March 1, 2025 • 39 mins
Dana Fikes, a veteran educator and author, shared her journey from teaching two-year-olds at her aunt's school in Pasadena to working at JPL and NASA, and later at PAC Bell and Head Start. She discussed her book, "The Pirate Who Loved Flip Flops," which addresses bullying and promotes individuality. Dana emphasized the importance of creating a supportive learning environment and shared her experiences with bullying. She also highlighted her nonprofit, the Charles Fikes Foundation, which focuses on youth with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and her work integrating yoga and mindfulness in schools.
Dana's contact information and resources:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pirate-who-loved-flip-flops-dana-macc-fikes/1138811704
Social media handles:
Instagram @danamacc
Facebook @danamacc
YouTube @danamacc
Wellness and Yoga sites:
www.danamacc.com
www.seeingrealsuccess.com
Non-profit website & information:
www.thecharlesfikesfoundation.org
Instagram: @charlesfikesfoundation
https://www.acesaware.org/
https://numberstory.org/
We drop new episodes every Saturday at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
TD Flenaugh (00:01):
Has your child experienced bullying? If so, you
want to stick around for thisepisode, because our guest today
has written a book about it, andwe're going to get all the
details for how to protect yourchild in this type of issue. Hi.
Thank you so much for joiningthe Falling for Learning
Podcast. We have this podcast tohelp parents and caregivers with
(00:24):
having the resources, strategiesand tools needed to make sure
that their children are on trackfor learning and to stay on
track for success.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Dana Fikes, how are you doingtoday?
Dana Fikes (00:43):
I am well. Thank you for having me excited to be
here.
TD Flenaugh (00:53):
Okay, so tell us well. First of all, you should
know about Dana as that she is aveteran educator, and she is an
author as well, and she's alsoan entrepreneur in other areas.
So can you tell us a little bitabout what you do?
Dana Fikes (01:18):
Thank you. Thank you. So first and foremost, yes,
I am an educator. I have workedin the field of education,
starting when I was 18 yearsold. I have an aunt who had an
all black school in Pasadena.
I'm born and raised in Pasadena,Pasadena area, sending much love
and positive energy to all of myfamily who's lost their homes
(01:40):
and those who've been affectedby the fires. So I want to get
that out. I grew up in Pasadena,so my aunt had a school that she
started with her friends, andwhen I became of age, I was the
teacher in the two year oldclassroom. So I had two year
olds, and at that time, I had myown son, so he was in the class
too, and he was one. So thatbegan my journey. I worked at
(02:03):
Pasadena Unified, starting outas an instructional aid in the
after school program, and freshout of high school, went to
Pasadena High School, went toCal State, LA, and at that
point, didn't know what I reallywanted to do. Was unsure, like
most young people. And fromthere, I dropped out. It's like,
you know, just having fun andpartying and having a good time,
(02:27):
and then eventually, workingwith Pasadena Unified, I was
like, You need to figure outwhat you want to do with your
life. And I remember we weretalking earlier, and when you
want to be the parent thatsupports your child's dream. So
if I would have done anythingelse, other than being an
educator, I would have been anactress, and that's what I
(02:47):
wanted to do. My family waslike, No, you can't do that, you
know, you need to go somewhere,make some money. So that was put
on the back burner. So while Iwas working at passing unified,
I was learning from, you know,my co workers, and then
administrators going to school,and then you can, you know, kind
of get yourself higher up on thepay scale. So I went to PCC,
(03:09):
where I started learning aboutearly childhood education and
just moving through, like thepassing unified system. And then
eventually I decided, yeah, Ithink I do want to be a teacher.
TD Flenaugh (03:28):
Okay,and so one second you were yes, that you
worked with your aunt when youwere of age. Tell us what that
age was, because it sounds likeyou were really young.
Dana Fikes (03:37):
I was 18. Okay, so you were 18. I was 18. You were
there, yeah. I was 18, 1819,working with the two year olds.
And so her school focused on allblack children. The Swahili.
Name is amawale Ujamaa. She anda couple of her friends were the
founders back in the early 70s,and they were Pan Africanists
(03:58):
who focused on the teachings ofMarcus, Garvey, Malcolm X and so
they are a pillar in thePasadena Community. She's no
longer there. She hadtransitioned to a charter
school, maybe in the late, early2000s and now she's currently
retired. But that's where Istarted. And so all of my you
know, cousins, her children. Andthen my brother went, my son
(04:22):
went. I never went there, butbecause that's my aunt, my
mother's oldest sister, thefamily was very much a part of
the school, including mygrandmother, who cooked all the
nutritious meals, and she'swhere I learned about being
vegetarian, although 80% vegannow, but before it was like this
thing for people to do now, likeshe was already on that
(04:43):
trajectory with her friends. Allthey fed, you were nutritious
foods and things of that nature.
So I've always been aroundeducation. That's just something
that my family is, you know,into there's a lot of teachers
in my family, so once I got backon board. Work with what I was
going to do in my life. I was atpassing unified, and I left at
(05:05):
one one summer, we had a guestcome in from jpl nasa to talk
about science with our students,and I asked the lady that came,
could she tell me how I couldget in to the lab? And she told
(05:26):
me how. And so I left thedistrict, and I went to work for
JPL and NASA, wow. And so what Idid, yeah, what I did was our
mission looked at Black Holes inouter space through a technology
called Space VLBI. And ourmission, it was a million dollar
(05:48):
mission. So the reason why I hadto leave, although my project
manager, he found me somethingelse on the lab, but I wasn't,
you know, really like, sure,like, is this gonna like, if
this one ends, how can maybeanother one will end too? So,
but the time that I was withthere, I worked with the
(06:09):
engineers and the scientists,and we had a collaboration with
Russia and Japan, and they wouldtravel. So I would travel with
them, and we would do likesymposiums for the youth or
schools, and so I would have toteach them, you know, what I
knew. And then we would do likearts and crafts that were
mimicking like what ourspacecraft called hauka looked
(06:31):
like. And so the children wouldget to make those things like
that. And it was fun. It was funtraveling and hanging out with a
scientist and then working onthe lab, which was one of the
most magnificent experiencesI've ever had part of my
education journey. And so fromthere, right, from there, I went
to work for PAC Bell, and didn'tpan out. And I remember one day
(06:55):
I was outside on my break, andthere were these group of
students on a field trip. Theyhad to be like, kindergarten,
and I remember everybody'soutside on their break, you
know, but the kids were walkingby with a teacher, and they're
all like, waving at me, like,hi, hi. And I took that as a
sign. And so from there, I waslike, I need to get back into
(07:17):
the classroom. So I went to HeadStart in Pasadena, and I was
teacher. Then I progressed up toteacher supervisor, and then I
became a site director, where Ihad sites in Glendale and in
Pasadena, I was the early Headsite director. And then at that
time, we got our dollars fromObama, when he was president, so
(07:39):
I was able to open up early HeadStart early Head Start Sites,
although we already had somewith the agency that I worked
with, but we opened upadditional ones. And when we
lost those our dollars, I waslike, Hmm, maybe I need to go
back to the Head Start side,just in case. Like,
TD Flenaugh (07:55):
Can I stop you for a moment, what are ARA dollars?
Dana Fikes (07:59):
ARRA so it was something that Obama did. So the
R dollars, it was a R, R A, sohe did things like fix the
freeways or whatever, you know,and you could tap into that. So
we use the ARRA dollars that wereceived to open up more Early
Head Start Sites. Okay, sothat's how I was able to come on
from teacher supervisor to EarlyHead Start site director,
(08:21):
because we received the Ara Ara.
