American Education Week: Supporting Student Success

Joe DiBenedetto, Managing Director at Lambert by LLYC joins us to discuss American Education Week and the village it takes to educate our kids. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And this is West Michigan's Morning News. Steve Kelly and
Brett Makata Schmidti is back with us soon. It is
American Education Week and this is wes Michigan's Morning News,
and that means it's time to bring our friend Joe
Deep denedetto in studio, managed director at Lambert by LLLS YC. Chill.
Thanks for coming in today.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
My pleasure, Steve. I'm psyched to be here.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I don't know if it's because it's a Friday, because
I'm talking to you or chatting about what's most important
to me, which is education in schools.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
So thanks for the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Brett's wife is an educator, his family, they're all educators.
My wife is retired from education. Let's talk a little
bit about some of the highlights of the whole ecosystem
behind student success. How do you explain that?

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, I mean it's we know teachers are the heart
of the schools, but you know, there is, as you say,
there is an ecosystem, you know, behind them. And if
teachers are the heart, you know other folks like para
educators and bus drivers, clerical staff, tech support, you know,
all of the they're the they're the bones, you know,

(01:07):
they're the backbone of schools, and it's important that we
understand that it, as they say, it takes a village.
And you know, classroom teachers need support and students, you know,
certainly need all the support that we can give them
for you know, academic growth.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
And I don't think people necessarily understand that relationship that develops,
whether it's a parapro, whether it's an actual teacher, whether
it's other support staff. The carrying that goes on is
beyond the classroom, as you know. And I want you
to talk about because I know I see it with
my wife. I know Steve did with his wife when
she was working every day. What they bring home, the stories,

(01:50):
it's amazing. Sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it's joy a breakthrough.
I mean, but talk about your wife and her experience
at Forest Hills.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, that's that's great. Thanks for bringing that up.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
But I mean my wife, you know, she raised our kids. Uh,
didn't have a career in education, but was involved at
a high level PTO, was a president PTO president and whatnot. Uh,
and you know, the Forest Hills schools, you know, saw
what she brought to the table and brought her in

(02:20):
as a parapro for special needs preschool class. Uh. And
I wish she had discovered this decades ago because it
is in her core, It's what she has was born
to do, was to provide support, you know, to these kids,
many who are nonverbal autistic.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
And you know, the level of care that she brings
is incredible. You know, the work that she does in
the classroom is only really exceeded by what she does
at home. As you said, I mean, she brings it
home every day, but she's she's never been more fulfilled professionally.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
And to me, that's that's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
You know, we talk about support, and we just went
through the Turkey drop, and you know, it takes a village,
you said, But these people, I just would like to say,
support them as much as you can, whether it's a
parent role, whether it's a you know self I should say, coworker,
whatever the case might be. They really need it because

(03:19):
I mean it's stressful. You know, it takes a lot
out of you in many different ways. And to support
each other. That's where parapros and everyone else come in.
I mean, to be able to work with a small
group of kids because you've got a bigger classroom you
got to take care of as well, right.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, And you know these are the support staff.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
These are the people who meet your kids first, yeah,
when they come to school. They protect our kids, you know,
they provide additional learning supports, and they make the whole
system run. And as someone who has worked with schools,
you know, providing pr and marketing for many many years
here across Michigan, I know how critical they are to

(03:58):
the ultimate success, the overall success of schools. And that's
why you know Forest Hills and why you know many
of Michigan schools are on that top list that you
folks referenced in your your news brief is because of
those those support staff. They play a key role and
we can't forget that. And that's what American Education Week
is for, which is this week.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Today's the last day.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
And one of the reasons why I'm glad you asked
me to be on, you know, to shine that spotlight
on those folks who aren't at the head of the class,
but are as just as important to the overall success
of our kids.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Well said managing director at Lambert by L L y C.
Joe de Benedetto, thank you so much for coming in today.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Thank you, Steve and Brett. Thanks so much.