September 6, 2023 • 18 mins
Today host Louis Carr speaks with Instagram sensation Edwin Sorto, a dance teacher at the KIPP Promise Academy, in Washington, DC.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm Lewis Carr, host to the Blueprint Connect podcast. The
Blueprint Connect podcast is an extension of the Blueprint Men's Summer,
where we have consistently given men a prescription book group
not just for themselves, but also for their families and
their communities. During these podcasts, we will educate and motivate
our listeners about entrepreneurship, careers, finances, health and wellness, and relationship.
(00:28):
And on today's episode, we have dance teacher Edwin Soorto
from kip DC Promise Academy in Washington, d C. How
are you doing, mister Soto. How's it going. How's it going.
It's good to be here. Thank you guys for having me,
Thank you for joining us. So, mister Soto, how long
(00:51):
have you been at kip DC Promise.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I've been there for This is my ninth year of
teaching there.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Oh wow, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And you teach dance at kid for the last three years.
I've I've been teaching only dance before that. Before that,
What did you teach before that? I was I was
a teacher for only kindergarten, so I was a special teacher.
So I used to teach the babies. It was I
(01:25):
used teach Spanish pee dancing art, but dances like my
things and my passion. So I spoke to my principal
and decided to teach dance to the whole school.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And now, so, are you a professional dancer yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You can call it that. Yes, I just don't dance anymore.
I perform here and there, but you know I have
a dance.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Studio or uh so, how did you get in the
dance personal? Ah?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Since I was a kid, To be honest, I was
a b boy back in the days I grew up
back home and El Salvador.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So dancing, I mean that's I was five. And And
why is dance so important to you as a person?
What does it do for you? How does it make
you feel?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Why?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Why did you decide that this was your thing?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It was I'm gonna say it was unintentional, But I
feel like dance is a way to connect with a
lot of people. Uh. Back in my country, you know,
we're a Spanish speaking country, we connected with a lot
of friends. And then when I came to the States,
it was a way to I would say, explore new
cultures as well as meeting new people. And now I
(02:47):
feel like it is my turn to share what I
experience in my personal life or throughout my life with
my kid us and let them know that through dance
you can meet or get to know so much more
than just dance. Like people think it is. I mean,
at the end of the day, dance is a universal language.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So so do you feel that dance is sort of
like storytelling or communications or both.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It's to me, it's both right because we we wouldn't
be dancing if it wasn't for music. Right, how long
has music been out there? It's been forever, right, So
when we look back at history, I'm one of those
who love all school songs here and there with my
(03:45):
with my kiddos, and for me, that's taken us back
in history, whether we think of it or not. And
sometimes we pay attention to the way they used to sing.
Are they indicated how they used to express themselves? I mean,
the music industry changes every day, but for me, it's
(04:07):
always like a balance of what we are listening to
now and how are we dancing to it now and
how they used to do it back in the days.
So for me, it's a back and forth. So I
think I get I think we get a little bit
of both.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Okay, So what grades do you do you teach dance
at KIP.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I teach from kindergarten to fourth and some the ones,
for example today is after school dance program. I teach
a few fifth graders sixth graders that started dancing with
me in kindergarten.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And and what type of dances do you do you
teach them?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So? My not the ones that I'm very knowledgeable about
is Latin dances such as bata, mumbo chacha and I
ain't get. However, we fusion you know, we fusionize a
lot of the dances that I teach, or when I'm
not an expert as something that the kids want to learn,
(05:09):
I bring either a mentor or someone who is a
professional on the genre the style of dance so the
kids can get the best of it as well.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And how are the kids taking to dance? You know?
Do they like it? Do they love it? They craving it?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
It depends. I would say they for the most part,
they love it because they get exposed to something outside
of their school. Probably they wouldn't get right, especially when
you're only teaching to a black community to the kids, right,
all of my kids are black and very few are
(05:48):
Hispanic until this year, And for me, it's like a
It's very important that our kids get to experience any
of the things that when I was in school I
didn't experience. So if I could provide something for my kids, think,
I'm gonna do my best to make sure that they
(06:09):
experience it. Now, if they like it, they stay with it,
and if they don't, it's so good. There's more things
out there, right, but I can only provide so much
for them.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
What type of impact or influence have you seen it
have on the kids on their confidence, on their motivation?
