Petersen Selected as NMSBA School Board Member of the Year
The retired teacher is leaving the APS board at the end of December.
Nine years into her tenure on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education, Barbara Petersen is leaving on a high note.
Petersen, whose tenure on the APS board ends at the end of December, has been named the 2023 School Board Member of the Year by the New Mexico School Boards Association. She will be presented with the award during a luncheon on Dec. 1.
“I love the connection being a board member has given me with the community,” Petersen has said. “It’s the community work that has always been really important to me. I’ve always been involved with political work and the legislature, but there’s a level of communication when just hearing from the community.”
Petersen was an APS teacher for more than 30 years before joining the board in 2015. She opted not to run for a third term on the board.
She was nominated for the School Board Member of the Year award by board President Yolanda Montoya-Cordova, Board member Josefina Dominguez, and Superintendent Scott Elder.
“Board member Petersen has been a staunch voice for educators and their right to be at the table of power,” they wrote in a letter to the NMSBA Board of Directors. “She has also understood the critical role of the New Mexico School Board Association during legislative sessions and in preparing new board members to meet the challenges and seriousness of their roles.”
They noted her responsiveness to constituents, citing the regular meetings she holds and emails she sends to them at least quarterly. They also praised her for being a veteran member of the ABC Community Schools Partnership and a relentless advocate for the NMSBA during legislative sessions.