And I can't even tell you whatthe acronyms for at this point
in time, but it was the Rdollars. And so when those R
dollars start to diminish, I waslike money to go back to the
early Head Start side, I mean tothe Head Start side. So I did
that. And so from there, I wasworking on my master's degree,
(08:41):
and I had to leave there anyway,because you have to teach all
your degree. So I have twocredentials. I have a general ed
credential, which I got first,and I have a master's degree and
an early childhood special edcredential.
TD Flenaugh (08:57):
Okay, and can I give you a positive just for one
moment, because, yes, one of themain things about the falling
for learning podcast is talkingto guests about what really made
them fall in love with learning.
So what? Yes, obviously, whenyou were working with kids in
schools, and you have been, youknow, you have an extensive
amount of education yourself.
When you were young, what wasthat thing that really drew you
(09:19):
into learning and make you lovelearning. I,
Dana Fikes (09:23):
like I said, before I grew up in Pasadena, and I
remember talking about this withsome of my friends, I was like,
I've never had a bad experience,maybe one or two in my
education, educational career,so in elementary school. So I
was a head start child as well.
Even I'm telling you that Iworked at Head Start, I was a
Head Start student. And thenfrom there, I went to a school
(09:45):
called Sierra Madre, elementaryschool, kindergarten there, and
then first, second, third, andmost of my teachers, I counted
one day as I was an adult orblack women. They're black
women, and in these classrooms,I just had these wonderful
experiences with learning. Oneteacher that stands out in
(10:09):
particular, who I still know tothis day. Shout out to miss
West. Miss Juanita West, and shewas the sweetest, kindest
loving, nicest, but firm. Shecould be firm like that wasn't
her thing. She wasn't just afirm teacher, but if it had to
come out like, Yeah, but in herclassroom, the learning
(10:32):
environment, the ecology in theclassroom, was very relaxed, and
the learning that took place wasfrom a comfortable, calm space
where it was okay to fail. And Isay that because learning should
be messy for kids. Yeah. And sowhile learning is messy, you
(10:54):
also want to feel like, if youaren't successful, that you
still have the opportunity to besupported and uplifted in that
environment. And so she did thatseamlessly and effortlessly. And
so I had her for second andthird grade, and she's just a
remarkable individual. She's aremarkable individual. So if I
(11:18):
was to pinpoint any person otherthan being in Wisconsin, my
aunt's environment with school,it would be Miss West, because
she was the type of teacher thatmade you want to you might not
have thought you wanted aroundher. You will be teaching, but
on that campus, Sarah madre, soit's close to where the Eden
(11:41):
fires started, right? So in thatarea, there were a lot of nature
enthusiasts, and we were, wewere structured, and we sat
close to the mountain, and therewas this ravine, kind of like
eating, called Bailey Canyon. Sowe would go on impromptu field
trips, like up into the mountainto go hiking. And we had a room
(12:04):
on the campus called thediscovery room, so it's like a
science center exploration and,yeah, this was a time where, you
know, everyone wasn't hypervigilant whether or not kids
were going to be injured andhurt. So we would make candles.
We would make candles. Iremember dipping the little and
(12:26):
we will make candles. There wasguinea pigs in there. We would
experiment with, like, batteriesand electricity. We will make
cinnamon rolls in there, like,so it was like, maybe you would
go once a week from yourclassroom right to the discovery
room or whatever. And so myexperiences were that we had a
(12:47):
noon aide, Miss Phillips, olderCaucasian woman. She had a pool.
So after, like summer, gettingclose to, like June, she would
invite you to go to her house togo swimming. And so the
experiences, and then the wherethe school is is, like, nestled
against the mountain. So
TD Flenaugh (13:07):
Can I just like to say, like, you're so right,
right now, like a lot of thesethings are very much frowned
upon, right? And so people whodon't know like, we teach in
California, and I don't know ifyour district or if you're like
this, but for us, if it drizzlesa little bit, our kids have to
be in for recess. It's crazy
Dana Fikes (13:29):
Inclement weather time!
TD Flenaugh (13:30):
yes, it's like, okay, the kids might slip, they
might run, and they'll even say,Okay, this is a walking recess.
You could go outside, but yougotta walk because you might
slip or trip or something on theconcrete. So it's crazy, like
they're hyper vigilant about it.
And I don't know wherever youare listening or watching from,
if it's like that for you, butit does you guys tamper down on
(13:54):
some of those fun learningexperiences. And of course,
right falling for learning isall about like, how could you
have fun with learning, and whatwere those experiences that you
had as a kid? But some of thatis
Dana Fikes (14:09):
and so very much so
TD Flenaugh (14:10):
litigious you know, yes, yeah.
Dana Fikes (14:12):
And so very much so this was a nowadays, they
probably would call it a labschool, you know. And it truly
had a socio constructivistapproach. Um, totally Vygotsky,
like you're gonna be hands on inthis learning. And like I said,
we could go to Bailey Canyon. Itcould be, it would be like a
(14:32):
walking field trip where yourparents have already signed. So
it wasn't like you gotta waittill tomorrow. Like we could go
at the drop of a hat right offthe back of the school, and then
walking up into the canyon. Andso those experiences, and seeing
that from because I was at thatschool, from kindergarten,
first, second, third and fourthgrade. So that's five years
(14:56):
second and third. Miss West, whothat she inspired. Me to want to
teach. And then in fourth grade,I had Miss Nassif, and she was
into theater and vinyl. And sowe would listen to Annie. That
(15:17):
was the first time I had everlistened. And so when you're
listening, you definitely haveto engage your imagination. And
then when she would read, so twoof my favorite books and now
movies, which was Charlie theChocolate Factory. And then
Willie walk in the ChocolateFactory, because after her
(15:39):
reading it, and then you seen iton TV like that was a big deal,
like, where they have books togo to, you know, theater now, or
TV, like, it's just commonplace,but back then, you're like, Oh
my God, my teacher was readingthis book, and now it's on TV.
And as a kid, you don't know theprocess that that took, or
(16:00):
whatever. And so to this day,even for my son and my
grandchildren, Willie walked inon the Chocolate Factory is
their favorite movie too. AndAnnie one of my favorites
because she would play that onvinyl. She also introduced us to
the Wizard of Oz. And again,being with my grandma on, like,
a Friday night, and on CBS, itcomes on like, oh my goodness,
(16:22):
we were reading this in school,and so to now match the
characters with what was beingread. It was just an amazing
experience. And so that began mylove of wanting to read books
and adventure like movies thathad, like an idea of adventure
(16:43):
about them, and so I would saybeing at Sierra Madre would be
the beginning of my love and howI, you know, fell into learning
and why I decided that I wouldwant to be an educator slash
actor.
TD Flenaugh (17:05):
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learn to fall in love withwriting. It has the tips, tools,
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(17:29):
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That is very awesome. Wow. Somany like gems in there, like,
(17:52):
just that exploration, you know,bringing, you know, connecting
what you're reading to what yourwhat you know, what you see on
TV or even listening experiencelike, those are some great
things that I think you know. Weas educators, or parents need to
remember or thinking aboutmaking learning fun for our
(18:14):
kids. Absolutely. Yeah. So canyou tell us? You know, what do
you like? I know that you haveyour book. Can you tell us about
your book?
Dana Fikes (18:27):
Okay, so I have it here. It's the the pirate who
loved flip flops. So
TD Flenaugh (18:34):
the pirates flip flops, okay, yes,
Dana Fikes (18:37):
she loved flip flops. And so this came about.