What type of impact beyond the dance have you seen
these Latin dances have on their overall attitude?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You know, they become very young, mature, little human beings.
Not only have they been able to advocate for themselves,
I'm gonna say at home at school, but you can
(07:01):
tell the difference between the dancers that I have and
the kids who don't dance with the way they talk
to each other, the way they communicate with each other,
the way they respect each other. Is that the standards
or their own standards is so high for the age
that they are.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So it's bad to see that is that because they're
learning something new, something different. Uh you believe that gives
them that sort of confidence and assurance.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah. Absolutely. I feel like people see dancers just a
way of movement, but you got to look at dance
a little deeper than that. Social skills, confidence, self respect.
I mean you have all these things, curiosity, right, you
have all these all these all these skills. Kids are
(07:53):
learning behind what we are portraying. I'm gonna say on
social media, Oh, it's just kids dancing. Actually, Nah, you're
missing the point. You're missing the point. They're getting to
know each other, they gathering with their working as a team. Right,
So people don't see that they quick to think about,
you know, or to judge. But to me, it goes
(08:15):
beyond that, right, Like I know, it goes beyond that,
and it takes an eye for some people to see it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
We'll be right back with more of my interview after
this quick break. I saw a video online missus Soto
where one of the kids was encouraging you.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
You had to take a test.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
And so.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And uh, they were encouraging you. Tell us about that
was what was going on with that?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So during COVID, you know, COVID hit us, and I said, yeah,
I'm gonna take time. I'm gonna tell them I'm gonna
make make the most out of this pandemic. So I
was only a resident here in the States, and I
decided to go for the citizenship. Now, the test is
(09:13):
one hundred questions and every Wednesday we'll get together with
the kids and one day I'll said, hey, man, next Tuesday,
I'm not gonna be here. I got the biggest test
of my life. And you know, one of my co
workers knew about it, and she is so good about
(09:34):
making sure that we support each other during times like this,
and she took she took a literally like four hundred
videos of my kids saying you got this, Minnesoto, you
got it. Don't let that test. You know it's not then.
But him, Zalen, he spoke to me the way I
(09:57):
speak to them when it's time for them to let's
say a test at school. But the way he put
it to me and the way he said, think of
it as in dance. And I was like, oh man,
I really like it was a reflection of me in him.
So for me, that was really that was really it's
pretty big.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And and I'm assuming you passed the test.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I won't be here if
I did.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And when you told the kids, what was their reaction.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Then, like, we told you you was going to pass it, man,
But it was you know there, I think they were
more confident than that was. I mean we went over
the questions and they're like, you have to learn all
these questions. I was like, yeah, a hundred questions. So
it was it was fun, It was a good experience.
But also it just shows the impact that you have
(10:53):
on kids. I mean, to that point, you don't really
know how much you will impact you have with kids
until you see you see it on.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Them and prior to us getting on you and talked
about it after school program, tell us about that program.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So for the longest I've been trying to have a
dance program that basically gives the kids an outlet to
to be part of something bigger. Right. The dance team
that I created, I'm gonna say eight years ago, started
with three kids there, three kindergarteners, and from there it grew.
(11:33):
Parents got involved. They started asking how could my kids perform?
And at the end of the day, it's about whether
kids wanted So I wanted to have an outlet or
you know, a program after school that allowed them to
be part of that group. And for myself, for the
last two years, I was I've been able to have
(11:53):
it before COVID. It was during my lunch breaks or whatever.
The kids will give up the recess and they will
come practice with me. And we did that for about
two years. And in COVID kind of like stop everything
else not to COVID. It was hard because of the pandemic.
