Diversi-TEA & Equi-TEA in Education - 1/18/26

[00:01:15] Speaker A: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey everybody. Good evening everybody. I am Denise and this is April. And we are Diversity and Equity in Education. And we're back. It's the first, the first session that we have for the year of 2026. And happy to be here. Listen, we, we moving forward. We officially moving forward with our year. We're just grateful. Want to give a quick little shout out to April. Hey, Happy birthday, April. April welcomes in the year every year. You know how those Capricorns are. They end the year okay, so them some special people. I of course burn like the sun. I'm July and which I, I am a Leo and of course so this accommodation right here ain't no joke. Okay? So anyway, so again we're coming back fresh off of our semester break winter break and now we are going to jump right in. So we had a nice little refresh and reset over the winter break, but we're jumping right back in. So let's talk a little bit about semester two, which is all about consistency and momentum. Go ahead, April. [00:02:29] Speaker B: So we know we're just coming like Denise said. Excuse me. Happy New Year everyone. Because again we haven't spoken to you all since last year. So Happy New Year. Happy New Year. We hope you all set you some goals and you know, take great efforts to, or make great efforts to accomplish those goals. We know it can be hard with that. You know, I'm gonna eat better, I'm stop drinking sodas. And then by February we already, you know, they fell back into the same trance. That would be me. But I will say this, you know, don't beat yourself up too much. Especially when you are double digits and you've reached, you know, more than what it is, a quarter of a. Yeah, I'm gonna leave that age part of. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Your half a century at this point in time. [00:03:11] Speaker B: Look, look, don't beat yourself too bad. Don't beat yourself up too bad. Wake up every day with a new beginning, you know, trying to chip away at those goals. But yes, we are in the second semester and that mean parents. We are half way through the school year. So if you didn't know it, now you know it. We just wrapped up the, the second quarter. Excuse me. Our scholars should be prepared to have their report cards available on the 20th. So that would be this upcoming Tuesday when we return. Now, we know there could be some possible hiccups because we deal with a digital database. It happens until digital reach perfection. And that should never happen. Which we would never want it to be perfect because that means at that point, humans don't exist. And that means humans currently integrate. So there will always be some imperfections. So again, you should have access to your children's grade. And I want to say I'm speaking from a lens of middle school and high school. Elementary might be already out there. I always lose track with them. But I do know the 20th is what has been projected for middle school. So with that being said, parents, the book bag should all have already come cleaned out. A refresh start, meaning that the, the items that's in the book bag should, you know, be nice and replenished. And if not, I'm pretty sure if your child attends a Title 1 school. Yep, let's look into it. A transformation network school, a Renaissance school, or a high ends needs, a high needs school. They can easily go and get materials from guidance counselors, social worker, community resource teacher, if they have it, so on and so forth. So seek the help, but do not allow the book bags to continue to reek. All right? [00:05:03] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. Febreze is your friend. Clorox wipes are your friends. These are things also that teachers require in the classroom. Not just that you need to do that for your child, but also those are very important. Also, when it comes to school uniforms, your children do something very interesting and that's called grow. Your children do grow. So the uniform that may start off at the beginning of the school year, they need to have those replaced as well. So just remember, you know, your child is a growing human being. And so the shoes that fit last year don't fit this year. You have to buy, continue to buy pants, continue to buy shirts. So we just encourage you to just remember that. And also because of global warming, some people don't believe it's true. Yes, Florida does get cold. A matter of fact, April and I recently posted in the Panhandle, it is snowing right now. [00:05:47] Speaker B: So again, again, let's add that again. Okay, I want to cut y', all, but I wish it would just spread a little bit because if it's gonna be cold in the Tampa dog on it. We need a little few flakes. Just a few flakes. [00:05:58] Speaker A: Just a few. No, no, you go, you keep them flakes. I want to see them flakes when I'm on vacation. I don't want to see them here. I want to see them. I want to go someplace and experience them flake. Roll around them flakes a little bit. No, no, no. But I'm just saying parents. Yes. Because of that, you have to make sure you purchase coats. You Purchase, you know, not blankets because they can't walk around blankets. Remember, that's a liability if a child slip and fall. You know, imagine what happens in the hallway. So keep remembering. Get jackets, coats, gloves. We are trying to. We're on a campaign right now where we're trying to raise. Just get gloves for girls. Okay? So for, for both of our groups. So please, you know, just try to remember. The weather will change and it looks like going into the future. Now, this weather is not cute like it was before with this, this cold is sticking. When we left for church in the morning, it was okay. When we came out of church, it. [00:06:47] Speaker B: Was like the, the, the, the high 60s touching on seven. [00:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:52] Speaker B: When you can't. I was like, are we back in New Orleans like it did us when. [00:06:56] Speaker A: We was in New Orleans? Yes, but not just that. Not just that. I said, boy, if your wig was not stapled down, I'm telling you, it would have been gone. I'm just, I'm sorry. That just. [00:07:08] Speaker B: I think Kayla said it. [00:07:09] Speaker A: Said it. Yes. Carla said it too. [00:07:12] Speaker B: Car. So make sure you have that wig put. [00:07:14] Speaker A: Look pulled down real tight. [00:07:19] Speaker B: I was driving and you could feel the wind moving. [00:07:22] Speaker A: Yes. [00:07:22] Speaker B: I was like, oh my God, what did this come from? So in a matter of moments, we see exactly how the temperature could shift. [00:07:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:07:30] Speaker B: And I won't say moments over a couple of hours. And for us, that feel like moments because in Tampa, we're definitely not used to that, that type of a shift now when it comes to rain and storms. Yeah, we used to that. But this new slide in cold front. No, we, we're not used to that without rain. Oh, yeah. That was really interesting than this morning also too. [00:07:49] Speaker A: What. And you know, our infrastructure. This