NW New Mexico News

On Thursday, June 1, the Carlsbad High School band participated in a performance at Disney World in Florida. Bands invited to the Magic Kingdom Pre-Parade March lead off the daily character parade, which begins at Frontierland and ends at Town Square. This is an incredible honor, and Carlsbad’s band was very deserved in being invited to participate this summer.

The logistics of getting an entire band to Disney are considerable. The band assembled early on Memorial Day and took a bus from Carlsbad to Dallas, where they then flew to Orlando. A group of volunteers assisted the band staff as escorts. Other volunteers hauled a trailer with all of the band equipment to Florida.  This event took place after months of planning. As we’ve mentioned in previous updates, you just can’t say enough about Carlsbad’s band. The presence of the band, whether it be at a football game, a community parade or an awards ceremony, makes every event complete.

We don’t have a full list of all the sponsors and donors who helped make this trip possible, but we do know that there were a large number of fundraisers. Additionally, we’re aware of the fact that Kodiak Trucking made a very generous donation to assist with travel expenses. Thank you to Sonia Braddock and her family for their support.

We know that the band did a great job, and we’re sure they had a great trip to Florida.

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Congratulation to Dr. Monty Harris, who was formally selected as Vice President of Workforce Development and Community Engagement at Carlsbad’s Southeast New Mexico College. Dr. Harris was selected following a nationwide search.

Dr. Harris has been a key figure in the effort to expand new training and community education sources. He’s a native of the state of Washington. He previously worked as a firefighter and then practiced as a chiropractor for many years. He also served as the clinic director of a nonprofit children’s chiropractic clinic.

Ultimately, he entered the educational realm by first teaching as an adjunct instructor for Oklahoma State University and then transferring to the former New Mexico State University- Carlsbad. He accepted appointment as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2021 and then accepted appointment as Interim Vice President of Workforce Development and Community Engagement.

We have enjoyed working with Dr. Harris and look forward to continuing to assist him and everyone at Southeast New Mexico College.

Sincerely,

 Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway

Original source can be found here.