They want to be near each other. We were more
(12:15):
you know, we were trying to be careful with God,
with our house or what not. So we had to
wait a little bit. But now I have a team
of I say, like thirty kids on Mondays and like
another twenty on Wednesdays, different levels. Wednesdays are my more
advanced kids. Mondays is the beginners, very foundational skills. Hopefully
(12:39):
they get to Wednesday so they start working with the
bigger kids will be more advanced kids. And that's what
I have now. I mean, it's not a daycare program.
It is a program for students who want to be
in and want to put in more work, which is
very different.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And do any of your kids compete? Do you guys
like compete with other schools or we don't.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
We don't, And I'm gonna tell you why I feel
like competitions. For me, it's more of an ego thing.
I know that kind of students that I have. They're
not only great dancers, great performers, great social dancers. If
I wanted to take into a competition, I'm pretty sure
(13:31):
they will clean the house. But I don't want them.
I got to keep my kids humble because being humbled,
When you have humility and you're humble, it takes you
further places. When you get stuck in your hand, you
know that you're this or that. I tell my kids, look,
(13:52):
our work, be talent the man, how talent you are, our.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Work is gonna beat you. So I keep my kids
to get better in my classes. I think their competition
is themselves. If we want to compete, maybe I don't know,
Maybe there.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Is a place out there, but so right now, the
way they are coming up as dancers, social dancers and
human beings for me.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
There at the time. So Edwin. The weightmaker community believes
that every successful person has had a weightmaker in their
own personal life. Who have been some of the weightmakers
in your life that sort of encouraged you and mentored
you and made you believe in yourself.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Who were some of those people. That's a tough one.
I mean I gonna start with my family. I must
say my mom, my mother. You know, she she never
but the kind of kid that I was back in
the days. I mean she never, she never, she never
(15:02):
gave up on me.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
There were a few teachers that that really push pushed
me through throughout high school. I'm gonna say for friends
that believe in you so and then my wife who
always like supported me, pushing me, you know, to be better.
(15:27):
I feel like I have a good group of people
around me to that I can count on and continue
what I what I love doing.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And then my kiddles I work, I mean, my my co.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Workers, some of my co workers.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I'm gonna be honest, you know, you're real something some
some some are very like this with me, and some
you know, I'm not for I'm not for you so good,
but I'm there for the kids.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
When you think a year from now, two years from now,
how do you think this dance is going to impact
their lives? I mean, you know, teachers are special individuals.
All right, because they kind of have to see a
vision before the kids can see the vision. So how
do you think that this what you're teaching is going
(16:18):
to impact their lives or how you're hoping that it
impacts their lives.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I think from the moment that they step foot in
my room, their lives already impacted. They tell their family
that they they they're part of something already, and it's
a proud moment for them just by but just by
saying that, So that makes it feel already proud, just
(16:47):
by but just by being it. The way it impacts
goes like this, It's like a domino effect.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
The kids get talked to the parents, the parents get
talk to their friends. Those friends get talked to their friends.
So the worst starts spreading out about the work that
the kids are doing in our school. Right like nowadays
you see see too much negativity in the school, when
when the impact that you want to have is you
(17:15):
want you want to make sure that our kids are
doing something beyond reading and math, beyond like you've got
sports all the time. We really were really slacking on
the art part, whether that is that is singing, that
is acting that it's dancing, right, especially for our black
and brown kids. You don't, we don't get that publicity
(17:37):
like that. So my impact is to make sure our
kids get seen. I need to make sure that my
kids get seen that they're dead. We're from Southeast man.
They people are scared to go there, but guess why.
This is where the most talented kittles are. And we
need to make sure that we showcasing that it's not
(18:00):
gonna be hidden, at least not for me. Like I'm
gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that the
kids get seen in what they do.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Well, that's great, and mister Soto, we thank you for
your commitment to those young people in that community.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
We thankful that you're.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Good at it and you're making a difference in their lives,
and we encourage you to keep doing it on and
on and on. So thank you so much for sharing
your story and your work. We appreciate you, so keep
doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you guys for your time,
and thank us for having me again.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
By Bo
I'm Lewis Carr, host to the Blueprint Connect podcast. The
Blueprint Connect podcast is an extension of the Blueprint Men's Summer,
where we have consistently given men a prescription book group
not just for themselves, but also for their families and
their communities. During these podcasts, we will educate and motivate
our listeners about entrepreneurship, careers, finances, health and wellness, and relationship.
