#290 – Building the Lucas Literacy Lab: One Writer’s Journey from Home Classroom to School Founder - Spun Today with Tony Ortiz

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I don't know anyone who didn't deal with something very stressful, even
though all the problems were different. So
I think that what people need to know is that you, you know, you have
to imagine like worst case scenario and then 10x that
it's gonna stress you out. But there is
always a way, right? And I think if the

(00:23):
desire to create change, to
build something that you know is needed, that can be done in
a way that's not being done yet. If that
will is strong, then all you need is
to, to find the next step. One step
and you're like, still in it. You can still keep going. You don't have to

(00:45):
solve the whole issue or every issue that comes at you all in one shot.
It's just one. What one thing can you tackle at a time?
How can you be creative to solve the problem? And then you'll,
you'll just stay in the game. But it requires like anything else
that's new. It requires leaders and
founders who are tenacious and

(01:07):
who can cry. Because we all cry. We like are on the phone sobbing all
the time and then get up in the morning and just like, do it again.
Do it again.
Yeah.

(01:35):
What's up? What's up, folks? What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today Podcast,
the only podcast that is anchored in writing, but unlimited in
scope. I'm your host, Tony Ortiz, and I appreciate you listening.
This is episode 290 of the Spun Today podcast. And in this
episode I am excited to welcome back Spun Today
alum Amanda Lucas. The last time she was on, we talked

(01:58):
about her path as a writer, a teacher, a parent,
and since then she's taken an even bolder leap. She started
her very own school, Lucas Literacy Lab.
That's what the main focus of today's episode is about.
But also between our last episode, which I actually re
released as episode 282 for folks who want to

(02:21):
take a listen. But between that last episode and this more recent
one, she also put out her first children's book.
It's called I Need an Idea, which was illustrated by
Michael D. Gregorio. I have it and I've read it to my
boys and I highly recommend it. It will be linked to in the
episode notes for you folks to check out. We spoke a bit about the

(02:43):
book as well as her plans for future
releases, which sound really exciting, so definitely stick around for that. But
going back to the main focus of this episode, hearing the story of how she
went from homeschooling her own kids during the pandemic
learning about micro schools to finding a location
to then battling zoning boards and landlords and

(03:07):
dealing with the bureaucracy and all the red tape in order to
ultimately open Lucas Literacy Lab. What really
stood out to me was her tenacity, her resilience,
and admirable entrepreneurial spirit.
Folks listening to this episode can take a lot away from it in that regard,
which can be applied to not only your own entrepreneurial

(03:29):
pursuits, but your creative endeavors as well. In this
conversation, Amanda opens up about the triumphs and
heartbreaks of building something from scratch while
juggling parenthood, creativity and
entrepreneurial ship. So whether you're a teacher, a
writer, or just someone that's curious about building your own path,

(03:50):
this episode is for you. So definitely stick around for all that
good stuff. But first I wanted to tell you all about a quick
way that you can help support this show if you so choose.
Your support means a ton, helps keep the lights on here at the
proverbial Sponsored A studios and is much appreciated
if you go to sponsoreday.com support. There are a bunch

(04:13):
of different ways including merch and affiliate links that you
guys can check out, but here is one of those ways and then we'll
jump right into the episode.
Another great way for you to help support the show and also take care of
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(05:21):
absolutely for free. Again, go to Spunte.com
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What's up folks? What's going on? We have a special treat
for you all today. We have a spun today alumni returning to the show
which has been doing big, big things since we

(05:41):
last met up. Ms. Amanda Lucas is with us once
again. Welcome
Amanda. That round of applause is for you. Thank you.
Hi Tony. Hey. For those that may not
have listened to the first episode, I actually re released
it as episode 282 for those that want to go back and

(06:04):
take a listen to that. But just as a quick recap,
Amanda told us all about her journey related to
creative writing and her aspirations. There. We spoke
about parenting and her ultimately becoming an educator
and teaching different grade levels and at different schools
from public to private to charter to homeschooling. And

(06:26):
it was a great episode in and of itself. So I highly recommend folks
to go back and check that one out. But you, Ms.
Amanda, have been up to very, very big, impressive things since
then, which is the bulk of what this episode is going to be about,
which was starting your own school, like
actual building school.

(06:49):
Nuts. And I'm gonna ask you all about that. But I
would be remiss if I didn't first ask you about writing what I
believe, and you can obviously correct me if I'm wrong. Was your
first book, which is I Need an Idea
Lillian Emmy book, which is a children's book that I've read to
my boys multiple times. And it's great. So. Oh, my goodness.

(07:12):
So definitely I'll link to it to the in the episode notes for folks to
check out. But wanted to ask you first, you know, this being primarily writing
and creativity podcast, wanted to ask you about that process
and where the ideas came from for that book and. Yeah. How it's okay.
Okay. So that book I actually wrote

(07:33):
had to be 2010. I wrote that book a really, really long time
ago. And it was before I had Emmy. So it was just about
Lely. And I wrote it in my first
apartment, my first one bedroom apartment when I was working at State
Farm as a receptionist. And I just wrote it at
nighttime because I was inspired by, you know, being a mom

(07:55):
and everything that I was learning through the eyes of my daughter.
And I actually wrote quite a few books at the time. I
wrote about her losing her first tooth
because that was disgusting for me. Like,
she lost. She lost the tooth. And I was like laying on the
floor with the air conditioner on and sweating because I had to pull this tooth

(08:18):
out and it was bleeding and I was. It was. So I wrote about. That
I wrote about. But I had to, like, explain the whole tooth fairy
thing to her. And I like made up this fun explanation
in this book I wrote about. This one is about her
birthday and how she wants to
have this big grand birthday and she can't think

(08:40):
of, like, the perfect way to spend the day. And
ultimately it's just very simple and with family and if she's with her Family.
She. She's good. I added Emmy to it after she was
born and I wasn't. I kind of. It was like just on the shelf
for a while, along with all the other ones that I wrote. And then
I met my friend Mike, who later became the

(09:02):
illustrator for the book. We were just kind of talking about our
creative endeavors and I let Mike read it and he
loved it and he was like, let me, let me illustrate this. Mike is the
one who did the podcast with me. The Chair
podcast. Right. There you go. Yeah, we spoke all about that in
the last episode too. Yes. So Mike illustrated the

(09:25):
whole thing. So we would have like weekly meetings where we would go over like
concepts for what it was supposed to look like in terms of
color and the girls hair textures and all kinds of stuff. And
yeah, once. Once he was done with it, we self
published it and it was a beautiful little moment. And
then the next one that I had was about. It was. It's

(09:47):
actually the two girls living in Williamsburg, which they
never lived in Williamsburg I did, but they're living in Williamsburg and they
go to McCarran park and
they go to play on the playground with some kids. And
their Spanish is really bad because as you know, my Spanish is horrible.
It's not that bad. Yeah, I'm Puerto Rican and I raised in

(10:11):
New York and so my Spanish is really bad. So I wrote
this book for those kids who like fully
understand the language but can't really defend themselves that well. Like
the. The Yono Sabo kids. Yes. The no Sabo kids.
Yes. I wrote it and I love that one. But that one still is not

(10:31):
done with like the illustrations.
Yeah, so that one, the first one is out and there are more to come.
That's why we put the little label in the corner. Lily Emmy book,
because they're all like based on the girls. Nice. That's
awesome. Definitely can be posted when that one comes out. That one. Sound
sounds cool. I'll definitely, you know, put on socials and stuff like that

(10:55):
now. Oh, actually real quick, because something you said
brought up a memory for me with Aiden losing a tooth. Not in his first
tooth, but just a quick, funny story. He
probably like a second or his third tooth was loose and I was like
coursing around with him, you know, some like play wrestling and stuff like that. And
I actually flipped him over like I grabbed him

