#104 Legitimizing the Hustle (w/ Marisol Rerucha)

In this episode, Omar and Jeff sit down with Marisol Rerucha, educator, author, consultant, and principal at SciTech High who walked into their lives thanks to a misdirected FedEx package.

Marisol opens with a powerful indigenous-style introduction, tracing her lineage back seven generations and reframing success not as what we've accomplished, but as who we carry with us.

The conversation dives into:

• Alternative education — what it actually is, why it exists, and why the "school for bad kids" stigma is something we were sold and can choose to return
• Restorative practices — the core message of her book Beyond the Surface of Restorative Practices, and why connection, vulnerability, and community are the real silver bullets in education
• Career Technical Education (CTE) — pathways, internships, and "legitimizing the hustle" for students in the juvenile court system
• Charter schools, the Department of Education, and the state of public education today
• Personal stories — from Omar's experience in alternative ed, to Marisol raising two daughters at 21, to the Viktor Frankl quote that ties it all together: "The last of one's freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance."

Get the book: Beyond the Surface of Restorative Practices — available on Amazon

Amazon.com: Beyond the Surface of Restorative Practices: Building a Culture of Equity, Connection, and Healing: 9781951600587: Rerucha, Marisol Quevedo: Books