(00:28):
And on today's episode, we have dance teacher Edwin Soorto
from kip DC Promise Academy in Washington, d C. How
are you doing, mister Soto. How's it going. How's it going.
It's good to be here. Thank you guys for having me,
Thank you for joining us. So, mister Soto, how long
(00:51):
have you been at kip DC Promise.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I've been there for This is my ninth year of
teaching there.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Oh wow, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And you teach dance at kid for the last three years.
I've I've been teaching only dance before that. Before that,
What did you teach before that? I was I was
a teacher for only kindergarten, so I was a special teacher.
So I used to teach the babies. It was I
(01:25):
used teach Spanish pee dancing art, but dances like my
things and my passion. So I spoke to my principal
and decided to teach dance to the whole school.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And now, so, are you a professional dancer yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You can call it that. Yes, I just don't dance anymore.
I perform here and there, but you know I have
a dance.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Studio or uh so, how did you get in the
dance personal? Ah?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Since I was a kid, To be honest, I was
a b boy back in the days I grew up
back home and El Salvador.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So dancing, I mean that's I was five. And And
why is dance so important to you as a person?
What does it do for you? How does it make
you feel?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Why?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Why did you decide that this was your thing?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It was I'm gonna say it was unintentional, But I
feel like dance is a way to connect with a
lot of people. Uh. Back in my country, you know,
we're a Spanish speaking country, we connected with a lot
of friends. And then when I came to the States,
it was a way to I would say, explore new
cultures as well as meeting new people. And now I
(02:47):
feel like it is my turn to share what I
experience in my personal life or throughout my life with
my kid us and let them know that through dance
you can meet or get to know so much more
than just dance. Like people think it is. I mean,
at the end of the day, dance is a universal language.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So so do you feel that dance is sort of
like storytelling or communications or both.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It's to me, it's both right because we we wouldn't
be dancing if it wasn't for music. Right, how long
has music been out there? It's been forever, right, So
when we look back at history, I'm one of those
who love all school songs here and there with my
(03:45):
with my kiddos, and for me, that's taken us back
in history, whether we think of it or not. And
sometimes we pay attention to the way they used to sing.
Are they indicated how they used to express themselves? I mean,
the music industry changes every day, but for me, it's
(04:07):
always like a balance of what we are listening to
now and how are we dancing to it now and
how they used to do it back in the days.
So for me, it's a back and forth. So I
think I get I think we get a little bit
of both.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Okay, So what grades do you do you teach dance
at KIP.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I teach from kindergarten to fourth and some the ones,
for example today is after school dance program. I teach
a few fifth graders sixth graders that started dancing with
me in kindergarten.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
And and what type of dances do you do you
teach them?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So? My not the ones that I'm very knowledgeable about
is Latin dances such as bata, mumbo chacha and I
ain't get. However, we fusion you know, we fusionize a
lot of the dances that I teach, or when I'm
not an expert as something that the kids want to learn,
(05:09):
I bring either a mentor or someone who is a
professional on the genre the style of dance so the
kids can get the best of it as well.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And how are the kids taking to dance? You know?
Do they like it? Do they love it? They craving it?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
It depends. I would say they for the most part,
they love it because they get exposed to something outside
of their school. Probably they wouldn't get right, especially when
you're only teaching to a black community to the kids, right,
all of my kids are black and very few are
(05:48):
Hispanic until this year, And for me, it's like a
It's very important that our kids get to experience any
of the things that when I was in school I
didn't experience. So if I could provide something for my kids, think,
I'm gonna do my best to make sure that they
(06:09):
experience it. Now, if they like it, they stay with it,
and if they don't, it's so good. There's more things
out there, right, but I can only provide so much
for them.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
What type of impact or influence have you seen it
have on the kids on their confidence, on their motivation?
