May 13, 2026 • 29 mins
On this episode of Insight, we’re celebrating leadership in education and the extraordinary impact school principals have on students, families, and entire communities.
The School District of Philadelphia and the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation recently honored seven outstanding school leaders with the 2026 Lindback Award for Distinguished Principals. Joining us are two of this year’s award recipients — Dr. Michelle Burns and Sakia Beard Brinkley — to discuss leadership, service, and creating school communities where students can thrive.
Dr. Burns shares how A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical High School is preparing students for careers, college, and future success, while Sakia Beard Brinkley talks about building a supportive culture for students and families at Richard R. Wright School. Together, they reflect on the challenges facing students today, the importance of public education, and the moments that remind them why this work matters so deeply. For more information:
• School District of Philadelphia
• Lindback Foundation Awards Information Follow on social media:
• School District of Philadelphia Instagram
• School District of Philadelphia Facebook
• School District of Philadelphia X/Twitter
Cobbs Creek Foundation & NRG Partnership
We also talk about transformation, opportunity, and the power of partnership in our city. A major investment is helping reimagine one of Philadelphia’s most historic spaces—Cobbs Creek—into a hub for education, wellness, and community connection. Joining us are Erin Cook, Senior Vice President of the Cobbs Creek Foundation, and Keri Murschell, Director of Community and Sponsorship Marketing at NRG to discuss a powerful collaboration between the Cobbs Creek Foundation, NRG Energy, and Vivint that’s bringing new energy—literally and figuratively—to West Philadelphia. The conversation explores the vision behind the Cobbs Creek revitalization project, including expanded opportunities for youth programming, workforce development, education, and community engagement.
We also learn more about the new Vivint + NRG Hub, which will serve as a central gathering space for students and neighborhood residents. Erin and Keri discuss why partnerships like this matter, how corporate and community organizations can work together to create lasting impact, and how Philadelphians can stay connected as the project continues to grow.
For more information:
• Cobbs Creek Foundation
•NRG Social Responsibility
• Vivint
• Cobbs Creek Foundation Instagram
• Cobbs Creek Foundation Facebook
• Vivint Instagram
The School District of Philadelphia and the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation recently honored seven outstanding school leaders with the 2026 Lindback Award for Distinguished Principals. Joining us are two of this year’s award recipients — Dr. Michelle Burns and Sakia Beard Brinkley — to discuss leadership, service, and creating school communities where students can thrive.
Dr. Burns shares how A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical High School is preparing students for careers, college, and future success, while Sakia Beard Brinkley talks about building a supportive culture for students and families at Richard R. Wright School. Together, they reflect on the challenges facing students today, the importance of public education, and the moments that remind them why this work matters so deeply. For more information:
• School District of Philadelphia
• Lindback Foundation Awards Information Follow on social media:
• School District of Philadelphia Instagram
• School District of Philadelphia Facebook
• School District of Philadelphia X/Twitter
Cobbs Creek Foundation & NRG Partnership
We also talk about transformation, opportunity, and the power of partnership in our city. A major investment is helping reimagine one of Philadelphia’s most historic spaces—Cobbs Creek—into a hub for education, wellness, and community connection. Joining us are Erin Cook, Senior Vice President of the Cobbs Creek Foundation, and Keri Murschell, Director of Community and Sponsorship Marketing at NRG to discuss a powerful collaboration between the Cobbs Creek Foundation, NRG Energy, and Vivint that’s bringing new energy—literally and figuratively—to West Philadelphia. The conversation explores the vision behind the Cobbs Creek revitalization project, including expanded opportunities for youth programming, workforce development, education, and community engagement.
We also learn more about the new Vivint + NRG Hub, which will serve as a central gathering space for students and neighborhood residents. Erin and Keri discuss why partnerships like this matter, how corporate and community organizations can work together to create lasting impact, and how Philadelphians can stay connected as the project continues to grow.
For more information:
• Cobbs Creek Foundation
•NRG Social Responsibility
• Vivint
• Cobbs Creek Foundation Instagram
• Cobbs Creek Foundation Facebook
• Vivint Instagram
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrell. Today we're exploring the
power of partnership, leadership, and transformation across Philadelphia. First, we'll
talk about an exciting collaboration in reimagining historic Cobbs Creek
into a vibrant space for education, wellness and community connection.
Joining us are Aaron cook of the Cobbs Creek Foundation
(00:22):
in Kerrie Merschell of NRG to talk about how this
investment is bringing new energy to West Philly. Then we
celebrate excellence in education with two recipients of the twenty
twenty six Lindback Award for Distinguished Principles, doctor Michelle Burns
and Sekaiah Beard Brinkley, sharing how strong leadership is helping
students and schools in communities thrive. Stay with us today,
(00:45):
we're talking about transformation, opportunity, and the power of partnership
in our city. A major investment is helping imagine and
re imagine one of Philadelphia's most historic spaces, Cobbs Creek,
into a hub for education, wellness, and community connection. Joining
us are Aaron Cooks, Senior Vice President of the Cobbs
Creek Foundation and Carrie Merschelle, director of Community and Sponsorship
(01:07):
Marketing at NRG, to talk about a powerful collaboration that's
bringing new energy literally and figuratively to West Philadelphia. So Erin,
let's start with the big picture. What is the vision
for the Cobbs Creek project and why is it so
important for Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The vision for the Cobbs Creek Foundations project in West
Philly is to bring economic and educational opportunity and access
to students in West Philly. We are really excited to
be here in West Philadelphia and revitalizing this golf course,
and we feel that the history that has happened here
over the past century is really important and it needs
(01:46):
to be preserved. So that's a major driver for the
Cobbs Creek Foundation is preserving the history that's happened here
at Cobbs Creek and looking towards the future. What we're
doing is we're creating a model where golf is really
giving back to the community. This is the way that
by restoring this golf course, we can create educational and
community programs for kids in this neighborhood that will last
(02:08):
for generations.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, it's really more than restoring a golf course. It's
creating these opportunities for youth education and also workforce development.
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
One of the things about our partnership with the TGR
Foundation is that the Tiger Woods Foundation is excellent at
creating programming in STEM that is really interesting, intriguing, and
attractive to students in the Philadelphia School District to come
and get their hands on all kinds of great high
tech equipment at the TGR Learning Lab at Hops Creek.
