By Amy Kuhre
EJ Martinez Elementary Community Carnival
10 am-3 pm
Saturday, Sept. 26
Tickets 25¢
EJ Martinez Elementary
401 W. San Mateo Road
795-3158
After 50 years of fostering the young minds of Santa Fe, the EJ Martinez Elementary School is celebrating its golden anniversary. There's no need to put on your best black dress for this 50th, though. Perhaps instead, wear something that can withstand running face paint after a plunge in the dunking pool. One of Santa Fe's best-loved schools has decided to not only celebrate the legacy of its namesake, EJ Martinez, but also raise some money in the process for its physical education program.
EJ Martinez Elementary hosts a burgeoning class of youngsters in need of funding for better resources. The school's student population tops out at 372. By hosting a fundraiser in the form of a festival, the whole community can share in the experience of fun and service; a quality EJ Martinez knew very well.
As the school's namesake, Martinez knew firsthand the importance of education and spent most of his life teaching. In the 1930s he served as principal of the Lamy School in (you guessed it) Lamy; during the World War II, he entered the Marine Corps. “He was exact in everything he did,” Martinez' granddaughter, Dorothy Stenberg, tells SFR of the man who not only opened a bookkeeping service (for which exactness is definitely appreciated), but ran a successful political career in Santa Fe's public schools which started when he acted as the schools' accountant.
Carnival tickets are only 25¢, and the celebration extends not only to the memory of an important figure in Santa Fe's history, but also to the noble cause of keeping our children's education blossoming.
The full schedule of events is:
10-10:30 am:
Words from Superintendent of Public Schools Bobbie Gutierrez
11–11:30 am:
Holy Faith Break Dancers
11:30 am–12:15 pm:
Elvis impersonation by Ray Lopez
12:15–1 pm:
Los Niños de Santa Fe y Compania
1–1:15 pm:
The Honorable Mayor Coss
1:15–2:15 pm:
Music from Tesoro
2:30–3 pm:
Comedian Ray Moreno
Santa Fe Reporter