So starting back where I wastelling you, being at Sierra
Madre, and we read, and theyread to us, and reading was a
big thing and a big deal, and itmattered. So I've read books
like Pippi, long stocking andthen Annie and, you know, fudge
(19:00):
and super fudge and things thatto me, had an air adventure. So
I love pirates. I love flipflops. And I I'm sure my love of
pirates came from being at goingto Disneyland and experiencing
the Pirates of the Caribbean,and then Pippy long stocking and
(19:20):
her father being a pirate. Sofrom that, my imagination has
always, you know, been in therealm of, what if I was to write
a book or create a story, andwhat would that sound or look
like? And so what I did was Itook my love of flip flops, I
took my love of pirates and mylove of my dog there. There he
(19:43):
is. It's Kodak right there. Itook my love of Kodak the right
and I came up with this story.
And it's the pirate who loveflip flops. So the premises,
Mackenzie. Here, that's her,see, there, her there, she's
reading a book. And so shewasn't so much into, you know,
(20:07):
toys and things of that nature,other than her baby burp up
doll. And so she loved, youknow, the swash buckling
Adventures of being a pirate.
And so in this adventure, shefills out an application because
she wants to go to pirate con.
And pirate con is a conventionwhere all the pirates get
(20:31):
together and they display theirtreasure, and then they, you
know, judges go around and theyvote on it and see who has the
best treasure. And it just sohappens, her treasure was
something that was near and dearto her heart, which are flip
flops. And so she gets talkedabout and demeaned and bullied
(20:51):
by these pirates at pirate con,but she remembers that because
she is the captain of our ownship. She gets to make new
rules, so she gets theirattention and gets the pirate
code, and she goes to work, andshe notes that whatever your
(21:11):
heart desires, whatever thethings that you are into, it is
okay to be unique. It is okay tobe different, and our
similarities and differences arethings that we have to relish
and respect. And just becauseshe liked flip flops doesn't
make her an anomaly. She canlike flip flops, and she still
(21:36):
can be a part of the piratesociety. And she made a new
rule, and she admonished themfor the bullying. And just so
happens that other pirates comeforth and they talk about the
things other than treasure thatthey are into and love, but were
afraid to come forward to talkabout because they didn't want
(22:01):
to be bullied, and they didn'twant to feel feel like that they
were different and not acceptingin this pirate society. And then
she, you know, goes on toencourage them and all the
readers as well, to always,always go after the desires of
your heart. And if you want toknow more, you gotta go get the
book
TD Flenaugh (22:24):
and really support this book. And these... Such a
strong message for students,right for kids out there that,
you know, we do often want to,you know, not stand out, to do
the things that everybody elseis doing what other everybody
else thinks is cool orinteresting. And part of
developing that self identity isbeing okay with being different
(22:48):
and speaking up for the thingsthat you like, no matter if
other people like it or not, orenjoy it or not. And you know,
that's, that's really, you know,that special sauce that we all
have right that individuality sowould agree.
Dana Fikes (23:03):
And in the pages of the book, I the last page of the
book, I do a call to action forparents, teachers, stakeholders,
anyone who is in a child's worldto help them understand what
they can do if they are facedwith bullying. October is
National anti bullying month,and they have a website, and
(23:27):
there's a plethora ofinformation on there at my
school site, we even did aschool wide anti bullying
assembly, and what we did incollaboration with me, our
school librarian at the time,and other teachers was I came up
(23:48):
with the idea of them signing aanti bullying contract. So we
had a big piece of constructionpaper, the butcher paper, and we
had our anti bullying sign. Andafter each assembly, and I
talked about it, we encouragethem to pick up a marker and
(24:09):
sign their name to the contractthat they would be upstanders
and not bystanders, if they are,you know, witnessing bullying of
a friend and what they can do sothat they feel empowered. And
one of the things I didn'tmention at Sierra Madre, I was
bullied. I was bullied, and Iremember being on the steps and
(24:31):
a young guy, Scotty, in myclassroom. I remember he pushed
me down the stairs, and this wasin second grade and it chipped
my tooth. I had a chipped out togo to the doctor and everything,
and it didn't feel good at all.
And that stuck with me, and evenwhen I got to so at that time,
(24:52):
they didn't have sixth grade inmiddle school. I. Okay, so once
I left Sierra Madre, I went tofield Elementary, which is even
closer look, further down thehill, but closer still to the
Eden fire area. And fifth gradehad a similar experience. And so
you might not know, but at yourchild's school, they're
(25:18):
definitely going to be bullies,and your child may be being
bullied and not know how to tellyou that. I never told my mom. I
know what to say. You know. Howdo you say that? And then you
have maybe older cousins oraunts or whoever's in your
family who may have experiencedsimilar but telling you how you
have to stand up for yourself,or you know what to do, maybe
(25:40):
you gotta fight, or whatever,and you're like, Well, what if
I'm not a fighter? What if I'mnot a fighter. So how do I
navigate that space? Right? Sothis book is definitely based
upon some personal experiences,where it wasn't until I got to
high school and I was telling afriend of mine, probably, we
(26:01):
spoke like two weeks ago, thatthe one day that I remember I
stood up for myself in highschool, right? And it was with
my own group of friends that Ihang out with that they said a
couple of them thought that Idid something, I didn't do it,
and I don't operate that way.
And I was probably like, No, Ihave to speak up, because if I
(26:23):
don't, then this is either goingto continue and it doesn't feel
good at all, so I have to speakup. And many times I'll say this
to parents, and if you knowsharing this with your children,
that when they feel empoweredand maybe you do like what we
call a social story with them,or act it out. That strength and
(26:44):
that empowerment that comes fromthe first time that they
implement this is going to helpthem for the rest of their
lives, honestly, because thenyou feel like, oh, wow, very
powerful, like they feel as if Iwas able to try that in a safe
space, and now they feel like,okay, now I've got my parents,
(27:07):
they got my back, or my mom, ormy caregiver, or whoever my
guardian. I'm gonna try thisout. And trust me, they will get
an opportunity to try it out.
And what I will say is, whenthey do come to you and talk
about it and speak about it.
Support them. You know, supportthem. And even if they end up
with the one with the referral,hear them out. You Always Want
(27:29):
to Hear them out first, so thatthey will know this is still a
safe haven for me and I can talkto you whether I was in the
wrong or not, so that you keepthat dialog going, because as
they get older, we know, becausewe were all, you know,
teenagers, and you've at somepoint that that conversation,
(27:52):
depending on that dynamic of theparent, caregiver and child, it
will start to lessen. And inthat then you their peers again,
you already know that is thefirst influence for them. So you
want to still be in theballpark. Yeah, of this realm of
influence, you want to be in theballpark. So for me, it was
(28:15):
personal, but my love of it ofadventure. I'm a Star Wars fan.
You know, I consider myselfdefinitely a Jedi, like I said,
I love all all the pirate films,Pirate Caribbean. I love Johnny
Depp. So all of those, I evendress up when I go to some of
the schools I've been to, manyschools within LA Unified that I
(28:37):
go and even on some weekends,dressing up as a pirate with my
parrot on the side. The only onewho can't go is my dog, because
I think that would be a littlescary for some kids. So although
they really want to see him,
TD Flenaugh (28:51):
hold on until you say you go on the weekend. Tell
me more about that on
Dana Fikes (28:56):
the weekends, like some of the principals, if they
want me to show up on a weekendto like, if they're doing at
their site, some of them doliteracy fairs, and they do
events, and they'll, you know,reach out to me. Hey, I want you
to come and you know, we'rehaving this event. And are you
interested? And yes, okay, well,I have you on the flyer. Let's
do this. And so, yes, thosethings author reads all the
(29:19):
time, passing the library. Shoutout to again, Pasadena, the
mayor is also someone who I wentto school with. So end of 2020
Yeah, at the end of 2020 I did aread online for La pinaresca
library, which was one of ourlibraries, and the mayor was on
and again, Victor Gordo, he's agood friend who I, you know,
(29:41):
matriculated through schoolwith, and so that felt really
good knowing that you know youcan come back and then give to
the community. And those roots,again, are instilled in me,
because that's what my aunt andher friends did in the community
from feed. Being, you know, theyouth to science fairs to events
(30:05):
at the Jackie Robinson or so. Icome from that, and so it's like
hard to move away.
