Beyond Traditional Education: Empowering Families and Reforming Schools with Laquita Parks and Experts

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to.
So what's your Story?
I am Laquita Parks, your host,and I am so excited to be here.
Today has been a day, and ifyou know like I know, then you
understand that.
So today I have a bunch ofguests in the room and I am

(00:26):
super excited because we'regoing to have a great discussion
.
There is a lot going on in theworld a lot but before we hop
into that, we're talking abouteducation today.
So we have parents and we haveeducators as guests today and
we're going to talk about it.
We're going to dive into somethings and listen, just so you
know, if you're listening, theremight be some things that might

(00:48):
be a little touchy-feely, sojust prepare yourself, okay.
So who am I?
I am Laquita Parks, your host.
I am the CEO and founder ofPayProV Publishing, and PayProV
is pain, progress, victory,because I believe without pain
there is no progress and withoutprogress there can be no
victory.

(01:08):
So I help people take theirstories from a thought to a
realization.
So a little bit about me.
As far as education isconcerned, I worked in the
school system for a long time.
I used to work at Garden HillsElementary School in Atlanta,
georgia APS for seven years andthere were some things that I

(01:30):
loved about it and there weresome things that I did not like
about it.
The one thing that I did loveabout it were the children.
I enjoyed the children.
I enjoyed watching themprogress.
I enjoyed seeing the light bulbcome on.
I enjoyed that.
I enjoyed meeting the parentsand the parents who were
involved.
I enjoyed that.

(01:50):
What I did not enjoy was thepolitics.
Did not enjoy the politics, andso I am an out-of-the-box type
of person, an out-of-the-boxthinker.
And I remember my last year atGarden Hills.
I used to be in the writing toread lab and if you guys have
been in education for a longtime, you guys remember the
funding for the writing to readlab.

(02:12):
They ended the funding so Iused to work in the writing to
read lab teaching children howto write and read on the
computer.
They ended the funding and Iwent into the classroom as a
parapro and my last year there Iworked with the guy who's an
older guy, dr Egan he's passedaway and I remember Dr Egan
saying I don't think you shouldbe a, you should work in, you

(02:33):
should be a teacher.
And I was like what do you meanI think I'll be a great teacher
.
And he said I know you will bea great teacher, but not in the
classroom.
And I said well, what do youmean?
He said because it's tooconfining.
And I didn't have a clue whathe meant then.
So I ended up leaving the schoolsystem because they paired me
with the teacher who was juststraight crazy and I'm just

(02:55):
being honest, and my personalitydidn't match her personality.
I was going through a divorceand that was too much for me, so
I quit the school system andwent into corporate America.
And so here we are now, startedmy own business, I started
doing mentoring and then, when Istarted doing mentoring and
mentoring children, it hit mewhat he said it's too confining,

(03:19):
and I understood what he meantbecause I'm able to reach
children and I am not boggleddown by the rules and
regulations of the schoolsystems.
So I'm able to go in and I'mable to reach teachers and reach
parents and reach students andmake a difference in their lives
, and I can do it in my own wayand I've been successful at it.
So I am, I'm really, really,really glad I had that

(03:43):
opportunity and that experience.
I enjoyed education, I think, inorder to be a really, really
glad I had that opportunity andthat experience.
I enjoyed education.
I think in order to be apublisher and do what I do and
help people take their storiesfrom a thought to a realization,
you have to have some type ofknowledge with people and know
how to deal with people and helpthem through their processes.
So that's enough about me and Iwant to get to it.
I want to introduce my guests.

(04:04):
I want you guys to introduceyourselves.
Tell who you are if you're ineducation, what part of
education, how long you've beenin education, and then we'll
dive into the conversation andwe're going to start with
Stephanie.
Hey, girl, hey.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Hello everyone, it's a wonderful evening.
My name is Stephanie Conley.
I have been in education for 22years.
For the last, the previous 21,I was in schools, and this year
I have ventured out on my ownwith my own educational
consulting business called SLConley Consulting, and so I'm

(04:48):
really excited to be here, thankyou so much, Stephanie.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
We'll get back to you .
I love that.
I love that and congratulations, Robin.
Robin, introduce yourself.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
Hello everyone.
My name is Robin Pates, teacherby profession, started teaching
back in 2000 from California,moved here to Georgia in 2003,
and quit the public school in2013.
I quit part of the reason why Iworked here in Clayton County I

(05:21):
taught third, fourth and fifthgrade and one of the reasons why
I quit was because I had my ownchildren and I just felt the
need to, you know, teach my ownyou know I'm responsible for my
own first Absolutely, and so Istarted a homeschooling venture
the little micro schools.
I started that back in 2013 andboth of my children ended up

(05:45):
going to Ron Clark Academy, andso when they went to Ron Clark
Academy, I then closed thecenter because I never like
really envisioned myselfhomeschooling groups of kids.
But people kept asking me canyou homeschool my kid, can you
homeschool my?
I had a storefront.
I probably homeschooled 20 kidsover five or six years.
But once both of my kids gotinto Ron Clark, I just started.

(06:06):
I just kept tutoring.
But I closed down thehomeschooling because I had to
drive to Atlanta every day takethem to school.
And so I still tutor to thisday.
I tutored two kids before I goton.
With you guys, I do itvirtually.
I keep saying I'm not going todo it anymore, but people keep
calling because the need isthere.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
The need is there.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
I'm not going to do it anymore.
But people keep calling becausethe need is there, the need is
there, the need is there, theneed is there.
So I still educate.
But now I do insurance.
I started doing insurance maybe15 years ago and I educate
seniors.
I do Medicare, I do Medicare, Ido ACA.
So I've been completelyindependent, working for myself.
My daughter's at Spelman nowshe's a sophomore and my son is
still in high school.

(06:44):
Daughter's at Spelman now she'sa sophomore and my son is still
in high school.
He is a junior.
So my goal is like their first,they're my first priority and I
felt like I couldn't work inthe school system and still be
able to focus on them.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Awesome, awesome.
I love that, thank you.
We'll come back to that Desiree.
You're on, you're muted.
You're on, you're muted.
You're on mute.
You, you're on, you're on mute.

Speaker 6 (07:14):
I'm still trying to get this together.
There you go, there you go.
Okay, I'm sorry, hi, I'mDesiree Williams.
I'm a chef by career and umchild care nanny, I guess you
could say and I've been involvedin the school system
voluntarily for the last 20years or so.
I basically started when my sonwas in charter school a charter

(07:39):
preschool, and then, as headvanced to kindergarten and
first grade, I startedvolunteering and I've been in
every school he's been in, plusother schools, and it just
became very important to me tomake sure that.
You know, I see how the schoolsystem works, be very active,
proactive, do anything I can tochange things for myself as well

(08:02):
as other parents.
I've seen so many things in theschool system that I felt like
was just failing our kids and Ijust wanted to make sure I could
do all I can as a parent to youknow, give my input and to
encourage other parents as well.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
So that's about it All right, awesome.
Thank you so much, desJacqueline Cox.

Speaker 7 (08:27):
All right, awesome.
Thank you so much, des.
Jacqueline Cox.
Hello everybody, I amJacqueline Cox.
I am an author, a journalist, apodcaster, a researcher, but I
am, most importantly, I am aparent.
But I am, most importantly, Iam a parent.
However, I was, for a shortperiod of time, a teacher at a

(08:50):
school here in Chicago calledMary Crane Center, and I taught

(09:21):
kindergarten through secondgrade and I did that for two
years.
After that, I just became moreso of an advocate for my with
autism and I am a huge advocate,and I'm also I've been on the
DEI committee of my schooldistrict, my kids school
district now 11 years.
Equity and inclusion, becauseour community is so diverse and

(09:45):
the children of color do not getthe appropriate treatment that
I feel that they should.
So, being a product of fostercare, I know how that can be not
being treated fairly, and I'vealways said that my kids will

(10:08):
never go through that.
I've done homeschool as well.

(10:29):
This past year, because of thetreatment that my oldest son has
been through with his lastcouple of schools, so I decided
to take him out and put him in acellist learning academy, and
so I've done that.
I did that for a year and yeah,I'm like one of the biggest
advocates for any type ofmistreatment I see in the school
and the same in the workplace.
Any type of mistreatment I seein the school and the same in
the workplace.
When I was with DCFS andLutheran Social Services, I was
a part of the employee rightsprogram at my job.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Jacqueline, let me pause you right there.
Hold that thought.
Let's get the otherintroductions out the way and
then we'll jump back into that.
Ok, pause that, pause it, don'tforget.
Put your finger right there.
Oh, I ain't Right there, don'tforget, let's go.
Let's go, tracy.
So let's introduce ourselves.
Tell us, tracy, where you are,if you're in education.
Tell us where you are ineducation, how long you've been

(11:18):
in education, and then I'mseeing some really interesting
conversations coming out of thistoday.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
So, tracy, Hello, excuse me Drinking this tea with
cayenne pepper in it.
Tracy Adams, I am a teacher bytrade.
I came into teaching.
It wasn't my initial careerthat I wanted to do when I first

(11:48):
enrolled in Morris BrownCollege in 1994, I wanted to be
an engineer Teaching for Januarywill be 25 years and I've
taught some of everything andeverywhere.
My first teaching career was inClayton, then I went to

(12:11):
Rockdale and I went to Newton.
I spent a year teaching inVegas and one year in Muskogee
County, and now I am in thePhoenix City School system.
I teach special needs K throughfive vast of exceptionalities

(12:38):
of children that I work with,and I actually enjoy being in
the trenches because I likeworking with kids.
I love that.
That's why I've been here forso long.
My business is TNA LiteraryWorks and it's basically a
virtual book display where mybooks, you can purchase my books

(12:59):
and you know see differentthings that I offer as far as
speaking and helping people toget started on their stories,
because I feel like I'm kind ofsort of expert now I'm also a
writer for a mask and motivationmagazine.
I'm writing articles andcollecting my articles to

(13:22):
hopefully make a book one day.
So I'm excited to be on thispanel and hearing the different
aspects of education coming fromparents.
I mean, of course, I've heardit from parents over the years
being in education 25 years butI mean, like I said, said I

(13:46):
enjoy being in the trenches andthat's what I feel like as a
teacher.
You're in the trenches, you'reon the front lines, yes, with
children, with their parents andeverything like that.
So, okay, that's my spiel,awesome, awesome.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
I know you guys wanted to get into it and tell
it.
We're gonna get there.
We're gonna get there.
Thank you, um, tracy, um.
And before I get to RobertBrooks I think that's him I want
to say thank you guys for yourservice, for the volunteers, for
the.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your service.
It's I'm going to get to why Isaid that, but thank you for
your service, mr Brooks, is thatyou Al Cattell Joy, tab 2.

