Kyle Archibeque

When and why did you join the district?

I joined the district on January 4th, 2021. I came here because Cortez is my home town and I want to serve my home community. 

What is your experience?

After graduating from MCHS in 2004, I went to college to study computer science in Salt Lake City, UT.  After about a year, I decided to pause going to college and joined the US Army. From 2006 to 2013, I served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team located in Vicenza, Italy and also the 2nd Infantry Division located near Tacoma, Washington. While in the service, I deployed to Afghanistan twice (2008 and 2010). Upon exiting the service, I moved to Colorado Springs, in order to be closer to home. There I pursued a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting.

I have worked as a bookkeeper for both private and nonprofit organizations, I was an accountant for a medical device company, I worked as a technical engineer of finance at Oracle Corporation and previous to coming to Cortez, and I was the Director of Finance for Central Consolidated School District located in Shiprock, NM.

What is your favorite thing about our district and/or community?

My favorite thing about this community and district are the people. Everyone, even if they don't always agree on the approach, have the best interest of the students at heart. 

Who was your favorite K-12 teacher and why?

I had so many great teachers growing up in Cortez, it is hard to have one favorite. So I will respond with a few.

Favorite Number 1 would be Mrs. Harriman. She was an Art teacher at CMS during my 7th and 8th grade years. She always encouraged me to do art, even though I thought I was horrible at it. She taught me not to be scared to do something even if I'm not the best at it.

Favorite Number 2 was Mr. Brown. He taught various Math classes at MCHS. For me, he made the numbers make sense. I always admired how easy it was for him to explain difficult information to a bunch of teenagers waiting to go to lunch.  

Favorite Number 3 was Mr. Russell. He taught various Science classes at MCHS. To this day I still love Chemistry and that, to me, was the hardest class I took in high school. He taught me that studying for the exam is better than looking for extra credit, and I was able to apply that idea to many aspects of life going forward.