TD Flenaugh (30:13):
Yeah, you're carrying on the legacy that's
amazing, exactly, exactly.
Dana Fikes (30:18):
So it's just a part of who I am, and with that said,
the other entrepreneurial thingsthat I do have, I connect them
with the educational piece,simply because it's easy to do
that, considering I'm a 20 yearpractice or 25 plus years, I
(30:42):
think it was 27 practitioner ofyoga and meditation. And in my
classroom, I noticed, you know,there were students that weren't
even in my classroom who wouldcome into my classroom just
looking for respite and help,and particularly with some
bullying. The reason why theywill be connected with me is
(31:04):
when they see you on campus assomeone they can trust. How do
they know that? Because you sayhi to them, because you're
smiling at them, and you seethem, and I was at a small
school at one point, anddifferent assemblies, and some
of them may have been in myclassroom if they presented with
an IEP at one time, they mayhave moved past that and no
(31:27):
longer have an IEP, but they'regoing to remember me. The
families remember me, and then Idid a collaboration with my pre
K students and third grade,following them through fourth
grade, using surveys to see howthe yoga and mindfulness program
that I was implementing withthem was helping them with their
academic success and in theirbehaviors. And so I would track
(31:49):
that, and we would have journalsand things of that nature, so
they knew it was a safe space inthe first Yeah.
TD Flenaugh (31:56):
So awesome, wow.
And just really tracking, youknow, what is your results?
Yeah,
Dana Fikes (32:01):
yeah. And then at one point we didn't have middle
school, then we got MiddleSchool. And so, you know, the
middle school mentality. So Iwould see them sometimes again.
These were some that I had, somethat they just knew of me. So I
was like, I need you to comeback and write in your journal
about, are you still using thepractices? And, you know,
(32:22):
because it was hard to get themto come in, not because it was
me, but because how theprincipal decided she wanted to
run her school so they didn'thave that access to me as they
would have liked. Or, you know,that to me should have been
because relationship buildingand behavior, they go hand in
(32:43):
hand, because you can't shapebehavior if you don't have
relationships, and that is inyour household and even in the
school. So I wrote a grant.
There was a grant that we wereprivy to, and wrote it up, got
the funds because I wanted tocreate a room called breathing
space on the campus. Studiesshow that if you implement not
(33:04):
just positive behaviorinterventions but meditation,
mindfulness and yoga on yourschool campus as an alternative
to corrective measures, again,you see a change in not only
behavior but their academicscores. And so I got tired of
seeing the kids walk by myclassroom and going to the
(33:24):
office, like, what are theygoing to do in the office once
they're there, once they'rethey're just sitting there. But
if you have a space, okay, thatuses trauma informed strategies,
if you have a space where youare actually seeing, not just
seeing, but seeing the children,right? If you have a space that
(33:47):
is focused on the type oflearners that they are, right?
So coming from a sensorybackground, be it visual,
auditory, kinesthetic, tactile,I put in the grant for all these
different things, from yoga matsto pillows. I wanted even a TV
because I wanted to be able toshow them documentaries that
(34:09):
reflected mindfulness withchildren and students, and even
letting them see themselves aswe filmed different things and
kept track of what we were doingand your grand so all those
things, the grant got me allthose things, but what did not
happen was it fully coming tofruition for whatever those
(34:30):
reasons may be. But I know I didmy part, and I did it in a big
way.
TD Flenaugh (34:38):
I really, I'm just so impressed with all of your
things again. Yes, Dana bikesinformation is going to be in
the show notes. And it soundslike you have, you know, you
know, you go to school. So ifpeople wanted to reach out to
you, where would they find you?
Dana Fikes (34:57):
They could find me on I. My all of my channels are
Dana Macc. My website isdanamacc.com. I even have my
health and wellness a separatewealth website. It's Seeing Real
Success. So that's my company.
That's my LLC for wellnesscoaching.
TD Flenaugh (35:17):
So say it when we treat them a little bit slower.
Dana Fikes (35:20):
So my first website is Dana D, a n, a Mac, M, a C,
c.com, my health and wellnessbusiness is seeing like seeing,
with your eyes, realsuccess.com. So you can find me
on those platforms and then onsocial media. You can find me at
(35:41):
Dana Mac, on Instagram,Facebook, Tiktok, and that's two
C's, not ck, two C's. And sothat's where you can definitely
find me working on Book Two,
TD Flenaugh (35:55):
alright?
Dana Fikes (35:56):
In the series? Yes.
And so our good friend is a stemstudent, and she will be
traveling to help her friends inGhana with her prize possession
that she's created for thescience fair and won and back on
the show.
TD Flenaugh (36:15):
It sounds like we have so many things to share and
so many resources andinformation. So are there any
like last piece of like advice,or anything that you want to
give?
Dana Fikes (36:28):
Absolutely, teachers, last piece. Yes, last
piece of advice that I wouldgive. I started a nonprofit in
my father's name, the childCharles Fikes foundation that
focuses on youth with ACES. Areadverse childhood experiences we
had the first Surgeon Generalfor California. Her name is Dr
Nadine Burke, and she did notstart this movement. She just
(36:50):
picked up the work from the 1998research that was done by the
CDC. And I want to say, was itUCLA that they had done about
ACEs? And there's 10 that theylook at. There can be many more
aces. But what I would say toyou is, from a relationship
(37:13):
base, Oprah has six aces, youmight want to find out how many
aces you have, and those are thethings are going to encumber our
children when they are in schoolfrom the academics and behaviors
and things that you might see.
Dr Nadine Burke has beenchampioning the pediatric world,
when you get all these differentscreenings and things done, you
know, your child goes in for acheckup, she's put it in place
(37:36):
through her website. She has awebsite, number, story.org, and
then aces aware, where you cango in and check your own aces.
You can see what your child isworking with, because that
information is going to betantamount to the type of
services that you may need foryour child and how they are
operating in the schools. Youmay not even know any of this.
(37:57):
This might be the first time youheard it. So I would encourage
you to, number one, ask yourpediatrician about ACEs. It
could be, you know, neglect. Youmight be a guardian who you
know, or you've adopted a child,they may have had neglect. It
could be a parent that wasincarcerated. It could be a
parent that is no longer in thefamily. It could be the events
that we see happening right nowthat have become so, you know,
TD Flenaugh (38:23):
we have talked about this on our show before on
our show before we knowpeople, yeah, yeah. But it's
something that we need tocontinue to talk about and
share.
Dana Fikes (38:30):
We have to continue to talk about the aces. Oh,
yeah. So that is the work that Ido,
TD Flenaugh (38:35):
yes, yeah, yeah.
Dana Fikes (38:37):
That is the work that I do as far as my
nonprofit, and then bringing inSTEM and social emotional
learning to help mitigate thoseeffects and put them in spaces
where they are undervalued andunderserved, so that they know
that they can be stem stars andthey can regulate and learn what
it means to co regulate, selfregulate, from a Social
(38:59):
emotional place,
TD Flenaugh (38:59):
okay, bringing in those positive childhood
experiences. Oh, absolutelyright. Yes. Again for joining us
on the Falling for LearningPodcast, and all the parents and
educators out there make sureyou're doing something today
that will give the children youserve the competitive advantage.