(14:24):
Can you introduce yourself,please?
You're on mute, mr Brooks, areyou there?
Okay, I don't know if he wentto sleep.

(14:47):
Okay, we'll go to you, evelyn.
Evelyn, please introduceyourself and tell us who you are
and if you're in education,tell us how long you've been in
education.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
You're on mute.
There it is.
Can you hear me?
Yes, all right, let me stepoutside, hold on one second.

(15:32):
So I'm here, I'm a tutor and Iwas bitten by the education bug,
so I have been teaching foryears now.
I started out doing it for afriend, I subbed for a friend
and, oh my gosh, I loved it.

(15:53):
So I went ahead and startedteaching, but I'm an agriculture
teacher, agriculture, so, um.

(16:13):
So yes, I teach agriculture, kthrough five, elementary school,
and I absolutely love what I do.
Okay, so I teach themeverything from the seed all the
way to table.
Okay, I also teach agribusinessbecause I want them to know
this is a trillion dollarindustry.
There is no culture withoutagriculture, okay, okay, so I'm
here teaching our babies.

(16:35):
I'm at a charter school out herein Chattahoochee Hills, and so
I teach K through five.
Prior to that, I was anentrepreneur.
I had a home health carebusiness for 15 years, so I
traded in the seniors to theyoung folks, and that's what

(16:55):
I've been doing for the pastfour years.
I have written a book, anagriculture book, and I just
finished a coloring activitybook for children about
gardening.
So one book is already onAmazon and I think the guide
will be uploaded tomorrow,actually.
Yeah, Awesome.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
Well, thank you guys so much for that.
I appreciate that.
So, listen, we are talkingabout education redefined from a
different perspective, and so Iwant to talk about what's going
on.
Mr Brooks, are you there?
Did you introduce yourself?
Did you come back?
Can you hear us now?
Hear us now?

(17:53):
Okay, we did not, so we want to.
I want to talk about, first ofall, let's talk about safety.
With the recent events, theshooting that happened here in
Georgia, how safe do you guysfeel?
You know, I know that, robin, Iknow that your children are
still in school.
So how safe are the childrenfeeling, even though, jacqueline
, I know you're in Illinois andTracy, you're in Alabama?

(18:17):
How safe?
You know what do you guys think?
How safe do your children feel?
Did you guys sit down and havethe conversation?
Because, even though you'reeducated, you're also parents.
So tell me, what was thatconversation like in your
household?
And then I want to know wasthere a conversation in the

(18:39):
classroom?
Because there's been somethreats here.
So what's the conversation?
Because you guys are on theinside, I'm on the outside, I
don't have school age childrenanymore, so I get the
information from friends who areeducators and from the news
media, which you can't alwaysrely on.
So so I want to start, robin,let's start with you.

(19:00):
And what was that conversationlike?
And you're here in ClaytonCounty, so you were here in
Georgia.
What's that?
What was that conversation like?
And you're here in ClaytonCounty, so you, you were here in
Georgia.
What's that?
What was that conversation likewith your children?

Speaker 4 (19:09):
So it's interesting you brought that question up
today because my son ended upstaying home today.
Um, he is.
He's currently goes to NorthAtlanta in APS, so I got a condo
in a in Atlanta because he wentto boarding school.
He's always gone to boardingschool after he left Ron Clark
and he didn't like the boardingschool experience.

(19:32):
So this is his first publicschool experience this year as a
junior, and so we talked aboutthe shooting.
A message was sent out by APSyesterday to the parents late
last night stating that therehave been some threats and that
they were going to have.
You know, there's going to becertain safety measures.

(19:52):
They do have.
They don't have a clear bookbag at his school, but they do
have the metal detectors whenthey walk in.
And so we talked about it.
And today, when he got on thebus cause he's in Atlanta, he's
like mom, he texts me, he's likenobody's on the bus today and
I'm like what do you mean?
And he's like there's only likefive kids on the bus and

(20:12):
everyone's scared.
That's what he said.
He's like everyone's scared.
He did go to school and he endedup Ubering back home.
That was our experience.
So we talked about it.
You know I, you know, I try togo the faith way God and not
living in fear.
But and I don't know the fullpicture, cause he didn't stay at
school for very long, but wedid talk about this situation

(20:36):
and he happens to have adoctor's appointment tomorrow,
so he's not going to schooltomorrow, while the school can
kind of figure it out.
But I know for him it'seyeopening for him because he's
never been to public school andthen now this is his first
experience, right, and so evenif he's not scared, it's just
the fact that when he did get tothe school he said people were
crying.
I don't know how serious thethreats were.

(20:59):
We just got a general messagefrom the school that stated
because of threats, we're goingto heighten the security.
And so you know it's interestingand we've talked about it and
we've talked about, you know,doors being locked and like when
you see something, how wouldyou handle the situation and not

(21:21):
running and hiding, and it'sunfortunate that we've had to
have those conversations, Wow.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
You know and I'm going to ask you, jacqueline, I
know you're in Illinois but youhave two young boys in school.
But I want to ask a questiontoo.
Jacqueline, I'm going to letyou answer, but I want to ask
the question.
My tongue's tied, Do you guysfeel like?
Because you said there wasbasically a blanket statement
issued from the tied.
Do you guys feel like, becauseyou said there was a basically a

(21:48):
blanket statement issued fromthe school?
Do you guys feel like and I sawsome, I'm in the same group in
the Clayton County Moms and Dadsand people were posting the
letters and it really wasn't alot of information.
It seemed like it was aduplicated letter and the school
names were just changed.
So do you guys feel like andanswer this after, jacqueline
but do you guys feel like thereis that there is enough

(22:11):
communication from the school ornot enough communication?
So, jacqueline, how, what kindof conversations do you have
with your boys?
I know Jaden was homeschooledfor a while and then you know
he's back in school, but he's inhigh school now.

Speaker 7 (22:24):
right, jaden is in eighth grade and he's in middle
school last year of middleschool, right, okay, so how was
that conversation?
Third grade, so marvis is inthird grade, jayden is in eighth
grade.
Um, the conversations that wehave, you know, god bless me

(22:44):
with a husband, a militaryhusband.
So you know he's always youknow, from birth until now
always made sure that he'sequipped our family with
strategies and exit strategies.
And before you know, when we dothe open house in the beginning
of the school year, he walksaround the whole school.

(23:05):
He needs to see every exit, howthey prepare, what's their plan
, what's their strategies,anything dealing with, like you
know, students bringing firearmsor open a firearm in the school
, anything like that.
So he probes the school, heprobes with the security to make
sure that everything is okay.

(23:25):
But we still have thoseconversations at home where, if
something were to happen, do westill allow our kids to go?
I know that here in Illinois Ican't speak for everybody, but
your kids get five mental healthdays that are automatically
excused absences for theirmental health.

(23:46):
So we make sure that we reservethem as much as we can.
But if something were to comeup like that, we're definitely
taking a day because we arefaith-based beyond right, like
we are the ones that we all ourkids we pray before we leave out
, we pray in the car, they saytheir scriptures before they go

(24:07):
to school.
But I think that as parents, itis our duty to protect our kids
and not just feel like, oh youknow, I'm going to send them
anyway because I just need abreak.
No, if something happens, oursare staying at home.
You know, I think the best wayto safeguard our children is to

(24:28):
make sure that they areprotected and I don't want to be
in a situation where, ifsomething was to happen, I can't
protect my kids.
Now, mind you, jaden is allowedto bring his phone to school
they do not confiscate thephones just in case it was
anything were to happen.
But it still takes time for usto get.
We can't zoom past stoplightsand stop signs and it takes time

(24:52):
for us to get from our house tothe school, and I just want to
make sure that they are never inthat situation.
But if they are in thatsituation, my husband has
definitely went over everysafety tactic with the school,
with our kids, and we also makesure that they know to text us,
to call us, if my third graderfeels like he's in any type of

(25:16):
danger.
He knows he has a watch.
Hit that watch button, call mom, call dad on his watch.
You know those types of thingsthat we invest in because we
don't want to be in a situationwhere we can't help our kids.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
I like you.
I like that you said those aretypes of things that we invest
in.
I like that you said that.
So, tracy, what about you?
So, tracy, what about you?
I know you are an educator anda parent, and so you have two
girls and they're in differentschools, and so how?

Speaker 5 (25:57):
do you navigate that and what's the conversation like
in your household?
Well, after everything happenedup there, I forgot the name of
the school, but anyway it was inWinder, I know.
And my oldest daughter and Ihad a conversation on the way to
school afterwards and you knowshe was she didn't seem like she

(26:18):
was scared but you know, justvery concerned and I told her,
you know, if you see anythingfunny, hear anything funny,
smell anything funny, I said yougo to a custodian room, lock
yourself in there, go to abathroom, go to the cafeteria.

(26:39):
You know, if you got a friendwith you, drag them by the
collar.
You know, save your friend, getsomewhere where you're safe.
And I say you stay there untilyou hear from me and her school.
You know they're allowed withtheir phones as well.
You know I love what Miss Jackiesaid about her husband.

