Albuquerque High teacher inspires teamwork through leadership class

ALBUQUERQUE – A high school cafeteria may seem an unlikely spot for a powwow, but on Nov. 9, Albuquerque High School staged one in its lunchroom—and the event was organized and staged exclusively by a group of Native American teenagers.

John Williams teaches a Native American leadership class at Albuquerque High. The powwow was just one of many events his 20 students planned and brought to fruition. For Williams, a Sisseton Wahpeton Lakota Native who has taught the course for over a decade, learning to take accountability and responsibility for their actions when working in groups is essential for young Native students.

“If they want to get into a leadership role,” said Williams, “this is the class for them.”

The Career Enrichment Center in Albuquerque works with the Indian Education Department of Albuquerque Public Schools to have classes like a Native American Leadership elective for Native high school students. Williams’ class draws in students from different high schools in other areas.

According to Williams, two students stood out during the powwow for their leadership skills: Kenneth Crook, a junior at Albuquerque High, and Lachey Wright, a sophomore at El Dorado High.

Crook, who is of the Hopi, Navajo, and Havasupai tribes, first heard about the class through a friend taking it and decided to join. “I like it (the class) because we get to do stuff,” said Crook. “Like we get to help put together the planning and get involved in everything.”

Planning for powwow

Planning for the powwow began in September. Kenneth Crook was assigned to contact vendors and facilitate them on the day of the powwow and the concession stand.

For the overall leadership class, Crook is the treasurer who handles the money at the events. For the powwow, he reported a total revenue of $1,796.

John Williams said at the end of the night, Crook was able to report back every dollar that was spent and every dollar that was made.

“(Kenneth) doesn’t really give himself all the credit he deserves,” said William. “He was really all over the place at the powwow.”

Lachey Wright, who is Navajo and San Carlos Apache, is the vice president of the leadership class. She was looking for fun Indigenous classes to take as electives for school. When she came across the Williams class, she saw it as a fit for herself.

The last event the students had held before the powwow was a Halloween Bash. That event helped to raise money to purchase supplies for the powwow.

Winding down

At 2 p.m. on the day of the powwow, Lachey Wright and her classmates packed their supplies from their CEC classroom and walked next door to Albuquerque High School to begin setting up vendor tables.

“It was very busy, but I’m very glad we pulled this off,” said Wright, “because pulling a bunch of Native people together is like a good thing to me.”

After the bustling night of a powwow, Wright said a highlight to her was winding down after the event at the concession stand to eat pickles with her classmates.

John Williams trusts his students to work together and desires to participate in the class. They can stage successful community events.

“I was real proud of them (the night of the powwow),” said Williams. “I wanted them as visible as possible. I wanted the community to see the students taking charge.”

Williams called the night a success because he did not need to be towering over his students. Instead, he was able to join the rest of the community and partake in the fun.

Williams was impressed by Wright’s and Kenneth Crook’s drive to ensure they accomplished what was needed and didn’t need reminders.

While organizing a powwow may be new to some students, Williams has overseen decades of student-led powwows. He provides a skeleton of assignments to the students, but that’s all he shares. The rest is for the students to handle.

The students’ three main areas of responsibility were concession, vendors, and doors. The students had to problem-solve every detail down to where they would put the money they’d collected and how they would separate it.

“It wasn’t me spoon-feeding them,” said Williams. “They had to do it ahead of time. They were scrambling, but they got it done.”

As Williams watched Crook and other students count the proceeds, he said that the healthy profit was verification that the students did their jobs, and they did it well.

The money the students raised goes back into future events and to treat themselves with food.

The students are gearing up for a storytelling night where they perform and read traditional Native American winter stories for the public.

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