(39:21):
Thanks again for supporting thefalling for learning podcast,
new episodes go live everySaturday at 5pm you can watch us
onyoutube.com/@fallingforlearning,
or listen on all major podcastplatforms, such as Apple,
Google, Audible, Spotify andmuch more for more resources,
(39:42):
visit,fallinginlovewithlearning.com we
really appreciate you. Have awonderful week.
Has your child experienced bullying? If so, you
want to stick around for thisepisode, because our guest today
has written a book about it, andwe're going to get all the
details for how to protect yourchild in this type of issue. Hi.
Thank you so much for joiningthe Falling for Learning
Podcast. We have this podcast tohelp parents and caregivers with
(00:24):
having the resources, strategiesand tools needed to make sure
that their children are on trackfor learning and to stay on
track for success.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Dana Fikes, how are you doingtoday?
Dana Fikes (00:43):
I am well. Thank you for having me excited to be
here.
TD Flenaugh (00:53):
Okay, so tell us well. First of all, you should
know about Dana as that she is aveteran educator, and she is an
author as well, and she's alsoan entrepreneur in other areas.
So can you tell us a little bitabout what you do?
Dana Fikes (01:18):
Thank you. Thank you. So first and foremost, yes,
I am an educator. I have workedin the field of education,
starting when I was 18 yearsold. I have an aunt who had an
all black school in Pasadena.
I'm born and raised in Pasadena,Pasadena area, sending much love
and positive energy to all of myfamily who's lost their homes
(01:40):
and those who've been affectedby the fires. So I want to get
that out. I grew up in Pasadena,so my aunt had a school that she
started with her friends, andwhen I became of age, I was the
teacher in the two year oldclassroom. So I had two year
olds, and at that time, I had myown son, so he was in the class
too, and he was one. So thatbegan my journey. I worked at
(02:03):
Pasadena Unified, starting outas an instructional aid in the
after school program, and freshout of high school, went to
Pasadena High School, went toCal State, LA, and at that
point, didn't know what I reallywanted to do. Was unsure, like
most young people. And fromthere, I dropped out. It's like,
you know, just having fun andpartying and having a good time,
(02:27):
and then eventually, workingwith Pasadena Unified, I was
like, You need to figure outwhat you want to do with your
life. And I remember we weretalking earlier, and when you
want to be the parent thatsupports your child's dream. So
if I would have done anythingelse, other than being an
educator, I would have been anactress, and that's what I
(02:47):
wanted to do. My family waslike, No, you can't do that, you
know, you need to go somewhere,make some money. So that was put
on the back burner. So while Iwas working at passing unified,
I was learning from, you know,my co workers, and then
administrators going to school,and then you can, you know, kind
of get yourself higher up on thepay scale. So I went to PCC,
(03:09):
where I started learning aboutearly childhood education and
just moving through, like thepassing unified system. And then
eventually I decided, yeah, Ithink I do want to be a teacher.
TD Flenaugh (03:28):
Okay,and so one second you were yes, that you
worked with your aunt when youwere of age. Tell us what that
age was, because it sounds likeyou were really young.
Dana Fikes (03:37):
I was 18. Okay, so you were 18. I was 18. You were
there, yeah. I was 18, 1819,working with the two year olds.
And so her school focused on allblack children. The Swahili.
Name is amawale Ujamaa. She anda couple of her friends were the
founders back in the early 70s,and they were Pan Africanists
(03:58):
who focused on the teachings ofMarcus, Garvey, Malcolm X and so
they are a pillar in thePasadena Community. She's no
longer there. She hadtransitioned to a charter
school, maybe in the late, early2000s and now she's currently
retired. But that's where Istarted. And so all of my you
know, cousins, her children. Andthen my brother went, my son
(04:22):
went. I never went there, butbecause that's my aunt, my
mother's oldest sister, thefamily was very much a part of
the school, including mygrandmother, who cooked all the
nutritious meals, and she'swhere I learned about being
vegetarian, although 80% vegannow, but before it was like this
thing for people to do now, likeshe was already on that
(04:43):
trajectory with her friends. Allthey fed, you were nutritious
foods and things of that nature.
So I've always been aroundeducation. That's just something
that my family is, you know,into there's a lot of teachers
in my family, so once I got backon board. Work with what I was
going to do in my life. I was atpassing unified, and I left at
(05:05):
one one summer, we had a guestcome in from jpl nasa to talk
about science with our students,and I asked the lady that came,
could she tell me how I couldget in to the lab? And she told
(05:26):
me how. And so I left thedistrict, and I went to work for
JPL and NASA, wow. And so what Idid, yeah, what I did was our
mission looked at Black Holes inouter space through a technology
called Space VLBI. And ourmission, it was a million dollar
(05:48):
mission. So the reason why I hadto leave, although my project
manager, he found me somethingelse on the lab, but I wasn't,
you know, really like, sure,like, is this gonna like, if
this one ends, how can maybeanother one will end too? So,
but the time that I was withthere, I worked with the
(06:09):
engineers and the scientists,and we had a collaboration with
Russia and Japan, and they wouldtravel. So I would travel with
them, and we would do likesymposiums for the youth or
schools, and so I would have toteach them, you know, what I
knew. And then we would do likearts and crafts that were
mimicking like what ourspacecraft called hauka looked
(06:31):
like. And so the children wouldget to make those things like
that. And it was fun. It was funtraveling and hanging out with a
scientist and then working onthe lab, which was one of the
most magnificent experiencesI've ever had part of my
education journey. And so fromthere, right, from there, I went
to work for PAC Bell, and didn'tpan out. And I remember one day
(06:55):
I was outside on my break, andthere were these group of
students on a field trip. Theyhad to be like, kindergarten,
and I remember everybody'soutside on their break, you
know, but the kids were walkingby with a teacher, and they're
all like, waving at me, like,hi, hi. And I took that as a
sign. And so from there, I waslike, I need to get back into
(07:17):
the classroom. So I went to HeadStart in Pasadena, and I was
teacher. Then I progressed up toteacher supervisor, and then I
became a site director, where Ihad sites in Glendale and in
Pasadena, I was the early Headsite director. And then at that
time, we got our dollars fromObama, when he was president, so
(07:39):
I was able to open up early HeadStart early Head Start Sites,
although we already had somewith the agency that I worked
with, but we opened upadditional ones. And when we
lost those our dollars, I waslike, Hmm, maybe I need to go
back to the Head Start side,just in case. Like,
TD Flenaugh (07:55):
Can I stop you for a moment, what are ARA dollars?
Dana Fikes (07:59):
ARRA so it was something that Obama did. So the
R dollars, it was a R, R A, sohe did things like fix the
freeways or whatever, you know,and you could tap into that. So
we use the ARRA dollars that wereceived to open up more Early
Head Start Sites. Okay, sothat's how I was able to come on
from teacher supervisor to EarlyHead Start site director,
(08:21):
because we received the Ara Ara.
And I can't even tell you whatthe acronyms for at this point
in time, but it was the Rdollars. And so when those R
dollars start to diminish, I waslike money to go back to the
early Head Start side, I mean tothe Head Start side. So I did
that. And so from there, I wasworking on my master's degree,
(08:41):
and I had to leave there anyway,because you have to teach all
your degree. So I have twocredentials. I have a general ed
credential, which I got first,and I have a master's degree and
an early childhood special edcredential.
TD Flenaugh (08:57):
Okay, and can I give you a positive just for one
moment, because, yes, one of themain things about the falling
for learning podcast is talkingto guests about what really made
them fall in love with learning.
