High school teachers across New Mexico 100 years from now won't teach in physical classrooms. Instead, students will learn in a variety of real-world settings where they can get experience in the area of their choice.

At least that's how Jenny Mundy-Castle, dean of students at Academy for Technology and the Classics, thinks high schools might be in a century or so.

"Much of their learning will be done in internships and apprenticeships," she said. "I hope it will be an atmosphere of immersing high school students who are really ready to be immersed in a real-world learning experience."

As New Mexico prepares to celebrate its first 100 years as a state, The New Mexican asked notable residents to predict what could happen in the next century on several key topics.

Mundy-Castle, who until recently taught English and journalism among other things, also hopes that students will get a more personalized learning experience than what many receive today.

"In the future I hope students will be much more involved in their educations," she said.

She also expects the trend of charter schools like hers to grow as well.

"I do think those will continue to grow because parents are looking for an alternative," she said. "And I think a lot of that is based on safety."

Because charter schools tend to be smaller than other schools, teachers have an easier time keeping track of students and avoiding large fights, she said. A little more than 350 kids are enrolled at ATC.

Smaller classrooms are something Christine Trujillo, president of the American Federation of Teachers of New Mexico, would love to see in the future.

"Nothing works better than one-to-one interaction with a child," she said.

Trujillo also would like to see more people go into teaching, but admits the current climate isn't a good one for educators.

Pensions are being cut and salaries are still low compared to other professions, she said.

"When a teacher has to make a decision between a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas, that's horrible," she said. "Or they reach a point in their retirement when their pension is going to have less value, and those kinds of things are a concern."

Trujillo, who taught for 21 years before switching to union work full time, said she hopes teachers become more valuable over the next 100 years. But, she said, it would take a lot to make that shift in how Americans think about and pay for education.

"It has got to get better. Everybody that perceives themselves as a reformer and denies that it costs money to educate other people's kids is in real strong denial about the worth of teaching," she said.

And, Trujillo said, she hopes the United States can learn from other countries that hold teachers — and teacher education — in high esteem.

"People didn't get into this because they believe they are going to get rich. They are doing it because they believe in the cause," she said.

Both women agree technology for students will be radically different in the future.

Mundy-Castle hopes classrooms will be nearly paperless.

"Right now we are spending huge quantities of money on things that are environmentally and economically unfriendly," she said.

Mundy-Castle also sees social media playing a large role in how students interact with teachers.

Trujillo said she's hoping for more innovations like the iPad — as long as they don't replace human contact.

"As we move public education into the 21st century, I hope we will never lose the personal touch that it takes to teach and to learn," she said.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com.