But really our vision for them is that they can
(02:41):
find their passion and learn about what opportunities there are
out there in the workforce, and they can learn about
careers and how they may want to design their post
secondary plan, whether that's going to college or getting involved
in a career. And what the TGR Foundation does is
really focuses on workforce development and shows all sorts of
different pathways that kids may have not seen before.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Carrie Energ and Vivid have made a significant five hundred
thousand dollars investment. What inspired this partnership and what is
it aim to achieve for the community.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It's really supporting everything that Erin shared with us. It's
the transformation it's just a partnership that will continue to
support expanded programming at the TGR Learning Lab and to
really just dive in on the community that's already at
work and be able to help to support it. So
all of the work happening at the Cobbs Creek Foundation
(03:32):
was really inspirational to energy and that transformation speaks near
and dear to our hearts as we think about how
energy in that space continues to transform and how it
impacts all of our lives, and so it was an
obvious decision for us to get involved and to be
able to support the work that Erin and her team
are doing.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Carrie, the new Vivant and Energy Hub will be a
central gathering place, So I wonder if you can kind
of tell us in vision for the future what this
is going to look like for students and communities coming
from this space.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
First of all, I would encourage anybody in the area,
in the Philadelphia community to get involved, because when you
walk into the Vivin and RG Hub that's in the
forefront of TGR Learning Lab there, it just spills welcome everywhere.
There are kids that are involved, there's activity going on,
So that hub is really the hub for the TGR students,
(04:28):
and so it's a place for them to come and
to learn and prepare for the next phase of their life,
whether it's college or whether it's work following high school.
But it's a place for them to come and to
feel part of the community there. And so when you
walk into that space, everything about it screams futures, screams growth,
screams opportunity. And so that is the best place that
(04:51):
we could imagine being present in.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
You know, what's so great about having this kind of
conversation is that I get to learn something, and that
is I don't know all lot about the Cobbs Creek
project and the golf course itself, although Aaron you say
that it's got a long history. And I think one
of the things that we have are these neighborhoods, and
we often don't know about each other's neighborhoods. So tell
(05:14):
us fill us in a little bit about the history
of the Cobbs Creek project and also about the golf course.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So the history of Cobbs Creek is quite long and
super interesting. In fact, we are going to have a
heritage center on site that is going to be sponsored
by one of our partners, so that we can preserve
the history and tell the story of all of the
amazing things that have happened at Cobbs Creek. So in
nineteen sixteen, when Cobbs Creek was founded by Hugh Wilson,
(05:42):
who also designed Marion's East Course four miles down the creek,
it was one of the finest golf courses in the country,
and it was one of the first golf courses that
was open to people of color and women. So we
feel it is really important to make sure that we
always remain public, open and accessible and inclusive of everyone
(06:02):
who wants to play golf at Cops Creek. There is
a lot of really amazing private golf in the Philadelphia area,
and we take a lot of pride in the fact
that Cobbs Creek is public, open and accessible, and we're
building on a history of being one of the first
golf courses that was open and accessible to all. Through
that history, one of the first African American golfers to
(06:23):
play and win on the PGA Tour, Charlie Sifford, called
Cobbs Creek his home, so he learned to play golf
here at Cobbs Creek in the nineteen forties in the
nineteen fifties and then went on to be the first
African American to break the color barrier and play golf
as a professional on the PGA Tour. So we're preserving
all of that history here in the Heritage Center, and
(06:44):
we want to make sure that this important history that's
happened right here in West Philadelphia is preserved and told
more broadly throughout the Philadelphia area and to all of
the visitors who come from across the world, across the
nation to play golf at Cops Creek.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I love that. I love hearing that history, and I
wonder if you could kind of look to the future
and envision for us as the way that you see
things are going to look like when everything is in place,
that this wonderful renovation and this new center, the Vivint
NRG Hub is in there. Tell us what people can
(07:21):
see and feel and experience when they come into that space.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, I have to say that the early partners like
NRG that have believed in our mission and have really
shown us the belief early before we even had some
of these buildings built, are really I think some of
the most important visionaries in Philadelphia and in the corporate world.
You know, we have been doing powerpoints at the Cobscreek
(07:46):
Foundation and illustrating what we think our vision will be
for the future. And now that we have the TGR
Learning Lab built on campus and we have the Lincoln
Financial Center built on campus, we are so so proud
and so lucky to have visionaries like NRG who believed
in our mission early. So for us in five to
ten years, our north star that guides us is really
(08:08):
seeing some of the kids that come through the Smile
of Woodland TGR Learning Lab and either go to college
or discover a career that they're passionate about, and they
come back to us in five or ten years and
they tell us about how successful they've become in their
career because of the programming and the support at the
TGR Learning Lab, And that really is what guides us.
(08:28):
We'd love to see the kids telling us how successful
they are in the careers that they discovered through the
programs at the TGR Learning Lab. And a lot of
those kids are now becoming interested in golf as well.
They come for STEM educational programming, but we're doing a
lot of programs in golf and Energy just had an
LPGA Tour pro Lauren Cofflin come and do a clinic
(08:49):
for the girls here that are learning golf. So if
I could see some of those girls and boys in
five to ten years in careers or colleges that they
love and they're also playing golf, and potentially we might
find a rising star that might one day play on
the PGA Tour, that would be what we would love
to see in the future.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, I love that. I love that. I love that vision,
and it looks like it's already underway. Eric just very
quickly tell us what was it about this project that
really sparked the interest of Energy to support it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So, I think Energy historically has been a forward thinker
and an early believer in projects that are going to
be transformational for Philadelphia. So I know that Carrie and
her team care about the projects that are important in
the communities where their employees live and work, and so
(09:39):
they've always had their eye towards partnerships that can, you know,
not only bring awareness to the pillars that are important
to Energy as a corporation, but what's important to Philadelphia
and the Cobbs Creek project. While it has a lot
of eyes on the golf world on what we're doing.