is very interesting. Let's talk about East Tampa for a second. Our infrastructure doesn't seem to withstand that drastic quick drop in temperature too, because in East Tampa there's certain neighborhoods that are out of power right now. Okay. I don't know. I haven't got the most recent report, but the, the power went up once, once that temperature started dropping. So how is it affecting the lines and the infrastructure and things like that? So pay attention. All these things are interconnected. So. But you know, again, when we return from semester, when we return from the break, you know, is important that we continue our consistency and our momentum in terms of academic, but also parents in terms of behavior. Listen, parents, let's just, just. We're going to throw this one in here. We know they were home for two weeks. We know they were Home. But when they came back in the first week back, you know, we spend those first day reestablishing procedures, reestablishing, you know, reminding them of policies, reminding them of how their behavior should be. Some people came back and, and it didn't stick. It didn'. Apply. We are, we are now doing some interesting things. So just remember this is a place. Schools are a place for learning. Schools are a place for your child to grow and into critical thinking, into people who are willing to process information that adults are telling them. And if you're being disrespectful to the adult who has authority over you within the eight to nine hour period that you're at school, I don't know if this was the place for you. So let's just reflect. Reflect and realize. You still have to pay attention. You still have to respect authority. You still have to listen. And then also teachers, also, I want the teachers to also grow some backbones. I mean, it's important. These are children. These people are children. Yeah. These are not your friends. They're not your little, you know, your besties and buddies and whatever. These are children. Children thrive on structure. Children are supposed to have, they're not going to be your best friends, but they need to have structure so that they can learn. I see. You're gonna love y'. All. They love you. But they do well when they have structure and they do well when they realize, oh, wow, there's some procedures in place and this is the, this is the expectation that my teacher has for me. So I need to step my game up. Anything you want to add? Nope. [00:10:04] Speaker B: You said it best for the most part. I just will say this, you know, to our colleagues. Our colleagues is that when you don't follow and meet the expectations that's designed for us collectively as the, the adults or the staff on campus, you make it almost impossible for your, your, your colleagues. You make it almost impossible. So if you bend the rooms in your room and you bend the rooms in your hallway, that means that you make it impossible for the child to establish a sense of consistency. So what? Therefore, you are the problem. You're the problem. You. It's not the child. It's not the child. Then you, adult, are the problem. You, you, you, you, you and you. So we cannot hold the children accountable when we cannot hold the adults accountable. And that's just the bottom line. So again, and this is just not to our school, this has happened School, all schools, it's always that few that allow the kids to go outside of, you know, what the expectations are. And then it creates a domino effect because they will clearly say, but in such and such class, they let me, but such and such did. And da da, da, da, da. And then I can do. And it looks bad. It looks really bad. So, again, support your colleagues by staying within the guidelines and meeting the expectations for the adults, because if you do that, then definitely we can make sure that the kids do what they're supposed to do. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Exactly. An administration is more willing to support you if you are then following the established rules of the school. All right? Because them kids will throw you under the bus. They will throw everybody up. Because the kids gonna just tell. They're gonna tell it like it is. Hey, this will happen over here. And so how is Admin going to support you if the child telling everybody. But I. I do this all the time. I walk out all the time. I go here all the time. I do this all the time. So just. Just protect yourself by doing the right thing. That's all we gotta say. And then we're gonna move on. We. We do a little. Let's talk about things that. [00:12:07] Speaker B: Scale. [00:12:08] Speaker A: And April, go ahead and talk about how that. That word that they like to slip and fall on is. Is. Is affecting us. Yeah. [00:12:16] Speaker B: So we just want to take a moment because, you know, we don't get too deep in all those political, you know, spaces that don't necessarily impact education. I want to impact education and our children. Not children. Our children being this time to, you know, kind of slip outside of our. Our. Our zones or our, you know, our lane, as we always say. And I really think that, you know, there is this illusion that all of this is going on as it relates to the increased immigration enforcement that's happening nationwide. And right now there is a micro, you know, microscopic view. Excuse me, all for. For Minnesota. And if we don't think these children that have, you know, those. These, These. These. These gateways into information, you know, immediate information, aren't paying attention. They are. And I don't believe that the adults are doing a good job at, you know, identifying what emotional, you know, damage is being done or what additional trauma is being, you know, nationally or globally being enforced upon children. Because maybe I missed it. Maybe, you know, more about anise or maybe somebody out there in our good old cyber world or Facebook community or wherever they're watching this at know or have seen conversations around. What about the children? How is this affecting the children? What type of, you know, conversations or spaces are being extended to them to voice what are their thoughts and how are they feeling about this? These children have on, you know, from COVID to this, from COVID to this. And even for covet, there wasn't a lot of conversation, you know, to say how they felt about, you know, what. A lot of them underwent so many deaths in some of their family. Some of them love auntie grandmas and. And. And, I mean, you name it. A lot of households. And again, there wasn't a lot of conversation around what was the impact, how did they feel, and so on and so forth. This, again, this is another layer of trauma that our children are experiencing. And I mean, you know, we're limited on what we can even discuss on the matter, but again, there needs to be some type of given space to identify how the children are feeling. Because if you go out on social media, them kids got so much ice stuff going on on their pages, and, you know, you just look from the outside in and wondering, truly, how are they feeling? How are the children, Denise? [00:14:56] Speaker A: The trauma. The trauma is real because, remember, you. You're