S6-E1: How Two ABQ Teachers Are Shaping Tomorrow's Jewelers

In this episode of For the Love of Jewelers, co-hosts Mark Nelson and Fiona Morrison sit down with Albuquerque High School instructors Lisa Gillett and Eddie Donato. They explore the importance of educating the next generation of jewelers, discuss the comprehensive program they established at the high school, and describe how Rio for Schools supports their efforts. 

Sponsored by Friedrich Dick Files. Use Promo Code RIOFILES10 for 10% off all Friedrich Dick files through 1/31/25. 

Transcript

00;00;00;03 - 00;00;08;09
Eddie
You deserve the best. You're going to show up every day and make beautiful things. Then the space has to reflect that.

00;00;08;09 - 00;00;19;08
Mark
We have an industry that is in desperate need of jewelers. What the industry doesn't know. There is a huge bank of talented young people who are wanting to do this. They just need to talk to each other.

00;00;19;09 - 00;00;48;12
Lisa
I learned this from my colleagues. The walls of the school should be porous. I think so much can happen within those walls. So many adults walk into the classroom and they're like, wow, like, I never had this in high school, or I wish I could make jewelry. And so we want to say, well, you can.

00;00;48;14 - 00;01;05;01
Fiona
Hello and welcome to season six of the For the Love of Jewelry podcast. I'm your host today, Fiona Morrison. And joining me is my co-host Mark Nelson, kicking us off with episode one is Lisa and Eddie, two of our favorite local jewelers and instructors. Welcome.

00;01;05;03 - 00;01;05;14
Eddie
Thank you.

00;01;05;20 - 00;01;06;23
Lisa
Thank you.

00;01;06;26 - 00;01;28;23
Mark
So I have to jump in here. I'm sorry, you guys. But we have to address the elephant in the room, right? It's like how good I look. All right. Because I got some feedback. We have a super fan that watches the show, all the podcasts and everything. And she's Mark. Mark, you and Fiona are amazing. You guys did a great job.

00;01;28;26 - 00;01;42;21
Mark
You look like crap. You need to up up your dress game, right? And, So, yeah, I had to up my game, and I hope you approve. The feedback I got was specifically that I was embarrassing. Fiona.

00;01;42;24 - 00;01;44;11
Lisa
And so he wore a vest today.

00;01;44;13 - 00;02;02;07
Mark
I wear my vest and I'm sporting the watch and everything. So. Yeah. I thought we had to address that. Otherwise we get a lot of feedback and so yeah Eddie and Lisa, thank you for joining us on the show today, man. Really super excited to have you guys here. We're going to have a surprise for you guys later on.

00;02;02;08 - 00;02;12;21
Mark
So if you're listening to the show, if you're watching on YouTube, stay tuned because we're going to have a surprise for you guys. And, I really hope you enjoy it.

00;02;12;24 - 00;02;21;04
Fiona
Well, tell us a little bit about yourselves. How did you get into the jewelry industry? How did you get into teaching. How did you meet each other.

00;02;21;06 - 00;02;22;18
Lisa
Oh goodness.

00;02;22;21 - 00;02;26;20
Mark
You don't have to do all thing at once. I mean, you need to tackle one at a time.

00;02;26;23 - 00;02;58;27
Lisa
Okay. So, I decided to become a teacher. I had left New Mexico for a little while. I grew up in western Massachusetts and Stockbridge. And my mom, was is was a poet. But she also taught English. And then by when she was in college, she studied to be an art teacher.

00;02;58;29 - 00;03;26;10
Lisa
So I think in a way, it kind of came full circle. So. And when I left New Mexico for a little while, I guess I was just thinking about, you know, what I love most, and, you know, art and and and and people. I was like, well, how can I put the two together? And, and I'm still a New Mexico resident, so.

00;03;26;12 - 00;03;26;20
Lisa
And you.

00;03;26;26 - 00;03;29;03
Mark
You teach at a local high school? It's Albuquerque High school.

00;03;29;04 - 00;03;36;26
Lisa
Yes, I teach at Albuquerque High, and I've been there for 24 years, and I've been teaching for 26 years.

00;03;36;29 - 00;03;42;20
Mark
And my wife's doing the same. She's on her 28th year. So. And Edie, what's your background a little bit.