There's a lot of people paying attention to what we're
(10:00):
doing on the golf side. The heart and soul of
our mission is really in the programs that we're providing
to the kids. And Energy saw that very early on
and has been a supporter of really the heart and
soul of our mission, which is using golf and the
popularity and participation in golf to drive revenue and to
drive funding for the work that we're doing in the
community with the kids. Right, that's really what's most important.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Absolutely, And Carrie just please join jump in and tell
us what was it that inspired you to be so
supportive of this.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It's the innovation that aligns with the Cobbs Creek Foundation
and their long term vision, and it includes environmental restoration,
youth development, sustainable infrastructure, and the creation for work paths
for all of these students going forward. And so it's
really also bringing innovation into everyday lights that's more affordable
(10:51):
for these students to participate, to get involved, to learn
about what's out there. And our partnership is really about
creating opportunities for Philadelphia students to transform their lives, So
it's an easy partnership for us to have. It's been
an incredible one so far.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It sounds amazing. So for both of you, how can
the community, state connected, get involved or learn more about
what's happening at Cobbscreek.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So we love to say that we're sort of a
one stop shop for individuals who are interested in learning more,
corporations who might be interested in sponsoring or creating a
corporate sponsorship. As Carrie said, if you're interested in golf,
if you're interested in environmental restoration, if you're interested in
community programming, economic revitalization, or investing in education for students,
(11:38):
we would recommend that you go to our website www
dot Cobscreek dot org and you can learn about all
of the different ways to get involved. We are open
and very welcoming of donations for our capital campaign, all
the way down from very small donations to some of
the larger corporate sponsorships. So our goal is to get
everyone in Philadelphia involved in this transformational project for Philly.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, Carrie, NRG and Vivint are very involved in many
aspects of the community. So I know that there's a
website that allows you to connect with your community outreach.
Tell us more about that very briefly.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Sure, if you're interested in learning more about nrg's work
in the community, you can visit us at www dot
pickrg dot com and there's plans in there that fit
every lifestyle for alternative energy supply as well as just
more information about our community action and what we're doing
out in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yes, NRG a good corporate partner and a citizen in
the greater Philadelphia area. Aaron Cook, Senior Vice President of
the Cobbs Creek Foundation, and Carrie Marshall, who's Director of
Community and Sponsorships Marketing at NRG, talking about a powerful
collaboration that's bringing new energy literally and figuratively to West
Philadelphia through the Cobbs Creek Project. Thank you both for
(12:55):
joining us today.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Thank thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Women Against Abuse is celebrating fifty years of service with
Philly's Best Women Chef competition, Dish It Up on Thursday,
June eleventh, at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City.
This year, step into a groovy, nineteen seventies inspired night
featuring delicious bites from top local chefs, an open bar,
and the chance to connect with hundreds of change makers.
(13:23):
Best of all, Proceeds supports survivors of domestic violence. Get
your tickets at Women Against Abuse dot org.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Adopt us Kids presents what to expect when you're expecting
a teenager learning the lingo.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Today, I'm going to help parents translate teen slang. Now,
when a team says something is on fleek, it's exactly
like saying that's rad. It simply means that something is
awesome or cool. Another one is toats. It's exactly like
saying totally, just shorter, as in I totes love going
(13:58):
to the mall with Becca. Word you might hear is jelly.
Jelly is a shorter, better way to say jealous, as
in Chloe, I am like so jelly of your unicorn
phone case.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
You don't have to speak teen to be a perfect parent.
Thousands of teens in foster care will think you're rad
just the same. To learn more, visit adopt us Kids
dot org. A public service announcement brought to you by
the US Department of Health and Human Services, adopt us Kids,
and the ad Council.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We're celebrating leadership and education and extraordinary impact school principles
have on students. Families and entire communities. The School District
of Philadelphia and the Christian R. And Mary F. Lindbeck
Foundation recently honored seven outstanding school leaders with a twenty
twenty six Lindenback Award for Distinguished Principles. Joining us are
(14:57):
two of this year's award recipients, doctor Michelle Burns and
Sekia Beard Brinkley, to talk about leadership, service and creating
school communities where students can thrive. First, congratulations to both
of you on receiving the twenty twenty six Lindback Award
for Distinguished Principles. That is a very high honor. What
(15:17):
does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally, Sikya,
Let's begin with you.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Thank you for the congratulations. Winning the award is a
humbling experience. It's just not about a reflection of my leadership,
but the collective work my entire school community does at right.
We believe that every success is rooted in a commitment
of the teachers, the resilience of our children, and the
(15:45):
partnerships of our families. And that's partly why I do
this work. I have a blended family of six, and
it just reaffirms that a strong school culture and high
expectations can coexist.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Doctor Burns, what about you? What was your reaction so
win in this award.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
It's a great honor for myself, the school community, and
for my schools because I couldn't do this work without them.
It just validates the hard work and community recognition and
commitment to educational equity. A very prestigious honor. It just
highlights our impact that we have on students and I
think the great work that we're doing here at Randolph
(16:26):
Career Technical Education High School. And it also means that
we have to achieve. It doesn't stop here. The bar
doesn't stop here. We have to continue raising a bar
and continue doing more for our students to make sure
they are successful when they leave our doors.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, you know, I know how important principles are to
the climate and the mission of a school. I have
seen it in person where a principal has gone into
a school and totally transformed it into a wonderful learning environment. Sikaia.
The Richard R. Wright School has a strong reputation for sportings.
Students and families talk about creating that kind of culture
(17:04):
to work within your school community to uplift that mission.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think it just reaffirms that leadership is about service.
It's about showing up every day for our students and
our staff even when the work is challenging, and never
losing sight of why that we do the work. It
is about the partnerships that we have with our family.
As a community school, we work to remove barriers. We
meet every student and families where they are, and our
(17:31):
goal is to create an environment in partnership with families
that students can thrive. So we take the parent engagement
very seriously. Here it right and we bring that into
our school culture. Right now, we have house systems and
each child and family belongs to a house, and those
(17:52):
four collective house build one strong community. So I think
it's just strengthening in our partnership has been and what
we needed at right to continue to push our students forward.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Doctor Burns. We know that at the end of the day,
to create a successful young person, it's really important to
prepare them for careers and possibly higher education. And I
wonder if you can talk about the work happening at
a Philip Randolph Career and Technical School and how you
(18:24):
inspire students to get ready for careers life sustaining careers
and a higher education.