(11:17):
like by the ankles and I was gonna like swing him on the bed.
And yeah, he like banged his. His like whole
face like on my knee basically. And the tooth fell out right
Then and there. And I was. And, you know, it came
out so abruptly that there was, like, blood everywhere, and I was like, oh, my
God, like, just, like, flipping out. But thankfully, it was

(11:39):
just no additional damage. Falling out. That is
a really gross part of childhood. I don't know why we have to go through
this, but, like, teeth just falling out of your head is not
okay. I know, right? A design flaw right
there. Right. All right, So I
wanted to. I'm really into how the

(12:01):
sausage is made when it comes to, like, anything. Okay.
And you, like, like we just mentioned, started your
own school, and you have a history, which, you know, feel free to
jump in and recap. But from teaching at, like,
public and private and charter schools. And then you did homeschooling when you still
lived around here, around the way. And since you. You've moved

(12:24):
away, you wound up opening your own school.
And I'm just really curious, just to start off with
the logistics of that, like, building
permits and. And how to even choose a building and decorating and
what goes into that. And are there other teachers involved? The number
of students you have, and are you, like, principal? Are you still

(12:45):
teaching? Are you a founder? Like, how does it work? Like, what.
Take us through, like, that gamut. And starting off, also, what
inspired you to take the leap from teaching
to starting your own school? That's amazing.
Okay. Wow. That's a lot of questions. Okay, so
in terms of who I am in the building, we'll just answer that

(13:09):
with, I am everyone. I hold
every title in the building, which is a thing that I guess.
Okay. There are a lot of schools like mine popping up
all over the place, and I'm part of a network
of them. And this is the thing.
Most of us are just educators who wanted to do things differently. And

(13:32):
when we open these schools, it's like culture shock, you know,
it's like a whole new. Because then you have to be, like, an accountant, a
bookkeeper. You're the cleaning lady, you're the, you know, you're
the legal team, you're the boss, you're the principal, you're the dean,
you're the teacher, you're the. You're everything. Like, all the ancillary things that
you necessarily don't think come up while you're, like, going through learning the

(13:55):
process of, like, putting it all together. Yeah. Or at least like, you. You
know, I knew that I was going to have to do a lot. But
you don't. Not until you're in it. Do you really realize. I think this is
true for all entrepreneurs. You don't know what.
What you're getting into until you're, like, actually doing it. And
then it's like, what. What happened? What's going on here? This is crazy,

(14:16):
right? But, yeah, so, yeah, I'm doing absolutely everything. But
let's. I guess I'll start with what. What prompted this? Like, where this
came from. Yeah, that'll be great. Yeah. So I was in.
I was teaching regularly. Right. Pandemic
happens. And I opened the little pod in
my home, which you know about. We. Maybe we talked about

(14:38):
this last time that I opened the little pod in my house. And I
had five kids. One of them was my youngest,
Emmy. And I was teaching in my house. I, like, pulled the
couch to the middle of the living room and created a little classroom
space behind the couch. And we had our backyard.
And, you know, I used the kitchen. The kids were cooking. We were using

(15:01):
different curriculum for each kid. I, like, tested to see where they
were, and then they were growing, and it was beautiful, and it was
free. It was, like, very. I had a lot of autonomy
there, and the kids were free. So there was such
a difference in, like, running my own thing, even though it was in my home,
that I just. Once I did that, I wasn't gonna

(15:24):
go back. Right. It, like, planted the seed of what's possible,
and you saw, like, a vision of where it could go type of thing.
Right, Exactly. And it wasn't like. I mean, it was in my home, but I
care very deeply about academics, so I wasn't. It wasn't like a
daycare center. Right. Like, my kids were learning. We were doing, like, really
intentional work. But it was done in a way where

(15:46):
there was no pressure. There was no need for kids to cry
over school or, like, be stressed out over school,
because it was home. And it felt like. It just
felt. I just felt like I was, like, extending
myself as a mom to children and giving them my
skill set of, like, helping them develop in more than

(16:08):
just, like, the emotional, nurturing kind of way. It was.
It was that. It was like they would come in, and if they had a.
If they had a bad night the night before, they were going to take a
nap before we got to work, Right. If they were hungry, I was going to
give them a snack. If we were having lunch, we were eating rice and beans.
It was going to be healthy. They were going to help me cook it, you
know. Nice. Yeah. We're playing in the snow. You're. You're

(16:31):
gonna go change in the bathroom. You're gonna Give me your wet clothes. I'm gonna
wash them downstairs for you while you watch something with a,
A hot cocoa. And then, and then we'll get into a read aloud
and then we'll do some math. Right? It was like that. It was like that.
Yeah, it was. And it was, it just. The kids were happy. I was
happy I didn't have admin, you know, coming and

(16:53):
saying to me like I had in the past, like, oh, you know, the kids
are not tracking you with their eyes. The kids are not sitting up
straight. The kids are, you know, like, let's see your
numbers. I just, it was just a beautiful thing.
Right? Because there's, there's not. Sorry to cut you off, but there's like
a. When. When in that example that you just use,

(17:14):
like with admin, like, I liken it to. I work in finance, like
my day job. So I liken it to like a very corporate
numbers focused, cold calculated type of environment
which doesn't really lend itself to the
like, emotional aspects of education. That and,
and how you're able to, you know, what each kid needs

(17:36):
individually. So the, like, the number of students, one
helps with that. Like the reduced, like class size, for example,
but also that freedom of being able to, to know, oh, this
kid needs an app or they're gonna be cranky all day. And whatever I try
to teach them, they're not gonna learn anyway because that's gonna be in the, you
know, their backdrop of the day. But then I have on

(17:57):
the flip side, corporate telling me it has to be done this way no matter
what because they're just trying to, you know, check off boxes and
meet whatever quotas they need to meet for like their funding, so on and so
forth. And it's like not beneficial for anyone in that sense. So I can
definitely see the appeal. That's right. So she. So to
be fair, like, they have to run it a certain way

(18:18):
because they have so many more students. Yeah. They're dealing
with mass. Right. And they have, like,
how can you possibly ensure that you're doing
anything if you don't standardize it? If you don't, you know,
have the data, you have to. And then in order to keep the children safe,
you know, they have to be well behaved, they have to stay in line, they

(18:40):
have to be. Be relatively silent for most of the day. They have, you know,
there's absolutely, there's. Pros and cons to
both sides. And I agree with that. Like there's, it
can't be all one or the other. There has to be like
a happy medium, I would imagine there, which is like what you're working
towards. Yes. What I'm actually, I think what I'm doing

(19:02):
is I'm just creating an alternative for the people that
it serves. You know what I mean? Right. And then. So there was
more that went into it. It was, it was the fact that I felt I
got a taste of that freedom and the ability to do it. And
I'm also a person who just doesn't like people telling me what to
do. So especially when I'm like, very passionate

(19:24):
about something, like, I don't need you to tell me how to do my job.
Right. So there was that. But then at the same time,
my kids had their neurological issues. Did I
tell you about this in the last podcast? I don't think so.
Okay, so while. So 2020, I. I
opened the pod in the house. 2021, my oldest daughter

(19:46):
Liana, was diagnosed with the AVM in her brain, which is the,
the veins and the arteries were tangled in a knot.
Oh, wow. And so, yeah, and it was. We found out
that she had had this since six months gestation,
but it was found accidentally because, like, she had some
like, drooping in her eye. And I took her and they just did like a

(20:08):
random MRI just to check. And it was. They found that.
And so they were like, this can potentially
bleed and it can be life threatening. So we have to do
brain surgery. Like an aneurysm type of situation. Yes.
Oh, wow. And. And then the. A month
after my youngest was diagnosed with epilepsy.

