How CNM’s Accelerated Teacher Training Program is Helping to Bring Indigenous Educators Back to Tribal Schools

A career shift to teaching might sound like a big hill to climb, but for the first cohort of CNM’s Indigenous Teacher Preparation Project, ten months was all it took.

Rural, tribal schools struggle with significantly higher teacher vacancy rates. CNM Program Director Monika Whitmore says the Indigenous Teacher Preparation Project was born from a need to address these shortages. Special education teachers are in especially high demand.

In less than a year, program participants are eligible to take an exam to earn their teaching licenses in both general and special education. The program requires no prior teaching experience or education— only a bachelor’s degree in any field. Learners split their time between online classes and student teaching on-site at Indigenous schools.

For Whitmore, the initiative hits close to home.

“My second-grade teacher was my first educator who looked like me,” she says. “She understood the cultural significance of our community and our language. That had a huge impact on my education as a Pueblo woman.”

This Spring, CNM graduated eight new teachers from the Indigenous Teacher Preparation Project. Those grads will begin teaching full-time this Fall at Indigenous schools in Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo, To’Hajiilee, Laguna Pueblo, and Santa Fe.

Amaya Garnenez earned her bachelor's degree from Cornell in 2025 and learned about the Project as she was conducting research for her senior thesis.

“The program seemed aligned with my goals,” Garnenez says. “Once we got started, I found that the cohort had people from similar backgrounds as mine, all working toward a similar goal. I loved the sense of community we built.”

The next cohort begins this July and is accepting applications through June 30. Learn more and apply.