(27:03):
You know, just basicallyscoping the whole school and I
wish we all had that.
You know, my little one, maya,is in the fourth grade and I've
taught her the same thing.
You know, just run and hide isall I can say, is all I can say.
You know, get somewhere whereyou can close the door and cover

(27:26):
yourself.
You know, until you hear, untilyou hear from me.
Don't, don't move, don't make asound until you hear from me.
And I just think one of thethings my oldest girl said and
I'm going to let someone, I'mgoing to be quiet so someone
else can share.
But one thing my oldest girlsaid and she said Mama, it's a
shame that we have to go throughthis, and this is her first

(27:50):
year in high school.
She said it's a shame that wehave to go to school like this
and be worried about someonecoming into the school building,
you know, and shooting it uplike that.
I know things happen everywhereand it can happen at any time.
But you guys correct me if I'mwrong we don't see a lot of it

(28:15):
at schools where there's a lotof people that look like us.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I mean I haven't, you know, andnot saying that I can let my
guard down.
I'm like, oh okay, I'm sayingbecause it's not going to happen
at a black school, it couldhappen anywhere, but I'm just
saying that you know I, in my 25years of being in education, I

(28:39):
haven't seen it so escalatedit's a lot.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
It's there, there are .
Thank you, tracy, there is,it's.
It's just evil.
There's so much evil and hatredin the world and and, and, and.
To me it doesn't have a color.
It's just evil, it's justhatred and it's sad.
And you're right, we um yourbaby's right, because when I was
in school, which wasn't thatlong ago, um didn't have to go

(29:08):
through, didn't?
I don't remember ever beingafraid of somebody coming in and
shooting up the school.
Didn't.
Didn't remember that.
Um, you know the most.
The most that we thought aboutwas you know you, you know what
boy like you and what you know.
That's, that's the, that's themost we thought about.
We didn't think about any ofthat.
But now the tides have changedand we have to.

(29:29):
It's not business as usualanymore and you're right, you
can never let your guard down.
So thank you guys.
Evelyn, I wanna ask you so youcame from you're teaching
younger, the younger ones now.
Were there conversations did youhave in your class?

(29:50):
And thank you so much for yourenergy.
I love that energy and you seethat when you love what you do,
when people love what they doand thank you, tracy, for being
there, staying there in thetrenches.
When you love what you do, itshows and it shows to the other
people.
Desiree and I do swimming, dopool in the morning, water

(30:12):
exercise in the morning and wewere just talking about
yesterday with Stephanie we werey'all, we go to the pool.
So if anybody ever in Atlantay'all want to go to the pool, 55
minutes in the pool with mewill change your life.
Okay, I'm right, that's mylittle caveat, but we were
talking about the.
That's my 55 for 55 plug y'all.
Okay, but we were talking abouthow, when you love what you do,

(30:38):
you see a difference.
The outcome is different.
Even when the students are kindof hard to manage, if you love
what you do and you understandthat they are students and they
are children and they're comingfrom different places, you love
what you do.
You can make a difference intheir lives.
So, evelyn, what was theconversation like in your

(30:59):
classroom with your students,especially seeing as you have
the younger ones?

Speaker 1 (31:09):
students, especially seeing as you have the younger
ones.
Yes, so I'm a mother too, so Ihave a son that's a senior in
high school.
Now we are in Douglas County,so we also in Douglas County had
the same.
They heard they will reportthat somebody was going to do
the same thing at Douglas CountySchool.
So my son already told me priorhe doesn't feel safe at his

(31:33):
school because kids fromWestlake come to his school for
lunch.
You know, so that lets me know,yeah, you know.
And that lets me know, thoughthat Hello, no.
Know though that hello, no.
Um, that lets me know, as aparent, that those doors are not

(31:54):
locked, they are.
The teachers are not watching,um, the cafeteria workers or
what I mean?
I'm a teacher too.
We have duties where we sharecafeteria time and no one sees
that these kids do not go tothis school.
I have a problem with that as aparent and as a teacher.
Why are we can't let people inand out of the school?

(32:14):
Where I teach, we have threearmed security and it's private.
You know they, the school hiredthem, our board did so.
We have on three people.
They constantly walk our campus.
So here where I work, I do feelsafe.
I can honestly say that I amalso a gun owner.

(32:35):
I am licensed, I shoot, I'll goto the range.
So my son knows safety measures.
He knows about guns because weare, my husband and I, we are
gun owners.
Jeffrey knows if somethinghappens and it's a time at that
school where you feel threatenedor you feel scared, let

(32:58):
somebody know.
At that school you got to go.
You call me and Jeff, you letus know and you get in your car.
You head home.
If not, you get somewhere safe,don't move.
So you know it's a safe.
You know you either seeofficers or you see me or your
daddy walk through that door.
So our son knows to stay safe.
Um, but it's not a guarantee.

(33:22):
I'm sure those families toldtheir babies love you.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
See you later.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
That's what we do, that's what we tell them, and
those parents thought that thosetwo babies were going to come
back home.
But we don't know I do plead theblood of Jesus over my entire
family every single day, a day,and I have to.

(33:50):
I have to live on faith, that Ipray and I know that my God is
going, that our God is going totake care of New Manchester High
School, cover the whole school,watch over the parents, the
students, the teachers, all ofit, and my husband and I, we
don't stress about it.
I think nothing none of us cando.
You know, I mean, let's wipeout all these AKs and all of

(34:12):
this unnecessary.
You know why is it that we needthose type of?
You know why do we need thattype of weapon?
Right, right, you know you'renot going to war.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Right, it's a.
You know you're not going towar.
Right, it's a.
You know it's amazing.
We, we, it's especially thosewho have young men.
You teach, especially blackboys.
You teach them what to do whenyou get, you know, when you get
stopped by the police.
And so now we're, we're trying,we're, we're training our
children, um, how to stay safedoing active shooter.
So they're doing active shooterdrills.
So, um, thank you so much,evelyn.

(34:47):
I want to ask you, desiree andI'm going to get to you
Stephanie, because I have awhole spool of stuff.
Stephanie is a principal and Iwant to get to you about some
other things.
But, desiree, you are, so youwere military and so your son is
now military.
So when you hear military, sowhen you hear, when you see

(35:12):
things like an active shooter ina school, and you know we don't
know until after the fact thatit's a child, you know, and it's
usually just like that, it'susually children.
So, from a military standpoint,and you have your son who is
new to the military, what's yourstance on it?
How do you feel about that,especially having volunteered in
the school system for 20 years?
What do you think?
What's your stance on it?

Speaker 6 (35:35):
It's really scary.
I mean, I'm sure it is foreverybody, but I think about
that all the time becauseactually, twice in two different
schools during my 20 years as aparent volunteer, we've had
incidents.
Uh, matter of fact, another onejust occurred.
It was a bomb the day afterthis current school shooting.

(35:56):
And, um, where was the winder,county, winder?
Uh, my niece, she's seven andher eight, seven or eight, but
anyway, she, they, someonereported a bomb threat at her
school and this was the verynext day.
So of course we were all likeyou know what in the world.

(36:18):
And then we had an activeshooter in the area of my son's
school.
He went to a private school inNoonan and they had an active
shooter where the area of myson's school.
He went to a private school inNoonan and when they had an
active shooter, when they had tolock down everything, I just
happened to be doing child careat the school after school care
and all I had was someone justcome in my room and say, hey,
I'm going to have to lock you inhere.

(36:39):
And we had already had ameeting about what that means
when they say we're going tolock you in here.
So I just nodded my head.
You know, the kids wasn't awareof anything and we didn't want
them to panic.
He just locked me in and theycalled me on the phone to
explain a little bit about whatwas going on.
And it was just some random guyhad robbed a bank down the
street and he was runningthrough the woods of the, you

(36:59):
know, nearby businesses,including the school.
So they had to lock down.
And then we had anotherincident a couple of years back
from something else.
But you know, this thing is just, it's just too much.
I mean, it's been going on forso long.
It's like I just I don't know,I don't.
I feel, you know, we feel safesometimes, but just depending on

(37:24):
the circumstances, it's like,you know, are we letting our
guard down when we shouldn't?
I mean, you know you don't wantto panic, but you know my son,
he's um, he's actually a weaponsspecialist in the military.
That's his job.
So sometimes you know I'll callhim and then you know he won't
answer and then he'll call me acouple of days later.
I'm like sorry, I was at work,you know, whatever, whatever,

(37:44):
but I know his job, you know,entails keeping watch of an
entire ship of about 5,000people, you know, and if he's
not on his job doing what he'ssupposed to do, somebody can,
you know, easily infiltrate, andyou know he's literally
protecting a boat, a ship ofabout 5,000 people, like a small
city, you know.

(38:05):
So he has to be on his P's andQ's and that makes me scared
because you know he's likedirectly in charge of stuff like
that and I just, I don't know,I get so nervous.
I know what he signed up for,but you know, you still can't
help to feel, you know, scaredsometimes you know Wow you know,
scared sometimes you know,Wow, yeah, it's just.

(38:26):
It's crazy because I meanschool is just not the same
anymore.
I mean we went from carryingclear backpacks Now we're
walking through security systemslike we're at the airport, you
know, and it's just gotten moreand more and more from there.
I mean, you know, and it's justgotten more and more and more

(38:47):
from there.
I mean a bomb threat back inthe day a lot of times was, you
know, set up on purpose like afire drill, just to prepare us
to know what to do if we get one.
But now pretty much anythingthat comes through we have to
assume it's real.
You know what I mean.
So, yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Wow, wow.
And you know what you said,something that I want to segue
to Stephanie.
You said you know it's his job,it's your son's job, to watch.
So are we doing enough?
You know, in the educationsystem, are we doing enough?
So, stephanie, I'm going to goto you.
You were, excuse me, a teacherfirst for several years and then

(39:24):
you transitioned to principal.
A teacher first for severalyears and then you transitioned
to principal.
So you kind of deal more withpolicies and all those things.
So do you think the system isbroken?

Speaker 3 (39:34):
So I won't say that the system is broken, but
there's definite areas ofimprovement that we can have
within the system.
I think one of the things thatis very important and we just
don't have enough of them in ourschools are behavior
specialists, as well ascounselors, that can focus in on
the mental health andwell-being of our children.

(39:58):
One of the things that wasstated over and over again was
that this child was bullied,that the school did nothing
about it and that this was howthe child retaliated, and so we
have to not only focus on thechildren that are getting
bullied, but we also have tofocus on the bully and
understand why they are doingthat.

(40:20):
So one of the areas that we canhave a major improvement is
really focusing in on thoseareas in which we can identify
and pinpoint some of the mentalhealth stressors that our
students are going through, andthat's one of the areas in which
we are lacking time time.

(40:50):
There are a lot of things thatwe can put in place, but we can
never get into the mindset ofwhat children are thinking when
they commit serious acts such asthis.
We never know what their stepsare.
You know, one of the thingsthey said for this young man is
that he had his weapon in hisbag.
You know we have seensituations in which for this
young man is that he had hisweapon in his bag.
You know we have seensituations in which they stashed
it and they open up the sidedoor and go out and get it.