(20:30):
Childhood epilepsy. So I found out that the
little one had epilepsy because I was homeschooling her and I was
noticing regressions and I was like, what is going on? Things
that she could do for years now, like, I'm noticing that
she's struggling with. So I took her and they did an EEG and they
found that she had epilepsy, which was. The type of epilepsy that

(20:53):
she had was like tiny micro seizures
happening every six seconds in the brain. Oh, wow. Constant like non
stop. Yeah, like, yeah, Consistent seizures
that would like, cause her to like kind of stare off into space. It wasn't
grand mal seizures or anything crazy, but it was like tiny little seizures that
were like jolting her brain every six seconds. And what,

(21:14):
how, what did you notice in terms of regressions, like you said, that prompted
you to even take her to do the eeg? She was showing
an inability to. First of all, she
was like allergic to doing any sit down work, which she had
prior. She was, like, really excited to do. She would sit down and read with
me. She would want to do her writing. She would. And then

(21:35):
it turned into, like, tears. Anytime that she saw
anything, like down to the Alphabet, and she was 4 years old, and she
would look at it and just start crying. And then
she was, like, kind of staring, like, blankly for a little
while and she would, like, forget what we were talking about.
And then she was super hyperactive, like, I

(21:57):
suspected, like adhd. Like, super, super hyperactive.
Couldn't sit still, was touching everything. Like, just, you know,
we would sit down. The color and the pencil, the crayon was on the floor
constantly. She was like, all over the place. And that would have
been fine if she had been that way always, but it was like a switch
that happened out of nowhere. Right. So like the night and day difference

(22:21):
type of thing is what, like, prompted you. Yeah, okay.
Right. And it was like, I would give her.
I would give her work that. Because I always, you know, she was. She knew
her Alphabet when she was 2. We were. I'm constantly reading with
my kids. She was reading very early on, and then I would give her
books that she would always, like, she knew. And she would cry when she would

(22:43):
look at them. Like it was a struggle for her to look at it. So
I took her in and they did some testing, and she had this
form of epilepsy that was affecting the reading centers of the brain and
jolting her brain consistently. So she. While
Liana was dealing with, you know, brain surgery and recovery.
The recovery that was horrible. It was just the worst time of my life.

(23:06):
The little one was also having overnight EEG visits and,
like, you know, testing out medications that were not working.
And it was just rough. Yeah, I can imagine.
Wow. Yeah. So I could not go back to work if
I wanted to. Right. It wasn't going to happen. And I didn't want to send
the kids back either because they were, you know, they were

(23:28):
dealing with things. So, like, Liana's
recovery was. It was. It's a three year recovery
from the type of surgery that she had. And she had
to. Yeah. And. And causes all kinds
of stuff. The brain surgery is very delicate. And so, you know,
she would have, like, random stroke symptoms where I would have to rush

(23:51):
her in or, you know, like, really bad migraines. Couldn't look at. She
would lose her vision temporarily every now and then, like, couldn't hold. You
hold anything. It was really hard. That's so
scary. So, yeah, so we had to. I had to I
homeschooled them for that reason. I was homeschooling my kids
for the. That year from. We did the pod in 2020, and then

(24:14):
2021, I homeschooled my kids, and Emmy
was in. I think she was in first grade. I'm pretty sure Emmy was
in first grade. And Liana was intense. Yeah. And it
was a lovely year. Despite all, like, the hospital things, it was a
really beautiful year. Like, we took a bunch of
trips and the kids. I was, like, creating

(24:36):
curriculum for Liana's. She was. For her high school
classes and, like, for her American history. We
did a whole unit on Puerto Rico, which was really awesome. She would not have
gotten that in public school. Right? Yeah. And we did, like,
you know, she did. I outsourced her math because I wasn't going to teach her,
like, high school level math and, like, chemistry, that

(24:57):
kind of thing. But I homeschooled them, and it was a wonderful year.
By the end of the year, Liana was well enough to go back
to school, and she wanted to go back to school. She was
going into 11th grade. She probably missed the social dynamics
of high school, you know, that type of thing. Yeah. She wanted to do graduation
and prom and all that stuff. So we were like,

(25:20):
okay, we moved. We had moved to New Jersey that year. Can I ask you
real, real quick before we move on from there? Because I'm just curious about
the. When you say, like, you. You create your. The curriculum and you did
the homeschooling, like, in my mind, I'm like, wait, you have to teach both.
Because I'm. I'm just coming from my experience of, like, public school.
So, you know, different kids, different grades, different teachers, stuff like

(25:43):
that. How do you, as one
educator, how does it work to teach a first grader
and a 10th grader? And how does it. How do you
reconcile, like, with the. I would imagine there's some sort of, like,
state type of, like, back and forth where things have
to. Where you have to make sure that they check off some boxes so that

(26:05):
they're. Whatever it is that you're teaching them
translates, if it makes sense. If I'm using. I'm probably not using the right terminology,
but like translates into, like, a high school diploma eventually type of thing.
Yes. So in New York, different states have
different rules when it comes to homeschool. New
Jersey is the. One of the most lenient,

(26:27):
and New York is one of the most restrictive.
So starting in New York really served me because New York
has so many requirements that it helped keep me on track, but
also it helped with the transition when we moved here. So. So
first of all, I had to send in a letter of intent to
the school district to let them know that I was pulling them and I was

(26:50):
homeschooling them. Then I had to complete what's called an
ihip. It's an individualized home instructional
plan. And you have to. They
give you guidelines of, like, how many credits for each class.
And for the little ones, it's more like how much time per subject,
and it has, like, a breakdown of what subjects need to be covered.

(27:13):
And so I did a whole bunch of research into different curricula. So,
like, for Liana, she needed. She needed chemistry. She
needed. I think. I don't know if she was in algebra 2 at the time.
Potentially, I think that's what it was. She needed civics,
economics. She needed Spanish. There was a bunch of,
you know, like, what she would have had in public school. But then. So

(27:34):
I did a bunch of research. Sorry, just real quick, the. So they'll
give you, like, the umbrella kind of. It needs a history
segment or section rather. And then you decide that
within there you'll teach, like, the Puerto Rico.
Yeah. So she needed. So, like, for history, I'm going to. I'm going to
butcher this because I'm doing this off the top of my head. I don't really

(27:55):
Remember exactly for 10th grade what it was, but I know that there were
multiple units that needed to be covered in history. She need a world
history, and she needed U.S. history. And for
U.S. history, she needed a certain amount of credits. I don't know if it was
two or three or what. But so I feel like, you know,
we did like, the Constitution. I got her curriculum

(28:16):
for US History and world history, and I added
as one of those credits, a deep dive into Puerto Rico.
Okay. Which. Right. So I. And then I.
I put on the ihip, I put the resources that I was
using. So. So I chose novels, I chose nonfiction
books, I chose some videos that she was going to watch, some trips we were

(28:38):
going to take. I put on there. Yeah. Like, she was learning
all the way from, like, the Tainos all the way through, like, the Spanish American
War into, like, modern day, like, the
Schomburg center, like, all the things. And I
put that all on the list and then I send it out and they. They
approve it. Gotcha. Okay. So you tell them, all

(28:59):
right. To meet your requirements. This is what I'm planning. And you know,
there could be some back and forth or if they approve it, then as Long
as you teach it and I guess establish some
testing within it. Yes. Some like goal posts, then
it's just as good as if they went to actual. Right.
And then there are. There's curricula that you can

(29:21):
opt into. Like there's online school that you can do. Like
she did online. It's a program called Shoreman she did for
her science and math. And that is,
I believe, that's accredited. I'm not sure if they have their accreditation, but I'm pretty
sure they are. But they are like a very well known homeschool
curriculum. And so we signed her up for that. That

(29:43):
was approved, no problem. And they keep their records and they test
her and the whole thing. And then I just send that quarterly.
You have to send quarterly reports of what units they
got through, what grades they got. And then at the end,
you have to. They have to do standardized testing. So
the older kids, Liana had to do a standardized test.