Speaker 7 (18:30):
So here at Randolph, our focus is on preparing students
for both the workforce and post secondary education through blended,
rigorous academics and hands on and skill based training. One
of the unique things about Randolph is we are the
only school that has a fire academy and they are
instructed by employees from the Philadelphia Fire Department. And that
(18:53):
partnership was made by a former mayor in order to
build a pipeline for Brown and African American children are
going to enter into the fire academy. So one of
the things that we say here is skills pays bills.
Everyone is not going to college, and that's okay. You know, everybody,
you know you can make some good money going right
into the workforce and learning skills. We employed the first
(19:15):
welder female welder ATCEPTA. We have strong partnerships with SEPTA,
the Navy Shipyard, and with various other unions throughout the
city of Philadelphia. They come and seek our students out,
So we want them to be prepared when they leave here,
not only with their academics, but if they ought not
to go into the military or not to go on
to post secondary education that they at least have the
(19:37):
skills needed in order to be successful and the career
path that they choose.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Both of you lead during a time when educators and
students continue to face many challenges. I feel very concerned
for young people today because they're facing things that we
didn't have to face. We had. We have social media,
I know I didn't have it when I was coming up.
We have AI, which is something that's really impacting us
(20:04):
quite strongly in these last couple of years, and who
knows where that's going to lead. So let's talk about
the challenges that you both face. What are some of
the biggest issues you feel are impacting students today and
how are your schools Respondingsicia.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
One of the biggest challenges my students face, especially in
North Philadelphia, is the trauma that they experience and that
impacts their ability to have academic achievement. A part of
the work that we do here at RIGHT is connecting
our work as school staff to temple phases, and it's
connected in the student's ability to feel safe, regulated, and supported.
(20:48):
So we do a lot of work around students supports
that build self awareness, coping strategies, and resilience for example,
all of my students receive sel lessons by our counselor
because they need to develop those skills in order to
deal with the traumatic experience that they have. In order
(21:11):
for us to make sure we do that, we invest
in staff wellness as well and capacity building because the
success of trauma informed schools depend on the adults who
feel safe and support it.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah, doctor Burns.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
I'd like to piggyback off of that in high schools.
You know, our kids, they come, they have a lot
of issues that need support for the social emotional learning,
so we try to develop soft skills. Soft skills is
extremely important when you're going into the workforce, when you're
trying to resolve conflict, So we try to get them
to set goals and to be positive. We try to
(21:48):
keep our students safe and sometimes so we get students
from all over the city. Sometimes they may say they
don't feel safe traveling through the city, or they may
have had something that happened in the community or the neighborhood.
We tell them to come say something you know, we
don't know. We can't help you if you don't say
anything and talk to us. So social awareness and also
relationship skills building relationships, trying to work with students to
(22:11):
build relationships on how to resolve conflict, because that's huge,
you know, you don't just everything does not. I tell
them you don't have to attend every party you're invited.
Sometimes you can live to fight another day. Let's sit back, relax,
let's think about it, let's resolve, you know, try to
resolve it through peaceful means. So that's what we try to.
We try to display that with our students and we
(22:33):
try to get them to We have a program called
Relationships First and it is very impactful here at Randolph
where students sit with Relationship First facilitators and they learn
how to problem solve and we do emotional healing circles.
So if there's conflict with one another, you can sit,
let's try to work it out and see how we
can move forward and resolve it in a peaceful means.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
So I love that. Now the Lindback Award recognizes not
only leadership, but also umanitarian contributions to school communities. I
don't know if you can both share a moment that
reminded you why this work matters so deeply. Saikia Beards Brinkley,
what about you.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
I'm reminded of why this work is important. Every single
day I greet all of my students as they arrive
to school, and I get to see all of the
two hundred and five students that I serve, their faces.
I have connected with them and their families, so I
know their story. So they give me the reason to
come in every day and service because I believe that
(23:35):
schools like mine are deeply committed to equity and doing
whatever it takes to support every student. So I'm reminded
every single day with every single student when they come
in the doors of Richard are right, even if it's
a good day or a bad day. A lot of
my children, we just had a Mother's Day event and
(23:57):
I had about fifty mothers show up for their children
and it was a day of service to them. And
when I was leaving, they said, well, our kids didn't
come because this is a day for you, a day
for us to celebrate you. So I'm reminded every day
with my families, with the conversations that I have at
(24:17):
a mission and dismissal of why this work is so important.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Doctor Burns, so one of the things humanitarian. A lot
of our students are families right now. They're struggling. This
is a tough time in the economy. During Thanksgiving, we
sought out families who needed assistance. We collected food for
our families and we gave them a full meal. One
of the community activists made it a point to reach
out to me and get word to me that one
(24:42):
of my students stated that they wanted to go to
prom their senior and they're not able to because it's
a financial burden. So I immediately went into work mode and
put it out, you know, a filler put out help
need it. So we have collected money for this student.
We are going to take shopping for the prom, also
for graduation and for the senior class trip, and we're
(25:06):
going to make sure that they have a great experience.
And then we're also extending that to other students because
when they say, oh, no, I don't want to go,
I immediately I'm nosy. I find out, I call, I
may calls and find out. You know, why do they
not want to go? This is their senior year. They
didn't come this far just to come this far, and
we want them to experience as much as possible. So
when it comes to we're tied in one school, so
(25:26):
of course there's no barriers to graduating or as far
as as long as you're in your credits, you know,
getting your cap and gallon, things of that nature, making
sure that's paid for. We take care of all that.
But it's doing the dressing because you know, kids can
be cruel. Some kids can be cruel, so we want
to make sure that everyone looks the part. And when
I called this student down and I said you like Jordan's,
(25:47):
his face lit up because I'm a sneaker buff and
so we're going to make sure. We asked them what
color he wanted, and we're going to make sure that
this young man is dressed. So that's just doing service,
seeking out those who need help because we're going through
some times right now in this economy.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
That's incredible. I have to say that, as far as
I'm concerned, you all are the true superheroes. You are
truly making a difference in the lives of these young people.