00;03;42;22 - 00;04;16;28
Eddie
So my background initially was, in construction. And I did that for 20 plus years. It was only when I had a cancer diagnosis, that I kind of was reflecting on my life and what I wanted to do, and, and, So being true to myself, went into the art, making and and, study jewelry and.

00;04;16;28 - 00;04;22;10
Eddie
Right, making jewelry. So, Yeah. That's good.

00;04;22;13 - 00;04;27;19
Mark
So we have a high school teacher and you. What's your current position? You work at the university, right?

00;04;27;23 - 00;04;43;01
Eddie
Yeah. Small metals and sculpture lab manager. Lab manager. Okay. And then. And then I and also the metals, we coordinator. Co-coordinator. At I do Arts Academy in California.

00;04;43;04 - 00;04;56;05
Mark
That's in California. Okay. I always forget where I oil is. Yeah. So, I know you've hit me up a couple of times. To do summer programs there. Do they do youth programs? Idlewild as well, or.

00;04;56;07 - 00;05;15;17
Eddie
We have, two years ago, we had a youth program, and that, usually they do an adult, program for the first month, and then, the last week of the summer, then they'll do a youth, program. We're not doing that this year.

00;05;15;20 - 00;05;39;15
Mark
So I have a question for Lisa. So you you got the job at Albuquerque High School, right? And you started teaching art. What? What was the status of the jewelry program there at that time? And what has inspired you to transform it? Because I think what the listeners may not know is that you have a program called Jewelry Uplift.

00;05;39;15 - 00;05;49;16
Mark
Right? What was that? First of all, I'm just curious myself is like what? How did you come across the term jewelry uplift?

00;05;49;19 - 00;05;55;14
Lisa
Well, that was Eddy's idea. So to to get back to your first question.

00;05;55;15 - 00;05;57;00
Mark
Yeah.

00;05;57;02 - 00;06;38;14
Lisa
Barbara Sweetser started, teaching jewelry at Albuquerque High. I guess, well, she started at the old Albuquerque High. But when they moved to the the current building, I believe it was 1974. She she designed and, established the jewelry program at arch's, and and so she she was my mentor. She was teaching one class of jewelry when I started there, and I was teaching one class of jewelry and computer graphics and art one and ceramics and everything.

00;06;38;15 - 00;06;53;11
Lisa
And during my prep period, I would just go in with a notebook and I would just observe her. And, the way she taught and the way she worked with the students and, and and that's how it started. So,

00;06;53;14 - 00;07;09;27
Fiona
What was one thing that really drew you to jewelry specifically? Like if you had to stay standing there with your notebook watching this instruction happening, what really turned you on? Were you decided this is what you wanted to do? This is what was passionate for you.

00;07;09;29 - 00;07;40;16
Lisa
I like how active it is. I like, like how every student, you know, it's doing their own thing. It's not. And there's nothing wrong with everybody doing the same thing in an art class. I mean, that's how we learn often, but, it's just it's just so specific to, the individual's vision of what they, they want, and it's so much about process, like, it's so much about the process.

00;07;40;16 - 00;08;07;28
Lisa
And it was so new to me. Like, I, I didn't have jewelry in high school, and I actually didn't take it in college, like the first time, I took a jewelry class was, at UNM and my art ed graduate program. And then, you know, when you get hired for jobs, especially when you're first starting out, it's like, yeah, I can teach that, and I can teach that, and I can teach that, and you just learn.

00;08;07;28 - 00;08;45;11
Lisa
I learned so much from the students as well. So, in terms of jewelry uplift, you know, it's really honoring this legacy that Barbara created and that has been part of Albuquerque High, for, you know, 50 years. So the first time we wrote grants to, get supplies, I guess, and to sort of start, the transformation, we called it Jewelry Beyond because the idea was to take, to take it beyond the curriculum.

00;08;45;11 - 00;09;12;26
Lisa
Like, Eddie could come in and teach, raising, which is, is something he loves to do and ingot pouring. And he just wanted to, you know, make, make the most of the space we have. Yeah. And then and then when we, started dreaming bigger, we were thinking about the name and and and and Eddie came up with jewelry uplift.

00;09;12;26 - 00;09;14;18
Lisa
And I love the.

00;09;14;20 - 00;09;15;25
Mark
The logo is amazing.