(41:11):
So you never know like whatthat, what actually is going to
take place in order to ensurethat it never happens again.
We can try to put things inplace to prevent it happens
again.
We can try to put things inplace to prevent it, but we
unfortunately, the times that weare in and we saw this

(41:31):
especially as we came back fromthe pandemic that our children
were in such high need ofsupports that our school systems
weren't able to handle that,that our school systems weren't
able to handle that and theydidn't have people in place in
order to handle it.
And when we're talking aboutchildren being on wait lists,

(41:54):
outside of that, we havechildren that are on wait lists
to see therapists because thereare not enough training
therapists in order to handlethe situation.
So there are a lot of areas inwhich we need to see some
improvement or provide someadditional supports in order to
support our babies.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
I like that.
You said that because Iremember when I worked in the
school system, I worked with theprogram for exceptional
children and this was way manyyears before the pandemic.
I worked in a school inBuckhead, so the resources were
different, even though it wasAPS.
The resources were differentbecause the parents had the
money and if they wantedsomething done, they paid for it

(42:35):
.
They had the resources in place.
They had the speech teachersand they identified them quickly
and they had.
You know, if they needed therapy, my, my son was was special
needs.
But because of medical and theyhad it set up where at first
they was like, okay, well, youhave to take him out of class
and give him his treatment, andthey were like, no, you're a

(42:58):
teacher, he's a student, heneeds to be treated as if you
were not here.
But because I needed to makesure that he got his medication,
I had to really come out of abox and like, okay, listen, he
needs to have his medicine.
It doesn't matter to me thatyou don't feel comfortable.
Well, he has to have what heneeds and it isn't as a parent,

(43:20):
it isn't my fault that you don'thave the resources here.
You got to make do because it'sa requirement, it's what he
needs for his life, and so thatwas a fight at that point and we
got it straight.
We got it real straight.
But it was a fight and you havethen, where there was a small

(43:42):
group, as compared to now,especially since the pandemic,
everybody is looking for IEP.
And I want to have Tracy tospeak on that, because Tracy and
I had a conversation wherethere are parents who some of
the kids don't need an IEP andlet's just be honest, some of
the kids need a B-E-L-T.

(44:04):
You know what I'm saying and hey, I'm not advocating beating the
kids.
A, you know a B-E-L-T.
You know what I'm saying,that's.
And hey, I'm not advocatingbeating the kids, but you know
the Bible says spell not the rodand spoil the child.
So it's, you know, discipline,they need discipline and so,
tracy, speak to that.
You know what's going on therewith the disconnect and there is
, it is a huge, huge emphasis onmental health, to the point

(44:29):
where they've even put resourcesin place when a police officer
gets a call and it's a mentalhealth situation.
They have started at least herein Georgia, they started to put
those resources in place.
So how they better handle it,because our people who have the
mental illnesses are ended updead in the street at the hands

(44:49):
of the police because they don't, they don't know that this
person is having a mental issue.
But then there are those who,who are not, and they're they're
actually, you know, kind oftrying to push the system.
So, tracy, speak to that andanswer this question have you
seen more of that since thepandemic or prior to?

Speaker 5 (45:12):
Seen more of parents wanting.
Yes.
Well, I can say that I've seenthat more since I've been in
Alabama.
I've never seen the likes ofparents.
I talked to one yesterday andthey'll just call in hey, I want
my child to have an IEP.
And I'm like who are theytalking to?

(45:35):
Where are they getting theirinformation from?
Where they feel like you knowthey could just call the school,
call the special ed teacher,and say hey, I want my child to
have an IEP.
Without going through any of theevaluations, without trying to
see if the child has receiveddirect instruction in the
classroom, you automaticallywant an IEP.

(45:58):
And then you get to theirsenior year and you realize that
your child is going to get aspecial ed diploma, not a
regular diploma like everybodyelse.
And now we want to pitch a fit.
Oh, they didn't tell me.
Oh, I didn't know.
No, you were, I'm sorry, hellbent on your child having an IEP

(46:20):
, instead of doing what needs tobe done to help the child at
home.
My child this is what one ofthe parents said my child is
just struggling, she's having ahard time, so you wanna slap an
IEP on her that's gonna go withher for the rest of her academic
career.
I mean, you know, like today,you know my teacher, mighty's

(46:46):
team, we call her Mighty Mouse,maya's teacher.
She did not do well on hersocial studies quiz and she said
well, you know, I'm going toallow her to retake it.
So that's like me as a parent.
Well, my child need an IEPbecause she didn't pass the
social studies test.
I know it sounds ridiculous, butthis is what I hear on the

(47:06):
regular and my special edcaseload is at right now it's at
37.
I'm serving 37 students and mysegments are 30 minutes.
So you're rounding up yourgroup of kids and you're trying

(47:27):
to get them settled.
By the time you do that, youbarely have 15 minutes to
provide the academic servicesthat they need and you study
that.
Parents coming in I want an IEP.
I want an IEP and I want totell them I can't, you know,
because of the politics.
I want to tell them so bad,sure, you can have an IEP, but

(47:48):
just know that your child isonly going to get about 15 to 20
minutes of academic services,because I got 38 children on my
caseload and that's the lownumber.
Last year I had 47.
And the cap that special edteachers are supposed to have on
their caseload is 20.

(48:08):
So, I'm at double, so I don't.
And they want to talk aboutcompliance and oh, we need to be
in compliance and make sureeverybody has an IEP and if the
eligibility is current andeverything like that, we want to
be in compliance.
And I go to work comfortableevery day because they were
first out of line when they putalmost 50 kids on my caseload.

(48:32):
So they can't come to me andsay anything Well, adams, you're
out of compliance.
No, you're out of compliancebecause I'm nearly 30 children
over what the state of Alabamasays I'm supposed to have.
So let's fix that and then wecan come together and fix the
other things that you say thatI'm out of compliance on.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
And so here we have, it's a double-edged sword,
because you're over the limitthat you can sufficiently serve
a child, and so they're notgetting the service that they
need and you're overworked, andso and from that standpoint,

(49:14):
stephanie, it's like, okay, isthe system broken?
Well, there are a lot of thingsthat need to be done, and so I
wanna go to Jacqueline, becauseI know I remember a couple of
years back, jacqueline, you weregoing through the whole gamut
of the IEP stuff and it wasn'tanything pretty and you were a
parent who, who fought.
And so you have, you have theparents, tracy, who are, you

(49:37):
know, hey, my kid need an IEP,because they definitely talking
to somebody, because somebodysaid, well, just call them and
tell them you need an IEP.

Speaker 5 (49:43):
Exactly, exactly right.
And I'm going to say this, and,jackie, you can go ahead.
I'm going to say this I havethree students on my caseload
who do not have any academicgoals.
They have behavior and socialemotional goals and social

(50:09):
emotional goals.
I'm sorry, but I am not trainedor certified in behavior
specialists or social oremotional.
Wow, Right back to what yousaid, stephanie.
Brilliant kids, brilliant Oneof them.
I told him today, boy, youcould be a history teacher.
He, letter for letter, letterfor letter, detailed, told us

(50:32):
all about Pearl Harbor,hiroshima, the Arizona ship
being attacked.
He told us from timeline totimeline.
But because he had behavior, ifhe doesn't get what he wants,
he'll go off, run out of theclassroom and slam the door, and
I'm supposed to service that.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
So right quick, jacqueline.
We'll get you right quick.
Stephanie, if you can, forthose who don't know what an IEP
is, can you go ahead and askKevin just asked that.
Evelyn, if you could muteyourself please I know you're
driving If you can quickly tellus what is an IEP for those who

(51:07):
don't know?

Speaker 3 (51:08):
So an IEP is an individualized education plan
for students, and it can eitherbe academic or behavioral in
nature, and so what it does isit outlines goals for students
that they're supposed to, we'resupposed to work and help them
to reach by providingaccommodations for them in order

(51:30):
to help them reach it.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Awesome, awesome.
I remember that I used to workfor the work in the program for
exceptional children and andthey were there there were
specific guidelines and theschools they came out and every
year there were checks and youhad to make sure that those
checks and balances lined up.
You had to make sure if Johnnywas in the room, you had to make

(51:52):
sure that Johnny had everythingthat was required by his IEP.
If Laquita was there, laquita'sIEP looked different.
So you had to make sure thatLaquita's IEP and Laquita could
be behavior.
Johnny could be educational andeverybody's in the program for
exceptional children andeverybody got something else.
And if they got five minutes ofbutterfly time, then they
needed to have five minutes ofbutterfly time.

(52:14):
And if it said your cap, yourmax, is six in this classroom,
you could not have seven, couldnot have seven.
That's when I was in the schoolsystem back in back some 20
years ago.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
So I just want to say real quick if it's done right,
you could.
You could ultimately seeseveral instructors in a
classroom in order to helpsupport children.
What we know right now is thatwe are severely lacking teachers
.
We're severely lacking teachersin specialized areas, such as

(52:57):
special special education andcareer technical and
agricultural areas, and so if wewere ideally able to fill all
the positions, we would seepeople like Tracy have her 20 or
less.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Could people like Tracy have her 20 or less, and
we would see our studentsreceiving more services than a
15, 20, 30 minutes that they.
That is only possible right now, and you can see the difference
being truly made.
So, jacqueline, you, you have,you have two sons, and you've
gone through the and I'm goingto say and you correct me if I'm
wrong, if I'm safe in sayingthe nightmare of it all.

Speaker 7 (53:28):
Absolutely With Jaden .
He did not have a IEP.
They wanted to give him an IEP.
But as a first time parent withJaden, I was very, very taken
back.
Jaden in kindergarten wasmisappropriately touched by a

(53:51):
Caucasian boy in his class andwhen they found out at the
school he was in kindergarten atthe time in a bathroom with a
second grader.
And when they found out at thetime they oh, that's just what
little boys do and you knowtried to sweep it under the rug.
And then Jayden started to havebehavioral issues after that

(54:14):
and they said, oh, we think heneeds an IEP.
No, he doesn't need an IEP.
So I went to bed about that.
But after a while I did startseeing some behavioral issues at
home and I took him to therapyand I spoke with my husband
about it and we came up with the504 plan.