So what? Yes, obviously, whenyou were working with kids in
schools, and you have been, youknow, you have an extensive
amount of education yourself.
When you were young, what wasthat thing that really drew you
(09:19):
into learning and make you lovelearning. I,
Dana Fikes (09:23):
like I said, before I grew up in Pasadena, and I
remember talking about this withsome of my friends, I was like,
I've never had a bad experience,maybe one or two in my
education, educational career,so in elementary school. So I
was a head start child as well.
Even I'm telling you that Iworked at Head Start, I was a
Head Start student. And thenfrom there, I went to a school
(09:45):
called Sierra Madre, elementaryschool, kindergarten there, and
then first, second, third, andmost of my teachers, I counted
one day as I was an adult orblack women. They're black
women, and in these classrooms,I just had these wonderful
experiences with learning. Oneteacher that stands out in
(10:09):
particular, who I still know tothis day. Shout out to miss
West. Miss Juanita West, and shewas the sweetest, kindest
loving, nicest, but firm. Shecould be firm like that wasn't
her thing. She wasn't just afirm teacher, but if it had to
come out like, Yeah, but in herclassroom, the learning
(10:32):
environment, the ecology in theclassroom, was very relaxed, and
the learning that took place wasfrom a comfortable, calm space
where it was okay to fail. And Isay that because learning should
be messy for kids. Yeah. And sowhile learning is messy, you
(10:54):
also want to feel like, if youaren't successful, that you
still have the opportunity to besupported and uplifted in that
environment. And so she did thatseamlessly and effortlessly. And
so I had her for second andthird grade, and she's just a
remarkable individual. She's aremarkable individual. So if I
(11:18):
was to pinpoint any person otherthan being in Wisconsin, my
aunt's environment with school,it would be Miss West, because
she was the type of teacher thatmade you want to you might not
have thought you wanted aroundher. You will be teaching, but
on that campus, Sarah madre, soit's close to where the Eden
(11:41):
fires started, right? So in thatarea, there were a lot of nature
enthusiasts, and we were, wewere structured, and we sat
close to the mountain, and therewas this ravine, kind of like
eating, called Bailey Canyon. Sowe would go on impromptu field
trips, like up into the mountainto go hiking. And we had a room
(12:04):
on the campus called thediscovery room, so it's like a
science center exploration and,yeah, this was a time where, you
know, everyone wasn't hypervigilant whether or not kids
were going to be injured andhurt. So we would make candles.
We would make candles. Iremember dipping the little and
(12:26):
we will make candles. There wasguinea pigs in there. We would
experiment with, like, batteriesand electricity. We will make
cinnamon rolls in there, like,so it was like, maybe you would
go once a week from yourclassroom right to the discovery
room or whatever. And so myexperiences were that we had a
(12:47):
noon aide, Miss Phillips, olderCaucasian woman. She had a pool.
So after, like summer, gettingclose to, like June, she would
invite you to go to her house togo swimming. And so the
experiences, and then the wherethe school is is, like, nestled
against the mountain. So
TD Flenaugh (13:07):
Can I just like to say, like, you're so right,
right now, like a lot of thesethings are very much frowned
upon, right? And so people whodon't know like, we teach in
California, and I don't know ifyour district or if you're like
this, but for us, if it drizzlesa little bit, our kids have to
be in for recess. It's crazy
Dana Fikes (13:29):
Inclement weather time!
TD Flenaugh (13:30):
yes, it's like, okay, the kids might slip, they
might run, and they'll even say,Okay, this is a walking recess.
You could go outside, but yougotta walk because you might
slip or trip or something on theconcrete. So it's crazy, like
they're hyper vigilant about it.
And I don't know wherever youare listening or watching from,
if it's like that for you, butit does you guys tamper down on
(13:54):
some of those fun learningexperiences. And of course,
right falling for learning isall about like, how could you
have fun with learning, and whatwere those experiences that you
had as a kid? But some of thatis
Dana Fikes (14:09):
and so very much so
TD Flenaugh (14:10):
litigious you know, yes, yeah.
Dana Fikes (14:12):
And so very much so this was a nowadays, they
probably would call it a labschool, you know. And it truly
had a socio constructivistapproach. Um, totally Vygotsky,
like you're gonna be hands on inthis learning. And like I said,
we could go to Bailey Canyon. Itcould be, it would be like a
(14:32):
walking field trip where yourparents have already signed. So
it wasn't like you gotta waittill tomorrow. Like we could go
at the drop of a hat right offthe back of the school, and then
walking up into the canyon. Andso those experiences, and seeing
that from because I was at thatschool, from kindergarten,
first, second, third and fourthgrade. So that's five years
(14:56):
second and third. Miss West, whothat she inspired. Me to want to
teach. And then in fourth grade,I had Miss Nassif, and she was
into theater and vinyl. And sowe would listen to Annie. That
(15:17):
was the first time I had everlistened. And so when you're
listening, you definitely haveto engage your imagination. And
then when she would read, so twoof my favorite books and now
movies, which was Charlie theChocolate Factory. And then
Willie walk in the ChocolateFactory, because after her
(15:39):
reading it, and then you seen iton TV like that was a big deal,
like, where they have books togo to, you know, theater now, or
TV, like, it's just commonplace,but back then, you're like, Oh
my God, my teacher was readingthis book, and now it's on TV.
And as a kid, you don't know theprocess that that took, or
(16:00):
whatever. And so to this day,even for my son and my
grandchildren, Willie walked inon the Chocolate Factory is
their favorite movie too. AndAnnie one of my favorites
because she would play that onvinyl. She also introduced us to
the Wizard of Oz. And again,being with my grandma on, like,
a Friday night, and on CBS, itcomes on like, oh my goodness,
(16:22):
we were reading this in school,and so to now match the
characters with what was beingread. It was just an amazing
experience. And so that began mylove of wanting to read books
and adventure like movies thathad, like an idea of adventure
(16:43):
about them, and so I would saybeing at Sierra Madre would be
the beginning of my love and howI, you know, fell into learning
and why I decided that I wouldwant to be an educator slash
actor.
TD Flenaugh (17:05):
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(17:29):
fall out of writing heat andinto loving to write. Get your
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That is very awesome. Wow. Somany like gems in there, like,
(17:52):
just that exploration, you know,bringing, you know, connecting
what you're reading to what yourwhat you know, what you see on
TV or even listening experiencelike, those are some great
things that I think you know. Weas educators, or parents need to
remember or thinking aboutmaking learning fun for our
(18:14):
kids. Absolutely. Yeah. So canyou tell us? You know, what do
you like? I know that you haveyour book. Can you tell us about
your book?
Dana Fikes (18:27):
Okay, so I have it here. It's the the pirate who
loved flip flops. So
TD Flenaugh (18:34):
the pirates flip flops, okay, yes,
Dana Fikes (18:37):
she loved flip flops. And so this came about.
So starting back where I wastelling you, being at Sierra
Madre, and we read, and theyread to us, and reading was a
big thing and a big deal, and itmattered. So I've read books
like Pippi, long stocking andthen Annie and, you know, fudge
(19:00):
and super fudge and things thatto me, had an air adventure. So
I love pirates. I love flipflops. And I I'm sure my love of
pirates came from being at goingto Disneyland and experiencing
the Pirates of the Caribbean,and then Pippy long stocking and
(19:20):
her father being a pirate. Sofrom that, my imagination has
always, you know, been in therealm of, what if I was to write
a book or create a story, andwhat would that sound or look
like? And so what I did was Itook my love of flip flops, I
took my love of pirates and mylove of my dog there. There he
(19:43):
is. It's Kodak right there. Itook my love of Kodak the right
and I came up with this story.