(30:06):
And Emmy. It was either a standardized
test or like there was a written thing that the teacher could
write out and just kind of give a summary of how the year went. You
can't do that every year. For the younger kids, you have to.
You can. If you. If I chose to do that one year, then the next
year you have to alternate two years in a row. And then you have to

(30:27):
do the standardized testing. Yes. And so you
have to keep. You have to do the ihop, you have to do the quarterly
reports, and then you have to do the end of year assessments,
and then you're all clear with them. Nice. Okay, that's so
interesting. All right, so then New York, the New York system prepared you because they
were more. More rigid. Yes. So they

(30:49):
like, over. Prepared you for what you eventually moved into when you moved to New
York. Sorry, to Jersey. New Jersey, yes. Which is.
It also prepared me because. Okay. In New Jersey, I've
come to understand that a lot of homeschool families,
because New Jersey is so flexible and open, they
don't realize that if you ever pivot,

(31:11):
you will come up against some issues. So when Liana wanted to go back to
school, and I love. I have no issue with public school, some people think, like,
oh, if you're a homeschooler, you don't like the public school. No, I think that
the public school works for certain people and alternative.
Alternative school works for other people. And that's, that's just that. Right,
right. But they're, they're both very good. So

(31:33):
Liana wanted to go back to school. We fully supported that. So we, when
I went to enroll her, they were like, oh, so she
was homeschooled. Okay, what documentation do you have? And I had everything
that New York required. And so she was able to move right into AP
classes. Like she took with me, she took AP Art history,
she took ap. I think her chem was ap. She

(31:56):
took a couple of AP classes and she had to take the AP test at
the end. So she was able to move into like honors and
AP classes in her. In her public school when she went back.
But they did tell me, like, if you didn't have this documentation, she
would have started in ninth grade. Oh, wow.
Yeah. And no, no one seems to know that

(32:17):
like, that they will. They need to know where
the kid is. They can't just like throw them in and hope for the best.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. That's why, that's why it was so important to like map
out that, like the fundamentals of that. Like, how do you like the
logistics of how do you know what is going to transfer over
to the school if they like, like in your case, back to school

(32:39):
or. Or have to. Right, yeah. And you never know with
like, life is crazy. You never know where you're going to end up or what
you're going to need. So it's better to be over prepared to have all that
stuff. Exactly. Cover all the bases when you can. Right.
So when we got back, I mean, when we. The following year, when
Biana got. Went back into school, Emmy also went back into

(33:01):
school. And I started on my project of
opening my own school. Emmy and I went
to a micro school. So it was the first of
its kind that I had ever come across a micro school
in New Jersey. And I was looking for alternative schools for Emmy
because Emmy wasn't so excited to go back like Liana was,

(33:25):
and she enjoyed the flexibility of homeschooling. And it was really working
for her. Like, all the issues that she had come up against,
they were like in the back in the rearview mirror, like she was doing.
She was doing really well. So. And she wasn't super excited to go
back to school. So I found I was looking for alternative schools and I
was like, Googling, like, I don't think I knew the term micro school.

(33:47):
I think I was Googling like hybrid schools
or like homeschool pods or. Because I wanted to do it
with people. I didn't want to just homeschool her and not
integrate her into her community. Right. So I
found a micro school in Mountainside,
New Jersey. And so it was kind of A trip for

(34:10):
us. And I. When I met with them, they were looking for a teacher.
So I took the job. And Emmy was enrolled and she
started there. Nice. That worked out. Yeah.
Yeah. So. And when I was there, I told the owners
that I really wanted to start my own school. They had on their website
that they were willing to help people start their own school. It was like a

(34:32):
section of their website that was like, if you're interested in starting your own school,
we can help you. And I was like, oh, this is great, because I would
love to do this. I had wanted to do this for years and
years. So I go to meet them and
I start working with them, and it's going okay.
But they weren't as. This is where this,

(34:53):
like, alternative school world kind of cracked open for
me. They. They were not as interested in
academics as I was. Gotcha. So
it was very, like, free and, like, the kids could, you know,
do what they wanted. And there was a whole lot of, like, free play.
But the academics, in my opinion, were lacking. Not.

(35:16):
Yeah, it just wasn't what I thought was
needed. And so I was in the building. So I was like, Emmy.
I was teaching the older grades. It's like mixed age,
but they had a. They had three classrooms, and the kids were
between three and four years, within three or four years of each other
in each classroom. And I had the oldest ones, and

(35:39):
Emmy was one class down. And I was like, you know what? We're going to
put her in my room because I want to teach her, because
I. I know that she can do more. I didn't want to go backwards
after all the progress we'd made. Right. So I was like, give her to me.
And. And that wasn't. They didn't want that. So I
left. Oh, that sucks. So we. We left. Yeah, we

(36:02):
left. But what I found out was that they were part of this network of
micro schools called Kaipod. And Kaipod
is a network of micro schools that has 19 of their
own schools. And then they also have a catalyst program
for people who are interested in starting their own schools.
And for. So I. I was talking to Lionel and I'm like, what do I

(36:24):
do? Do I work here for another year and then try and start my own
school, or do I just leave now and do it? And he
was like, let me walk the dog and I'll come back and tell
you. He went. He, like, he pondered it over, came back and was like,
do it. He was like, let's just do it. Like, what. What are you
waiting for? Like, you know, you have your concept, you know what you want to

(36:45):
do. You basically did it before. Like, let's just. Right, right.
That's awesome. So I. Yeah. So I applied for the
Catalyst program. Tony. I had. I. Listen, I was
nuts because I did it with no money. Like, I wasn't, like, you know, saving
for this. I came across this Catalyst program and was like, you
know what? This sounds like a great opportunity. I. I do not have, like,

(37:08):
money set aside to start a business, but, you know, God is going to make
a way. Let's figure this out. So I applied and I was
accepted to. To the Catalyst program. And the
Catalyst program fast tracks you if you're trying to start your own
micro school, and the goal is to have your school up
and running within seven months. Wow. That's

(37:29):
aggressive. Yeah, super aggressive. So they walk you
through, like, these modules. So we had weekly meetings, and we were walking through
these modules, and it was like, the legal side, the
financials, the location, you know, all the
things. Like, all the fundamentals that you need to get up and running. Yes.
Nice. Right? And then they. They have. They have this team.

(37:51):
And all these people are so well versed, right, because
they have so many of their own schools. They've done this across the United States
successfully so many times that they. They're, like, very
well suited to get you where you need to go. Right. They have that all
honed in. Right. So there were people that you could reach out to
for any question you knew. You knew who to go to.

(38:13):
So they walked us through all these modules, and we had homework every week, and
it was like, okay, here's the compliance part. Here's the location part.
Like, we're gonna tell you what you need, and you're gonna hear
all your marching orders. Next time we meet, all this is gonna be done, and
then, you know, we're gonna move on to the next thing. So that's what we
did. But they are, like, all scattered everywhere. There's

(38:35):
none of them in New Jersey. So I was the only one actually in the
state. But I was coming to them with, like, all the state regulations and
everything that I was finding, the locations that I was finding, everything.
And they were walking me through it. So I find
my goal was to be in a home because of the
home pod that I had already had. I didn't want to be

(38:57):
in, like, a sterile location. I didn't want to be in a storefront. I
wanted a backyard. I wanted it to fit, feel cozy.
I wanted it to feel like homeschool, like that's what
I wanted to feel like. Nice. Yeah. That's where like, design
elements come in. Yeah. So the first building that I
looked at was a home, but it

(39:19):
was. It looked like a home, but it was actually
operated as a school for 50 years. Oh, wow.
But it was a daycare. It was like a daycare center. And like early childhood.
And the owner, I believe she passed away.
And it was. The building was picked up by investors and it had
been on the market for two years before I came across

(39:42):
it. And no one wanted it because it was overpriced. And so
I went and I was like, can I. Can I rent this?
And they were willing to rent it to me. The price was way too
high. I called the zoning office to make sure that it was zoned for
educational use. They say, yes, it is. No problem. You got it. Like,
go ahead. And I. And so I did my due diligence. I took it to

(40:04):
Kaipod. They, Their legal team. They would, like, look through it
for me. Their advisors looked at everything for
me. I got a. A commercial realtor
and we started talking to the
landlord and he was just being totally unreasonable and asking
for way too much money. And so I was like, you know what? Forget it.

