Being raised in a community where your history connects to every part of your present, it is difficult to find the courage to leave. It is similarly difficult to forge a path and stay. Questa del Rio News is committed to highlighting different members of our community, both those who have created their paths and planted their own roots in the community that raised them, and those who have pursued lives outside of the community – through our Representando series. This series is dedicated to those who are Representando communities in northern Taos County, in various facets of life.
For our August issue, we spoke to long-time educator and Questa native Gilbert Jr. Bryan Garcia. Graduating from Questa High School in 1992, Garcia moved to Portales to attend Eastern New Mexico University. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in elementary education, with a minor in history. Upon his college graduation in 1997, he moved to Odessa, Texas, where he taught for two years. These two years helped Garcia recognize that nothing compares to home.
Garcia decided to move back to New Mexico in 1999, finding his first teaching job at Santo Domingo Elementary School. “I sincerely missed New Mexican culture, food, faith, traditions. Landing at Santo Domingo School helped me realize that even though we don’t have the same backgrounds, we have the same reverence and devotion to our cultures and traditions.” He taught for three years at Santo Domingo School, then was quickly promoted to principal for his remaining years.
An interesting coincidence—during his first few years as principal, he co-led the position with a familiar face. “Richard Torralda was my principal in Questa my freshman and sophomore year. He then served with me as co-principal at Santo Domingo,” Garcia says with a chuckle. It was then that he realized the teaching community network across the state is small and close knit. “Something [that] growing up in Questa taught me was that your reputation precedes you. It’s the reason I am compelled to be humble, kind, and respectful because you never know who you will cross paths with next.”
In 2007, Garcia moved on to work for Rio Rancho School District where he served as a principal from 2007 through 2018 at Puesta del Sol Elementary School. “We moved to Rio Rancho because this was the community where we raised our children, so we wanted to be fully connected to the community,” he says.
In January of 2019, after over 20 years as a public educator, Garcia decided to pursue a different opportunity with the Albuquerque public school district as a Community Schools Development Specialist, a position he currently holds. His job is to recognize and address inequities in areas across the district and provide community school models, which help students feel more connected to their peers, community, and support systems for them and their families.
“Questa Schools are community schools. This position for me is a personal one, because I saw firsthand how our community would come together if any of our classmates had gone through a loss, or if their families needed help. We carried each other and the school was our hub of connection where we fostered these relationships from kindergarten to 12th grade,” Garcia says.
Garcia says he is eternally grateful to his parents and grandparents for teaching his Spanish as it has helped him break down barriers and communicate across communities. “It’s because of them I can have conversations with kids in Spanish. Being bilingual has been a key skill in my career and gives me a strong connection to my culture, heritage, and family. I am so blessed that my family showed me the value of learning and using my language.”
His experience growing up in Questa is part of what drives his passion to provide equitable opportunities for kids in the Albuquerque school system. “Some kids are one broken down car away from being homeless. Their families don’t have any support systems and that broken down car means loss of a job, it means living in a shelter, it means everything in their lives gets upended. Having a community school, a hub of connection for students, means we can address these barriers and provide help and support so students can succeed, in spite of barriers.”
Currently, Garcia is proud to report that over 60 schools in the district have implemented this community-based model. In May of 2024, he traveled to Washington D.C. for a White House Summit on Chronic Absenteeism. He was able to discuss the success the district and community has seen with chronic absenteeism dropping from 44 percent in 2021-22 to 22 percent for the 2023-24 school year.
When asked why he decided to pursue education, he is quick to point to his upbringing in northern New Mexico. “I was very fortunate to be raised by the best parents, Gilbert and Lorraine Garcia. Me and my brother Gaspar were beyond blessed to have them, my grandparents, tias and tios, padrinos, cousins—our entire family was such a blessing. Having this upbringing is what drove me to pursue servant leadership, working with students to give them support they may not have.”
Garcia is the proud father of a son, Andrew, and daughter, Samantha. He recently got married to his best friend, Lucrisha Garcia, in May of 2023. “My new marriage has brought me closer to my faith, [my] family, and has brought out the values of my upbringing in Questa. Both our families love us and we are so happy that we found each other,” he says.