00;09;15;28 - 00;09;20;17
Lisa
Eddie drew that. Those are his hands. Do you want to add to the.

00;09;20;19 - 00;09;23;26
Eddie
No. I forgot what I was going to say. I'm sorry. You're okay.

00;09;23;28 - 00;09;26;01
Lisa
I tend to talk more than when you teach you.

00;09;26;08 - 00;09;45;02
Mark
That's what you do. I know now, yeah. Funny fact is, I hated jewelry in high school. Yeah, we did one little casting project, and I absolutely hated it. And now here I am. Yeah. You know, so you never know what your path is going to go. So, I've been in the classroom. I saw it before and after the transformation.

00;09;45;04 - 00;10;05;03
Mark
You guys have done so many great, wonderful things with that room. It just it's a contained space. And you're Eddie specifically your ability to go in and change things and design things, open up that space and, really make it a professional looking and acting space is incredible.

00;10;05;05 - 00;10;32;08
Fiona
Yes. You've recently retrofitted with all of those new benches, and it sounds like you did end up taking out that wall. I know that in the video that you sent that Marc showed me you were talking about that. So you've had a lot of these big changes recently, really focusing on opening that up. And that good space for growth and focusing on having that as this platform for the students to come in and really immerse themselves.

00;10;32;14 - 00;10;38;27
Fiona
What are your next plans and what are you looking at moving forwards?

00;10;38;29 - 00;10;39;25
Mark
What more do you want to do?

00;10;40;00 - 00;10;41;25
Fiona
Yeah.

00;10;41;27 - 00;10;45;07
Mark
And he's like nodding. He's like, oh yeah I got plans.

00;10;45;10 - 00;10;59;20
Eddie
So the so the next thing is the community classes. So going beyond the, the high school curriculum. Yeah. And bringing in the community more to have classes that.

00;10;59;22 - 00;11;12;17
Mark
So you going do, community classes at the high school? Okay. I'm in. If you need anything, let me know. I'd love to do like a chain making. Yeah. Thing with you guys. It's something you can do with a butane torch. Super easy.

00;11;12;25 - 00;11;13;06
Lisa
Yeah.

00;11;13;08 - 00;11;23;25
Mark
And you just do it. Watch your while you're watching your movie or listening to a podcast, you know? So, yeah, I'm totally in on that. And, had a point. Never totally forgot what it was. What was my point?

00;11;23;27 - 00;11;25;16
Fiona
I don't know what your point was like.

00;11;25;18 - 00;11;26;19
Mark
You're like, okay.

00;11;26;24 - 00;11;28;02
Lisa
Yeah. I mean.

00;11;28;04 - 00;11;57;00
Fiona
When you think of that, I want to get back to this. So wanting to bring in this community, obviously you're very focus on wanting to encourage growth and encourage this new sort of moment for the students coming in. And now for the community. What's really been your drive? What brought that passion of wanting to share this information and this knowledge and skills?

00;11;57;05 - 00;12;26;03
Fiona
What sort of you've mentioned that you have backgrounds in art and construction and other mediums where you're working with your hand. You're having that thought process of, here's point A, here's point B, how can you get to that process and work through problems? What led you to wanting to share that with this community? What's brought this passion behind starting this project and really growing the project?

00;12;26;05 - 00;12;43;02
Lisa
I it's about connection. I think. We, we we created this space for our students because we want them.

00;12;43;05 - 00;13;15;25
Eddie
We want to bring in, opportunities for people to learn and, because a lot of times we have desires to learn something and it's, not necessarily accessible. You know, an instructor that we really love is on the other side of the country. And so I think this is an opportunity to bring some community into this space.

00;13;15;25 - 00;13;19;10
Eddie
And, and share and share.

00;13;19;14 - 00;13;20;05
Mark
Yeah.

00;13;20;08 - 00;13;54;15
Lisa
Yeah. And I, I like and I, I learned this from my colleagues and, and that the walls of the school should be porous. You know, I think after Covid, did you know, I think families and parents like, they weren't able to get into the school as much and security reasons. And, we want to bring that back. I think, you know, I mean, just for the love of jewelers,

00;13;54;17 - 00;13;56;10
Mark


00;13;56;12 - 00;14;25;17
Lisa
You know, I just it's. It's a space that I think so much can happen within those walls. And so many adults walk into the classroom and they're like, wow. Like, I never had this in high school, or I wish I could make jewelry. And so we want to say, well, you can. And, and our principal is very supportive of it.