(40:26):
Let me go look around. I wanted it, but I was like, you know what?
Whatever. Let me go find something else. Yeah, you can't, can't force it either.
Yeah, I wasn't going to force it. So I spent seven months looking
for something else and there was nothing else. There were.
There were storefronts that didn't have any outdoor space.
And I don't know how to keep children

(40:49):
in a store. Yeah. With no
yard. Like, I can't do that. Just like bouncing off the wall. Yeah. There
were other buildings that were not z properly. They were like. It was
just. There was nothing. There was nothing. And at the same time,
we had been working through all the other modules. So I'm marketing. I'm like,
aggressively marketing this business. I'm, you know, I'm

(41:11):
forming the business legally in New Jersey. It's registered.
You know, I get my ein, I get my, my insurance. I get all
kinds of. Everything is like, ready to go. And I had
to. You just need the actual physical place. And I had no place.
Right. I had no place. The entrepreneurial was.
Right. Yeah, it's very. I'm learning that I have to

(41:34):
just live in, like, the discomfort, like, not having control
and just know that I'm gonna make things happen. I'm meeting with family
and they're like, yeah, the concept, where is it gonna be?
And I was like, you know what? I'm actually choosing between
this location and that location. Like, which do you prefer? And as soon as

(41:55):
we have it, I'm going to give you a tour. The goal is to have
it by this date. School is going to start first week of September. Like, you
know, and the families were on board with me. They were like, okay, cool,
done. Like, we're with you. They will give me their deposits. They
signed. They signed the. They registered their
children for a school that had no building. That's crazy.

(42:18):
Yeah. Yeah. And were they, like, how many, if you don't mind
me asking, like, how many families were there
initially? And, like, school was
ready to start? I had. I think I had 15.
I think I have. 15. Wow. 15 or 19 or something like
that. And all different ages or like, within an age range.

(42:41):
Yeah, the age range is 6 to 12. Got it. Okay.
Yeah. And I had two teachers. I had hired a
lower school teacher and a teacher's assistant.
And my building, my school actually has three units on
the property. So it's. It's an acre. And then there are
three units. And the main unit was going to be for the middle school,

(43:04):
and then the unit behind it was going to be for the lower school. And
then the smallest unit was just going to be my office. And then we had,
like, a huge playground. Nice. And so
I'm. I'm renovating. No, this is before. Okay. So we didn't. I didn't
get the place yet. Right. Yeah. So go back. So. So I.
I had hired. I hired people. I had. I

(43:27):
had all these families. We were ready to go. I had my.
You know, you have to, like, do everything down to, like, the color scheme, the
logo, the everything. Your. Your mission statement, all of that.
I love your logo, by the way. Thank you. Thank you. That was.
I love my logo. And, And. And the. The alliteration
of the name. The. Lucas. Lucas Literacy Lab. Literacy Lab. Yeah.

(43:49):
Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So I. We did. I did
all of that. And then I started to feel the pressure, like, okay, I have
to settle on a spot because school is going to start and we gotta,
like, get this going. So I go back to them, because
the original building, because it's still on the market, nobody wants
it. So you have a little bit more. More negotiating leverage now

(44:11):
because it's been seven months and still sitting on the market. They're not making money
off of it, so. Right, exactly. So
we go and they lower the price a little.
There's still a Whole lot of. Of negotiating that needs to get done. The
lawyer, my lawyer and their lawyer, they. They're going back and forth a million times.
And then finally I get a version of this lease that I send over to

(44:35):
everyone I know. And I'm like, you tell me, what do you think? And they're
like, okay, this seems good. Like, you got it, you can do it now.
Nice. This lease is so
extensive. It has. There's so much that I'm responsible for.
I probably almost vomited, right? Because it was like such a
heavy thing. It was like this expensive

(44:56):
monthly rent. And then we also had property taxes. I'm
responsible for everything. All of the utilities,
the landscaping, the. All of it. Like, it's essentially,
I might as well own it. But I went into this
so fast that I didn't have. Like I told you, I didn't save
anything to start this. And then I didn't. I also

(45:19):
didn't have proof of concept, so I wanted to make sure that it was something
that could work before buying the property outright, right?
So. But it was. The lease was so scary, but I prayed
on it and I just. We did it, right? So I
signed the lease, I get the property, and I'm waiting for the certificate of
occupancy so that I can start moving with what I need to do.

(45:42):
And the landlord is like, not. He's not. He's not going to give me anything.
So my realtor was like, yeah, the landlord gives you the certificate of
occupancy. The landlord was like, you figure that out. So I go
to the township and I talk to the same zoning officer who told me that
this was zone for educational use. And I say, hey, I need a certificate of
occupancy. School is about to start. I got. I need it. He was like,

(46:04):
okay, no problem. Send over this application, whatever.
So I send over the application. He says, I'm sorry, my
supervisor will not allow me to give you the certificate of occupancy.
And I'm like, why? He's like, because she doesn't know what a micro school is.
Oh, wow. I was like, okay, why does she need to know what a micro
school is? Educational use. Yeah. Like, yeah, true. Just.

(46:27):
It falls under that umbrella. Yeah, it's going for
educational use. Like, go away. And they were like, no, you cannot. You
cannot use this for a micro school. If it's a daycare center, that's fine.
If it's a private school, if it's a public school, that's fine.
But a micro school, no, isn't A. Micro school considered
a private school technically, kind of. But the

(46:49):
difference is that because I cater to the
homeschool community, I have parents are in charge of
like almost everything. They can choose how many days a week their kid comes to
school. Right. So they can choose the curriculum
that their kid uses. They can choose to opt them out of something that
I'm teaching them. They can, they can, they have full autonomy. Oh,

(47:11):
wow. So yeah, so I, what I do
is I come alongside the families, I see what their goals are
for their children and I meet them there and I'm like a
helper. I'm not like the all knowing teacher who takes the kid from you
and will give them back to you. Educated. Right. I'm gonna,
yeah, I'm gonna come alongside the family. I spend the whole first month

(47:34):
of school, the whole first month of September. The lesson plans are all
for me, they're not for the kids. So that I'm learning who the kids are.
I want to know who their best friend is, what's the best time of day
for them to work, what are they interested in, Are they a tactile learner, kinesthetic
learner, do they enjoy reading? What level is their math, what level
is their reading? That whole thing. And then I have a meeting with the

(47:55):
parents and together we determine the best curriculum
for each child individually. Oh wow.
Yeah. This is why like the class size is so, so small.
So the kids work on like we could have a kid who's
really good in English. Like I was like, I, you know, if it were

(48:16):
me in my school and I were, let's say technically a second
grader, I could work on fourth grade English
and first grade math if I needed that. Do you know what
I mean? Yeah, that sounds awesome. That sounds like a lot of
individual attention and it's like a cool
partnership for parents that want to be involved or that can be

(48:38):
that involved in their kids education for them to be
that much more hands on than other schools afford, you know?
Yeah. But also they don't have to be, you know, it's all an option.
So there are some families who are coming from the public school who
need full support because they don't know what curriculum to choose. They
don't know what the kids are supposed to know at what stage. They don't know.