looking at the fact that. Let's just go back a couple years to covet, right? And then. And. Because that was like just six years ago, right? And. And then you just have all this. The things that are happening in the news and people being killed and protested and then ICE and then. And, you know, the kids don't say it outwardly, but. And. Or they don't. Sometimes they don't tell you directly, but you. If you just sit still enough and just give them a little bit of time while they working to talk amongst themselves, you'll be amazed. I mean, you'll be amazed at how the kids will tell you that. That somebody just came and got their family member and they're in school the very next day because honestly, the only place that's safe for them is school. At least they know for the. For the least eight, nine hours while I'm at school, because they just snatched up my grandma, they just snatched up my cousin, they snatched up my. And I had to get rushed to my uncle house during the middle of the night to protect me. And I'm in school right now today because. And. And they'll just have those conversations amongst their peers, casually be quiet and listen to them. And that's. So what kind of trauma are they carrying? Because they know. Okay, man, I. I imagine how stressed out you're gonna be when you have to get on the bus. Your bus is going to a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Well, what about all of y' all coming off the bus that afternoon? You all are in fear of what's going to happen when you get off the bus. I mean, come on, that's the thing. It's like, how do we have these conversations with our children? Has anybody even thought about saying, let's have a little form just for them so we could just talk to our kids? Because the kids, they got a lot going on and no. So now all that manifests. Just like, remember we talked about a couple years ago, we still talk about it, but a couple years ago we talked about how anger shows up in different forms like that. Or rather hunger shows up in different forms. You know, you might be traumatized by something, but you. It show up as you fighting everybody in school. You might be hungry, but it show up as you fight and fighting and carrying on. So again, you. There are underlying reasons why the kids act a certain way. And especially if they're not talking to you. Give them a little space of time for them to talk to at least their peers and then you'll start to understand, Try to relate to them a little bit more. I mean, but understand it affects them. And they all have cell phone, every last one of them have pH and they can show you, tell you everything about what's happening right now. So you don't underestimate the fact that just because they're young, they don't know what's going on. They absolutely know what's going on. And a lot of it is very terrifying for them. Anything you want to ask to understand. [00:17:28] Speaker B: That right now in a lot of our. And it's unfortunately, you can we as US Citizens, let's be clear, I don't even say them. They know we as you U. S. Citizens. It can very well happen to us. And those are the types of conversations we have to have. What's the plan? [00:17:47] Speaker A: If. [00:17:48] Speaker B: If the plan I am taken into custody for xyz These are the organizations and the people that you could possibly reach out to for support. One being an attorney on the list. Secondly, these are the bank card informations. This is what you go. I mean, those are the type of conversations that must be had in order to make sure that, you know, there is a plan in place. Otherwise you're just stuck. Because it's like for me, I am the sole, you know, person of information. I'm the provider. I am this. I'm the go to person in the family. You know, took on the title as matriarch unknowingly because after my grandmother, you know, passed away and my aunts, it just became me. So I have to be that person. So therefore, what if it happens to me? So those types of conversations have to be in place. So, yeah. And in the end, it's so important why schools have to remain a safe space. They have to remain a space, safe space to where kids can make sure that there is some, you know, everything what they consider as predictable in the learning environment. We have to keep those things as predictable. Those anomalies about Warren, about ICE coming in, those anomalies about them getting off the bus and being taken into custody of their parents are there waiting for them being taken in custody. Those are things that prevent children from being able to cognitively even be able to think and process. Just simply think and process, just their day to day, just their day to day. So we definitely cannot expect them to be learning with all of this going on, all of that going on. So just something to think about. Because in the end, you know, we don't get into the back and forth about who's right, who's wrong. We're about humans. If we treat all humans with respect and decency, regardless of all the other layers of discriminatory areas that people want to take upon themselves to, you know, impose on others, just treat people with human and love them. That's it. Isn't that the. God away. All right, drop me a scripture. Come on, get it out there. [00:19:57] Speaker A: Let me tell you something. Look, you got to come, come. Let's see. First of all, come boldly before the throne. But you have to come as children, humble yourselves like little children, because then you'll be able to receive the knowledge that you need. I am coming. Move on. Because you know what? I got, I got some. But they didn't want to hear that one. But, but look, just real quick, real quick also, just remember, these are children. Apparently y' all love the children so much. They're children. Give them a minute to process. A lot of times they just need that process in time before you even pour all that academic into them. They are struggling with a lot of things that if you as an adult realize you never struggle with. You did. You didn't have that fear in your life at all, your entire life. And here you are now at 11, 12, 13, dealing with such fear and trauma. So just. Just give the kids a. A moment. Just let them process. Sometimes they just need a little more. And then it also builds the community within the classroom. And then now you can teach, because sometimes you can. It's amazing what you do when you just have a little bit of outside activities and you can pull so much from those kids. All right. I mean, you know, just build that community awareness. And speaking of community awareness, what's coming up tomorrow? April, we have Martin Luther King Day parade. And we got to talk about the parade route, too. Go ahead. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah. So tomorrow is our annual MLK Junior Parade. It always take place on, I want to say, the Monday after my birthday. In most cases. In most cases, it is some little tricky times where it happens the week, but it actually falls on my birthday when it. Anyway, so it happens on tomorrow. It starts at noon. And Denise, what is the route looking. [00:21:34] Speaker A: Like, first of all? Okay, so let's see. All right, the parade. Where does the parade begin? Okay, all my cameras up my thing. Parade begins at Cuscadon park and winds through Eastern. Look, look. [00:21:50] Speaker B: She her fanatics and not remember that she in Tampa. We just. There we go there we. Because we had to stop her tan. [00:22:01] Speaker A: First of all. First of all, you know, if you phonetically pronounce it, that's how it's pronounced. But anyway, I'm let it go. I'm let it go. This. I'm g. Say it's Cuscan park for me. Cuscate and park for y'. All. From Tampa. From Tampa, neighbors. [00:22:18] Speaker B: That's what we know. [00:22:20] Speaker A: All right. Okay, so it winds through east Tampa. Right? All right, so we'll give. Give you some notes. But it's a large family friendly event with floats, bands, and community organizations. Different churches are also in there as well. My church is in there as well. But listen, it's a family friendly place. Please leave all of your drama. Leave all of your whatever it is that you're trying to bring. Rivalry or whatever. We, the man. The man that we Sue's Life were celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King. It was about peace and peaceful protesting. Okay? So please, please, let's have. Let's not have drama at this parade. Let's not do that. Because we want to continue to live in excellence the way he asked us to do. Live in Excellent. The way your father in heaven asked us to do. Perform in Excellent. You want to show people that, you know what? We are here for a bigger cause, a better, better life as we move forward. So just, you know, that's all we want you to do. That. And of course, bundle up, stay warm, because we know those winds gonna be whipping through tomorrow just like. Just like we felt them when we left churches this afternoon. They're going to be whipping. So please dress accordingly and. And just be respectful of parking places and that the. The city has laid out for you. [00:23:37] Speaker B: So it's so important that you all that live within the community to expect road closures. We, we know this every year, expect traffic delays, plan ahead, arrive early. For those of us that are on, that are in the place, the parade, like myself, you know, we're going into a few. I've been doing this for a few years now. You know, there was some isolated interruptions because, baby, it can be quite burr. And I am committed to the bird tomorrow. But my God, if it rains any, you know, any type of droplets form, that's when I'm out. Because that already put me at a higher risk of, you know, that cold sleeping in, triggering that asthma. I've been trying to keep it balanced, staying masked up. So again, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, plan accordingly. And again, bundle up because it's going to be cold. And if anyone that is a Hillsborough county public school teacher, that's a union member that would like to join us in the walk tomorrow, the kids love to see their teachers, staff in the parade. You know, the same way that we go to the Gasparilla and the big night floats and, you know. Yeah, yeah, that same thing. They would love to see you there as well. So if you're Interested in joining Escape 3, be there by 10:00am and join us in the walk. And it's a fun experience. So my kids have gotten a taste of it, so they're prepared to go back and that's how you get them involved in community events as such. So again, again, again, again, do your part and keep us all safe in this space by not bringing foolishness to this commemorative event that we have been hosting in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Exactly. And just keep your keeping reminded too. It's not just about. So we talk about why Martin Luther King day still matters. Okay, let me bring you to some recent history why his day still matters. Because we, we have a current president right now who is closing things like national parks and things like that, not recognizing the impact that this man made in history. Because history, when we call things historical, it just, it only happened a few years ago. For example, Claudette Colvin, who was the first woman to sit down and not get up on when. When the person told her to get up and move to the back of the bus, she just died. Okay. She just died, like earlier this week. Okay, so this is not ancient history. This is recent. Before Rosa park, she was. Go ahead. [00:26:11] Speaker B: That's what I wanted to add. So, so, so add that. And I'm pretty sure you know the story why Rosa got the Recognition, not her. Go ahead and get it. Go ahead, go ahead. [00:26:21] Speaker A: 1. Because she was lighter skinned. Because remember, what was acceptable was a lighter skinned black person. Claudette colvin was actually 15 years old and pregnant. So she, you know, it wasn't the face that the NAACP wanted to put out there. She was probably a little darker than me. And she was. That was not the image they wanted to put out there. But if, when it happened to Rose Level, they were like, okay, cool. This. This situation, it suits us. But you have to understand, it's not about who brings the message or who's who. It affect. It's gonna affect all of us, all right? It affects every last one of us. People. Like, for example, who is it? Oh, my gosh. Who just integrated the first little girl that just integrated the schools, right? She is still alive. She's the same age as Denzel Washington and she. They just integrated. Oh, Lord, how I forgot. I forgot her name already. But we will look, we'll go back. But just the fact that these people are not that old. History is still. Ruby Bridges. There we go. Ruby Bridges is still alive. And I think she's almost the same age as Denzel Washington. He's in his 70s, I think, now. Right. So you're talking about the fact that history is not. History is a living thing. It is constantly moving. But if you start. And these things happen only 50 something years ago, which, in fact, where April and I are in our 50s, these are things that happen that happened 50 years ago, not a long time ago. The. So again, it's really important to understand why if we study. We study our history, we. We acknowledge these things that happen because they're trying to strip them from us right now. They're trying to strip stuff from museums. Strip things from. From just the history books. They're trying to rewrite what the events that happened on January 6th. Are you kidding me? They rewrite that as, okay, just peaceful. Peaceful protesting. Are you kidding me? The. The. What's the. The. Especially McGraw Hill books. They constantly want to rewrite stuff. So please understand that. Oh, and can I put a plug in, Personal plugin. This is why it's important to have a library in your house for your children. You must have libraries in your house for your children. You must have. First start off dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, and. And a. What is it? An atlas. Okay. You gotta have something that gives them something about the world. Ask your child pertinent questions like, hey, you know, what city you state you live in, what country you live in? Hey, name me Four continents. What go for if. If they don't have that. Put that in your library and then start with history