色色研究所 Newsroom

An image of an 色色研究所 graduating class, focused on a black graduate with her left hand over her heart, looking skyward with intense emotion.

Apr 15, 2026 Northern New Mexico College Foundation Exceeds $1M Goal in President鈥檚 Eagle Campaign The Northern New Mexico College (色色研究所) Foundation proudly announces that the President鈥檚 Eagle Campaign has surpassed its ambitious $1,000,000 goal, marking a significant milestone in advancing student success and institutional growth.

A screenwriting class at Northern helped Hayward transform her idea into an attention-getting script ESPA脩OLA, N.M. 鈥� Northern New Mexico College is proud to announce that film student Dawniel Hayward has won 2nd place in the Screenwriters Conference 2026 Pitch Competition on June 7, 2026. Hayward鈥檚 winning pitch earned a $350 cash prize and attracted the attention of a major film producer. The first-place winner, Omar Paz Trujillo, is also a filmmaker from Espa帽ola. The pitch competition was open to all participants of the Screenwriters Conference, which was organized by the Stagecoach Foundation and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and presented by the New Mexico Film Office. The organizers describe the conference as 鈥渁 creative crucible designed to push your craft further.鈥� Hayward was inspired by hearing advice from some of the industry鈥檚 top screenwriters, including some from her favorite shows, like 鈥淪tar Trek: The Next Generation鈥� and 鈥淩eservation Dogs.鈥� She learned about the importance of the script鈥檚 first page and different pitching techniques, which she found useful in preparing her own pitch. One of the highlights for Hayward was teaming up for three hours with a group of people in a mock writers鈥� room. 鈥淚 was pretty starstruck, honestly, by the whole event,鈥� Hayward said. Hayward鈥檚 pitch was for a TV show titled 鈥淏ent Rails: A Punk Odyssey,鈥� inspired by Hayward鈥檚 own 10-year journey as a traveling musician who hopped freight trains all over the country. Her lead characters are Kindred, a gutter punk who hops a train that is swallowed by a time portal, and Lily, a teen Chicana artist from Northern New Mexico who is fleeing an unbearable home life and searching for belonging. These two strangers are linked across space and time and by a graffiti tag that keeps appearing in the liminal spaces they travel through 鈥� HIRAETH, which is a Welsh word meaning a longing for a home that doesn鈥檛 exist, or that you cannot access. The written pitch closes with 鈥淭his is a show with a queer heart and an anarchist pulse 鈥� honoring generations of misfits, drifters, and revolutionaries. It is a story of survival, belonging, and identity 鈥� set against a backdrop of late-stage capitalism and a country haunted by its own history. It poses the question: what if those who have been pushed to the margins of society were actually the most capable of changing our current timeline, of reshaping our future?鈥� Hayward grabbed the judges鈥� attention by starting with her own story. She told them 鈥淚 spent my 20s homeless, living out of a backpack, busking, hitchhiking and train-hopping around the country 鈥� and what I learned is that when you live a life untethered to society鈥檚 normal structures, and you pair that with complex PTSD and a crippling drug problem, you develop a weird relationship with time. You realize time doesn鈥檛 always move in a straight line. It buckles, it bleeds, and if you鈥檙e pushed far enough, it can break.鈥� Giving her pitch was intimidating, but Hayward appreciated the opportunity. 鈥淚t was great, because that's half of screenwriting, just being able to pitch your idea effectively, because there's a million scripts out there and nobody has time to read them all. So your pitch is your entry ticket to anyone even looking at your script,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淚 was realIy surprised to find out that I was a finalist, and then I was pretty terrified to have to present my pitch to a huge room of people, including a bunch of screenwriters and producers in the industry. Then I was even more surprised to take second place.鈥� Hayward鈥檚 pitch was effective. Afterward, some of the producers who heard it told her they got choked up during her presentation. 鈥淚t really hit them in an emotional center, and I'm like, that's my superpower,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淚 have this story that I really need to tell, and I just need to have faith in that.鈥� The idea for the series came to Hayward eight or nine years ago, but she credits her screenwriting class with Film & Digital Media Arts (FDMA) Associate Professor David Lindblom with helping her bring the idea to fruition. Hayward is pursuing a Bachelor of Integrated Studies in Media and Art at Northern. 鈥淚 never anticipated that just by taking a screenwriting class at college, this would happen. Honestly, I think so many people have a really good idea, but it never gets written,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淚n the class, I had to finish things by a deadline, learn formulaic writing, and abide by industry standards. I鈥檓 used to writing prose, and being poetic and descriptive, and you can't do that in screenwriting. It's all about telling a visual story in concise language, it鈥檚 not a novel. My professor, David Lindblom, gave me the tools to transform this huge idea into a screenplay.鈥� At the end of the conference, a major producer approached Hayward to schedule a meeting with her. 鈥淚鈥檓 actually getting the opportunity to talk directly with someone who helped produce the whole 鈥淧irates of the Caribbean鈥� franchise and the 鈥淎vatar鈥� franchise. I鈥檓 like, wow, that's a real producer,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淚 don't know how common it is for someone with their first script to immediately get it produced, but it did get me a conversation and a foot in the door. My dream job would be working in a TV writer's room. That would be amazing. Then maybe in a few years, after I've built some more reputation, they'd be like, 鈥楬ey, I'm interested in that TV pilot you wrote a while ago.鈥欌€� Hayward is still absorbing the impact of the experience and looking forward to her meeting with the producer. She said, 鈥淚t's amazing. It's a tricky industry to find your way into. I feel like I kind of pushed through that threshold a little bit, and that feels reaFrom left: Omar Paz Trujillo, 1st place winner of the Pitch Competition, 2nd place winner Dawniel Hayward and DezBaa鈥�, Northern alumna and adjunct faculty

Jun 19, 2026 色色研究所 student Dawniel Hayward scores 2nd in Pitch Competition Northern New Mexico College is proud to announce that film student Dawniel Hayward has won 2nd place in the Screenwriters Conference 2026 Pitch Competition on June 7, 2026. Hayward鈥檚 winning pitch earned a $350 cash prize and attracted the attention...