What type of impact beyond the dance have you seen
these Latin dances have on their overall attitude?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You know, they become very young, mature, little human beings.
Not only have they been able to advocate for themselves,
I'm gonna say at home at school, but you can
(07:01):
tell the difference between the dancers that I have and
the kids who don't dance with the way they talk
to each other, the way they communicate with each other,
the way they respect each other. Is that the standards
or their own standards is so high for the age
that they are.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So it's bad to see that is that because they're
learning something new, something different. Uh you believe that gives
them that sort of confidence and assurance.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah. Absolutely. I feel like people see dancers just a
way of movement, but you got to look at dance
a little deeper than that. Social skills, confidence, self respect.
I mean you have all these things, curiosity, right, you
have all these all these all these skills. Kids are
(07:53):
learning behind what we are portraying. I'm gonna say on
social media, Oh, it's just kids dancing. Actually, Nah, you're
missing the point. You're missing the point. They're getting to
know each other, they gathering with their working as a team. Right,
So people don't see that they quick to think about,
you know, or to judge. But to me, it goes
(08:15):
beyond that, right, Like I know, it goes beyond that,
and it takes an eye for some people to see it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
We'll be right back with more of my interview after
this quick break. I saw a video online missus Soto
where one of the kids was encouraging you.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
You had to take a test.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
And so.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And uh, they were encouraging you. Tell us about that
was what was going on with that?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So during COVID, you know, COVID hit us, and I said, yeah,
I'm gonna take time. I'm gonna tell them I'm gonna
make make the most out of this pandemic. So I
was only a resident here in the States, and I
decided to go for the citizenship. Now, the test is
(09:13):
one hundred questions and every Wednesday we'll get together with
the kids and one day I'll said, hey, man, next Tuesday,
I'm not gonna be here. I got the biggest test
of my life. And you know, one of my co
workers knew about it, and she is so good about
(09:34):
making sure that we support each other during times like this,
and she took she took a literally like four hundred
videos of my kids saying you got this, Minnesoto, you
got it. Don't let that test. You know it's not then.
But him, Zalen, he spoke to me the way I
(09:57):
speak to them when it's time for them to let's
say a test at school. But the way he put
it to me and the way he said, think of
it as in dance. And I was like, oh man,
I really like it was a reflection of me in him.
So for me, that was really that was really it's
pretty big.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And and I'm assuming you passed the test.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I won't be here if
I did.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And when you told the kids, what was their reaction.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Then, like, we told you you was going to pass it, man,
But it was you know there, I think they were
more confident than that was. I mean we went over
the questions and they're like, you have to learn all
these questions. I was like, yeah, a hundred questions. So
it was it was fun, It was a good experience.
But also it just shows the impact that you have
(10:53):
on kids. I mean, to that point, you don't really
know how much you will impact you have with kids
until you see you see it on.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Them and prior to us getting on you and talked
about it after school program, tell us about that program.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So for the longest I've been trying to have a
dance program that basically gives the kids an outlet to
to be part of something bigger. Right. The dance team
that I created, I'm gonna say eight years ago, started
with three kids there, three kindergarteners, and from there it grew.
(11:33):
Parents got involved. They started asking how could my kids perform?
And at the end of the day, it's about whether
kids wanted So I wanted to have an outlet or
you know, a program after school that allowed them to
be part of that group. And for myself, for the
last two years, I was I've been able to have
(11:53):
it before COVID. It was during my lunch breaks or whatever.
The kids will give up the recess and they will
come practice with me. And we did that for about
two years. And in COVID kind of like stop everything
else not to COVID. It was hard because of the pandemic.
