Every year, we have a delightful extravaganza at a local restaurant, a silent auction featuring fine art and jewelry, and a guest speaker. The benefit dinner occurs in early February, and all proceeds raised are for general operating costs—unrestricted funds that are the bread and butter for . . .

The 2006 Yaxche Benefit Dinner was held at Joseph’s Table, on Taos Plaza, where we began with a champagne welcome and hors d’oeuvres by chef Kelly Geddes. Dinner, by award-winning chef Joseph Wrede, featured a choice of three delicious entrees, including a vegetarian option. Following dinner, heavenly tiramisu by chef Kelly Geddes tempted and delighted us, and an address by distinguished Professor Raymond Jones enlightened and entertained us. This year we offered the option of champagne, hors d’oeuvres, and silent auction for $15 or, for $100, the entire evening of auction, champagne cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, entrée with wine, speaker, and dessert.

The silent art auction was our big money maker, with much gratitude to Conrad Cooper, Robert Elliott, Lenny Foster, Claire Libin, Tom Prater, Emily Benoist Ruffin, Tom Wheeler, Zoe Zimmerman, and many more who provided original works of art.

In addition to raising funds to aid and brighten the future of Yaxche students, this event is both entertaining and educational for adults. We recruit speakers of the highest caliber to enlighten diners on various aspects of education. Professor Jones is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina, with a master’s from Wake Forest. Professor Jones is a nationally known, certified trainer for Project CRISS: Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies. CRISS is an extremely beneficial strategy for teachers and parents to strengthen metacognition in children. Professor Jones explains how to activate background knowledge of a topic before introducing new information and how to tie in the new information so learners can more readily retrieve it.

The 2005 Yaxche Benefit Dinner was held at Momentitos de la Vida, with a champagne welcome, dinner by chef Chris Maher, desert by pastry chef Kelly Geddes, and an address by distinguished Professor of Education William Ayers, from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In February 2007, we will present another evening of delicious food, wine, and an informative speaker. Please join us for what promises to be an extraordinary evening.