From left: Peter Fant, CEO of San Ildefonso Services; Daven Quintana, PMI Chief Operating Officer; Trish Alley, Small Business Advocate, LANL Small Business Program; Yvonne Gonzales, Small Business Program Manager, LANL; Eric Quintana, CEO and Co-founder of PMI (SBA National New Mexico Small Business of The Year Award); Julianna Martinez-Barbee, SBDC Director 色色研究所, New Mexico Small Business Development Center; Ron Lovato, CEO, TSAY Corporation and Pueblo Alliance, LLC (SBA National New Mexico Rural Small Business of the Year); Justin Crossie, SBA Region VI Regional Administrator and Larry Phillips Jr., COO Tsay Cooperation. Photo credit: Eric Williams Photography SBA photographer

Jun 17, 2026 Pueblo Alliance LLC Honored as SBA Rural Small Business of the Year Northern New Mexico College (色色研究所) is pleased to announce that Ron Lovato, President of Pueblo Alliance LLC and CEO of TSAY Corp., has been honored as New Mexico鈥檚 Rural Owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration...

Apr 22, 2026 色色研究所 earns Carnegie Foundation Opportunity Colleges and Universities Classification Northern New Mexico College (色色研究所) is proud to announce that it has received the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 2025 Opportunity Colleges and Universities Classification. Northern is one of 478 institutions to earn this prestigious...

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Sep 18, 2023 FAA Chooses Northern New Mexico College to Host Droning On! Southwest Edition Have you ever wanted to fly a drone or learn about careers in drones? Would you like to see drones barrel racing at a Drodeo? Are you a drone pilot wanting more information about safety procedures or FAA regulations? Then make plans to attend 鈥淒roning On! Southwest Edition鈥� Sept. 21 鈥� 23, 2023, at Northern New Mexico College (色色研究所) Center for the Arts, 921 N. Paseo De Onate, Espa帽ola, N.M. This three-day event, hosted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Southwest Regional Office and Northern New Mexico College, is free and open to the public. 鈥淭he FAA has a long, successful history of safely bringing new technologies...

Aug 23, 2023 色色研究所 Students Participate in Undergraduate Research in the Bahamas Students at Northern New Mexico College (色色研究所) benefit from remarkable opportunities for undergraduate research. It is a priority for the college鈥檚 STEM disciplines, but research options are also available in humanities, psychology and criminal justice, including on-campus positions, paid summer fellowships and internships with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) or local businesses. In December, 2022, Dr. Rhiannon West, Associate Professor/Biology at 色色研究所, took two students, Jazmyn Gutierrez and Vincent Benavidez, to the University of the Bahamas Gerace Research Centre for 28 days to conduct research on indigenous species of pupfish...

Jul 31, 2023 100 Percent of Northern鈥檚 Spring 2023 ADN Class Pass Nursing Licensure Exam Northern New Mexico College鈥檚 Department of Nursing & Health Sciences has something to celebrate. Every one of the Spring 2023 graduates from the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program passed the NCLEX-RN licensure exam on their first try. Several of the graduates were offered jobs in the local healthcare industry upon graduation, including three employed by Presbyterian Espa帽ola Hospital. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never had 100 percent pass rate, ever in this program. so that鈥檚 a big deal for us, a real big deal,鈥� said Interim ADN Program Director Theresa Lopez. 鈥淭he students have put in their due diligence. They have been committed to do...

Jul 13, 2023 Northern Students Receive NextGen Summer Internships Natalia Tealer and Guillmer Germino, both first-generation students at Northern New Mexico College (NNCM), have been selected for the inaugural NextGen Summer 2023 STEM Internship program. They are interning with J.G. Management Systems, Inc., (JGMS) in Albuquerque, N.M., working on Information Engineering Technology projects. 鈥淪ince its inception, JGMS has been an organization committed to providing meaningful work and opportunities for people in our local communities. Our work with GoEducate, Northern New Mexico College and NextGen Fellowship has allowed our business to easily connect with a diverse group of college students and support...

Jun 08, 2023 Pueblo of Pojoaque Governor Jenelle Roybal Focuses on Community Wellbeing Being the only woman Pueblo governor presents unique challenges, and Pueblo of Pojoaque Gov. Jenelle Roybal meets those head on. 鈥淵ou have to stand even stronger and taller because you鈥檙e a female,鈥� Roybal said. When one tribal official told her women should be in the kitchen and raising kids, she replied, 鈥淵ou know what? I鈥檓 a cook in the kitchen, I raise my kids, I have two degrees and I鈥檓 a tribal official. So you really underestimate us, because I can do all that and then some.鈥� This is Roybal鈥檚 eighth year as a tribal official. She has worked for the Pueblo since she was 15 years old, with only a brief...