00;14;25;18 - 00;14;35;24
Lisa
We're a community school. You know, I kept being like, you know, do we need to have a lawyer? Do we need paperwork? He's like, nope, nope nope nope. Just just do it. I'm like, okay.

00;14;35;26 - 00;14;36;24
Mark
Oh my purse.

00;14;36;26 - 00;15;04;07
Lisa
Yeah. So and a lot of times what we do is, we, we just try to make things happen even if we don't have the funding or, you know, we have the support and sometimes the, the funding comes after. And so we are of service. I mean, I think that's why we do what we do. Yeah. It's because we want to be of service.

00;15;04;09 - 00;15;32;10
Mark
I talk a little bit about Covid. We had a podcast earlier last year where we talked to, Brian and Stacy from Bozeman, Montana. They teach at two separate high schools, and their programs have tripled in size, both schools. And in in your opinion, what do you think is a shift in the students wanting to do more jewelry and art and that kind of stuff?

00;15;32;12 - 00;15;35;06
Lisa
I think they just want to be active.

00;15;35;10 - 00;15;35;24
Mark
And make.

00;15;35;24 - 00;16;02;14
Lisa
Stuff and make stuff with their hands. You know what's happened in this? The new space is, the students really teaching one another and having these conversations. You know, I get to kind of step back a little and, you know, they're the ones making suggestions of, hey, did you try this or look at this and, you know, the experience of it.

00;16;02;14 - 00;16;08;25
Lisa
Yeah. The experience of making jewelry, of using machinery.

00;16;08;25 - 00;16;26;25
Mark
And and knowing that they can do it. You know, like a lot of people I can't do this. You know it's a soft room I mean I can't do it. And then they complete that project and they're like oh my God what else can I do. You know I teach a night class at the community college and I see the same thing and it's like all right you guys you can do this.

00;16;26;27 - 00;16;43;05
Mark
And then when they start helping each other that is the magic moment. And when they start helping each other. And that's what I really try to push my students to do in their college. I have a couple of high schoolers in there. But when they start helping each other, that's the magic part for me.

00;16;43;07 - 00;16;44;14
Lisa
So yeah.

00;16;44;20 - 00;17;08;28
Mark
And we're seeing this a lot around the country right now. There's a huge shift for more support for jewelry programs across the country. And that's what I really appreciate, you guys being here today. To talk about that. And that's what we here at Rio really wanted to be part of. We have an industry, that is in desperate need of jewelers and talented young people.

00;17;09;01 - 00;17;29;01
Mark
And then what? The industry doesn't know there is a huge bank of talented young people who are wanting to do this. They just need to talk to each other. Exactly right. So that's my job here. That's what I'm trying to do, is bring people together and, cross for me and do the poor thing, because that was a beautiful expression.

00;17;29;03 - 00;17;47;24
Mark
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00;17;47;27 - 00;18;25;26
Fiona
Well, just on this point of focusing on the students, focusing on these next steps, of bringing it into more of a community setting is you're really encouraging that cross-generational just experience and learning, which is something that I feel like, like you mentioning is become something. It's very hard, especially since Covid, since people aren't face to face anymore in a lot of ways, and especially looking at younger students, they missed and were remote for a very large chunk of some of those very important years of having that community building.

00;18;25;26 - 00;19;13;15
Fiona
So it's really wonderful seeing this goal to not only bring this community between the students, but also between other peers in the industry, other peers that are not necessarily their cohorts, but are people who they can build those relationships with in those life skills, because there's so much overlap of those jewelry skills and. Just looking at what you've already accomplished, it's truly a wonderful thing to see, especially here in New Mexico, where jewelry has been such a staple of the culture for so long, but not necessarily as a new approach to it.

00;19;13;15 - 00;19;38;03
Fiona
So looking at these students and others in the community approaching it for the first time, what are some interesting examples? Cool techniques, cool approaches. You've seen people have to jewelry who don't necessarily come from a background in.

00;19;38;06 - 00;19;47;26
Fiona
What's one cool project you can think of off the top of your head that you thought you saw and you went, wow, how did that? How did that thought happen?

00;19;47;28 - 00;19;53;26
Eddie
That young man who. The job working at.