(49:00):
They just don't know. So then they're with me. The kids are with me full
time. I have constant meetings with the family so they know
everything that's happening. But we, then we choose curriculum.
Right. But I, that's You know, I presented to the parents, and
they're a lot. Sometimes they're like you, you know, best.
Yeah. But that's only if they want that. If that's what makes

(49:21):
them comfortable. Right. And. But it's awesome from a parent perspective just
to have that option, you know? Right. And then also we have.
I keep all the same records that New York forced us to keep
in New Jersey. You don't have to. But I've recreated all of their
documentation for my school. So the kids have
portfolios. Nice. And they. I keep everything. So wherever

(49:44):
they go, they can, you know, take that with them. That's awesome.
Right. So. But the township was like, what do you mean?
Like, what do you mean that you're helping
homeschool families? Like, homeschool families are homeschool families,
and private school families are private school families. And what you're
doing is not a thing. Wow. But it's just because

(50:05):
it's pioneering it. Right. It's new. They just. They didn't understand.
But them not understanding, they were like, you cannot operate
because we don't know what you're doing. So this was in August, and school was
supposed to start, like, September 4th. Oh, my God. So they shut
me down. They shut me down. And my. All of my
families, I had, what, 15 or so families, and they had to put

(50:29):
their kids somewhere, and I could not operate. And I had to
write an email to everybody and let them know, like, guys, I'm so
sorry. Like, I'm. Now I'm in this wild battle with the township
to prove that we deserve to be here.
And they're not allowing me to use the space. That is insane.
And you're already locked into your lease, I would imagine, at this point,

(50:51):
in. For five years with a personal guarantee on the lease.
Oh, God. Yeah. And I have to pay
everything for everything. And I. I can't
operate and have. No money coming in on top of it.
Right. Yeah. It was. When I tell you that I did not sleep. I
didn't sleep. There was so much crying that happened. I'm anxious just hearing the

(51:13):
story right now. Yeah.
So I. What did I do first? I. I wrote
this letter to my family and they all. Most of them left.
Most of them were like, sorry, you're wonderful. My kid
needs to be in school. Right. I couldn't. Which is reasonable. Yeah.
I was like, you know What? We'll start September 25th. Because I think September

(51:36):
25th, by then I'll. I'll have something figured out. I had no idea what I
was going to do. But I was like, I'll. I'll. I'll figure it out. Everyone
except three children left. And then the
three children who stayed, one family offered me
their homeschool room in their home.
Wow. And they were like, yeah. They were like, just come to our home

(51:58):
and operate here while you figure it out. Because we want our kids
to have this option. That's amazing.
Yeah. They allowed the other students to come, and we met in the homeschool
room. I didn't do it every day because that would be od. So I.
There were some days where we met in the library, but we were operating out

(52:20):
of a library and someone's home. Someone's home, school room for a long
time. And then while we were doing that, I was still marketing,
and I was still growing. I had families reaching out and being like,
where are you? Tell me what's going on? And I would tell them, currently,
we meet on these days in this home, and then on these other days,
we're at this library. And they were like, all right, sign me up. Wow.

(52:43):
And it was. Yeah, they were sending me. They were sending the kids to meet
us. And then some families who had left
went to other schools and were like, no, this is just not it. We want
it. We want them to be with you. So I got some of them back,
and they. But this is still with no building. You know what's crazy?
When one day when there's, like, Lucas literacy labs all across the country,

(53:05):
this is gonna be, like, the illest origin story. Like, all
these, like, trials and tribulations. This is so cool.
I hope so. But, yeah, so we're like. We're just like
a traveling, you know, nomadic, homeless band
of people. And it was terrible. But, you
know, we had fun. Like, we. We did, like, Halloween together. It was like.

(53:28):
We had a whole Halloween party. We did. We did everything. Like,
really fun stuff. We would take hikes in the morning, and there was a
park behind the library, and we would go, like, take a hike and then go
come back to the library. And it was just. It was. We made it work.
I was carrying huge duffel bags with everybody's
curriculum and all my supplies. I was just traveling around

(53:50):
New Jersey with all this stuff. And
in the meantime, I'm, like, still having meetings. I'm still, like, reaching
out to people. I reached out to, like, every politician in New Jersey that I
could think of. I got in contact with this one councilman who was like, I
got you. I'm going to help you out. And I was
working A second job tutoring online

(54:13):
until 10pm every day and all day on Saturday. Oh,
wow. So that I could keep up with the bills. Right.
That's part of that bootstrapping, entrepreneurial, figuring it out type of thing.
Yeah. So I would like go run my school out of wherever,
you know, whatever was open to me and then I would come home and work
until 10 o' clock and then still like try and make it to these

(54:36):
meetings and fight for my space. And so the
councilman, after lots and lots of meetings
and emails and reaching out to everybody and including like the media
and everything, he got me a meeting with. There was
the township business administrator, the township attorney,
the town, like the fire marshal, the

(54:58):
zoning officer, his supervisor and
me and the councilman. I had no lawyer. I couldn't afford a lawyer.
I didn't have anybody there with me. So I was just there with all
these people and they spoke at me for like an hour. They were like,
you are not a school. We don't know what you're talking about. These are the,
these are our regulations. Mind you, I had combed through their regulations

(55:20):
well before I even considered like
starting this because it was something that Kai Pot had made me do.
So I combed through it with my cohort of
founders and I also combed through it with the advisors at
Kaipod well before any of this. So I knew like
everything that was needed and I knew that I met the criteria.

(55:42):
So I just let them talk. They were talking, they were like, no, you know,
this is the definition of a public school. This is the definition of a
private school. You are none, you are, you do not
qualify. And in their, in their
paperwork it said that that building could
operate as a child care center. And the child care center

(56:05):
was for children 6 to 12 and it had to be
a drop off service and it had to be for at least six hours
a day. And I'm like, okay, this is what, look, look, these
are all of your rules for a childcare center. Call me a child
care center if you want to. If you don't know the term micro school,
then call me a child care center because I qualify

(56:27):
and that is a qualifying use. And the
township attorney says, I understand what you're doing.
My wife homeschools our children and
she does this and they just call it a co op and they like meet
in the basements of churches for free. But
you are doing it differently. You're like, you want to rent a space

(56:49):
to do it. Now what I do is not a co op because co ops
Are like, all the parents kind of take ownership and they each teach a different
thing. Right. It's like a group of parents, and like. Like,
one mom will teach science and the other will teach Spanish. And, you know,
it's like a group. Of parents kind of like homeschooling together type of thing. Like
banding together to homeschool. Right. It's not what I'm doing.

(57:12):
But I was like, okay, you kind of get it, right? At least he's trending
in the. In the right direction. Yes. And so because he
understood, he was like, okay, we're going to give you youth
approval for the space, but not the whole
space, just the first building. And he
says that. And the. The township, the. The. The

(57:34):
zoning officer supervisor starts frantically going through the
papers that are in front of her, and she's like, no, but they don't. They
don't. They can't, because the. The codes change. Then their.
Their driveway is supposed to be five feet from the
building next to it, and it's three feet. And that. Oh, my God,
Five years ago. And so she can't, like, no, you. She was just trying so

(57:55):
hard. She had it in for you. Yeah. And
him and the. The, like, the fire marshal, they were like, okay, you're
like, fine lady. Like, you're
fighting. Yeah, just go on. Just go ahead. Go
run your school. And so I took my kids, and
we got into the building, and it was so cute. Like,

(58:18):
I had already had it set up, and that was another huge expense. I was,
like, getting stuff from Facebook, Marketplace and, like, finding grants and
all kinds of stuff to get it furnished, and so it was
ready to go. But there were certain things that once the kids
got in there, they wanted to change. Like, I had, like, the podcasting room,
and none of my kids cared at all about the podcasting room. They didn't want

(58:41):
that. Oh. Okay. Like, we
did a podcasting unit, and they were like, no, not for me.
They wanted, like, an art room. So I was like, okay, what do you think?
Also, the township told me that my. My soundproof paneling was
illegal. So. Yeah. So I had
to pull down all the paneling. They were like, what do. I said to the

(59:02):
kids? What do you want to do? And they were like, they wanted a chalkboard
wall there. So the kids literally, like, sanded and
painted the wall themselves, because that's what they wanted there.
It was cool. Yeah. So then. Yeah, now we're in the building. And so when.
When. So this is past the September date, obviously.
So after the nomadic experience

(59:23):
of like, teaching all over the place. Like, what month are we in
for that first year by the time you guys actually got in? January. Wow.
Yeah. Yeah. January. That's a lot.
Yeah. Yeah. It must have been such a. Such a
relief by the time that came around just to be able
to start. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was great. Yeah. And then

(59:46):
I grew it. I grew it back to 12. Now I have 12 students enrolled.
Nice. Yeah. And you still have the
two teachers or you're still. I had to let them go. Okay. I had to
let them go. But I did just hire a new math teacher,
so she's starting in September with me and
Lionel. Carmen. She's going to be my. My assistant.