And we just love sharing your story because it's so
important for folks to understand how important your job is
and how important educating our young people and the challenges
(26:25):
that you have to face are. And finally, what message
would you like to share with parents, educators, and students
across Philadelphia about the importance of supporting our public schools
and the next generation of leaders. Sakia Beard briefly.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
The investment of students and parents send a powerful message
that the work happening in our schools every day matters,
that the dedication of the educators and the school leaders
are seen and valued and worthy of celebration throughout this
Philadelphia school district. Do not have the privilege of going
(27:01):
to school in Philadelphia. However, a lot of my staff do.
And I see the commitment and just the talent that
I have here at right I am excited to see
what these young people do. One of my former students
wrote a letter. I had her in third grade and
she wrote a letter to nominate me for this award.
(27:22):
You don't know the impact of your work until it's
really in your face. In third grade, I had her,
she lost her mother, and we pushed through. When she
got her acceptance letters to college, she emailed me on Instagram.
I never follow anyone on Instagram, especially not students, and
she said, I just want to share she got into Brown.
(27:42):
That young lady is the same age as my daughter,
and she recently graduated from Brown and she is doing
incredible things. So the talent is here in Philadelphia, and
every one of these students deserve equality education. They are
deserving of that, no matter what their zip code is.
So I believe they all deserve it.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
I think you just made me cheer up a little bit.
It's an incredible story. I just love that. I mean,
if you are able to save, as they say in
the Old Testament, and I think in the Torah, if
you save one person, you save the world. And here
you are doing that. Every day we are celebrating leadership
in education and extraordinary impact school principles have on students, families,
(28:28):
and entire communities. The School District of Philadelphia and the
Christian Art and Mary f Lynn Back Foundation recently honored
seven outstanding school leaders with a twenty twenty six LINN
Back Award for Distinguished Principles. We have been privileged to
speak with two of the award recipients, doctor Michelle Burns
and Sekaia Beard Brinkley, talking about leadership, service and creating
(28:52):
school communities where students can thrive. Thank you both for
all that you do.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app ye Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(29:21):
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
Good morning and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrell. Today we're exploring the
power of partnership, leadership, and transformation across Philadelphia. First, we'll
talk about an exciting collaboration in reimagining historic Cobbs Creek
into a vibrant space for education, wellness and community connection.
Joining us are Aaron cook of the Cobbs Creek Foundation
(00:22):
in Kerrie Merschell of NRG to talk about how this
investment is bringing new energy to West Philly. Then we
celebrate excellence in education with two recipients of the twenty
twenty six Lindback Award for Distinguished Principles, doctor Michelle Burns
and Sekaiah Beard Brinkley, sharing how strong leadership is helping
students and schools in communities thrive. Stay with us today,
(00:45):
we're talking about transformation, opportunity, and the power of partnership
in our city. A major investment is helping imagine and
re imagine one of Philadelphia's most historic spaces, Cobbs Creek,
into a hub for education, wellness, and community connection. Joining
us are Aaron Cooks, Senior Vice President of the Cobbs
Creek Foundation and Carrie Merschelle, director of Community and Sponsorship
(01:07):
Marketing at NRG, to talk about a powerful collaboration that's
bringing new energy literally and figuratively to West Philadelphia. So Erin,
let's start with the big picture. What is the vision
for the Cobbs Creek project and why is it so
important for Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The vision for the Cobbs Creek Foundations project in West
Philly is to bring economic and educational opportunity and access
to students in West Philly. We are really excited to
be here in West Philadelphia and revitalizing this golf course,
and we feel that the history that has happened here
over the past century is really important and it needs
(01:46):
to be preserved. So that's a major driver for the
Cobbs Creek Foundation is preserving the history that's happened here
at Cobbs Creek and looking towards the future. What we're
doing is we're creating a model where golf is really
giving back to the community. This is the way that
by restoring this golf course, we can create educational and
community programs for kids in this neighborhood that will last
(02:08):
for generations.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, it's really more than restoring a golf course. It's
creating these opportunities for youth education and also workforce development.
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
One of the things about our partnership with the TGR
Foundation is that the Tiger Woods Foundation is excellent at
creating programming in STEM that is really interesting, intriguing, and
attractive to students in the Philadelphia School District to come
and get their hands on all kinds of great high
tech equipment at the TGR Learning Lab at Hops Creek.
But really our vision for them is that they can
(02:41):
find their passion and learn about what opportunities there are
out there in the workforce, and they can learn about
careers and how they may want to design their post
secondary plan, whether that's going to college or getting involved
in a career. And what the TGR Foundation does is
really focuses on workforce development and shows all sorts of
different pathways that kids may have not seen before.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Carrie Energ and Vivid have made a significant five hundred
thousand dollars investment. What inspired this partnership and what is
it aim to achieve for the community.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It's really supporting everything that Erin shared with us. It's
the transformation it's just a partnership that will continue to
support expanded programming at the TGR Learning Lab and to
really just dive in on the community that's already at
work and be able to help to support it. So
all of the work happening at the Cobbs Creek Foundation
(03:32):
was really inspirational to energy and that transformation speaks near
and dear to our hearts as we think about how
energy in that space continues to transform and how it
impacts all of our lives, and so it was an
obvious decision for us to get involved and to be
able to support the work that Erin and her team
are doing.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Carrie, the new Vivant and Energy Hub will be a
central gathering place, So I wonder if you can kind
of tell us in vision for the future what this
is going to look like for students and communities coming
from this space.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
First of all, I would encourage anybody in the area,
in the Philadelphia community to get involved, because when you
walk into the Vivin and RG Hub that's in the
forefront of TGR Learning Lab there, it just spills welcome everywhere.
There are kids that are involved, there's activity going on,
So that hub is really the hub for the TGR students,
(04:28):
and so it's a place for them to come and
to learn and prepare for the next phase of their life,
whether it's college or whether it's work following high school.