00;19;53;29 - 00;20;02;27
Lisa
Oh, I have a student who is apprenticing very well, was hired to work with a watchmaker at Butterfield.

00;20;02;29 - 00;20;03;21
Mark
Really?

00;20;03;23 - 00;20;04;13
Lisa
Yes.

00;20;04;15 - 00;20;05;08
Mark
Tell us more. Tell us.

00;20;05;08 - 00;20;17;17
Eddie
More. He started by making a ring. He had a watch face that he, wanted to set into a ring. And that's kind of how it started, right? He was very meticulous.

00;20;17;18 - 00;20;38;26
Lisa
Yeah. And then, like, a colleague at work said, oh, I was talking to this woman at Butterfield's, and they, you know, they're they were wanting to hire some somebody, you know, some young people. And I suggested your program. And so I connected this student and so he is.

00;20;38;28 - 00;20;39;19
Mark
He's apprenticing.

00;20;39;19 - 00;20;55;26
Lisa
He knows how to fix watches and he's getting paid for it. And we have a few students working with jewelers. And that's something I want. Yes. Please do. That is setting up these, apprenticeships.

00;20;56;00 - 00;20;56;25
Mark
Yes.

00;20;56;27 - 00;21;31;27
Lisa
Where, you know, they share ideas and like, I'm all for people getting paid. So the mentor would get paid as well as the students. So, so that's something we do. So teaching as you know, it's like you do so much more than quote teaching. So any like help with creating a program, for high school students to work with local jewelers?

00;21;31;29 - 00;21;33;07
Lisa
On a regular basis.

00;21;33;09 - 00;21;56;19
Mark
We got some stuff when the works. Okay. And I really I need to tap into your, and tap in to what? You know, there's that bridge I need to cross, connecting industry with the students. Right. So we're going to talk more, and, there's a lot of talk in the industry right now about how to make that happen.

00;21;56;21 - 00;22;21;29
Mark
A lot of different theories, a lot of different philosophies. But, I know MJ's a, is one of the major associations in the, in the industry is really working on apprenticeships. Dan's Island, is a major, factor of that. He actually wrote the book apprenticeships, that you can buy from MJ essay and she talks about how to go about that and they have a whole program.

00;22;22;02 - 00;22;40;04
Mark
It's very complex and very in-depth. But there are a lot of leaders in the industry right now, Rio Grande being one of them, where we're trying to make that happen. So I'm going to need your help. Yeah. Is like, how do you reach out, you know, how do you get that student into that seat?

00;22;40;07 - 00;22;42;10
Mark
You know, so,

00;22;42;12 - 00;23;06;09
Fiona
Yeah. And from the other side, talking to jewelers who are out there, they're looking for students. They're looking to pass on, skills sometimes that are generational or that they learned from a master that is in a technique that people are doing anymore. Really? No. And they're looking to pass that on. So there are some wonderful opportunities that are in the works.

00;23;06;09 - 00;23;20;00
Mark
Yeah. And it's the same in Europe too. It's not just in the United States. Europeans and especially in England are going through the same process. You know, they're really trying to get that talent into the seats.

00;23;20;03 - 00;23;50;09
Fiona
Well, speaking of jewelry as a whole, and this difference of being a student and being a teacher and being a jeweler, what would you say are some of the main what's the difference you've seen as being instructors of them being jewelers, what would you say is that difference, that shift that happens between thinking of it in a learning and teaching environment and then going into jewelry just as a trade, as a profession, as a skill.

00;23;50;12 - 00;23;57;16
Fiona
What are those differences that occur to you?

00;23;57;18 - 00;24;02;12
Eddie
There's

00;24;02;14 - 00;24;34;07
Eddie
I guess as a teacher, well, our lives are like, we begin our lives as, like a sketch, and we have all these stray lines that we, draw to create our vision of our lives. Right? And as we're going along, we will erase lines that don't meet our, picture or, you know, they're kind of like, scaffolding that that build our lives.

00;24;34;10 - 00;25;03;09
Eddie
And as we as teachers reach a point of where we've kind of created this, understanding of ourselves and our lives, we also have, an ability to share it more fluidly, and we have the ability to, to create without, so many straight lines that we had in the beginning of our lives. Then. Does that make sense?

