Greetings Families, Parents, Students, and Community Supporters.

I am addressed as "Mrs. SOUL-BOWE" or "Dr. SOUL"by my Students.

I am thrilled and honored to be teaching and learning at Ralph J. Bunche Academy.
I have been an Educator since 1993, when I began as an Apprentice-Teacher at The Wheeler School, a private academy in Providence, Rhode Island.  I then taught theater and music at CitiArts! while at Brown University, one of eight Ivy League Universities. I am the Student of Anani Dzidzienyo, Tricia Rose and Chinua Achebe; I completed specialized coursework under Michael S. Harper, Elmo Terry-Morgan, Aisha Rahman, Ntzoke Shange, Nilo Cruz, the late Edward Beiser and Ross Cheit.

I completed my Student-Teaching at several public schools and performing arts academies in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York before touring internationally as a back-up vocalist with Erykah Badu and George Clinton. I am a professional vocalist, musician, dancer, percussionist, playwright and poet in addition to teaching; I work with the companies Dancing Earth, New Mexico Musicworks, Roots International Sustainable Enterprises, P.A.T.H. and Sweetlife. I conduct applicant interviews as a Brown alumnae, am active with the newly founded UNM Black Alumni chapter, am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Americorps, NM Women In Communications, NM Women In Film, Phi Beta Kappa, MENSA and the NAACP.  I was the first African-American NM Girls' State Governor, the 1st Black Miss Teen Albuquerque, the 1st African-American NM State and US National HS Journalist of the Year, and the 1st recipient of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge Scholarship; hence, coming to teach at the only African-American charter school in the state truly felt like a homecoming.  I enjoy volunteering and performing as an active community member and innovating as a progressive educator.

My family came to Santa Fe, New Mexico from Texas when I was eight. Before that we lived in Europe, the Independent Nation of Samoa & elsewhere. My father is Afro-Cuban and my Mother is Native-Pacific Islander, hence I am multiracial, as is our beautiful state. As an elementary student in New Mexico, I was in the first all-day Gifted Program class pioneered by legendary educator Dr. Dennis Higgins (co-creator of the 'Twice-Exceptional' theorum for students that are exceptional and autistic, and former APS teacher who joined the ranks of an elite group of New Mexico teachers to receive the Golden Apple Award, one of the most prestigious recognitions given in the state for excellence in teaching) at S.Y. Jackson Elementary School.  I also attended Dennis Chavez Elementary School, Eisenhower Middle School, Albuquerque Academy, Career Enrichment Center and graduated from La Cueva High School.  I still hold the record for the 100m. hurdles at La Cueva, set in 1991, as well as State and National titles.  I went to the Olympic trials in the 100m. hurdles in 1996 and ran Division 1 Track at Brown University where I majored in Theater/Speech/Dance, Political Science and Comparative Literature Translation (B.A./B.S./B.F.A.)
 
My graduate studies at Brown & Harvard focused on Sociology & Ethnomusicology; my thesis in the Honors Department at UNM combined Early Childhood Multicultural Education, Language, Literature and Indigenous Studies.  I created a curriculum that uses the Indigenous Roots of Hip Hop Culture to teach mathematics, science, literature and language. The I.R.O.H.H.C. curriculum is also toured internationally in a multimedia, musical format. After leaving New Mexico in 1993 to attend college and train, I did not return to New Mexico again, on a long-term basis, until 2005, when the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra contracted me as the mezzo-soprano lead in Time & Again in Barelas for the Tri-Centenniel Opera.

Here at the only African-American based charter academy in the state of New Mexico, I enjoy the integration of Africana Studies, Project-Based learning and Science and Technology that I am encouraged to employ in the classroom.  As an E.S.L. / T.E.S.O.L. Educator, I communicate in eight languages and write in five.  My classroom is bilingual (daily communication in both English and Spanish) and has a strong Arts and Music component.  I utilize Hands-On and Experiential Learning via frequent educational field trips and guest speakers from the community.

Locally, I have lectured, taught or conducted workshops at La Luz Elementary, Albuquerque Academy, Bandelier Elementary, El Dorado, Sandia, Highland, Albuquerque High, Del Norte, Performing Arts Public Academy, Menaul School, Arroyo del Oso, Mountain View, Monte Vista, Cleveland, Jefferson, Madison, Valley, Volcano Vista, Cottonwood Classical, Juvenile Detention Center Educational Unit, The International School at Mesa del Sol, Montessori on the Rio Grande, Native American Community Academy, Nuestros Valores, New Mexico Jazz Workshop's Rural Outreach program, Sequoia treatment facility, Amy Biehl, all 21 of New Mexico's Pueblos and Reservations, National American University and the University of New Mexico Departments of Africana Studies, Music and Sociology.

I am happily married to Rodney Bowe, a Professional Musician and Higher Education Educator/former Administrator for the University of New Mexico. My husband oversees the Men of Color Initiative in UNM's Department for Equity and Inclusion and mentors/tutors the UNM Men's Basketball team. We have two sons and several large fish tanks.

I look forward to contributing to the growth and success of Ralph J. Bunche Academy and appreciate Dr. Penne Wilson's choice to welcome me as Kindergarten Teacher. 
I thank each one of you for trusting me to carefully mold the brilliant minds of your children.

   Sincerely,    

 Sina-Aurelia Pleasant Soul-Bowe