(01:00:10):
Oh, really? Nice. Yes. He came and she did.
She did summer camp with me, and the kids loved her and the families
loved her because she doesn't speak English. And so it's like
Spanish immersion with her because she doesn't care if you understand her or not. She's
going to speak. Right. You're going to get it one way. Or the other,
right? Yeah. She's such a huge help. So, yeah,

(01:00:32):
she'll be there with me. And then I have one other staff member. That's
amazing. And this was January of last year. Right. So last year was
the first. So this September is going to be the start of your second, second
year. Yes. Nice. Yep. And do
you have the, like, the same kids carrying over, like, last year, this
year? Yes, I have the same kids from last year and then new ones.

(01:00:55):
Nice. So continuing to grow. Yes, continue to
grow. I still don't have use of the back building, though, so I have to
get through that site plan approval for that. But we'll get there.
So that's a continuing fight, unfortunately.
But, I mean, I would imagine it would get easier

(01:01:15):
being, you know, once you're, like, established and have, like, proof of concept or something
like that, maybe. That can, I'm hoping, help the argument. Towards that, the
nonsensical argument that they're making. Yeah. I'm praying for that
day to come because there were all kinds of
issues, too. Like the. When I got into the building, the fire panel
had been running but not connected. I don't know

(01:01:38):
how to explain this in any other way, but it was. It was attempting
to connect to a line that it was not connected to. Like the legal
fire panel that I need, and it burned out
and it needed replacing and the landlord refused to
replace it, and I couldn't operate without that being
functional. So it was. In total, it was like

(01:02:01):
a $6,000 hit Ouch. Out of nowhere
that he didn't want to help me with. So there was so many little things
like that that needed to be taken care of. Right? Yeah. And
I feel like I'm not, I'm not really out of the woods entirely. So
at some point I'm hoping that I will feel like I've
made it, that I'll be able to feel. Yeah, the joy of having

(01:02:23):
come through it. But yeah, I'm not there yet. But you're still, you're in the
thick of it still. But in the latter part
of the beginnings, I would, I would say I would characterize it as.
Yeah, at least that's what it sounds like from the outside looking in. And
what, what is the. So once you do get
the approval for that back building,

(01:02:45):
that what does that allow you to do? Like to expand, to get more
students or like what's the. Or do you have like a different
purpose for that? So that back building, initially I
was thinking I'm just going to use the front building and the back building. I
was going to make it like a co working space for parents.
And then I was like, that's not the best use of the space. Let me

(01:03:07):
turn it into a store for the kids so that
they can like sell out of it and like it can be like, you know,
because we were learning about entrepreneurship and a
funny thing, last year, every single parent that I had was an entrepreneur.
Nice. Yeah. I was like, the kids can, can, you
know, they're constantly making stuff, they're super creative kids. And I was like, maybe I

(01:03:29):
can turn that into a shop. But there's such a demand for this
that I'm most likely just going to have to use it as another classroom. Nice.
Yeah, that's a good problem to have more students hire. Yeah,
I'll be able to hire more people and yeah, and maybe you can. Work
still, still serve that like entrepreneurial like vein
of it, of that idea and just like move it to like an online type

(01:03:50):
of thing. Like help them set up like shopify shops or something like that, you
know? Yeah, exactly. I wanted to
ask you, in our last conversation you mentioned how like
writing and storytelling, they played a huge role in your,
in your classroom, your experience teaching. So how have you
figured out ways to weave those values into the foundation of your

(01:04:13):
new school? So okay, it's in
everything. It's in literally everything. So all
the kids work on their own curriculum, right? They work on their own curriculum for
ELA and for math. But the
one and only school supply that they have to bring because I supply everything
is a journal and it's a journal that they have to pick out

(01:04:35):
on their own. Like, like something that they love. And because it's not going to
be read, I don't read it. But they have journaling time every day. They
start the day there. I'm also a Christian school, so we start with prayer, but
we do. They do journaling in the morning. I do read aloud with them every
day. And so we're reading through like the big things
that they normally probably wouldn't read, like

(01:04:57):
some classics that they probably wouldn't want to hear, I mean,
or read on their own. But it's more fun with a read aloud. And
then in the afternoons we do
project based learning. So their science and their history is all hands
on. And it's units that I create and they're aligned with
state standards, but they are

(01:05:20):
all like project based where the kids are building
and watching and writing and
every way in that they can have it's going to be available to
them in the projects that we do. And so every unit
that we cover I have a book list for.
So the kids are reading for every unit,

(01:05:43):
books that go along with it. They're also reading for the morning prayer because the
morning Bible time is also units that I created. So we're
covering like fruits of the Spirit. The first one is love.
So it's an 18 week fruits of the spirit
curriculum that I created. And so the first fruit of the Spirit in the
Bible is love. And so we have picture books that they're buddy reading

(01:06:04):
to do with love. They're reading poetry about love. They're defining
love for themselves. They are creating a class project around
love. Same thing for Joy. Same thing for like the science
units that they're doing. They're reading biographies and
fictional stories and then they have the read aloud with me. And then we have
independent reading every day. So they have their own reading

(01:06:26):
goals for their independent reading, their buddy reading
books together. And then I have a parent book club that
I run with my parents also. And that's like
after school times or like during. Yeah, it's after
school. The parent book club is after school. Yeah.
Nice. That's so cool. So it's like. Yeah, it's like

(01:06:47):
constant reading and the kids like during their independent reading
block, you know, I have a bunch of blankets and couches and
so they're just kind of like lounging and they have been known to like
make a reading for it and reading the reading for it.
And it's really sweet. It's like the reading aspect of it is

(01:07:07):
always, it's always made,
it's intentionally made to make them feel cozy
and loved while it's happening.
So I'm reading to them and they're snacking and they're cozy. They're reading
to themselves and they're cozy. They're having their, their buddy reading
and they're cozy and so they come to love it. You know, our

(01:07:30):
book conversations, the projects that come out of what they're reading,
if they're always like really dynamic and super
cool, but also, you know, literacy is not just reading, it's
speaking, listening, writing. So
that's also incorporated into everything that they're learning. Like, can you present this to
the class? Can we have like open discussions where people are asking you

(01:07:53):
questions and can you defend what you just said and can you explain it in
a way that everyone can understand it? They still make videos.
We have like a room upstairs. Not the original podcasting room across from
it. I brought all my lighting and stuff and they make videos up there
to learn how to communicate effectively. So that's awesome.
And those are such like, like tangible life skills, you know, the,

(01:08:15):
the communication aspect of that. And when I, when I hear
you describe it, I kind of, it makes me think of giving sugar
with the medicine, that saying, like with kids. So it's like they're
like in such a comfortable, happy, relaxed
environment that it kind of like allows the learning to like penetrate more. I
would think it's a treat. It's a treat. Like

(01:08:38):
reading time is a treat. I've asked all my, we're
constantly asking them, like, how do you feel? Tell me what you like, Tell me
what you don't like, you know, and all of them say that their
favorite part is independent reading, which is surprising
because like the hands on aspect of the, in
the afternoon, like the enrichment block of the day is so

(01:08:59):
dynamic and fun. Like they make huge messes. They're like building
stuff and painting and you know, they're like, it's just, it's
so dynamic and they, they really like the independent reading with it
just laying down quietly with the lights off and like. And reading.
Gotcha. Yeah, all of it, all of it is meant to be. And also like
the project based learning that we do is child led.