And it's the pirate who loveflip flops. So the premises,
Mackenzie. Here, that's her,see, there, her there, she's
reading a book. And so shewasn't so much into, you know,
(20:07):
toys and things of that nature,other than her baby burp up
doll. And so she loved, youknow, the swash buckling
Adventures of being a pirate.
And so in this adventure, shefills out an application because
she wants to go to pirate con.
And pirate con is a conventionwhere all the pirates get
(20:31):
together and they display theirtreasure, and then they, you
know, judges go around and theyvote on it and see who has the
best treasure. And it just sohappens, her treasure was
something that was near and dearto her heart, which are flip
flops. And so she gets talkedabout and demeaned and bullied
(20:51):
by these pirates at pirate con,but she remembers that because
she is the captain of our ownship. She gets to make new
rules, so she gets theirattention and gets the pirate
code, and she goes to work, andshe notes that whatever your
(21:11):
heart desires, whatever thethings that you are into, it is
okay to be unique. It is okay tobe different, and our
similarities and differences arethings that we have to relish
and respect. And just becauseshe liked flip flops doesn't
make her an anomaly. She canlike flip flops, and she still
(21:36):
can be a part of the piratesociety. And she made a new
rule, and she admonished themfor the bullying. And just so
happens that other pirates comeforth and they talk about the
things other than treasure thatthey are into and love, but were
afraid to come forward to talkabout because they didn't want
(22:01):
to be bullied, and they didn'twant to feel feel like that they
were different and not acceptingin this pirate society. And then
she, you know, goes on toencourage them and all the
readers as well, to always,always go after the desires of
your heart. And if you want toknow more, you gotta go get the
book
TD Flenaugh (22:24):
and really support this book. And these... Such a
strong message for students,right for kids out there that,
you know, we do often want to,you know, not stand out, to do
the things that everybody elseis doing what other everybody
else thinks is cool orinteresting. And part of
developing that self identity isbeing okay with being different
(22:48):
and speaking up for the thingsthat you like, no matter if
other people like it or not, orenjoy it or not. And you know,
that's, that's really, you know,that special sauce that we all
have right that individuality sowould agree.
Dana Fikes (23:03):
And in the pages of the book, I the last page of the
book, I do a call to action forparents, teachers, stakeholders,
anyone who is in a child's worldto help them understand what
they can do if they are facedwith bullying. October is
National anti bullying month,and they have a website, and
(23:27):
there's a plethora ofinformation on there at my
school site, we even did aschool wide anti bullying
assembly, and what we did incollaboration with me, our
school librarian at the time,and other teachers was I came up
(23:48):
with the idea of them signing aanti bullying contract. So we
had a big piece of constructionpaper, the butcher paper, and we
had our anti bullying sign. Andafter each assembly, and I
talked about it, we encouragethem to pick up a marker and
(24:09):
sign their name to the contractthat they would be upstanders
and not bystanders, if they are,you know, witnessing bullying of
a friend and what they can do sothat they feel empowered. And
one of the things I didn'tmention at Sierra Madre, I was
bullied. I was bullied, and Iremember being on the steps and
(24:31):
a young guy, Scotty, in myclassroom. I remember he pushed
me down the stairs, and this wasin second grade and it chipped
my tooth. I had a chipped out togo to the doctor and everything,
and it didn't feel good at all.
And that stuck with me, and evenwhen I got to so at that time,
(24:52):
they didn't have sixth grade inmiddle school. I. Okay, so once
I left Sierra Madre, I went tofield Elementary, which is even
closer look, further down thehill, but closer still to the
Eden fire area. And fifth gradehad a similar experience. And so
you might not know, but at yourchild's school, they're
(25:18):
definitely going to be bullies,and your child may be being
bullied and not know how to tellyou that. I never told my mom. I
know what to say. You know. Howdo you say that? And then you
have maybe older cousins oraunts or whoever's in your
family who may have experiencedsimilar but telling you how you
have to stand up for yourself,or you know what to do, maybe
(25:40):
you gotta fight, or whatever,and you're like, Well, what if
I'm not a fighter? What if I'mnot a fighter. So how do I
navigate that space? Right? Sothis book is definitely based
upon some personal experiences,where it wasn't until I got to
high school and I was telling afriend of mine, probably, we
(26:01):
spoke like two weeks ago, thatthe one day that I remember I
stood up for myself in highschool, right? And it was with
my own group of friends that Ihang out with that they said a
couple of them thought that Idid something, I didn't do it,
and I don't operate that way.
And I was probably like, No, Ihave to speak up, because if I
(26:23):
don't, then this is either goingto continue and it doesn't feel
good at all, so I have to speakup. And many times I'll say this
to parents, and if you knowsharing this with your children,
that when they feel empoweredand maybe you do like what we
call a social story with them,or act it out. That strength and
(26:44):
that empowerment that comes fromthe first time that they
implement this is going to helpthem for the rest of their
lives, honestly, because thenyou feel like, oh, wow, very
powerful, like they feel as if Iwas able to try that in a safe
space, and now they feel like,okay, now I've got my parents,
(27:07):
they got my back, or my mom, ormy caregiver, or whoever my
guardian. I'm gonna try thisout. And trust me, they will get
an opportunity to try it out.
And what I will say is, whenthey do come to you and talk
about it and speak about it.
Support them. You know, supportthem. And even if they end up
with the one with the referral,hear them out. You Always Want
(27:29):
to Hear them out first, so thatthey will know this is still a
safe haven for me and I can talkto you whether I was in the
wrong or not, so that you keepthat dialog going, because as
they get older, we know, becausewe were all, you know,
teenagers, and you've at somepoint that that conversation,
(27:52):
depending on that dynamic of theparent, caregiver and child, it
will start to lessen. And inthat then you their peers again,
you already know that is thefirst influence for them. So you
want to still be in theballpark. Yeah, of this realm of
influence, you want to be in theballpark. So for me, it was
(28:15):
personal, but my love of it ofadventure. I'm a Star Wars fan.
You know, I consider myselfdefinitely a Jedi, like I said,
I love all all the pirate films,Pirate Caribbean. I love Johnny
Depp. So all of those, I evendress up when I go to some of
the schools I've been to, manyschools within LA Unified that I
(28:37):
go and even on some weekends,dressing up as a pirate with my
parrot on the side. The only onewho can't go is my dog, because
I think that would be a littlescary for some kids. So although
they really want to see him,
TD Flenaugh (28:51):
hold on until you say you go on the weekend. Tell
me more about that on
Dana Fikes (28:56):
the weekends, like some of the principals, if they
want me to show up on a weekendto like, if they're doing at
their site, some of them doliteracy fairs, and they do
events, and they'll, you know,reach out to me. Hey, I want you
to come and you know, we'rehaving this event. And are you
interested? And yes, okay, well,I have you on the flyer. Let's
do this. And so, yes, thosethings author reads all the
(29:19):
time, passing the library. Shoutout to again, Pasadena, the
mayor is also someone who I wentto school with. So end of 2020
Yeah, at the end of 2020 I did aread online for La pinaresca
library, which was one of ourlibraries, and the mayor was on
and again, Victor Gordo, he's agood friend who I, you know,
(29:41):
matriculated through schoolwith, and so that felt really
good knowing that you know youcan come back and then give to
the community. And those roots,again, are instilled in me,
because that's what my aunt andher friends did in the community
from feed. Being, you know, theyouth to science fairs to events
(30:05):
at the Jackie Robinson or so. Icome from that, and so it's like
hard to move away.
