smarter and with the priority of ensuring trauma-free childhoods. NMSU Cooperative Extension’s 100% New Mexico initiative is unlike any other public health and education project in the nation. It is focused on ensuring ten vital services for surviving and thriving in each county, addressing the challenges presented by the pandemic and disruptions to education and local economies.
Anna, Age Eight Day at the Roundhouse allows local champions from across New Mexico to share their work with the groundbreaking initiative that provides county and city stakeholders with the resources to identify challenges in accessing the five “surviving” family services that include medical and mental health care, food and housing security and transportation, as well as access to the five “thriving” services that include parent supports, early childhood learning, full resourced community schools with health centers, youth mentor programs and job training.
Anna, Age Eight Day is a showcase for innovation that includes proposals for the 100% Family Services Center, a one-stop hub for families to access ten vital services. Speakers will also share strategies for strengthening public schools with the 100% Community School model, transforming schools into parent-friendly service hubs that can increase student achievement and family resilience. Innovations in rural health, health council strategies and strengthening health equity goals will also be presented, creating an event to inspire all New Mexicans working with infants, children, students, youth, parents and caregiving grandparents.
Educator and NM state senator Bill Soules, PhD, will serve as the host of Anna, Age Eight Day, along with the Las Cruces Mayor Pro Tem Kasandra Gandara, developer of the Anna, Age Eight book clubs and Doña Ana Resilience Leaders, and co-directors of NMSU’s Anna, Age Eight Institute Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello. Local 100% New Mexico initiative leaders will also share their progress, challenges and successes.
Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD, co-author of the book Anna, Age Eight, whose story of a child lost in the child welfare system served as the catalyst for launching the Institute, shares, “This first-of-its-kind initiative is aligning vital work to build a New Mexico where 100% can access the services to thrive.”
The Anna, Age Eight Day event is Saturday, January 29, 10am to noon in Roundhouse Senate Chambers. Further announcements will include updates on webcasting.
Those seeking to attend in person must follow state capitol Roundhouse guidelines that include mask-wearing, proof of vaccine or an exception detailed here: Admittance to the NM State Capital.
Mission: The 100% New Mexico initiative is dedicated to ensuring that 100% of families can access ten vital services crucial for their overall health, resilience, and success. This university-sponsored endeavor necessitates the local implementation of evidence-based strategies encompassing both community and school-based service hubs, aiming to prevent the most pressing and costly public health and safety challenges, including adverse social determinants of health and adverse childhood experiences.
Dominic Cappello
Cappello is a New York Times bestselling author and TEDx Conference curator with decades of experience advocating for health, safety and education. He has a Master of Arts in Liberal studies with an emphasis on Language and Communication from Regis University. He worked for the New Mexico Department of Health Epidemiology and Response Division and the New Mexico Child Protective Services Research, Assessment and Data Bureau, where he co-developed the Data Leader for Child Welfare program, which he implemented in New York City, Connecticut and New Mexico.
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The 100% New Mexico initiative is a program of the Anna, Age Eight Institute at New Mexico State University, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service. Contact: annaageeight@nmsu.edu or visit annaageeight.nmsu.edu to learn more.
