Southwest Regional Education Cooperative Staff

KaLee was raised in Deming, New Mexico, and currently lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. KaLee has a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer science from New Mexico State University. She has one beautiful daughter and enjoys spending time with her family. KaLee joined the SWREC team in April of 2021 to assist with operational and fiscal management services.

Jonathan Chavez was born and raised in Deming, New Mexico, where he has spent most of his life. As a family man, he shares his life with his wife and their five wonderful children. Family is at the core of Jonathan's values, and he firmly believes in the importance of a strong foundation in one's personal life. He has worked with the local detention center, where he gained valuable experience in promoting rehabilitation and reintegration. He also spent time in the oil fields, contributing to the region's energy sector, and worked in public schools. Furthermore, Jonathan's entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish his own BBQ business, where he shared his skills in entrepreneurship and customer service. In August 2023, Jonathan started a new chapter in his career, becoming part of the Southwest Regional Education Cooperative team as their Event Coordinator. This role allows him to utilize his diverse background and skills to facilitate events and engagements within the community. Jonathan is deeply engaged in community service. He dedicates his time to his local church, where he serves in leadership. His involvement extends to helping his wife with children's church activities and other church-related endeavors. Jonathan is also an officer at the local Elks Lodge, reflecting his commitment to giving back to the community through charity.

Terrance is a New Mexico native and has lived here his entire life. He was born and raised in Alamogordo and attended college at both UNM and NMSU. He graduated from New Mexico State University in May of 2011 with his bachelor’s in business administration specializing in finance with minors in banking and risk management and insurance. Terrance came to our team after spending 10 years in the federal sector working for the USPS management team. In April of 2021, Terrance joined the SWREC team and is motivated to work with his school teams and the Business Services Department.

In July 2019, Virginia (Gina) Labadie joined Southwest Regional Education Cooperative as a special education instructional specialist. She has been an educator for 22 years. After graduation from WNMU in 1997, she taught Head Start for three years. In 2000, she began working in public schools and just completed her nineteenth year. During her teaching career, she taught regular education for six years and then special education for thirteen years. She has experience in grades K–12 that includes resource room, self-contained, and inclusion support classes. She currently holds a BA in elementary education and a MAT in special education, with a Level III dual teaching license for K–8 elementary and K–12 special education.

In July 2022, Amber Richmond joined Southwest Regional Education Cooperative as an instructional specialist. She has been an educator for 13 years. After graduating from NMSU in 2009, she taught Title I reading intervention at Red Mountain Middle School for five years. In 2014 she received her master's degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University. At this time, she began teaching a 6th grade technology elective at Deming Intermediate School and obtained her technology endorsement. She became certified to teach Project Lead the Way courses and continued to grow as a leader in her school. She provided staff trainings, and helped her staff adapt to virtual teaching. During her teaching career, she taught regular education, summer school at a variety of levels and intervention classes. She also worked with the JPO office to teach reading intervention for students K–12. She currently holds a BA in elementary education with a focus in language arts, an MA in educational leadership, and a technology endorsement.

Toby Soderberg is a level III teacher and administrator who began teaching for the Deming Public School District in 2004. He spent the first eight years of his career as a music teacher (instrumental and vocal) at an elementary, middle school, and high school in Deming, New Mexico. During this time, he obtained his first master’s degree in educational leadership from WNMU. Upon completing this degree, Dr. Soderberg made a career change and shifted from teaching music to teaching English language arts at sixth grade for three years. During this transition, he completed his second master’s degree in education from ENMU, which focused on reading and TESOL. For the past five years, Dr. Soderberg has been a principal at an elementary school and completed the doctoral program at NMSU, where he received his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis on educational learning technologies. He began working for SWREC in February 2022. His priority is to continue to support the districts, educators, and students of Southwest New Mexico.

Lauren is a New Mexico native who has been residing in Deming most of her life. Lauren is currently pursuing a business degree from WNMU with an emphasis in finance and management. For the past seven years, Lauren has worked at and managed two local non-profits. These non-profits aimed to address domestic violence and our homeless population in Luna County. The business and grant portion of her work helped to ignite her passion for business services and, particularly, finances. Lauren joined the SWREC team on contract in August 2020, managing a grant for daycares throughout the state of NM, and she became a full-time business services specialist in June 2021. Lauren is married with two children and has a growing farm outside of town.