But it's a place for them to come and to
feel part of the community there. And so when you
walk into that space, everything about it screams futures, screams growth,
screams opportunity. And so that is the best place that
(04:51):
we could imagine being present in.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
You know, what's so great about having this kind of
conversation is that I get to learn something, and that
is I don't know all lot about the Cobbs Creek
project and the golf course itself, although Aaron you say
that it's got a long history. And I think one
of the things that we have are these neighborhoods, and
we often don't know about each other's neighborhoods. So tell
(05:14):
us fill us in a little bit about the history
of the Cobbs Creek project and also about the golf course.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So the history of Cobbs Creek is quite long and
super interesting. In fact, we are going to have a
heritage center on site that is going to be sponsored
by one of our partners, so that we can preserve
the history and tell the story of all of the
amazing things that have happened at Cobbs Creek. So in
nineteen sixteen, when Cobbs Creek was founded by Hugh Wilson,
(05:42):
who also designed Marion's East Course four miles down the creek,
it was one of the finest golf courses in the country,
and it was one of the first golf courses that
was open to people of color and women. So we
feel it is really important to make sure that we
always remain public, open and accessible and inclusive of everyone
(06:02):
who wants to play golf at Cops Creek. There is
a lot of really amazing private golf in the Philadelphia area,
and we take a lot of pride in the fact
that Cobbs Creek is public, open and accessible, and we're
building on a history of being one of the first
golf courses that was open and accessible to all. Through
that history, one of the first African American golfers to
(06:23):
play and win on the PGA Tour, Charlie Sifford, called
Cobbs Creek his home, so he learned to play golf
here at Cobbs Creek in the nineteen forties in the
nineteen fifties and then went on to be the first
African American to break the color barrier and play golf
as a professional on the PGA Tour. So we're preserving
all of that history here in the Heritage Center, and
(06:44):
we want to make sure that this important history that's
happened right here in West Philadelphia is preserved and told
more broadly throughout the Philadelphia area and to all of
the visitors who come from across the world, across the
nation to play golf at Cops Creek.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I love that. I love hearing that history, and I
wonder if you could kind of look to the future
and envision for us as the way that you see
things are going to look like when everything is in place,
that this wonderful renovation and this new center, the Vivint
NRG Hub is in there. Tell us what people can
(07:21):
see and feel and experience when they come into that space.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, I have to say that the early partners like
NRG that have believed in our mission and have really
shown us the belief early before we even had some
of these buildings built, are really I think some of
the most important visionaries in Philadelphia and in the corporate world.
You know, we have been doing powerpoints at the Cobscreek
(07:46):
Foundation and illustrating what we think our vision will be
for the future. And now that we have the TGR
Learning Lab built on campus and we have the Lincoln
Financial Center built on campus, we are so so proud
and so lucky to have visionaries like NRG who believed
in our mission early. So for us in five to
ten years, our north star that guides us is really
(08:08):
seeing some of the kids that come through the Smile
of Woodland TGR Learning Lab and either go to college
or discover a career that they're passionate about, and they
come back to us in five or ten years and
they tell us about how successful they've become in their
career because of the programming and the support at the
TGR Learning Lab, And that really is what guides us.
(08:28):
We'd love to see the kids telling us how successful
they are in the careers that they discovered through the
programs at the TGR Learning Lab. And a lot of
those kids are now becoming interested in golf as well.
They come for STEM educational programming, but we're doing a
lot of programs in golf and Energy just had an
LPGA Tour pro Lauren Cofflin come and do a clinic
(08:49):
for the girls here that are learning golf. So if
I could see some of those girls and boys in
five to ten years in careers or colleges that they
love and they're also playing golf, and potentially we might
find a rising star that might one day play on
the PGA Tour, that would be what we would love
to see in the future.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, I love that. I love that. I love that vision,
and it looks like it's already underway. Eric just very
quickly tell us what was it about this project that
really sparked the interest of Energy to support it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So, I think Energy historically has been a forward thinker
and an early believer in projects that are going to
be transformational for Philadelphia. So I know that Carrie and
her team care about the projects that are important in
the communities where their employees live and work, and so
(09:39):
they've always had their eye towards partnerships that can, you know,
not only bring awareness to the pillars that are important
to Energy as a corporation, but what's important to Philadelphia
and the Cobbs Creek project. While it has a lot
of eyes on the golf world on what we're doing.
There's a lot of people paying attention to what we're
(10:00):
doing on the golf side. The heart and soul of
our mission is really in the programs that we're providing
to the kids. And Energy saw that very early on
and has been a supporter of really the heart and
soul of our mission, which is using golf and the
popularity and participation in golf to drive revenue and to
drive funding for the work that we're doing in the
community with the kids. Right, that's really what's most important.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Absolutely, And Carrie just please join jump in and tell
us what was it that inspired you to be so
supportive of this.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It's the innovation that aligns with the Cobbs Creek Foundation
and their long term vision, and it includes environmental restoration,
youth development, sustainable infrastructure, and the creation for work paths
for all of these students going forward. And so it's
really also bringing innovation into everyday lights that's more affordable
(10:51):
for these students to participate, to get involved, to learn
about what's out there. And our partnership is really about
creating opportunities for Philadelphia students to transform their lives, So
it's an easy partnership for us to have. It's been
an incredible one so far.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It sounds amazing. So for both of you, how can
the community, state connected, get involved or learn more about
what's happening at Cobbscreek.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So we love to say that we're sort of a
one stop shop for individuals who are interested in learning more,
corporations who might be interested in sponsoring or creating a
corporate sponsorship. As Carrie said, if you're interested in golf,
if you're interested in environmental restoration, if you're interested in
community programming, economic revitalization, or investing in education for students,
(11:38):
we would recommend that you go to our website www
dot Cobscreek dot org and you can learn about all
of the different ways to get involved. We are open
and very welcoming of donations for our capital campaign, all
the way down from very small donations to some of
the larger corporate sponsorships. So our goal is to get
everyone in Philadelphia involved in this transformational project for Philly.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, Carrie, NRG and Vivint are very involved in many
aspects of the community. So I know that there's a
website that allows you to connect with your community outreach.
