Northern New Mexico Normal School Alumni Association

El Rito Entrance

Mission, Goals & Objectives of the El Rito Normal School Alumni Association (NNMNSAA)

In April 2010, the association's Executive Officers presented new goals and and objectives to the Board. In 2011, an addendum was added to the Alumni Association By-Laws mission statement:

Leave a legacy for future generations – tangible evidence of our presence on this campus.
Advance educational opportunities; by providing scholarships for underserved students from rural communities in northern New Mexico.
Preserve the personal and real property at the former campus of the Northern New Mexico Normal School.
Conduct other functions and programs that serve the common benefit and general welfare of the membership

Association Officers: Leo Valdez, President; Eddie Guiterrez, Vice President; Leroy Salazar, Treasurer; Cecilia Garcia Satcwell, Secretary; Ben Casados, Webmaster

Association Board: Ben Casados, Bertram Pena, Leo Valdez, Pamela Montrose, Ricky Romero, Steve Archuleta, Ted Martinez

El Rito Normal Links

History of Spanish American Normal School
History of the NNMNSAA
Memorial Orchard form
El Portal del Aguila form
Our Dearly Departed
El Rito Campus page

The El Rito campus is still home to the Northern New Mexico Normal School Alumni, its archives and the El Portal del Águila Memorial Wall and orchard, which honor and celebrate the lives and accomplishments of the graduates and the rich history of the school. The NNMNSA holds its annual reunion in Delgado Hall.

With the support of Senator Martin Heinrich's Office and Northern, the NNMNSA were awarded $150,000 in Federal funding in the fall of 2023 to establish the Legacy Archive Center of the Northern New Mexico Normal School.

Cleo  and Raymond  Lobato, Class of 1960

In 1960, they walked across the stage of what was then the Northern New Mexico State School, now known as Northern New Mexico College. Together, Cleo Lobato and Raymond Lobato began a journey that would span decades, built on memories, shared laughter, and a lifetime of love.

This year, they returned to campus for the alumni meet. But more than that: they stepped into the very dormitory where Cleo once lived as a student, and with joyful hearts, they cut the ribbon on its newly-renovated halls. A symbol of renewal; for the building, the college, and their story.

As Cleo walked those familiar corridors once more and Raymond stood by her side, we saw more than alumni returning — we saw legacy in motion. The past meeting the present, the old dreams swirling into new ones.

Here’s to more years of coming back, more chapters yet to be written, and to love that endures long after the mortar has settled. 💙🧡

El Rito Alumni Association
Scholarship Application Open for 2025

The NNMNSAA Scholarship assists local students interested in attaining a higher education at a Vocational School, College or University. Scholarship amount may vary between $500-$1000 depending on the number of acceptable applications received and Scholarship recipients selected by the NNMNSAA Scholarship Committee.

El Rito Alumni Scholarship Application 2025

E-MAIL COMPLETE APPLICATIONS TO:
Isabel Rodarte, Chairperson / irodarte2258@gmail.com
Att: NNMNSAA Scholarship Committee, (505) 927-2650

El Rito Alumni Association

Legacy Archive brochure

The Legacy Archive Center Project

Our goal is to produce and archive accurate doumentation of the rich history of the Normal School’s growth, its educational and cultural contributions, the role of its alumni in society, and its unprecedented impact on the state of New Mexico and the country.

A major project will be the collection of alumni memorabilia, historical documents, photos, and tangible artifacts to create a historical display. The Legacy Archive will serve as an educational study space for students. The three-year grant is funded through October 30, 2026. The project is overseen by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and managed locally by the College.

Annals of the Spanish American Normal School: The First 112 Years of Northern New Mexico College By Sigfredo Maestas.

Learn more about the founding of the Northern New Mexico College in 1909 as the Spanish American Normal School. Maestas himself attended the Normal School in the mid-1950s and later became dean and its 17^th president. He shares first-hand accounts of the college’s evolution and how it has served the community for more than a century.

In 2009, Northern New Mexico College celebrated 100 years of its founding as the Spanish American Normal School. This book is about the Normal School and what it became. Although a very small school in its early history, it served its students, the majority of them from this region of the Río Arriba, by adapting to their times and changing needs. Northern New Mexico College, as the school is known today, evolved from its origin in 1909 to become a source of pride for people and a cause for hope for better lives.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon: Annals of the Spanish American Normal School at Amazon

The Northern New Mexico Normal School Alumni Association (NNMNSAA) has released a book titled, The Normal at El Rito, An Enduring Spirit.

This work depicts the history of the El Rito Normal School, as it was known for many years. Compiled by a former El Rito faculty member, Ben Casados, and two alumni and former educators, Eileen Gallegos Trujillo, and Cecilia Gonzales de Tucker, the book traces the school's history since its founding in 1909 to its final graduating class in 1969. During its 60 years of existence, The Normal provided training for teachers in rural schools and educational opportunities for Hispanic students coming from rural Northern New Mexico and urban centers in the state.

Its opening in 1909 was not without numerous obstacles. The then territorial government was not keen on providing schools for the Hispanic population of rural areas in the state. At the urgings of Venceslao Jaramillo, an El Rito resident and territorial legislator, Mr. L. Bradford Prince, a former NM territorial governor, and Solomon Luna from Tierra Amarilla, another supporter for education for Hispanic students, The Normal opened its doors in 1909 with an enrollment of 37 anxious students, dispelling the notion that Hispanics were not interested in education.

The book is available for purchase directly from Northern New Mexico Normal School Alumni Association. Contact Ben Casados at bencasados@gmail.com

Mission, Goals & Objectives of the El Rito Normal School Alumni Association (NNMNSAA)

El Rito Normal Links

Cleo and Raymond Lobato, Class of 1960

El Rito Alumni Association Scholarship Application Open for 2025

The Legacy Archive Center Project

Cleo  and Raymond  Lobato, Class of 1960

El Rito Alumni Association
Scholarship Application Open for 2025