books. Then also add in a lot of books on vocabulary, add in books about nature, adding books about science. Build a small library for your children because if the history is being stripped from them, you have to make sure that history is provided within your home. Your child have to be armed for whenever. Critical thinking skills, for when they come and talk to them about some. Some stuff that they, you know, I almost slipped. But. But when they start talking to them about some crap, your children should be mentally armed to where they're not just accepting everything that they hear. And that's. And this is where the divide is going to be in the future. Divide in between rich or poor, the divide is going to be between those who can critically think and those who cannot. You're gonna see them in your class. You're gonna find out those who are the employees and the employers right away, because if they can't decode and. And break down just simple text to complex text, it's gonna be a problem. So I just, I. Before I go crazy, I just want to tell you why it is so important that your children understand history is. You know, I was going crazy for a second because, you know, I get mad with you. Everybody got an iPad, iPhone. I did this. You got an Oculus. You got all these technology. And they, as they say in the South, n book in the household, not even a magazine, a pamphlet, a flyer, not even a little paper that. That them little Seven Day Adventists come by and stick in your pant. You ain't even got that. [00:30:14] Speaker B: Oh my God. I fully with you. Look, look, you have you. [00:30:17] Speaker A: Okay, your tangent. You're done. We're gonna stop right there. [00:30:21] Speaker B: So again, parents, parents, parents. Just know that education will always be at the forefront and the higher. It should be the highest priority when it comes to our children. Yes. And remember, without it, our children are a law. Continue to be a lost people. They just. We have to do our due diligence in making sure that our children understand the importance of their history and historically, how it was intentional by those that were in leadership to erase us as a people. So again, you got to do your part. They cannot do it themselves and alone. So, yeah, so that leads us to parents, we need you all to stay in the note. We need y' all to stay in the know. And yeah, that student calendar, you know the one that was put out last year in July or June or July, that tells us for the 25, 20, 25, 25, 26, 2026. School year is still there, along with the dates that our students are out, Spring break and so on and so forth. Our next upcoming series of dates, before y' all even get a chance to complain, we got February 13th off and February 16th. So that's a four day weekend. Stop that. That's what they got now. So you got our normal day that we're off to allow children to be able to explore participating in our Hillsborough County Fair. No, the Florida State Fair. Correction is president. Yeah. The Monday is the President's Day. So take it up with President's Day. But we always had that one day. So again, plan accordingly because I'm pretty sure there are some activities already out there in our community. I think not. I think there's an event being hosted by. Oh, I can't think of it. I will post it later. But there's a community event that's happening for youth where they're doing in day of service, where they're doing community working and coming back together collaboratively to talk about things that are impacting or important. Important to you youth here in the city of town. What is his name? It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't. Is it Roy? [00:32:43] Speaker A: I. I can't remember. [00:32:45] Speaker B: But I'll remember to go back and post it underneath this, this live. So yeah, so we'll put it in the, the messages. But yeah. So Denise, let's talk about those other important things that are coming up. Like those good old assets assessments that I have. [00:33:01] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. So again, parents, be aware of the fact that we have the progress monitoring assessments coming up. We also have so the PM3s and we also have the benchmark assessments as well. The kids are being pulled off for specific tests, especially for the ESOL kids or the ELLs. They have tests they're being pulled out for. So those are important to remember and just have your kids just read. Have them read. I can't even stress enough. 30 minutes to an hour every single day read. I mean things that even if interest to them, graphic novels, things like that, it helps to keep them fresh, keep that mind going. Practicing the math skills. There's so many online programs that are available. Khan Academy is good for that. You've got flow, Cavalier, you've got just fun. There's something that's so much fun, the kids don't even know they learn it. All right, so we'll post a whole lot of them too. I keep them on different pages, but just. It's very important that you understand that we're tracking towards. Remember that the last time we had, we talked, we talked about the importance of that PM's two score and how they're basing or resetting the kids based upon the PM2 score. So the higher they score, you know, it's gonna be a little easier for them down the line, but the lower they score, there's gonna be a lot tougher. So it's so important that they know and stay abreast of everything that's happening when it comes to the upcoming test. So remember, they're gonna take the last progress monitoring test in May, I believe it is. They have some benchmark assessments that they need to take prior to that. But just be aware of that. And then, of course, the 8th graders just recently took their science assessment, I believe it was. And civics is coming, right, and civics is coming up, too. So just remember that they, they are, they are. As I said, testing window has begun. I mean, test all year long. But the reason why we do these tests is just to, to make sure that they're. They're progressing, that they're moving forward. I mean, you know, of course, just like, just like yourself. I mean, you know, how you, how you learn to drive you to take a test, the older you get, they might make you test again for your vision, for your hearing, things like that. You are being assessed as you, as you age as well. Don't you go to the doctor for an assessment? Don't they, don't you go to the dentist to make sure everything's good with the teeth? Which I said, I know me, because these right here, boy, I've had three prescription changes over the past 10 years. I'm like, man, I'm getting worse. So I just know that we are being assessed as well. So just think about how it affects our children. Also, to remember one of the things I wanted to make. Oh, first of all, I want to. [00:35:20] Speaker B: Give a great big shout out to. [00:35:22] Speaker A: My special friend right here. All right, there's the Excellence in Education award. Is it the other side? I don't know. Excellence Education Award. And my friend April Cobb has been nominated for the Ida S. Baker Diversity Award. And we just want to give her a shot, a clap right here, round of applause. I