Tell us more about that very briefly.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Sure, if you're interested in learning more about nrg's work
in the community, you can visit us at www dot
pickrg dot com and there's plans in there that fit
every lifestyle for alternative energy supply as well as just
more information about our community action and what we're doing
out in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yes, NRG a good corporate partner and a citizen in
the greater Philadelphia area. Aaron Cook, Senior Vice President of
the Cobbs Creek Foundation, and Carrie Marshall, who's Director of
Community and Sponsorships Marketing at NRG, talking about a powerful
collaboration that's bringing new energy literally and figuratively to West
Philadelphia through the Cobbs Creek Project. Thank you both for
(12:55):
joining us today.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Thank thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Women Against Abuse is celebrating fifty years of service with
Philly's Best Women Chef competition, Dish It Up on Thursday,
June eleventh, at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City.
This year, step into a groovy, nineteen seventies inspired night
featuring delicious bites from top local chefs, an open bar,
and the chance to connect with hundreds of change makers.
(13:23):
Best of all, Proceeds supports survivors of domestic violence. Get
your tickets at Women Against Abuse dot org.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Adopt us Kids presents what to expect when you're expecting
a teenager learning the lingo.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Today, I'm going to help parents translate teen slang. Now,
when a team says something is on fleek, it's exactly
like saying that's rad. It simply means that something is
awesome or cool. Another one is toats. It's exactly like
saying totally, just shorter, as in I totes love going
(13:58):
to the mall with Becca. Word you might hear is jelly.
Jelly is a shorter, better way to say jealous, as
in Chloe, I am like so jelly of your unicorn
phone case.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
You don't have to speak teen to be a perfect parent.
Thousands of teens in foster care will think you're rad
just the same. To learn more, visit adopt us Kids
dot org. A public service announcement brought to you by
the US Department of Health and Human Services, adopt us Kids,
and the ad Council.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We're celebrating leadership and education and extraordinary impact school principles
have on students. Families and entire communities. The School District
of Philadelphia and the Christian R. And Mary F. Lindbeck
Foundation recently honored seven outstanding school leaders with a twenty
twenty six Lindenback Award for Distinguished Principles. Joining us are
(14:57):
two of this year's award recipients, doctor Michelle Burns and
Sekia Beard Brinkley, to talk about leadership, service and creating
school communities where students can thrive. First, congratulations to both
of you on receiving the twenty twenty six Lindback Award
for Distinguished Principles. That is a very high honor. What
(15:17):
does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally, Sikya,
Let's begin with you.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Thank you for the congratulations. Winning the award is a
humbling experience. It's just not about a reflection of my leadership,
but the collective work my entire school community does at right.
We believe that every success is rooted in a commitment
of the teachers, the resilience of our children, and the
(15:45):
partnerships of our families. And that's partly why I do
this work. I have a blended family of six, and
it just reaffirms that a strong school culture and high
expectations can coexist.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Doctor Burns, what about you? What was your reaction so
win in this award.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
It's a great honor for myself, the school community, and
for my schools because I couldn't do this work without them.
It just validates the hard work and community recognition and
commitment to educational equity. A very prestigious honor. It just
highlights our impact that we have on students and I
think the great work that we're doing here at Randolph
(16:26):
Career Technical Education High School. And it also means that
we have to achieve. It doesn't stop here. The bar
doesn't stop here. We have to continue raising a bar
and continue doing more for our students to make sure
they are successful when they leave our doors.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, you know, I know how important principles are to
the climate and the mission of a school. I have
seen it in person where a principal has gone into
a school and totally transformed it into a wonderful learning environment. Sikaia.
The Richard R. Wright School has a strong reputation for sportings.
Students and families talk about creating that kind of culture
(17:04):
to work within your school community to uplift that mission.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think it just reaffirms that leadership is about service.
It's about showing up every day for our students and
our staff even when the work is challenging, and never
losing sight of why that we do the work. It
is about the partnerships that we have with our family.
As a community school, we work to remove barriers. We
meet every student and families where they are, and our
(17:31):
goal is to create an environment in partnership with families
that students can thrive. So we take the parent engagement
very seriously. Here it right and we bring that into
our school culture. Right now, we have house systems and
each child and family belongs to a house, and those
(17:52):
four collective house build one strong community. So I think
it's just strengthening in our partnership has been and what
we needed at right to continue to push our students forward.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Doctor Burns. We know that at the end of the day,
to create a successful young person, it's really important to
prepare them for careers and possibly higher education. And I
wonder if you can talk about the work happening at
a Philip Randolph Career and Technical School and how you
(18:24):
inspire students to get ready for careers life sustaining careers
and a higher education.
Speaker 7 (18:30):
So here at Randolph, our focus is on preparing students
for both the workforce and post secondary education through blended,
rigorous academics and hands on and skill based training. One
of the unique things about Randolph is we are the
only school that has a fire academy and they are
instructed by employees from the Philadelphia Fire Department. And that
(18:53):
partnership was made by a former mayor in order to
build a pipeline for Brown and African American children are
going to enter into the fire academy. So one of
the things that we say here is skills pays bills.
Everyone is not going to college, and that's okay. You know, everybody,
you know you can make some good money going right
into the workforce and learning skills. We employed the first
(19:15):
welder female welder ATCEPTA. We have strong partnerships with SEPTA,
the Navy Shipyard, and with various other unions throughout the
city of Philadelphia. They come and seek our students out,
So we want them to be prepared when they leave here,
not only with their academics, but if they ought not
to go into the military or not to go on
to post secondary education that they at least have the
(19:37):
skills needed in order to be successful and the career
path that they choose.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Both of you lead during a time when educators and
students continue to face many challenges. I feel very concerned
for young people today because they're facing things that we
didn't have to face. We had. We have social media,
I know I didn't have it when I was coming up.
We have AI, which is something that's really impacting us
(20:04):
quite strongly in these last couple of years, and who
knows where that's going to lead. So let's talk about
the challenges that you both face. What are some of
the biggest issues you feel are impacting students today and
how are your schools Respondingsicia.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
One of the biggest challenges my students face, especially in
North Philadelphia, is the trauma that they experience and that
impacts their ability to have academic achievement. A part of
the work that we do here at RIGHT is connecting
our work as school staff to temple phases, and it's
connected in the student's ability to feel safe, regulated, and supported.
(20:48):
So we do a lot of work around students supports
that build self awareness, coping strategies, and resilience for example,
all of my students receive sel lessons by our counselor
because they need to develop those skills in order to
deal with the traumatic experience that they have. In order
(21:11):
for us to make sure we do that, we invest
in staff wellness as well and capacity building because the
success of trauma informed schools depend on the adults who
feel safe and support it.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah, doctor Burns.