(54:34):
You know, action and put themin therapy, and we went that
route.
So explain what's a 504 plan forthose who don't know A 504 plan
is basically Jaden is diagnosedwith ADHD and he was dyslexic
in the beginning and I was oneof those parents, those young
parents, that ain't nothingwrong with my baby, y'all got it

(54:57):
wrong.
I was very in denial about himand receiving care because, you
know, growing up in a, you knowin in our culture, uh, we shun
upon things like therapy and iffirst time somebody say anything
our kids need anything is, oh,my baby ain't crazy because you
know, that's that's what we wereallowed to think, oh, you're

(55:18):
just not teaching them right ormaybe it's something I could do
at home.
But then when I started to seecertain signs and do and, and
parents with the therapeuticbehavior program and just
started to do my research on itand go to school for it, and I
started to really realize thatand start taking some of those

(55:38):
things that I learned at workand implement at home with my
child, and then I noticed somethings and say, ok, yes, so we
moved and we did the 504 planand it's kind of parallel to the
IEP but it's not as drastic,but it's still forced my child
to have accommodations where, ifhe may need a five or 10 minute
break, he didn't answer hecan't pay attention those types

(56:02):
of things.
Then they have systems in placethat gives him those
accommodations that will helphim to be able to do better
academically.
And he has excelled.
He's been an honors studentsince first grade.
Dyslexic program out the window.
He's a best-selling author, sothat should tell you that he is

(56:23):
excelling exceptionally well inthat area.
Now, as far as um, my youngest,he's eight years old, his name
is Marvis.
He does have an IEP.
Um, I went into it moreoptimistic, um, because um once
he was, uh, we took him throughum Once he was.

(56:58):
We took him through privatetherapy and we actually paid for
the neuropsychopath, psycho,whatever it's called, the test
that, for lack of better words,you got to excuse me, I need
more food in my life tonight butthe neural testing, that that
they do, and it's a 12 week testthat they do every Saturday,
where we take our child for fourhours a day and have him
actually do cognitive, do social, emotional, do all those
different tests to see exactlywhere he is as far as his, his

(57:23):
learning capability, hisbehavioral and, although he is
high on the spectrum, geniusacademically His IQ was through
the roof academically but hedoes have that issue that it
takes.
His brain works different.
How he analyzes things and howhe learns things is a lot

(57:50):
different from an average person.
And so for that reason he hasthe IEP and it was a struggle to
get him that IEP with theschool district, even though the
school that he goes to is apublic school.
They did not want to providehim with the services, but the

(58:13):
services are in the district andthey are in the class.
And that's where me and you,laquita, we spoke pretty much a
lot Because you know theythought they had them one,
that's all I'm gonna say.
But I, they did not know that Iwas a part of the DEI committee
.
Um, they knew me as JacquelineCox, but my name, my maiden name

(58:37):
, was first used when I joinedthe DEI committee and I never
changed that name over.
So they did not know thatJacqueline Smith was actually
Jacqueline Cox.
And so when they learned aboutit, that's when I started to see
a better treatment towards me,towards my kids, you know.
But you know, as far as havingthat struggle with the school

(59:01):
district, it was very hard, notnecessarily with the teachers in
the school or the principal,because they were great, but
having to fight with the schooldistrict to provide those
services to my child.
It should not have happened.
But that is more so on thelevel of racial discrimination

(59:25):
that we have in our communityhere where we live.
So that was the difference.
But I absolutely love my son'sIEP program.
It helps him a lot.
He has actually has a one onone person that sits with him
throughout the day.
He has the, his counselor, whosits down the hall where if he's

(59:47):
having an issue he could gotalk.
He has a plan put in placewhere they give specific goals.
They meet with us four times ayear and every semester to make
sure that he's reaching thosegoals.
They do the best that they canto keep me informed.
We are one team and I will tellthe parents right now can to

(01:00:07):
keep me informed.
We are one team and I will tellthe parents right now.
If you are, even if you don'tfeel like you don't like the
teachers or you don't, you still, for the sake of your child, do
the best you can do to at leastbe cordial with the team.
Because if you are not workingon the team, with the team and
you do not have a camaraderiewith your kids, teachers, with

(01:00:27):
the principal, with thecounselors, with the spec
teachers, the SP ed teachers orthose type of things.
Your child will not thrivebecause they will go at the end
They'll be like, oh, I ain't gottime to be dealing with this
person's parent or this, andthat they do those things behind
closed doors.
So we have to make sure that weare not necessarily kissing

(01:00:53):
nobody's tail because we're notgoing to do that.
But we cannot be problematiceither.
I started off as a problematicparent and now I am a team
playing parent because I knowand I see that that is effective
and it works, and it works forthe betterment of my child.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
You know what?
I appreciate that you said thatit is Desiree.
Why is it illegal for teachersto advise parents that their
child may need mental help?
And that's a good question.
But, jacqueline, thank you forthat, because you bring up a
valid point that I want totransition to, and, desiree,

(01:01:28):
we're going to ask that question.
But I want to transition toRobin because, robin, you
started out in the school systemas a teacher and then you went
and started doing yourhomeschooling your children and
then working with other studentsand then now tutoring.
How was it different, was it adifferent experience when it was

(01:01:49):
homeschool versus working inthe school system?
What was that experience likeand what was the success rate of
the students?
Were they more apt to learn andto listen, and how does that
work out for you?

Speaker 4 (01:02:04):
What I will say is kids are the same.
You know, if it's public, ifit's private, if it's homeschool
, kids are the same.
What was different is thecontrol that I had when I was
homeschooling.
You know I had to jack somelittle boys up.
You know that came to methinking that they could do what

(01:02:26):
they did in public school andtheir parents gave me the
permission.
It was like the one roomschoolhouse back in the days.
When, you know, you have 10, 15kids, I'm meeting each one at
their level and telling themwe're not going to be playing
any of these games.
And now, you know, looking backfive years, I have one student.
He's just got accepted toMorehouse.

(01:02:47):
He just started, you know, mydaughter's at Spelman.
Like all of the kids that arehomeschooled, they're doing
exceptionally well.
But they came to me.
Their, their stories were verysimilar to the parents that we
hear tonight.
Like public school is just notworking.
My child needs an IEP, they'regetting bullied, they're getting
picked on, and so they lookedto me in terms of finding a

(01:03:09):
different option for theirchildren.
But the kids are the same.
And I think it's the expectation, it's like what you expect of
them, and when you raise the barand the standard for them, then
they're able to excel in thatenvironment.
Right, I'm not playing with you, but I think sometimes in
public school, when you have acaseload like Tracy said, of all

(01:03:30):
these students, the teacherfeels hopeless, it's too much,
and so, and also, I don't havethe bureaucracy and you gotta be
teaching this standard or yougotta do this Like I'm meeting
kids where they're at, you know,and that makes a very, very big
difference because it buildsthe kids confidence when you're
meeting them where they're at.

(01:03:51):
The kids that I tutor now I'mmeeting.
The boy I met with today is infifth grade and he's reading on
a kindergarten level, you know.
But I'm meeting him one on oneand one thing I'm working with
him on is building hisconfidence, right, but what does
that look like when he's in theclassroom?
Right, and of course kids aregoing to snicker.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
I mean, I can't believe it looks like behavior,
it looks like right, because Idon't want people to know that I
can't read and he's.
So I'm going to cause an issue,I'm going to cause a
disturbance, I'm going todistract everybody because I
don't want people to know that Icannot read.

Speaker 4 (01:04:22):
Yes, it looks different.
It does look different, and Imean he does have a learning
disorder that has taken him solong to get there, but he's
still got to learn how to read.
Somebody got to put the time inand invest in him, right?
But at the end of the day, kidsI have seen from you know
homeschooling to teaching in thepublic school, to my kids going
to Ron Clark, to going toboarding school, which is a

(01:04:44):
whole nother experience becausethese kids, their parents, are
paying $60,000 a year.
Kids are still going to be kidsat the end of the day.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
You know so, desiree.
You were.
You were in the from the fromwhat.
Why was it important for you tomake sure that you were doing?
Why was it important for you tomake sure that you were doing?
You were there in your child'sschool from the beginning, from,
from, from pre-K, all the wayup to graduation.
Why was that important for you?
And how did you find the time?

(01:05:15):
So that's the.
That's the thing, becausethat's what we hear a lot of the
parents.
Well, I have to work, I don'thave time.
That those were excuses.
I was lucky enough in thebeginning to work in the school
system, so my children went tothe school that I worked at.
So they were there their wholeelementary school years and then
they didn't go to a differentschool until I quit the school
system and then they startedgoing to, you know, regular

(01:05:37):
school.
Well, it was still regularschool, but they started going
to their various neighborhoodschools and it was a different
situation.
So how did you?
Why was that important to youthat you be there?
And they know okay, okay,that's Kyle's mama.

Speaker 6 (01:05:53):
Well, first of all, the time factor came from as far
as me, and having a lot of timeto be in the school system as
much as I was, I had gotdiagnosed with a sleeping
disorder and so I couldn't do alot of the work that it takes to
be a chef clock in and possiblynever clock out, being at my

(01:06:17):
job for 16, 17 hours at a time.
It just became impossible.
So I had to take something morelow key that was going to
require me to be able to do myjob but take breaks when I
needed to.
So my son at a young age, youknow he would come home and he
would tell me stories and youknow just things, things I would

(01:06:40):
notice, like when I was justthere anyway on my off days, you
know, I would see a lot ofthings go on, like kids would
come in there and they wouldjust do wild and crazy things
and they wouldn't even bedisciplined.
That's the word I'm looking fordisciplined.
And so also my son had went to.

(01:07:00):
He was fortunate enough to havea daycare teacher that taught
him all the things he needed forkindergarten.
So when the year came for himto go to kindergarten, like so
many other children.
They were so advanced theyskipped them from kindergarten
to first grade because theyconsidered a waste of time for
them to take up thosekindergarten seats for other

(01:07:20):
kids when they could have justwent on to first grade.
Well, they passed over my childand kept him in kindergarten.
And so there was a big argumentabout that, because I was like,
clearly my son was acing allthe tests showing them on paper
that he really could be goingfrom kindergarten to first grade
.
So I ended up just leaving italone.

