Midwest

New Mexico mom moves to Missouri after school installs 'gender-inclusive closets': 'Enough is enough'

Published

2 years ago

March 12, 2024

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New Mexico mom moves to Missouri after school installs 'gender-inclusive closets': 'Enough is enough'

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Rachael Hein made the bold move to relocate her family from New Mexico to Missouri after learning about a local high school’s gender-inclusive “closet” and other controversial ideas.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Hein explained how she discovered what she called “the transgender closet” at Las Cruces Centennial High School where her daughter attended.

“There’s the transgender closet, which really was the last straw. I think we saw that pop up on Facebook, and I looked into it because I’m not one that’s like ‘oh, it’s on Facebook. It’s truth.’ I went on Google and I see this. Yeah. Las Cruces, New Mexico, Centennial High School transgender closet. They were approved for this grant,” Hein said.

She added, “And I thought, no, enough is enough. We’re not going to subject our daughter to that. I don’t want my kids who knows what hearing different messages pushed by counselors or teachers within a setting that I don’t have ears in. I do know some teachers, but it doesn’t mean that my kids will always have a trusted teacher that’s unbiased or not pushing that agenda.”

Rachael Hein called the addition of “gender-inclusive closets” a breaking point. (iStock)

A COALITION OF STATES CALL ON THE SUPREME COURT TO RECOGNIZE PARENTS’ RIGHTS REGARDING TRANSGENDER POLICIES

The It Gets Better organization previously gave the high school a grant in 2022 to “[b]uild a gender-inclusive closet providing affirming supplies and clothes for trans and gender non-conforming students.”

Hein explained that the gender-inclusive closets came after years of frustration with the public education system. Beginning with the pandemic, she became more involved with her four children’s education, alternating between homeschooling and online learning. Once her kids returned to school, she began paying greater attention to their education.

One initiative she took issue with included the school district’s addition of 10 extra school days to the 2022-2023 calendar to make up for the pandemic shutdowns. Hein and other parents were frustrated with the decision, referring to them as “party days” where there was no real schoolwork.

When defending the extra days during a town hall meeting, New Mexico Public Education Department’s Deputy Secretary for Teaching, Learning & Assessment, Gwen Warniment, also said that kids needed to spend “more time with the adults who matter” and that “the adults who matter are the teachers in their classrooms.”

Hein called her move to Missouri a “positive change” for her kids. (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Hein added that the school boards did not respond to their complaints and were not helpful after voting in favor of the extra days.

“It felt like [school boards] heard you, but they really weren’t listening. They would say the platitude of ‘I hear your concerns and I might be concerned about that too.’ But really, they were just on their own path, their own trajectory, and didn’t really matter. What community members said didn’t really matter what students or teachers even wanted,” Hein said.

By contrast, Hein complimented Missouri for the schools and community being more open to parents and her younger children.

SEATTLE MOMS SAY CHILDREN ‘DO NOT HAVE TO BE VICTIMS’ OF WOKE CULTURE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

“It’s been completely different for us here. I’m not saying that it’s not going to be coming this way, or there aren’t certain districts that are moving in that same direction. But I think there’s a lot more willingness to listen to parents and teachers and students in this area than there were in New Mexico,” she said.

Hein added, “It’s been a positive change, for sure. Very different here in the sense that the neighborhood we’re in. My kiddos can just go out and play with neighbors and it’s safe. It’s just very much more of a togetherness.”

She noted that she still knows some parents and teachers who have remained at the Las Cruces schools.

The It Gets Better nonprofit organization gave Las Cruces Centennial High School a grant to build a gender-inclusive closet. (Screenshot/Photo by Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

“I would really encourage them to be involved. Volunteer, go to school board meetings. I knew teachers, people who love their kids in Las Cruces, but they wouldn’t set a foot within the school board meetings. And it’s sad because that’s the only way you’re going to see change is if you are a voice instead of just someone sitting disgruntled in the background,” Hein said.

“It’s going to impact the future generation, and there’s going to be so much confusion if we’re not willing to stand and say, no, enough is enough. This is not what we want within our schools. And it’s not about hate. It’s not about wanting to keep others out. It’s about using school for the purpose that it’s intended,” she concluded.