mean, and you know, you know, I, I posted the other day, well, first of all, for her birthday, you know, it says iron sharpens that. So as iron sharpens iron so that. So that one person will sharpen the other. It's important to keep around you People who will not only challenge you sometimes, but not only give you good advice. They'll. They'll. They'll lift you up. But, you know, the impact is on each other. So it's important to keep people around you that. That once you. Once they grow, you grow. And you should applaud people like that in your life, because again, God will continue to bless you if you look at other people and say, you know what? I'm happy for them. I want what's best for them. And you know what? It continues to increase and. And grow in my own life as well. So I'm just. I just wanted to publicly, you know, give a shout out to my friend right here. Hey, girl, how you doing? [00:36:30] Speaker B: Thank you. And I want to add, you know, thank you, Denise, for that, because one thing about you, you know, you know, you know, you know my crazy, you. [00:36:43] Speaker A: Know my crazy, and, you know, my crazy is your crazy. [00:36:47] Speaker B: And what Alicia say, huh, is my. Threw that in a year, like, girl, we ain't taking no more. We ain't taking no more, right? But long story short, thank you for, you know, being in that space of it, because, you know, some people and women, they become very interesting, like the jealousy and the. The, you know, the. The. The ill will behind things that they do. And you have always been authentic and genuine in that space. And again, that's why our friendship continue to evolve to a place, you know, it's always been out of love. And, you know, same thing with Ariel and so on and so forth. B. You know, I. I don't. I don't have a lot of people that I call true friends, because my friends are my sisters. So they're, you know, there's some on that cuff of, you know, you all right, but, you know, y' all are like family, so I appreciate that. And again, you know, we have that same passion and, you know, that same desire to always do what's best for kids. And it's not always, you know, so, you know, chum, happy, so on and so forth. Sometimes it's tough love, and parents may not necessarily understand, colleagues may not necessarily understand. And I'm okay with that because I don't care about being light. I care about what's best for children. So my focus is always that. And if it gets so busy and convoluted to where it's. It's. I can't see that being the end goal, then I'm not doing it right. [00:38:05] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so important. That's important. And understand. So I think, you know, I think it's part of it is the fact that you know, you're. When you're raised around people who show you that it's okay to be corrected, it's okay to have a difference of opinion. It's okay to. Sometimes you don't always see eye to eye, but because I care, I am going to tell you my opinion about it. I'm. Because if I didn't like you, I can let you, let you live right along, go ahead, fall off the edge of the other earth. But if we can disagree and still be understandable, respect each other, that's what you call. That's the development of friendship, you know. And so like I said, what was the homeboy that said aside? Said my circle, so small is now a period. There's very few people, I'm telling you, very few people who, who can understand that concept that you don't always have to agree, you don't always have to always be the same. Exactly. You could, you would path take different path. You might not talk to each other for a couple weeks and then come right back and act like you pick up, pick up, like, wait, where you been? Hey, what's up? [00:39:11] Speaker B: How you doing? [00:39:11] Speaker A: 1 But that's how you know also that your friendships become mature, you know, so that's my, that to me, my wish for a lot of young women is that they come across older women who can pour into them and to find younger women that can pour into as well. And that's, that's, I think that's also to the basis of a lot of our mentorship groups because we're trying to show girls this is super important that, you know, you can have conversations, you can talk, you can grow, you can, you can, it's okay to make a mistake, but to also recover from that. And so that's a key thing for us. That's really important. That's what, as I say, if no one saw, if no one read a Bible, right? If a person didn't read a Bible, you want your life to be a reflection of what is in that Bible. You want them to say, okay, you know what? How. Why is that person so happy? Why can they deal with adversity and pain and suffering and why can they get through all the things they can get through? Because, you know, they want to see a mature example of that love. So it's important. It's really important. Important. So I just wanted to say that, you know me, I like to pre give my little preach on every once in a while. I just got Throw it out there. Okay, Real quick so we can. Let's pop in. Oh, sorry. I'm so sorry. Look, we're looking at moving ahead at talking about our Black History Month series for Sunshine Education Coalition April. Go ahead and talk a little bit about that. [00:40:27] Speaker B: So every year for the past what since COVID Is it now? [00:40:31] Speaker A: Yes, 2020. [00:40:33] Speaker B: Since 2020, yep. So right now we're going into our sixth year of the 28 days of, of something that aligns in supporting the black. The Black History agenda. I'll refer reference it as that. And this year our 28 days is the 28 days of dismantling public education. And it's going to be all things and all conversations around how the attack has been so real on public education. And we have to be very mindful that anytime that there's an attack impact on an organization, an entity, a concept, a thought or whatever it is, it's always going to impact the black child even more. That's going to always be the case. And that also goes for Hispanic children as well. So we want to, you know, dive in a little bit deeper. That's what we're going to swerve out our lane a little bit and you know, put some hyper focus on, on what that looks like in the political realm. You know how it's been. You know, it's no longer the thought process saying that he can't do that. He not able to do that. You know, he don't have the power to do that. That man has showed you all, every darn thing that you all say he can't do, he has done. [00:41:52] Speaker A: Effortlessly. [00:41:53] Speaker B: Will I say that effortlessly. So we all sitting around here still talking about what he can't do do. [00:41:59] Speaker A: Stop. [00:42:00] Speaker B: Stop saying it. Because it has become clear that those in his general, you know, his, his makeup of his executive office, I'll just refer to them as, as those people, they have the same view that he does, which then spirals out to the masses that are in the power positions to make sure that those plans are carried out. So at this point, it is what it is. We have lived through it all as a people. The question becomes what will it look like for our children overall? What will it look like as it's being dismantled? And, and it's obvious we are current Florida, when we are in spaces and individuals say what do you do for a living? And you say a teacher. And they'd be like, oh, what state? Florida. And they begin to pray for you. Oh God, I'm so sorry. Sorry. Oh Lord. [00:42:56] Speaker A: Yes, yes, it's like we experienced that in New Orleans. [00:43:00] Speaker B: Yes. And it's like, is it that we are in the same profession? It's supposed to be at the hierarchy seeming in the same alignment with lawyers, doctors and. Oh yeah, let me not say that because, you know, we have been demoted to. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Demoted to. We're not professionals. That's what they say. We're not professional. But it's, it's sad. And you're absolutely right because when, when you tell people that they are people that. I mean, the, the look on is like, I feel so bad for you because we know that you're the, the, the, the, the ground zero for everything that they try to change about education. It, it takes place in Florida. And it's, it's so sad because we, we're sitting here and we know that, that liberty being a civics tea. I feel bad for anybody that teaching any kind of US History civics thing like because you're telling the children one thing, but the children can cut on the TV and the Internet and see something totally different. I thought there were three branches of government. Hell to the no. According to what this man do. He just do. And, but thank God we still have at least some people in, in, you know, some of the federal and the district court judges who are able to say wait a minute, we respect the Constitution and we know how this supposed to go. So we'll kick this right on back to you. Thank God for the judges that have a little bit of backbone and know how to do. Because I mean everything this man has tried to do has tried to destroy the people. And now you're trying to purchase Greenland. Let me tell you something. When Denmark, Denmark who by the way, we. We got. Purchased the United States purchased Verdanas from Denmark in way back in 1917. Right, right. But when Dan. When Denmark. The Danes who don't cause nobody no problem them days like to sit back and eat cheese and smoke a little green. Them Danes are very happy when the Danes got to get in their plane and send the military to protect Greenland. What is going on here? The Swiss. The Swiss don't care about nothing but was sticking in the hills and then rolling around with the forest. You got the peaceful people acting up. Come on now over green. Before I get extra crazy, let me stop because you know, I'm a history buff. Real quick, real quick again. So what we talk about with this on the. The stuff again? You said start stuttering this. What I mean, when, when you. It's hard to be a civics teacher teaching These kids about the truly how government's supposed to go. When you see it all the craziness right here which lead us to this whole thing about this. They trying to push these charters into, into the schools, right? Talk about hope schools now. But those of us that still don't believe these really are coming because we, we had a heated debate I think sometime around December last year. I'm sorry, but it exists, it is real, it is coming. DeSantis just talked about it just a couple days ago about the hope schools. Again, pay attention. If your administrator is not talking to you about it, maybe they worry about their job. I don't know. That's all I got to say. But it is coming. These fools and they're pushing in. So parents, what that looks like a push in is that they're going to exist in the same space, physical space with your child, your current child. And then a lot of them are, are putting all these freebies and gimmes and things to try to encourage your child to switch over to that particular school. But how does that look at within the school? What is that doing for the self esteem of the child? [00:46:08] Speaker B: So the key thing is co location. That means that our house underneath the same school. So you can have two schools operating in one building. [00:46:18] Speaker A: Building. [00:46:18] Speaker B: And the purpose for that is because it removes any type of additional cost for the charter school to transport the children to school, to pay for a building, to pay for lunch services, to pay for security, to pay for anything that is at that particular school already they do not have to pay for. So that takes away for more of our tax dollars. That's just the bottom line. It is a list. It is what it is. So again I do want to put out there that for those that don't know the information, don't be so quick to denounce that. What we're saying is not has no truth because it looks bad. It looks bad when you do that. It looks bad when you could have took the time and googled it as educators to find out the information for yourselves. We have no reason to make it up. I don't think there's been anything that we have publicly said for the many of years that we've been doing this that was just reckless and egregious just to make something else. We don't do that. That's not what we do. [00:47:21] Speaker A: We are research based. We are evidence based, fact based. We the opposite of what the people with the red hat do. We know how to get evidence. We know how to cite sources. Because it's important because if the information is going out and being shared, you need to share what's factual. You need to share what's correct. Because I mean also too anybody come back and tell us yet. Oh you wrong lie. You didn't know. I wish you would because you, you can't because we're researching this information to give to you. Our purpose and our goal again is to educate the public, educate the children to give you information that is useful to you to and that's helpful to you, that is going to help you and your family grow. We want to, we, we care about the children. The bottom line is the children. [00:48:05] Speaker B: That's the, that's the only line. The bottom, the final. The, the the the so again so just please be mindful of that. And again we are, we are. I would say a pause was taken on my behalf for this week right here for me to be able to you know, enjoy myself, my week, my day, whatever it may amount to for me. So now we're back on track. There were a few individuals that reached out to say they would like to be a part of the conversation as it relates to getting this information out to the community. So we will spiral. I'm sit right back around to Amy Marie and Demir marriage which are for Florida public, Florida strong public schools be able to you know, begin to have that dialogue. We need to begin having those conversations in the community because it's happening. Whether we're ready or not, it's going to happen. So and also and Connie Burton, she reached out as well in response to my reach out to her to say hey, how do we begin to you know, provide this information to the, the, the, the families of those schools that have been identified as they're going to be a school that has to co locate any event that the Hope schools have you know, decided to say we going, we going to um, you know, go ahead and plant our um, seed