(01:07:41):
I let him stay in kindergarten.
I said, lord, there must be areason why they want to keep him
here.
But he was getting bored youknow what I mean With a lot of
the stuff that was going on,like so many of the other kids.
But kids would start acting out, doing stuff, and I noticed
that they weren't really doinganything about it, the kids that

(01:08:01):
were being very disruptive inthe classroom.
Kids would pick up chairs andthrow them, and one girl got
badly injured because a kidpicked up and threw a chair and
hit her in the head, and theywould just take those kids and
just put them in otherclassrooms for the day.
Well, you need a break fromhere we're going to send you to
miss so-and-so classroom and Iwas like how was that going to
help the kid?
Because they're just going toanother classroom to disrupt

(01:08:23):
that class.
So as I got involved in that, Istarted spending more and more
time, you know.
Less work and more and more.
I had the convenience, theability to spend less time at
work and more time at the school, because at this time I was
getting really invested, likewhat can I do, you know, to help
the situation out, you know?
So I started trying to recruitother parents and then the

(01:08:45):
teachers saw how active I wasand they started using me to do
a whole different.
Ms Williams, will you do this,will you do that?
And before you knew it, I had afull schedule, like I was a
regular teacher, you know what Imean.
So, and I enjoyed it, I reallydid enjoy it.
So it didn't I didn't mind, youknow what I mean.

(01:09:07):
But, um, that kindergarten andI had been.
I followed him all the way upuntil he graduated and I got him
so involved in so many things.
I started based on my collegecredentials.
I started teaching Spanish tosome of the kids anytime there
was a teacher out they wouldjust throw me in as a sub and
you know different things likethat.
But I really really enjoyed mytime in school system with the
kids.
But it just made me so sad whenyou know things, unfair things

(01:09:27):
would happen to kids and youknow the teachers was like they
just so tired, they was like,well, we don't want to be
bothered, we don't really careand you know, just let it be.
You know, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (01:09:37):
And that really upset me Cause I was like if you guys
are not going to care, thenwho's going to?

Speaker 6 (01:09:47):
care.
You know what I mean who'sgoing to care?
Very, very frustrating to seethat.
And one of the things like thequestion I brought up about the
discipline and advising theparents that the child may need
some type of help is becauseafter I was seeing all these
violent acts and things likethat, I was asking the teacher.
I said why can't you talk to Mrand Ms So-and-so and let them

(01:10:08):
know that you know their childpossibly could need some mental
help?
You're just making a suggestion, you're not telling them.
You know what to do, whatever.
And she was like they were likeno, no, we can't do that, it's
illegal, and this, this and that.
And I was like well, why canyou explain that to me?
And I never really got a fullexplanation as to the legality

(01:10:29):
of why.
You know a teacher can'tsuggest to a parent that
something's wrong, because mything is communication is
everything.
If you see that your child isacting up not just once but a
whole bunch of times, clearlythere's something wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Stephanie, can you answer thatquestion?

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
Yeah, so one of the things that we have to be
careful in education is how weword things to parents because
they can take it to say.
they said my child needs thisand how the school is obligated
to pay for it.
School is obligated to pay forit.

(01:11:11):
So a lot oftentimesadministrators would tell
teachers not to say things toparents because of the wording
that needed to be done, not tosay that the parent can't hear,
that there is a possibility thatthey would need, you know,
certain services, but it usuallywe usually wanted that to come
either from an administrator orfrom, like, a counselor or
somebody who is certified inthat area to talk from that

(01:11:37):
perspective and from that pointof view.
So it's not that we can't tellthem, the schools can't tell
them, it's just that how theprotocol and the process and the
road to telling them is goingto look a little bit different

(01:11:57):
to ensure that we are incompliance with the policies
that are in place.
It's kind of like my.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
It's kind of like my doctor can observe something but
she can't diagnose it, so shehas to send me to my
rheumatologist rheumatologist totell me that my what my primary
care already suspected, but shecouldn't say it, so they had to
do it because she is not herarea of expertise.
So, and and and right, Iremember being in in the work,

(01:12:24):
working in the program forexceptional children, and seeing
the parents.
When you're right, you have tobe very careful because words
matter and the parents saying,saying something, and being very
specific, because a lot ofthings is tied to money, so
they're listening for those keywords.
And then it's like, ok, so mychild needs this, so the school

(01:12:47):
is obligated to pay for that.
And then, before you know it,you look and you see, you know,
little Johnny has, you know,somebody coming to twist the
hair every day.
You know, you know I'm beingI'm being extreme, but that's
not far from it.
So so I want to ask and youknow, guys, it's, the time just
goes by so fast I want to askeverybody this question.

(01:13:09):
So we're talking abouteducation redefined.
So how do we redefine it?
We redefine it in.
Everybody has their own way ortheir own thought process of
what should be how things shouldbe handled.
Robin, I love that you said achild in school is the same as a
child being homeschooled.
Children are children.

(01:13:30):
They're still the same.
So, from a differentperspective, if there is
something in education that youwould change, this question is
for everybody.
So we give everybody about twominutes to answer this question.
If there was anything in theschool system, in the scope of
education, that you would change, what would it be?

(01:13:53):
What would that thing be?
Something that would bebeneficial?
Because sometimes we go throughand we think what would be
beneficial for my child and ourchild, a senior in high school,
and they're on their way out andsometimes it's like, okay, my
child is not there anymore, sothey gone, I don't care, but we
still have things happening inour community that's directly

(01:14:16):
affecting education.
So if there is something thatyou could change that would make
it better for the masses, whatwould that one thing be that can
be implemented now and we knowmoney is an option, but if this
were an ideal situation, in anideal world, money was of no
object.
What would that one thing be?
And I think I'm gonna startwith Robin, robin, what would

(01:14:39):
that thing be?
What would you change if youcould change anything?

Speaker 4 (01:14:42):
Well, you started saying money, because that was
what I first went.
My mind went to money.
Right, justin?
I tell my son this all the timehe was in kindergarten, the
year I quit teaching, I wasmaking $60,000 a year the year I
quit, and that was in 2013.
So I tell him for every year Ididn't work, just think about

(01:15:03):
how much money I could have made, right.
And then he ended up going toRon Clark.
He did get a scholarship, but Istill paid and then he went to
boarding school and in boardingschool, $60,000 a year, but I
probably paid four to five formy daughter and my son to both
go to boarding school.
So money means a lot, right Interms of access.

(01:15:23):
Now I'm renting a condo upnorth just so my son can get a
good education, and so I thinkthat if we give, if we put I've
paid taxes for my house for 20years but my kids don't go to
school here right.
So if the money could followthem, I think kids were more
options and we give parents moreoptions.

(01:15:45):
I'm from California.
Homeschool parents inCalifornia get paid to
homeschool their kids.

Speaker 1 (01:15:52):
Right.

Speaker 4 (01:15:52):
But here in Georgia that's not such a thing, and so
I think that if we put the moneywith it, I think it gives
parents more access, moreoptions, so that they can do
what's best for their kids andhaving you know, like Desiree
said, like I can't really workand be pouring into my own
children on top of it, right.

(01:16:14):
So I think that's the startingpoint to start seeing some
difference, because we'refunding these public schools
left and right and we know thata lot of them are not doing the
job right, and but they keepgiving them that you know that
daily money for showing up eventhough our kids are not learning

(01:16:34):
, and so I think that's astarting point based on the head
count.

Speaker 2 (01:16:38):
Yep, jack, let me go to you.
What would you?
What would that one thing be?

Speaker 7 (01:16:45):
You know what?
I totally agree with what Robinsaid Definitely make sure that
the money that goes into the potand what is supposed to be,
what's supposed to be given, isgiven to the exact things that's

(01:17:06):
in the plan.
That's one thing.
So a strict eye on the budget.
But also, you know that stigmaof of of the teachers I'm going
to get paid anyway.
I'm 35 years old and I've hadteachers tell me that from
kindergarten all the way upuntil I graduated college, it

(01:17:27):
doesn't matter if one kid showup or 20 kids show up.
So I think it's just more so ofthe teacher's attitude towards
their job and towards their,towards the parents.
A lot of times and me being aformer teacher as well, I feel
like like I could speak on this.
A lot of times the teachers arejust are there and they enter

(01:17:51):
schools that are in an urbancommunity just so they can get
their tuition paid off for freeor whatever it is, and get it
waived, and then they go, andthen they go teach at different
schools and then they leave ourkids behind.
So I feel like if the teacherswould not take offense to a
parent like me who's very active, very engaged and want to work

(01:18:15):
with you and want to betransparent with you.
Don't be insulted if I emailyou and ask you a question about
the agenda or the for lack ofbetter terms the curriculum, or
you know how is this supposed togo?
What's going to happen if thiswhy my kid is not getting this

(01:18:37):
accommodation and you takeautomatically take offense and
then you get on defense and thenyou bite at me and then that
makes me feel like I can't ask aquestion about my own child's
education, because now yourchild's a target.
Now, my child is absolutely atarget and you don't want to
have anything to do with me as aparent.

(01:18:58):
But then they say, oh well, theparents don't want to be active
, for the parents who do, whoare very active, who are very
concerned, and who who is tryingto work with you on a constant
basis.
um, just just just if, if youwant to teach, teach because you
want to teach, don't teach forthe paycheck and I'm gonna leave

(01:19:21):
it at that, even though thepaycheck ain't that great I I
know it's not and the benefitsare not that great.
And if that is the case, thenyou go and you do what you're
passionate about, becausewhatever it is that you're
passionate about and whatevergift that God has given you to
do, he's going to bless it ahundredfold.
And maybe teaching is not foryou, but teachers should.

(01:19:42):
Kids should not go into aschool and be on a battlefield,
because when we drop our kidsoff, they're walking through a
hundred spirits through thatschool and they are there alone
and we are not there to protectthem.
And you guys are with our kidsmore than we are, over 40 hours
a week.
When we get them, they stillhave to come home.
They have to do your homeworkOkay Then they are, have to have

(01:20:06):
dinner with us, maybe 30minutes, and then they're back
in bed.
So for five days, eight hours aday, they are with you guys and
we expect you to treat themlike you treat your own.
And I'm going to leave it atthat, right?