Fox News Digital reached out to Las Cruces Centennial High School for a comment but has yet to receive a response.

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Detroit, MI

DER Weekends: Pathways for first-gen students at the University of Detroit Mercy – WDET 101.9 FM

Published

41 minutes ago

July 18, 2026

Press Room

DER Weekends: Pathways for first-gen students at the University of Detroit Mercy – WDET 101.9 FM

Dean Dr. Ahmed Radwan of the College of Health Professions at the University of Detroit Mercy is hoping to bring more first-generation students to the private university.

“First gen students need extra care… if you are a first gen, this means that you’re on your own. So we, as a university and as a college have to replace the extra support at home and offer it here for the students,” he says.

Ties to immigrant experience

Radwan was born and raised in Cairo. He moved to the United States about 20 years ago. He previously served as s a professor of physical therapy, and later the the Dean of Health Professions at the Utica University in New York.

He joined the University of Detroit Mercy in 2024.

Radwan says that although he was not a first-generation student in the U.S., he felt similar experiences when he moved to the U.S.

“Everything was new. I had to teach myself how to advise my own children at school, because I have not attended school here in the States… I realized how important it is to offer the extra help that is needed at the University for first gen, if we truly care about them and about their success,” he shares.

UDM makes plans to help first gen students

He says UDM provides extra help to students. That includes providing students with a faculty advisor, success coaches, and assistance from the Office of Student Support. He says there’s also a peer educator system.

“I think the student has multiple levels of support, not just one or two,” he says, noting that its not only his passion to support first gen students, but also the university’s mission.

He says the university provides summer camps, starting in middle school, to expose them to different career fields.

First gen students add to campus diversity

Radwan says there are several first-gen students and diverse students on campus.

“I think it depends on the program, but in certain majors, you will be surprised that diversity represents more than 60% of the class,” he shares.

Offering options

Radwan says many minority families expect their first-gen children to pursue specific careers, but he says there are more options.

“Families, especially families coming from the Middle East, they have a preference towards their children being physicians, engineers, lawyers, but there are other health professions that could be even more successful as a career,” he says.

One of those fields is nursing, due to the national shortage.

He says the College of Health Professions and Catherine McAuley School of Nursing offers several programs. It’s an option for students who want to shift another field, “and quickly help them a career shift to nursing to become nurse,” he says.

Radwan explains that these programs are also designed for foreign-born students who need to transfer their skills and work credentials.

The program is offered at the Novi campus, and will be offered in Grand Rapids, in collaboration with Aquinas College campus.

Radwan says the Catholic university welcomes people of diverse faith traditions.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Weather: Chance morning shower, afternoon smoke returns

Published

2 hours ago

July 18, 2026

Press Room

MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels

There is a chance for a few showers/storms early Saturday with the passing of a cold front. As a lake breeze kicks in this afternoon, a few more could develop along it.
The cold front will help drag wildfire smoke down to the surface. Plan on increasing smoky skies Saturday afternoon and evening. Wildfire smoke can linger on Sunday due to an easterly wind. Smoke should become less on Monday.
High temperatures reach the upper 80s on Saturday, low 80s on Sunday, and back to the upper 80s on Monday.
There is a higher chance for stronger storms on Monday afternoon and evening.

Today: Isolated morning rain/storm. Warm and humid. Smoky skies in the afternoon/evening.
High: 89°
Wind: WNW 5-15

Tonight: Smoky skies
Low: 64°
Wind: NE 5-10

Sunday: Partly sunny and cooler. Smoky skies again.
High: 83°
Wind: E 5-10

Monday: Chance for t-storms. Windy, warm and humid.
AM Low: 65° High: 88°
Wind: SW 10-20

Tuesday: Partly sunny.
AM Low: 68° High: 83°
Wind: NW 10-15

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, cooler and less humid.
AM Low: 60° High: 77°
Wind: N 5-10

Thursday: Mostly sunny.
AM Low: 56° High: 83°
Wind: S 5-10

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