Speaker 7 (21:27):
I'd like to piggyback off of that in high schools.
You know, our kids, they come, they have a lot
of issues that need support for the social emotional learning,
so we try to develop soft skills. Soft skills is
extremely important when you're going into the workforce, when you're
trying to resolve conflict, So we try to get them
to set goals and to be positive. We try to
(21:48):
keep our students safe and sometimes so we get students
from all over the city. Sometimes they may say they
don't feel safe traveling through the city, or they may
have had something that happened in the community or the neighborhood.
We tell them to come say something you know, we
don't know. We can't help you if you don't say
anything and talk to us. So social awareness and also
relationship skills building relationships, trying to work with students to
(22:11):
build relationships on how to resolve conflict, because that's huge,
you know, you don't just everything does not. I tell
them you don't have to attend every party you're invited.
Sometimes you can live to fight another day. Let's sit back, relax,
let's think about it, let's resolve, you know, try to
resolve it through peaceful means. So that's what we try to.
We try to display that with our students and we
(22:33):
try to get them to We have a program called
Relationships First and it is very impactful here at Randolph
where students sit with Relationship First facilitators and they learn
how to problem solve and we do emotional healing circles.
So if there's conflict with one another, you can sit,
let's try to work it out and see how we
can move forward and resolve it in a peaceful means.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
So I love that. Now the Lindback Award recognizes not
only leadership, but also umanitarian contributions to school communities. I
don't know if you can both share a moment that
reminded you why this work matters so deeply. Saikia Beards Brinkley,
what about you.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
I'm reminded of why this work is important. Every single
day I greet all of my students as they arrive
to school, and I get to see all of the
two hundred and five students that I serve, their faces.
I have connected with them and their families, so I
know their story. So they give me the reason to
come in every day and service because I believe that
(23:35):
schools like mine are deeply committed to equity and doing
whatever it takes to support every student. So I'm reminded
every single day with every single student when they come
in the doors of Richard are right, even if it's
a good day or a bad day. A lot of
my children, we just had a Mother's Day event and
(23:57):
I had about fifty mothers show up for their children
and it was a day of service to them. And
when I was leaving, they said, well, our kids didn't
come because this is a day for you, a day
for us to celebrate you. So I'm reminded every day
with my families, with the conversations that I have at
(24:17):
a mission and dismissal of why this work is so important.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Doctor Burns, so one of the things humanitarian. A lot
of our students are families right now. They're struggling. This
is a tough time in the economy. During Thanksgiving, we
sought out families who needed assistance. We collected food for
our families and we gave them a full meal. One
of the community activists made it a point to reach
out to me and get word to me that one
(24:42):
of my students stated that they wanted to go to
prom their senior and they're not able to because it's
a financial burden. So I immediately went into work mode and
put it out, you know, a filler put out help
need it. So we have collected money for this student.
We are going to take shopping for the prom, also
for graduation and for the senior class trip, and we're
(25:06):
going to make sure that they have a great experience.
And then we're also extending that to other students because
when they say, oh, no, I don't want to go,
I immediately I'm nosy. I find out, I call, I
may calls and find out. You know, why do they
not want to go? This is their senior year. They
didn't come this far just to come this far, and
we want them to experience as much as possible. So
when it comes to we're tied in one school, so
(25:26):
of course there's no barriers to graduating or as far
as as long as you're in your credits, you know,
getting your cap and gallon, things of that nature, making
sure that's paid for. We take care of all that.
But it's doing the dressing because you know, kids can
be cruel. Some kids can be cruel, so we want
to make sure that everyone looks the part. And when
I called this student down and I said you like Jordan's,
(25:47):
his face lit up because I'm a sneaker buff and
so we're going to make sure. We asked them what
color he wanted, and we're going to make sure that
this young man is dressed. So that's just doing service,
seeking out those who need help because we're going through
some times right now in this economy.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
That's incredible. I have to say that, as far as
I'm concerned, you all are the true superheroes. You are
truly making a difference in the lives of these young people.
And we just love sharing your story because it's so
important for folks to understand how important your job is
and how important educating our young people and the challenges
(26:25):
that you have to face are. And finally, what message
would you like to share with parents, educators, and students
across Philadelphia about the importance of supporting our public schools
and the next generation of leaders. Sakia Beard briefly.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
The investment of students and parents send a powerful message
that the work happening in our schools every day matters,
that the dedication of the educators and the school leaders
are seen and valued and worthy of celebration throughout this
Philadelphia school district. Do not have the privilege of going
(27:01):
to school in Philadelphia. However, a lot of my staff do.
And I see the commitment and just the talent that
I have here at right I am excited to see
what these young people do. One of my former students
wrote a letter. I had her in third grade and
she wrote a letter to nominate me for this award.
(27:22):
You don't know the impact of your work until it's
really in your face. In third grade, I had her,
she lost her mother, and we pushed through. When she
got her acceptance letters to college, she emailed me on Instagram.
I never follow anyone on Instagram, especially not students, and
she said, I just want to share she got into Brown.
(27:42):
That young lady is the same age as my daughter,
and she recently graduated from Brown and she is doing
incredible things. So the talent is here in Philadelphia, and
every one of these students deserve equality education. They are
deserving of that, no matter what their zip code is.
So I believe they all deserve it.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
I think you just made me cheer up a little bit.
It's an incredible story. I just love that. I mean,
if you are able to save, as they say in
the Old Testament, and I think in the Torah, if
you save one person, you save the world. And here
you are doing that. Every day we are celebrating leadership
in education and extraordinary impact school principles have on students, families,
(28:28):
and entire communities. The School District of Philadelphia and the
Christian Art and Mary f Lynn Back Foundation recently honored
seven outstanding school leaders with a twenty twenty six LINN
Back Award for Distinguished Principles. We have been privileged to
speak with two of the award recipients, doctor Michelle Burns
and Sekaia Beard Brinkley, talking about leadership, service and creating
(28:52):
school communities where students can thrive. Thank you both for
all that you do.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app ye Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(29:21):
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
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