Speaker 2 (01:20:19):
Okay, I like that, because you are raising our kids
.

Speaker 7 (01:20:21):
You are, whether you want it to be or not, you are
babysitters.
You are in charge of our kids'lives and our kids' futures, and
if you are not going to takeaccountability for that and if
you are not going to take itserious, it's not the job for
you.
Give it to people like Desireeor Robin or Tracy.

(01:20:43):
Give it to those type of peoplewho actually love what they do,
who actually love helping kidsand watching them grow.
And, like Melanie Johnson,who's not here, like Queenie
Clem, who's not here, these areactually teachers who love what
they do.
They are passionate about whatthey do, like Miss Stephanie

(01:21:04):
Conley, who knows every singlething you want to know.
She know it tonight.
So these are people whoactually care about the kids.
But for the teachers who don't,it's not the job for you.
I don't feel safe with my kids.
With you, I will take my kidsout in a second.
And Miss Laquita Parks, no, no,I don't care about stability

(01:21:25):
when it comes to my kids.
I care about safety and I careabout who cares about mine and
if they, if y'all, if you can'tdo it, I will bring them home
and do it myself yeah,absolutely, absolutely desiree.

Speaker 2 (01:21:35):
Thank you, jacqueline desiree.
What one thing would you change?
You're you're muted.

Speaker 6 (01:21:43):
Yeah, that's hard, because I I heard the whole
thing about the money, of course, so I'm not going to repeat
that, because I totally agreewith everything everybody said.
But another aspect would be, um, the the parents being involved
.
You know what I mean?
I did not, and I still do not,see enough parents being

(01:22:04):
involved, and and then, whenthey are involved, it's only
because something has gone wrong.
We need to be there when thingsare going great.
We need to support theseteachers more.
We need to support these kidsmore, these principals.
Let them know that hey, I knowyour job is hard.
I have one at home.
You got 25 of them in yourclassroom that are acting all

(01:22:27):
the same way.
So I feel like if theseteachers were supported more you
know whether it's financial oremotional, you know that would
make them feel better as well,because they're humans too.
But, like Jacqueline was saying,you can't do this for a
paycheck and just expect that tobe, you know, and you can't.
That's just not a job.

(01:22:48):
It's like you don't expect yourdoctor to be uh, you know,
because maybe he got, uh, hispaycheck cut.
You don't expect your health,you know, your him to care less
about.
You know how you are, andthat's how a lot of people die
in the healthcare system becausethe people are not getting paid
what they want and they're like, well, you know what, we'll
just give them an aspirin andsend them on their way.
It's kind of like what we'redoing the same thing in these

(01:23:09):
schools.
And you know, voting isimportant because we're not
asking a lot of thesepoliticians.
You know the like, the currentsituation that's going on, and
I'm not going to get into thatbut just based on the current
situation now, who they want inthat presidential seat.
I've heard nothing but money,money, money, money, money,
money is gonna depend on who I'mgonna vote for.

(01:23:29):
What about humanity?
What about caring?
What about respect?
You know what I'm saying.
I've heard none of thatmentioned.
All I'm hearing about is justthings that relate to money and
so, unfortunately, avarice,which is the root of all evil.
That's the love of money thatmakes, which is the root of all
evil.
That's the love of money thatmakes that determines everything

(01:23:49):
in this world.
If you think about any problem,you can always trace it back to
something financial.
You know what I mean, andthat's a huge problem.
That's a huge problem.
You got to show these kids thatyou care.
You know, no matter what, yougot to show them that you care.
Some of these kids that I'veactually been with in the
classrooms, especially some ofthe troubled ones who get in
trouble every single day I pullthem to the side and say hey,
look, what's going on with you?

(01:24:11):
What do you need?
Why are you acting like this?
What's going on?
And once they see that somebodyactually cares and just has a
one-on-one conversation withthem, I've seen kids do a total
180 because all they wanted todo is know that somebody cared
about them.
And then you know kids arelooking at them or parents are
looking at them like, well, whathappened?
Why did little Johnny stop?

(01:24:32):
You know he doesn't really acton my own, he just wanted
somebody to talk to.
But a lot of people won't eventake that time.
You know they may not begetting it at home, they're not
getting to school, so where arethey going to get it at?
Then you wonder why they joineda gang.
You know, because no matterwhat you join, whether it's a
cult, a gang, a church group,whatever the whole thing they
have in common is friendship andacceptance.

(01:24:55):
So a lot of these kids couldprobably steer it in the right
direction if people showed thatthey cared more.
You know, and just just makethe time, these jobs, they need
to take more empathy on theseparents who have children say,
hey, I know, you know y'all,you've been working really hard,
whatever.
Whatever, I'll let you have anhour off If you need to run up
to your child's school.

(01:25:16):
You know how they have.
You know just different things.
You know the reason why youneed to leave your job.
A lot of parents are so scared're going to lose their job,
they put their kids on the backburner and it's like it's not
until something goes wrong thatthe parent is involved.

Speaker 2 (01:25:32):
I'm sorry.
I love that because you'reright.
Teachers need support.
They need support the money,robin is correct.
Jacqueline, I agree with that.
Desiree, I agree with whatyou're saying.
They need support and I wasfortunate enough to work for the
Kroger company where mysupervisors were very big on
education.

(01:25:53):
They were very big on education.
They wanted you.
My supervisor, lori Smith, wasmy supervisor for 15 years and
she was very purposeful on that.
She wanted you.
You know your child has anactivity at school.
Go, go to your child's activity, Go here.
They were very, very, verysupportive in that and I was

(01:26:14):
lucky.
And at the same time I need to.
I'm going to my son's school orI have to go, blah, blah, blah.
So I'm not asking permissionbecause I feel like if I asked
you for permission, that givesyou the right to tell me no,
there is no such thing where mychild is concerned, because it's

(01:26:35):
my responsibility.
Robin, you said it first.
Tracy, you said it, jacqueline,you said it.
It is my responsibility to takecare of my children first,
because they have me.
When my son was in high school,he had a problem with the
teacher and I used to tell mychildren all the time it is not
your responsibility to have aconversation with an adult.
That's my job.
So if you're having a problemwith the teacher, then your

(01:26:59):
responsibility is to tell me.
If the teacher is not beingfair to you, it's not your
responsibility to go back andforth with them.
That's my job.
I can handle that and I handlethat.

Speaker 7 (01:27:12):
So yes, jacqueline, I just want to piggyback on that
because my son going into middleschool, um, I I stay advocating
for him for sixth and seventhgrade and the the teachers
really fought me on that, andthe staff as well.
They were oh well, he's oldenough, he should be able to
advocate for himself.
And I felt like at 11 and 12years old, especially with a 504

(01:27:35):
plan and he's ADHD.
I will never, because themoment that our kids start to
advocate for themselves, theywill become behavioral issues.
They will try to suspend themfor talking back or being
disrespectful to the teacher.
So I told them absolutely notAt 11, 12, even 13 years old.
If my son has an issue with youas an adult, I will address you

(01:27:58):
as an adult and I'm not goingto hear anything about oh well,
he should be able to advocatefor himself.
No, that's what he has a momfor.

Speaker 5 (01:28:08):
Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (01:28:08):
As a dad for.

Speaker 2 (01:28:10):
Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 7 (01:28:11):
Absolutely, absolutely Advocate for your
kids.

Speaker 2 (01:28:14):
You have to Absolutely.
Thank you, tracy.
What's what with the?
What one thing would you changeeducation as an educator and a
parent, what would you change inthe education system as an
educator and a parent, whatwould you change in the
education system?

Speaker 5 (01:28:28):
It's really loaded because I mean, like everybody
else, I'm on the panel.
You know I'm on both sides ofthe coin, as a mother and as a
parent.
I'm going to speak as a parentfirst and I think you know it's
just reiterating what MsJacqueline has said, and I'm

(01:28:51):
going to say it this way I don'tput the sole responsibility of
my kids being educated on theteacher.
I believe that education startsat home.
Okay, when my children both ofthem learned how to read

(01:29:12):
fluently at three, where theyweren't in school, I taught them
how to read.
I taught them letters andsounds.
I taught them blending.
I taught them, you know, thosefirst sets of sight words that
they needed.
You know, when Maya went tokindergarten, we were in the
middle of the pandemic and herkindergarten teacher said I

(01:29:36):
don't know what you did with herat home, but she has surpassed
all of the kindergarten sightwords.
She's on the first grade sightword list.
By the end of kindergarten shewas reading on the second grade
level.
That was what I did at home.
You know, I don't.
You know, like Ms Jackie said,they're at school more than they

(01:29:57):
are at home, so I'm working,I'm not in the classroom to see
what the teacher's teaching, howthe teachers teach and you know
and all of that.
They bring their work home andI mean they have the blessing of
having a mother as a teacher soI can look at their work and
see what needs to be done andhow you know they need to be

(01:30:19):
taught.
You know, in differentstrategies and things like that.
But I'm not going to put thatsole responsibility on a teacher
like you.
You're going to educate mychild, you're going to teach my
child.
You're going to do this with mychild I, you know.
Now I'm flipping over to theteacher side.
You have that one child, ormaybe you have two or three

(01:30:39):
children at home that you'reresponsible for.
Not only do I have my two orthree children, my two girls
that I'm responsible for, butI'm responsible for another 40,
38 children.
So, how you know, now I'm goingto pose a question how do you
expect me to give special,specialized instruction and

(01:31:05):
treatment of your child out ofthe 40.

Speaker 2 (01:31:09):
So what's the if you could change it, what?

Speaker 5 (01:31:11):
would that be you?
Know where the parent is happy,where the admin is happy, where
the child is happy and don'tfeel like they're being, you
know, neglected or under attack.

Speaker 2 (01:31:25):
So what would your thing, what would you do to
change, what would the one thingyou do, that what change would
you make?

Speaker 5 (01:31:34):
For me, I think that parents and teachers and I try
to do this even now try to buildthat bond in that relationship
where we're not at each other'snecks, working together.
The kid needs to see that we'reon the same page, because your
child sees that you know yourmama is barking at the teacher

(01:31:58):
and you know, and if I, you know, if I get in trouble, I know my
mama's going to come up thereand get that teacher straight.

