A Story to Help Middle Graders Process COVID

This photo of an acequia was taken in the spring of 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Acequias play a crucial role in the story.

Are you a teacher or parent looking for content to help middle graders process COVID-19? If so, check out my latest story, “The 13th,” which was recently published by CommonLit. The story is set in New Mexico and begins in March 2020, a few days after the first COVID case appeared in the Land of Enchantment. The main character worries that her bad luck contributed to the pandemic and embarks on a quest to find a good luck charm.

“The 13th” is written for 6th graders and tackles themes related to anxiety and helplessness. I hope that readers will take away the same message as the serenity prayer:

“Grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”

It was an honor to write for CommonLit, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to ensuring that all students, especially students in Title I schools, graduate with the reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills they need to be successful in college and beyond.” CommonLit wrote assessment questions, discussion points and definitions to help readers interpret the text.

Hot air balloons flying over Albuquerque. The opening and closing images in “The 13th” both feature hot air balloons.

Attempt to Weaken New Mexico’s Whistleblower Protection Act Fails

         Albuquerque, New Mexico

In February I sent two letters to New Mexico state Senator Jacob Candelaria regarding his proposed amendments to the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). In the letters I described how his bill (Senate Bill 299) would have weakened New Mexico’s whistleblower protections. The letters are available here and here.

Whistleblowers – employees who disclose information about waste, fraud, abuse of power, or dangers to public health and safety – expose the truth and often save taxpayers money. A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers of 5,400 companies worldwide found that whistleblowers detected more fraud than corporate security, audits, rotation of personnel, fraud risk management and law enforcement combined. It is therefore troubling that the New Mexico legislature introduced a bill to weaken whistleblower rights at a time when the state faced an $80 million deficit.

Senator Candelaria subsequently introduced a revised version of his bill that addressed most of my concerns. But the bill still had the potential to weaken protections for whistleblowers. After I sent the letters, NMPolitics.net ran an article that examined the bill’s shortcomings. The article quoted several people, including me:

Walden took issue in her letter with the requirement that potential whistleblowers first exhaust administrative remedies: “administrative grievance mechanisms can sometimes be hostile forums for whistleblowers,” she wrote. She expressed concern about institutionalizing delays and processes that aren’t favorable to whistleblowers.

The revised bill failed to pass before the end of the state’s legislative session and is tabled for now.

To learn more about New Mexico’s current whistleblower protections, visit the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s New Mexico Accountability Report Card.