00;25;03;09 - 00;25;09;01
Eddie
I don't know,

00;25;09;03 - 00;25;10;07
Eddie


00;25;11;01 - 00;25;20;16
Lisa
Yeah. And personally, like, I don't make a lot of jewelry. I've always.

00;25;20;18 - 00;25;24;12
Lisa
I always see myself as a teacher first.

00;25;24;14 - 00;25;25;22
Mark
Right? Right.

00;25;25;25 - 00;25;39;28
Lisa
I'm. I'm moving away from that sort of, you know, teacher and artist. And we're facilitators and,

00;25;40;00 - 00;26;14;12
Lisa
The Albuquerque High jewelry students, no, they can be professional jewelers. But I think what they're learning in the classroom is how to be human. And, a lot of life lessons. Yeah, yeah. And so, again, like, what drew me to jewelry is I, there's so much of that, of, of, like, these life lessons, you know.

00;26;14;13 - 00;26;17;12
Lisa
Oh, how people around us. Yeah.

00;26;17;14 - 00;26;31;06
Mark
I mean, if I, if I can interject is like when you're making a piece of jewelry, you, you start off of this fantastic idea, right? And you know, how are you going to do it? And you get like, two steps into it and there's like, okay, this is horrible and this is not going the way I want it to go.

00;26;31;09 - 00;26;45;01
Mark
How do you adjust? You know, you have to adjust with the piece every time you make one. Right? It doesn't matter how long you've been doing it. Every time you make something you're going to have to adjust. And that's life lesson. You know, that's life in general.

00;26;45;02 - 00;27;09;03
Fiona
It's problem solving skills. It's yeah, figuring out ways around something that isn't just that, that first approach, which is wonderful to bring to the students sense. It's a different form of learning, it's a different form of problem solving than they're getting in most of the classes, in most of their learning experience. So it's really preparing them for that next step, which is wonderful to see.

00;27;09;03 - 00;27;32;16
Fiona
And this partnership you've created is such a good approach to this where you it seems very balanced. You're really trying to focus on the most well-rounded approach as possible. How did you two meet? How did this partnership start? Where did these where did this collaboration come from?

00;27;32;18 - 00;28;00;08
Eddie
Well, we met at our children's, elementary school. And I was in, taking classes at the university and, this is obviously teaching and, so it just kind of evolved over, you know, over time, visiting her classroom and seeing the things that.

00;28;00;10 - 00;28;01;05
Mark
Needed to be done that.

00;28;01;05 - 00;28;15;10
Eddie
Could be. Yeah, improved. And and.

00;28;15;12 - 00;28;29;13
Fiona
Turning a month over to you. Is there anything that you're wanting to share that you want listeners know about the community, any of your students, anything you're interested in sharing about your work in this program you've been working?

00;28;29;13 - 00;28;30;08
Mark
It's open mic.

00;28;30;15 - 00;28;30;26
Fiona
Yes.

00;28;30;28 - 00;28;33;22
Mark
Go for it.

00;28;33;25 - 00;28;41;21
Lisa
Yeah. Okay. So I, I think.

00;28;41;24 - 00;29;08;15
Lisa
Like, we want our students to thrive. And I think it's really hard for anybody to thrive, all by themselves. Yeah. So I think, if it weren't for Eddie, like, I'd still be teaching in that room, you know, at the same tables. Yeah, with the same stools.

00;29;08;18 - 00;29;11;06
Mark
In the 70s.

00;29;11;09 - 00;29;21;03
Lisa
And I think, you know, I, I think the message is for the students.

00;29;21;05 - 00;29;27;01
Eddie
It's. And Rio Grande. So, and all the just families.

00;29;27;03 - 00;29;27;14
Lisa
Oh, yeah.

00;29;27;14 - 00;29;32;20
Eddie
Yeah, yeah. All the different people who have contributed to this.

00;29;32;22 - 00;29;55;15
Lisa
Go ahead. No, no, no. You're okay. I was just. This is your mom, honey. I was like, I am very grateful for everyone, but I would we would not have been able to do that if Eddie hadn't come in sort of from the outside and kept saying, this isn't okay. Yeah. You know, like, the program was doing really well.

00;29;55;15 - 00;30;24;21
Lisa
The students were successful. All but the message that you deserve the best. Yeah. You know, you're going to show up every day and make beautiful things. Then the space has to reflect that. And, it took a lot of people coming together. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's really hard to do things, and isolation.