Speaker 2 (01:32:06):
And I'm barking at the teacher as a child, because
I see my mama do it, because mymama going to side with me, what
did?

Speaker 5 (01:32:12):
she do.
Exactly, exactly right, exactlyright.
So at that point am I stillsupposed to be extra sugary
sweet?
You know, my mother, bless herdad, told me all the time you
are so professional, you're moreprofessional than I am.
She said I couldn't do it, Iwould lose my job because I'm

(01:32:32):
not going to allow a child tocome and be disrespectful, you
know, to an adult or to you.
Know to the teachers at theschool.
You know to the teachers at theschool.
You're there to learn, they arethere to teach you.

Speaker 2 (01:32:51):
You know, if you know more than them, then you don't
need to be there.
You know I like that becausethere are a lot of students.
I remember my and Stephanie.
I'm coming to you.
I say the best for last becauseI have some.
I know you got some stuff.
One of the, my sister, used towork at the school system and
she used to be, and you know,like I think Robin, you talked
about those duties, having theduties where somebody's on door

(01:33:12):
duty, somebody's on late duty,somebody's on, and she was on.
She was on late duty.
I mean when the kids would cometo school late and they had to
get a pass to get to class andget in class because they were
late.
Some of the stories she would,she would hear and this was
elementary school and some ofthe students would come and she
was like, why are you late?
Well, we was me and my me andmy brother was at the jail last

(01:33:33):
night.
My mom and daddy, my mom andher boyfriend got busted, or my
mama kept me up all nightbecause her and and and her
boyfriend was fighting, and sothese are real things that these
kids are coming to school with.
So imagine that's one, imagine10 in one class, so they haven't

(01:33:54):
slept, they're going throughall this, and then it's a cake,
it's a powder keg, and then youdon't see the parents until I
think you said it, robin, yousaid it, desiree, all y'all said
it until there is a problem.
And when there is a problem youget a lot of times the parents
come, especially in the publicschool system.

(01:34:15):
It's a little different in theprivate sector, but the parents
come and they want to know.
You know, first of all, mychild don't act like that at
home.
I'm surprised because my childdon't act like that at home.
I'm surprised because my childdon't act like that at home and
where they get that from and notmy child.
And so then you have asituation where the parent is
not an ally.
So the parents and the teachersare sparring and, like you said

(01:34:39):
, tracy, the student sees thatand they know okay, well, I can
go in and treat my teacher anykind of way because I know my
mom are going to get my mom ormy parents going to get going to
side with me and I'm not goingto get in any trouble with it.
So I like that.
So it needs to be communicationand work together as a team.
So, stephanie, what's the onething that you would change?

(01:35:00):
And you know we we have aboutthree minutes to talk about how
things are a little differentfrom the public school sector,
because you came from a middleschool Clayton County, Riverdale
Middle School for 16 years andthen you principled a charter
school.
So a whole different, wholedifferent dynamic.
And Kevin asked the questionwhat is the training like for

(01:35:24):
new teachers?
Are they giving them adequatetraining?
Or they say, hey, we got somenew teachers, we sure to stay up
here, get them in there and youlearn as you go.
So talk about that, stephanie.

Speaker 3 (01:35:36):
All right, so I'll start with the latter.
In terms of new teacherorientation, we can, we can take
teachers through new teacherorientation.
We can take teachers throughnew teacher orientation.
You can come from thebackground of having educational
training to be an educator.
You can come from the privatesector and transition into

(01:35:57):
education, but nothing preparesyou for when you set foot in
that classroom and you have toencounter 20, 25, 30, 35
children that are looking at youand you have to be prepared to
educate them.
Nothing prepares you for that.
Now, one of the things that issuper important and this doesn't
go with my list but mentorshipof having teachers that are

(01:36:21):
seasoned, teachers not only thatare seasoned but do their job
well.
Supporting new teachers isvitally important.
So the mentorship programwithin schools, within districts
, is one of the basicfundamentals that is really
going to help new teachers grow,and grow in a way that is going

(01:36:44):
to be supportive of the overallmission and vision of the
school district.
The thing that I would like tosee happen in school systems
that is fundamentally going tochange the way that we do
education is about therelationships and building back
of community within schools.

(01:37:04):
When you build relationships,not only with your students that
are within your classrooms, butwith parents, with other
community members, to be able tobring in some of those things
that we bodily need in order tosupport the overall school.
It's going to change the way wedo school.
It's gonna change the way we doschool.
It's going to change the way wehave parents invited to come in

(01:37:29):
or feel like the school is opento them coming in and them
having communication with theirteachers and with the
administrators or with whoeverwithin the building.
One of the things that was veryimportant at our charter school
was for us, for our, our parents, to have a number that they can

(01:37:50):
get in contact with the teacher, Not saying that the teacher is
going to respond to you at 11o'clock at night, 10 o'clock at
night, nine o'clock at night,but there is a another way
besides emailing um a teacher,that you can get in contact with
the teacher for your child, andthat helped to once again

(01:38:14):
broaden and build out thecommunity and build out
relationships.
We had a phenomenal parentliaison that not only was she

(01:38:35):
based in a way that made it openfor the parents to want to
contact her, but it showed thatthe relationship that she had
with them transcended overwithin the teachers, within the
classrooms and with theadministrators.
So one of the things that is soimportant is that relationships
matter, Understanding that alot of not a lot of our parents,

(01:38:56):
but some of our parents comefrom a negative experience in
education and when you know that, then you understand why they
may respond to you in a way thatis going to feel like it's
confrontational at heart.
That I know every last child inmy building.
I have a relationship, they cancome and have a conversation

(01:39:33):
with me as a principal, that Ihave an open door policy for
both my parents, my students, mystaff.
It's so important to helping torun a building and run the
community of the building in adifferent way.

Speaker 2 (01:39:48):
Wow, wow, wow.
Listen, I thank you, stephanie,thank you so much for that.
Tracy, thank you so much foreverything that you do, oh my
goodness.
Desiree, thank you so much foreverything.
Jacqueline Cox, thank you somuch, so much, and Robin, thank

(01:40:09):
you so much, so much, so much.
Listen, and yes, tracy, ifanybody on here is interested,
if you're an educator, if you'rea teacher, tracy is doing an
anthology for teachers the 5Wsand connect with her, or connect
with me, me and I can connectyou with her if you're
interested in being a part ofthis anthology for education.

(01:40:33):
Listen, guys, earlier today Isaid thank you for your service
and you guys hit it on the nail.
You guys hit the nail with thehammer because what you do is so
important.
Stephanie and Desiree and I,and Jacqueline and I have talked
about that before.
How many of you remember thatteacher that made a difference
in your life?
How many of you remember theteacher that you loved, that you

(01:40:57):
talked about all the time andyou cried in the summertime
because you didn't get a chanceto see her?
How many of you?
And then, how many of youremember that teacher that was
mean to you and that teacher who, who was always picking on you
and probably said you wasn'tgoing to amount to anything.
Teachers make a difference inour lives and in the lives of

(01:41:19):
our children, so for that, Itell you, thank you for your
service.
Thank you for staying in thetrenches, tracy, stephanie,
thank you for not only justbeing a source of education and
a resource, but of love andcompassion and seeing the
children as individuals, andthey have a heart that's like.
As a Christian, I have to seeeverybody's soul.

(01:41:41):
So everybody has a soul, whichmeans everybody.
There's hope for everybody.
So, kevin von, thank you somuch for um.
You know we we went way pastour time, but thank you so much
for your patience and forproducing this show.
Listen, guys, I believe that 100of everybody living in dead has
a story and as educators, asparents and even as parents, we,

(01:42:04):
we're educators, right, we allhave a story.
And so you guys, if you'relistening to this show, you've
heard just a snippet of thesestories.
So what I want you to do, ifyou're listening to this story,
at the end of the story, reachout to these ladies.
Reach out to Jacqueline Cox.
Jacqueline Cox is doing someamazing things.
Listen, linda, listen, linda.
Reach out to Jacqueline andconnect with her and collaborate

(01:42:27):
with her on some of herprojects.
Uh, if you need a chef andyou're in the Atlanta area,
reach out to Desiree man.
I mean, she can do some thingsin the kitchen.
Okay, um, tracy has some bookscoming out.
She has three and her baby girlhas a book coming out.
Reach out to Tracy and connectwith her.
Robin, robin, we didn't get achance to talk to her, but we

(01:42:48):
can.
We can have some individualshows and talk about what you're
doing, but you talked aboutinsurance and and tutoring and
what you're doing to make adifference.
Reach out, reach out.
Reach out to Robin and connectwith her.
You need insurance.
We all need some insurance.
Okay, and Stephanie, listen, ifyou guys are in education, if

(01:43:11):
you guys are the administratorsand my education friends and my
administration friends, reachout to Stephanie, because she is
an amazing, invaluable resourcethat you need to have.
And for those of you who arelooking for a platform to
connect on to make sure that youget your message out and it is
not convoluted, it is notwatered down, reach out to Kevin

(01:43:32):
Vaughn with the MLT Network.
If you're Christian based, too,and you're looking to get your
message out, reach out to KevinVaughn and listen.
Ms Listen, linda has a podcastshow, so each one of you ladies
sign up with Listen, linda signup with Jacqueline, and she's in
what a million and 500countries.
Kevin is in a million and 300countries, so connect with them

(01:43:55):
and continue to tell yourstories.
So I am Laquita Parks.
I am the host of so what's yourStory?
I also am the host of my Hearton Pages and I am also the CEO
and founder of PayProVPublishing, because 100% of
everybody living and dead has astory.
So I thank you guys, I thankyou, I thank you.
I thank you.

(01:44:16):
Keep doing what you're doing.
Our children need you.
So when you guys start gettinga little, you know, start saying
okay, I can't take it anymore.
Remember your why, rememberyour, why.
Remember why you got it.
And I have to do that every daywith PayProV.
Okay, this is why I did.
This is why I do it.
Remember your why?
Okay, listen, if all hearts andminds are clear, I just want to

(01:44:38):
say it has been a plump,pleasing pleasure Better than a
triple deck of peanut butter andjelly sandwich.
That's my story and I'msticking to it Until next time.
Be amazing.
I love you, I love you, I loveyou.
Thank you, thank you you.

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