They want to be near each other. We were more
(12:15):
you know, we were trying to be careful with God,
with our house or what not. So we had to
wait a little bit. But now I have a team
of I say, like thirty kids on Mondays and like
another twenty on Wednesdays, different levels. Wednesdays are my more
advanced kids. Mondays is the beginners, very foundational skills. Hopefully
(12:39):
they get to Wednesday so they start working with the
bigger kids will be more advanced kids. And that's what
I have now. I mean, it's not a daycare program.
It is a program for students who want to be
in and want to put in more work, which is
very different.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And do any of your kids compete? Do you guys
like compete with other schools or we don't.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
We don't, And I'm gonna tell you why I feel
like competitions. For me, it's more of an ego thing.
I know that kind of students that I have. They're
not only great dancers, great performers, great social dancers. If
I wanted to take into a competition, I'm pretty sure
(13:31):
they will clean the house. But I don't want them.
I got to keep my kids humble because being humbled,
When you have humility and you're humble, it takes you
further places. When you get stuck in your hand, you
know that you're this or that. I tell my kids, look,
(13:52):
our work, be talent the man, how talent you are, our.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Work is gonna beat you. So I keep my kids
to get better in my classes. I think their competition
is themselves. If we want to compete, maybe I don't know,
Maybe there.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Is a place out there, but so right now, the
way they are coming up as dancers, social dancers and
human beings for me.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
There at the time. So Edwin. The weightmaker community believes
that every successful person has had a weightmaker in their
own personal life. Who have been some of the weightmakers
in your life that sort of encouraged you and mentored
you and made you believe in yourself.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Who were some of those people. That's a tough one.
I mean I gonna start with my family. I must
say my mom, my mother. You know, she she never
but the kind of kid that I was back in
the days. I mean she never, she never, she never
(15:02):
gave up on me.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
There were a few teachers that that really push pushed
me through throughout high school. I'm gonna say for friends
that believe in you so and then my wife who
always like supported me, pushing me, you know, to be better.
(15:27):
I feel like I have a good group of people
around me to that I can count on and continue
what I what I love doing.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And then my kiddles I work, I mean, my my co.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Workers, some of my co workers.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I'm gonna be honest, you know, you're real something some
some some are very like this with me, and some
you know, I'm not for I'm not for you so good,
but I'm there for the kids.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
When you think a year from now, two years from now,
how do you think this dance is going to impact
their lives? I mean, you know, teachers are special individuals.
All right, because they kind of have to see a
vision before the kids can see the vision. So how
do you think that this what you're teaching is going
(16:18):
to impact their lives or how you're hoping that it
impacts their lives.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I think from the moment that they step foot in
my room, their lives already impacted. They tell their family
that they they they're part of something already, and it's
a proud moment for them just by but just by
saying that, So that makes it feel already proud, just
(16:47):
by but just by being it. The way it impacts
goes like this, It's like a domino effect.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
The kids get talked to the parents, the parents get
talk to their friends. Those friends get talked to their friends.
So the worst starts spreading out about the work that
the kids are doing in our school. Right like nowadays
you see see too much negativity in the school, when
when the impact that you want to have is you
(17:15):
want you want to make sure that our kids are
doing something beyond reading and math, beyond like you've got
sports all the time. We really were really slacking on
the art part, whether that is that is singing, that
is acting that it's dancing, right, especially for our black
and brown kids. You don't, we don't get that publicity
(17:37):
like that. So my impact is to make sure our
kids get seen. I need to make sure that my
kids get seen that they're dead. We're from Southeast man.
They people are scared to go there, but guess why.
This is where the most talented kittles are. And we
need to make sure that we showcasing that it's not
(18:00):
gonna be hidden, at least not for me. Like I'm
gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that the
kids get seen in what they do.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Well, that's great, and mister Soto, we thank you for
your commitment to those young people in that community.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
We thankful that you're.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Good at it and you're making a difference in their lives,
and we encourage you to keep doing it on and
on and on. So thank you so much for sharing
your story and your work. We appreciate you, so keep
doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you guys for your time,
and thank us for having me again.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
By Bo
Host
Louis Carr
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