00;30;24;21 - 00;30;53;08
Lisa
And I think that's what happens with teachers sometimes, is that they get overwhelmed and, and they don't even see beyond, you know, what's right there, like the, the possibilities. So it it's, I always say everybody needs an Eddie because, so much as possible. Yeah. And it's a lot of hard work, but it, of course, is hard work.

00;30;53;11 - 00;31;18;19
Lisa
And, with, his vision and our, our collective work. And then, the all the ways Rio Grand and and our administration and APS education Foundation and all the people I'm forgetting, like, you know, we did all of this, together.

00;31;18;20 - 00;31;19;11
Mark
Yeah, yeah.

00;31;19;13 - 00;31;45;08
Lisa
And, and I guess that's why I want to share it with the community. We want to share with the community. And as you were saying, it's like now our students get to be teachers. Yeah. Now members of the community get to be teachers. So it's it's the jewelry room is never teacher centered, ever. And that's going to, continue in the community classes.

00;31;45;08 - 00;31;52;21
Lisa
It's like they're going to be opportunities, for all of us to be teachers and students.

00;31;52;23 - 00;32;08;15
Mark
So I'd like to make a call to action. You know, my marketing team is always like, Mark, you have to make people do something right. I would like to call out to all the jewelers in their local communities to reach out to high schools and say, hey, do you have a program? Is there a way I can help?

00;32;08;17 - 00;32;26;01
Mark
Because I think that would be huge. You we have an industry is scrambling for for people and help, and we have students that need jobs, you know, so my call to action is, if you are a jeweler, reach out to your local community high schools and say, hey, do you guys have a jewelry program?

00;32;26;01 - 00;32;30;04
Mark
How can I help? So would that be an appropriate call to action?

00;32;30;04 - 00;33;07;28
Lisa
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also like, we talk about getting stuck a lot, like we get stuck and how to get unstuck. And I'm wondering if jewelers in the community, get stuck sometimes all the time and all the time. The students are incredible. They're they're brilliant. They're fearless. They're professional. Yeah. They have such, profound and innovative ideas that, you know, they can transform, you know.

00;33;08;00 - 00;33;09;14
Mark
Jewelry that's includes.

00;33;09;14 - 00;33;22;22
Lisa
Locally and beyond, like, you know, you, as you were saying, like, we have such a legacy of jewelry in New Mexico and like, we need to, you know, celebrate that.

00;33;22;25 - 00;33;29;06
Mark
They had a student in one of my classes in college class and she was 17. And she goes, I want to make this Faberge egg. I'm like.

00;33;29;09 - 00;33;31;17
Eddie
You're nuts. Yeah. It's like.

00;33;31;20 - 00;33;38;23
Mark
Okay, we can kind of start this way. I turned my back. She had it done. Well. I was like, how did you do that? And she goes, I don't know. I just did it.

00;33;38;25 - 00;33;39;19
Eddie
So I.

00;33;39;19 - 00;33;45;12
Lisa
I never talked my students out of anything. I can't, I just I'm like okay.

00;33;45;14 - 00;34;07;19
Fiona
Yeah, yeah. Sometimes the best ways to learn is actually to teach because you see the different approaches and you see how to think through something from a different angle than what you're doing in just regular production jewelry making. Yeah. So sometimes you are yourself the best student while you're teaching somebody else.

00;34;07;19 - 00;34;08;08
Mark
Oh for sure.

00;34;08;08 - 00;34;13;13
Fiona
Because there's always so much to learn and jewelry. No one ever knows anything or everything.

00;34;13;16 - 00;34;17;19
Mark
There's no way, no. Is there more that you guys wanted to share?

00;34;17;22 - 00;34;19;12
Lisa
You wanna share?

00;34;19;15 - 00;34;21;10
Eddie
Oh, I think.

00;34;21;12 - 00;34;42;00
Fiona
One last question. What advice would you give to yourselves at 12 years old, if you saw yourself or even in high school approaching your students age, what advice, looking back, would you give yourself?

00;34;42;03 - 00;34;42;26
Eddie


00;34;42;29 - 00;34;44;09
Mark
Or safety glasses?

