The ABQ Accent · City of Albuquerque - Office of Civic Engagement

The ABQ Accent | Ep 30 - Dr. Melani Buchanan Farmer

April 4, 2025·32 min·2 clips

I don't think anyone knows everything—and that's what makes collaboration so powerful.

Dr. Melanie Buchanan-Farmer sits down with the host for a thoughtful conversation about work. The host opens by saying she is proud of her and wants to amplify work that people may not know how to find, along with ways to partner. The conversation starts with background. The host makes a point of saying that the roles being discussed are the ones she holds today, not a timeline. From there, the talk moves into wellness as a broad frame. Buchanan-Farmer describes it as physical, nutritional, social, emotional, and relational. She says physical fitness alone does not tell the full story. That idea keeps coming back. The host then brings up her time as wellness coordinator for APS. Buchanan-Farmer says one reason she took that role was to look at the wellness of adults as well as students. She names the full system: bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance operators, teachers, principals, and the superintendent. Her point is that wellness has to be supported across that whole chain if the district wants better outcomes. Academic success is what usually gets measured. Wellness often sits off to the side, even when it affects everything else. She says it is hard to get people to see that grounding the work in wellness can make the rest go better. She also describes public systems as reactive, waiting until students are already struggling. A more whole-person approach, she says, is usually easier to find in smaller schools, charters, and privates. The conversation keeps that broader community lens in view. Near the end, it turns practical again with a reminder to visit running505.com and use the links there. The episode closes with thanks, a note about the host's admiration for Buchanan-Farmer's energy, and a promise of more to come.

As heard by us

APS wellness is framed as a whole-system practice, from staff roles to student outcomes.

This conversation presents Melanie Buchanan-Farmer's work on wellness in APS as a shared district responsibility, not a narrow program tucked off to the side.

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Why you'd press play

If school wellness sounds abstract, you get the concrete version here, with fewer buzzwords than you'd expect.

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