(01:09:22):
So they choose what they want to learn about and then it's up to
me to make sure that it's like dynamic and that they're getting all the,
everything that they need to know. How do you learn? How do you Research.
Where do you find answers to the questions? How do you ask questions? What do
you want to know? What more can we learn? You know, how
else can we research this? Who can we ask? Who can we visit?

(01:09:45):
So, yeah, but. But they get to say, like, I'm really into
literally anything. And then we'll build a unit around. It
that's super cool. Something like that reinforces their.
Again, going back to, like, actual, tangible life lessons that that type of
opportunity within their. Have a stake within their learning process, not to just
be takers of the process reinforces their, like, leadership and

(01:10:07):
growth and. That sounds awesome. Yeah, it's different
from, you know, when you're in other settings. Sometimes, like, the
kids will be like, what do I need to know to pass the test? Exactly.
And here it's like, no, what do you want to know? And how are we
going to figure that out? What questions do you. I'm not. I'm not
telling you anything. I'm just asking you, so. Right.

(01:10:29):
But you're also in a position from your
prior experiences in the, like, traditional teaching
systems to be able to kind of
like, reconcile both sides. Like, you give them, it sounds like, to me, the most
freedom possible to be stakeholders in their actual learning process
and as involved as they can be, while also making sure

(01:10:52):
that they are, they're protected on the other side, on
the, you know, the real world. All right, now, when you go to college,
this is actually going to translate into like a high school diploma that you can.
You're not going to get turned away at the door type of thing and say,
oh, you got to go back to ninth grade. Be like, in that situation, you're
balancing both sides. That's amazing. I'm doing my best. Thank

(01:11:13):
you. I'm trying my best. So to
wrap, I wanted to ask you, what advice would
you give other teachers who thought about creating their
own school or program, but just don't know where to start? And I think
you laid out like a very situation that's very unique to you and your
experience, but then I'm sure will also

(01:11:36):
resonate with other folks thinking about doing the same thing that, you
know, they might go through. Maybe not the exact same hiccups that you did, but
some of them certainly. So just this episode in and of
itself kind of answers that question. But if there's anything else that you
want to leave folks with that may be thinking about creating their own
school or just any entrepreneurial endeavor that they're

(01:11:59):
haven't taken the leap towards, I'm gonna.
Say first of all if, if a school of your own
is a dream, I would say Kaipod,
because Kaipod serves all of the United States and also other countries.
Like they have helped people open schools in Canada and Jamaica.
So they're. Yeah, I would. If a person wants

(01:12:22):
to open a school, I would say go to Kaipod. I'm going to get their
information from you so I can link to it in the episode notes as well.
Okay, that's a good idea because yeah, they're excellent. And actually, real
quick, I'm sorry to cut you off because I know I just asked you the
question and I'm cutting you off from answering the question,
but just because I forgot to ask this earlier. With everything that

(01:12:42):
Kaipod helped with, like you said, like their legal team, the marketing, like everything that
you went through with them, is that like
a pay as you go type of service? Do they have like a stake in
the school type of thing? Like how does that work, if you don't mind me
asking? Yeah. So I am full owner. I have
100% of my school. They do not own it. They also don't have any

(01:13:03):
right to change anything at all that I want to do. And they, they
advise me. But I, I'm the ultimate decision maker. Right.
So it's full freedom for me. They. The contract with them is
3% of tuition for three years and that's it.
Awesome. Wow. Yeah. And then they, they help.
I think they may have increased that by now, I don't know. So new.

(01:13:27):
New people. I'm sure it's not more than 10%, but
yeah, I would check that. But it's. It's a percentage of the tuition, a very
small percentage of tuition for three years. And they help you for
all three years. And then you can re. Re up with them if you feel
like you still need it. Got it. Okay. That's awesome.
So what else would you say for, for folks wanting to, to start their own

(01:13:48):
school? I would say that. So I'm in
a lot of group chats with different founders from different
regions and we're constantly talking about things that are coming
up and things that we're facing. And as.
As horrible and stressful as mine was, I don't
know anyone who didn't deal with something very stressful, even though

(01:14:10):
all the problems were different. So I think
that what people need to know is that you, you know, you have to imagine
like worst case scenario and then that
it's going to stress you out. But there is always a way.
Right? And I think if the desire

(01:14:31):
to create Change to build something that you know
is needed, that can be done in a way that's not being done yet.
If that will is strong, then
all you need is to find the next step.
One step, and you're, like, still in it. You can still keep going.
You don't have to solve the whole issue or every issue that comes at you

(01:14:54):
all in one shot. It's just one. What one thing can you tackle
at a time? How can you be creative to solve the problem
and then you'll just stay in the game. But it requires, like,
anything else that's new. It requires leaders
and founders who are tenacious
and who can cry. Because we all cry. We, like, are on the phone

(01:15:17):
sobbing all the time. And then get up in the morning and just like, do
it again. Do it again. Yeah, that's awesome. That's great advice. And it ties
to something you mentioned earlier, which was just getting comfortable with
knowing that you're not going to have 100 control of
any every given situation and getting comfortable with
living in that while you figure things out. Yeah.

(01:15:39):
Yeah, right? That's awesome. And Amanda, let the
folks listening know where they can learn more about Lucas
Literacy Lab. So Lucas Literacy Lab on all
platforms except for TikTok. I haven't jumped in there.
Yeah, maybe at some point. So Instagram, Facebook. The website
is lucasliteracylab.com. yeah. And we're in Oak Bridge, New

(01:16:01):
Jersey. That's awesome. Thanks so much for coming
on the show again. I will link to everything in the episode notes as well
for the folks listening. And thanks again, man. That was awesome. Thanks for having me.
Of course. Yeah, thank you.
And that, folks, was episode 290 of the Spontane Today
podcast. How great was that? What I love about Amanda's

(01:16:24):
story is that it's equal parts resilience and vision.
She started with that little teaching pod in her living
room, faced every obstacle imaginable, especially
that pretty unique nomadic one nomadic teaching period that she
experienced and still managed to open up a school
that reflects her values as an educator and as a parent.

(01:16:48):
A big takeaway for me is that her journey reminds us that creativity isn't
just about writing books or recording podcasts, although
it's definitely that. But it's also creating
the environments and systems where people can thrive. And
Amanda literally built one up from the ground up.
Thank you very much, Amanda, for taking the time to come on and to share.

(01:17:09):
And I can't wait for you to come back on in the future to update
us on all the progress and flourishing of Lucas Literacy
Lab Spun Today listeners, please check out the Lucas
Literacy Lab website and socials as well as
Amanda's children's book I Need an Idea, all of which
and more will be linked to in the episode notes. Also check out the

(01:17:31):
webpage for this specific episode for some
photos of the school which Amanda shared along with a full
transcript this episode. For that you can go to spun
today.com
podcast
forward/29290 and I'll check
you guys out next time. What's up

(01:17:53):
folks? Tony here. I hope you're enjoying the Spun Today podcast
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Thanks for listening.
I love you, Aiden. I love you Daddy.
I love you, Grayson.

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#290 – Building the Lucas Literacy Lab: One Writer’s Journey from Home Classroom to School Founder

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#290 – Building the Lucas Literacy Lab: One Writer’s Journey from Home Classroom to School Founder