00;34;44;11 - 00;35;01;25
Eddie
Yeah, yeah. Safety glasses? Definitely. There's no such thing as failure. And like every mistake, supposed mistake we make is is is, we're learning.

00;35;01;25 - 00;35;03;05
Mark
And it's a new beginning.

00;35;03;08 - 00;35;07;18
Eddie
A new beginning. Yeah.

00;35;07;21 - 00;35;20;03
Lisa
Yeah. I think, you know, just to be loud. To make a mess. Yeah. I was always.

00;35;20;06 - 00;35;41;04
Lisa
So I never wanted to paint, like, a big canvas or, you know, sometimes my students will be like, oh, well, I wanted to do that, but I didn't want to be too loud. And I'm like, do you know where you are? Like, you can be as loud as you want. And yes, jewelry for the most part is small, but.

00;35;41;06 - 00;36;01;24
Mark
And it's not art unless it's messy. Right? You know, it's just not so. But we really loved having you guys here and really appreciate you coming by. We have a surprise for you. And I think, and he's going to bring it up. It's like a barrier of lights and cameras and stuff. Yeah I think you probably you just leave it there and unveil it.

00;36;01;27 - 00;36;02;29
Eddie
Oh nice. That's.

00;36;03;02 - 00;36;04;09
Lisa
Oh wow.

00;36;04;11 - 00;36;09;14
Mark
So Rio Grande and Bonnie Doon are donating a classic press to Albuquerque. Hi.

00;36;09;17 - 00;36;10;15
Eddie
So,

00;36;10;17 - 00;36;14;17
Mark
You and Eddie, we're going to donate this, Durst and planning hammer to you and M.

00;36;14;20 - 00;36;15;02
Eddie
Okay.

00;36;15;08 - 00;36;20;16
Mark
And, you come in useful. It's great at making stuff flat. Both things make things flat.

00;36;20;18 - 00;36;21;27
Eddie
Right? Yeah.

00;36;21;29 - 00;36;25;12
Lisa
So, Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much.

00;36;25;15 - 00;36;42;16
Mark
Albuquerque. Hi. We'll have the first, I think, and possibly only, hydraulic press in the state. And I'm dedicating myself and and contributing, and I'll show you guys how to use it, and, the kids will go crazy. Yeah. The stuff that they can make. Oh, my gosh.

00;36;42;18 - 00;36;42;24
Eddie
That's.

00;36;42;24 - 00;36;51;06
Mark
Nice, though. And we have Peter Gilroy, with Bonnie doing. He's going to help out as well. Oh, great. Yeah. New new techniques coming your way.

00;36;51;06 - 00;36;51;27
Lisa
Awesome. Yeah.

00;36;51;28 - 00;37;05;14
Mark
Thank you. You did bring the truck, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We're gonna pull it up to the back. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. We'll be in touch. This is just the start of a whole new era. So wonderful.

00;37;05;14 - 00;37;13;07
Lisa
Yeah. And just again, thank you so much for your support. Really, like, it takes all of us.

00;37;13;09 - 00;37;14;00
Mark
It does.

00;37;14;03 - 00;37;27;15
Lisa
It's the community. I couldn't I could not do my job if I could not reach out to you so much, Mark. Like just ordering and advice and and, Fiona, it was so nice to meet you in person.

00;37;27;17 - 00;37;48;09
Fiona
Well, it was wonderful having you here today and hearing your experiences here locally, having this big of an impact on the community and on the future and on the future of this younger generation approaching a tree that's been around for millennia. It's wonderful to hear your story and meeting you both.

00;37;48;11 - 00;37;48;21
Eddie
Thank you.

00;37;48;24 - 00;37;49;10
Lisa
Thank you.

00;37;49;12 - 00;37;49;28
Mark
Thank you guys.

00;37;50;05 - 00;38;12;11
Fiona
That's it for today's show. Thank you to Eddie DiNardo and Lisa Galette for joining us today and sharing about the impact that their jewelry uplift program is having on the local community and our high schoolers here at locals. Thank you to our sponsor, Frederick. File now for the end of January. Use code real files and at checkout for 10% off all Frederick Tech files.

00;38;12;18 - 00;38;23;08
Fiona
Thank you again for listening and watching. Be sure to like and subscribe and send any questions or future ideas for episodes and podcasts at Rio grande.com. Have a good rest of your day.