TD Flenaugh (30:13):
Yeah, you're carrying on the legacy that's
amazing, exactly, exactly.
Dana Fikes (30:18):
So it's just a part of who I am, and with that said,
the other entrepreneurial thingsthat I do have, I connect them
with the educational piece,simply because it's easy to do
that, considering I'm a 20 yearpractice or 25 plus years, I
(30:42):
think it was 27 practitioner ofyoga and meditation. And in my
classroom, I noticed, you know,there were students that weren't
even in my classroom who wouldcome into my classroom just
looking for respite and help,and particularly with some
bullying. The reason why theywill be connected with me is
(31:04):
when they see you on campus assomeone they can trust. How do
they know that? Because you sayhi to them, because you're
smiling at them, and you seethem, and I was at a small
school at one point, anddifferent assemblies, and some
of them may have been in myclassroom if they presented with
an IEP at one time, they mayhave moved past that and no
(31:27):
longer have an IEP, but they'regoing to remember me. The
families remember me, and then Idid a collaboration with my pre
K students and third grade,following them through fourth
grade, using surveys to see howthe yoga and mindfulness program
that I was implementing withthem was helping them with their
academic success and in theirbehaviors. And so I would track
(31:49):
that, and we would have journalsand things of that nature, so
they knew it was a safe space inthe first Yeah.
TD Flenaugh (31:56):
So awesome, wow.
And just really tracking, youknow, what is your results?
Yeah,
Dana Fikes (32:01):
yeah. And then at one point we didn't have middle
school, then we got MiddleSchool. And so, you know, the
middle school mentality. So Iwould see them sometimes again.
These were some that I had, somethat they just knew of me. So I
was like, I need you to comeback and write in your journal
about, are you still using thepractices? And, you know,
(32:22):
because it was hard to get themto come in, not because it was
me, but because how theprincipal decided she wanted to
run her school so they didn'thave that access to me as they
would have liked. Or, you know,that to me should have been
because relationship buildingand behavior, they go hand in
(32:43):
hand, because you can't shapebehavior if you don't have
relationships, and that is inyour household and even in the
school. So I wrote a grant.
There was a grant that we wereprivy to, and wrote it up, got
the funds because I wanted tocreate a room called breathing
space on the campus. Studiesshow that if you implement not
(33:04):
just positive behaviorinterventions but meditation,
mindfulness and yoga on yourschool campus as an alternative
to corrective measures, again,you see a change in not only
behavior but their academicscores. And so I got tired of
seeing the kids walk by myclassroom and going to the
(33:24):
office, like, what are theygoing to do in the office once
they're there, once they'rethey're just sitting there. But
if you have a space, okay, thatuses trauma informed strategies,
if you have a space where youare actually seeing, not just
seeing, but seeing the children,right? If you have a space that
(33:47):
is focused on the type oflearners that they are, right?
So coming from a sensorybackground, be it visual,
auditory, kinesthetic, tactile,I put in the grant for all these
different things, from yoga matsto pillows. I wanted even a TV
because I wanted to be able toshow them documentaries that
(34:09):
reflected mindfulness withchildren and students, and even
letting them see themselves aswe filmed different things and
kept track of what we were doingand your grand so all those
things, the grant got me allthose things, but what did not
happen was it fully coming tofruition for whatever those
(34:30):
reasons may be. But I know I didmy part, and I did it in a big
way.
TD Flenaugh (34:38):
I really, I'm just so impressed with all of your
things again. Yes, Dana bikesinformation is going to be in
the show notes. And it soundslike you have, you know, you
know, you go to school. So ifpeople wanted to reach out to
you, where would they find you?
Dana Fikes (34:57):
They could find me on I. My all of my channels are
Dana Macc. My website isdanamacc.com. I even have my
health and wellness a separatewealth website. It's Seeing Real
Success. So that's my company.
That's my LLC for wellnesscoaching.
TD Flenaugh (35:17):
So say it when we treat them a little bit slower.
Dana Fikes (35:20):
So my first website is Dana D, a n, a Mac, M, a C,
c.com, my health and wellnessbusiness is seeing like seeing,
with your eyes, realsuccess.com. So you can find me
on those platforms and then onsocial media. You can find me at
(35:41):
Dana Mac, on Instagram,Facebook, Tiktok, and that's two
C's, not ck, two C's. And sothat's where you can definitely
find me working on Book Two,
TD Flenaugh (35:55):
alright?
Dana Fikes (35:56):
In the series? Yes.
And so our good friend is a stemstudent, and she will be
traveling to help her friends inGhana with her prize possession
that she's created for thescience fair and won and back on
the show.
TD Flenaugh (36:15):
It sounds like we have so many things to share and
so many resources andinformation. So are there any
like last piece of like advice,or anything that you want to
give?
Dana Fikes (36:28):
Absolutely, teachers, last piece. Yes, last
piece of advice that I wouldgive. I started a nonprofit in
my father's name, the childCharles Fikes foundation that
focuses on youth with ACES. Areadverse childhood experiences we
had the first Surgeon Generalfor California. Her name is Dr
Nadine Burke, and she did notstart this movement. She just
(36:50):
picked up the work from the 1998research that was done by the
CDC. And I want to say, was itUCLA that they had done about
ACEs? And there's 10 that theylook at. There can be many more
aces. But what I would say toyou is, from a relationship
(37:13):
base, Oprah has six aces, youmight want to find out how many
aces you have, and those are thethings are going to encumber our
children when they are in schoolfrom the academics and behaviors
and things that you might see.
Dr Nadine Burke has beenchampioning the pediatric world,
when you get all these differentscreenings and things done, you
know, your child goes in for acheckup, she's put it in place
(37:36):
through her website. She has awebsite, number, story.org, and
then aces aware, where you cango in and check your own aces.
You can see what your child isworking with, because that
information is going to betantamount to the type of
services that you may need foryour child and how they are
operating in the schools. Youmay not even know any of this.
(37:57):
This might be the first time youheard it. So I would encourage
you to, number one, ask yourpediatrician about ACEs. It
could be, you know, neglect. Youmight be a guardian who you
know, or you've adopted a child,they may have had neglect. It
could be a parent that wasincarcerated. It could be a
parent that is no longer in thefamily. It could be the events
that we see happening right nowthat have become so, you know,
TD Flenaugh (38:23):
we have talked about this on our show before on
our show before we knowpeople, yeah, yeah. But it's
something that we need tocontinue to talk about and
share.
Dana Fikes (38:30):
We have to continue to talk about the aces. Oh,
yeah. So that is the work that Ido,
TD Flenaugh (38:35):
yes, yeah, yeah.
Dana Fikes (38:37):
That is the work that I do as far as my
nonprofit, and then bringing inSTEM and social emotional
learning to help mitigate thoseeffects and put them in spaces
where they are undervalued andunderserved, so that they know
that they can be stem stars andthey can regulate and learn what
it means to co regulate, selfregulate, from a Social
(38:59):
emotional place,
TD Flenaugh (38:59):
okay, bringing in those positive childhood
experiences. Oh, absolutelyright. Yes. Again for joining us
on the Falling for LearningPodcast, and all the parents and
educators out there make sureyou're doing something today
that will give the children youserve the competitive advantage.
(39:21):
Thanks again for supporting thefalling for learning podcast,
new episodes go live everySaturday at 5pm you can watch us
onyoutube.com/@fallingforlearning,
or listen on all major podcastplatforms, such as Apple,
Google, Audible, Spotify andmuch more for more resources,
(39:42):
visit,fallinginlovewithlearning.com we
really appreciate you. Have awonderful week.
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