here and begin to grow to where we almost smother this other. Oh that's what they doing. Let me be quiet. [00:49:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's what we do. And we, we and also also too we listen listen. Yeah we all know the majority of those schools that are going to be within the East Tampa area, they're going to be as they call it low performing schools or low enrollment schools. So we also know with over what 200 churches in, in the Tampa Bay area, can we, can the pastors come, come to the front and have the conversation? Can we start putting information we, we heard a term we had A meeting over the break that was called Minister. What is it? What was the, what was called a minister of social or what was it? Social justice ministry. [00:50:11] Speaker B: So many churches that have this ministry. Yes, Denise. To say that you reached out. [00:50:16] Speaker A: Go, go ahead. I have, I have reached out to several of them. I have sent the information. We're going to go ahead and share repost our video. I have a pin to my page, but I'm gonna go ahead and pin it to my other pages as well, giving you information about what the schools are planning to do and this co location. And we would like to come in and we want to talk to all of these congregations. We don't talk to the congregation. Can the pastors respond to the messages and let us know, hey, listen, this is information that needs to be shared to your congregation. Your children are in these schools and in these spaces. We need you to understand what's going to happen and whether the push out or whether the push in how badly that pushing might affect your child and your child's educational success. And think about it, if you pushing a bunch of kids into a space that's already filled with kids, how's that? What's the impact on the teacher? What's the impact on the class size? What's the impact on all this other stuff? We gotta have these conversations. So again, passes that we've reached out to and those that have not responded, we're here. We available for these conversations, please respond. [00:51:17] Speaker B: Thank you most definitely. And remember that used to be a place where, you know, that's where a lot of the information was disseminated to families, you know, from the pulpit to be keep parents abreast of what was going on in the schoolhouse, you know, back then. The schoolhouse. So we have, well, I, I, it needs to be said, long story short, short, we have to leave space for in those announcements, you know, church announcements about the, the pastor anniversary, the church anniversary, the, the field trips, you know, the building we got to include what the education impact that's happening for our children. You know, everybody don't have that luxury to have a church housed in the inner city, then drive off into the gated communities and then act as though they don't know what's happening happening and then, you know, drive back in on Sunday where the church doors are, you know, locked up more than they are serving the people. And that is where we have arrived for a lot of our churches here in the inner city. Like if you were to drive up 40th Street, I think I could count on, I Could count at least about eight churches on 43 alone. Eight churches. And there are also these pastor coalition that exist. And yeah, is there a voice in that space speaking to the things of education, public education for the children? Because if not, that needs to be there. [00:52:46] Speaker A: Right? [00:52:46] Speaker B: We, we are, we continue to forget about the children holistically, but we want the children. We have an expectation for the children. Our children are spiraling because in all, in most cases, they just put in the back of the church on phones and, and tablets. And I'm. [00:53:05] Speaker A: But I will throw this in there too. I know that since COVID one of the things I'm noticing is we are like. And it happened in my church, we had a humongous children's choir. All right, Prior Covid, once Covid kicked in and people weren't coming back to church, once they started trickling back to church, the children no longer came. Because if the parents didn't get up and bring those children to church, because we have to understand them, they can't. They ride in the church much by themselves. They have to drive themselves there. If the parents are not bringing them back, they're not coming back. So a lot of times right now, kids have slipped away from the forefront of people's mind because the churches are getting older in terms of the age of the church. The general audience of congregation is older. So you're not even thinking about the children anymore. I'm like, it's so important you understand when everybody in here die off, all these 80 and 90 year olds die off, where the young people to replace them. So are you thinking about them and what's happening with them? Care about them socially, emotionally, educationally, you got to care about them in all aspects. So just because you don't see them, you need to put that information out there. And this, this is another way to also bring them and welcome them into, back into the church because you're giving them weekly, and it should be weekly, some kind of educational update about what's happening to their schools in their, in their communities. And it shouldn't just be about, okay, well, report card time come around. This is once a quarter. We're gonna celebrate. The kids know what's happening right now. A progress report. This school, these top 10 schools have a conference night this week because a lot of parents didn't even know until it passed. And wait a minute. If you put that information out there in the church announcement, these five schools have conference night this week. These has this, this week, understand? We have an open house. We have a pantry A food pantry at this school this day. Because this day we're giving out uniform sand the stuff out, out there, put it out there to the general congregation. And. And if you. I'm telling you, the information can pass down that way, especially the elders will be quick to pass the information on. That's all I'm getting off the soapbox. [00:55:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:09] Speaker A: And. [00:55:09] Speaker B: And before we get off of it and you know, you know, wrap it up in a nice pretty bow. Shame on us as the adults that have not taken more interest in our children as it relates into the religious space basis. Shame on us. Shame on. Shame, I'll just say, on us, because in the end, we have a responsibility to do so. We have a responsibility. And shame on those that have the spaces to be able to, you know, embrace our youth because, you know, we. We say that. You know, we use that say to train up a child. But in the end, half of us, you know, we keep our doors locked away from the children. Don't want them there. Hell, we won't even have their funerals there for the families because. [00:55:50] Speaker A: Because we're. [00:55:51] Speaker B: We don't want them to come smell like a little weed. You know, they. They too. Look, let me leave that alone. I'm gonna leave that alone because, you know, you know, again, we bob whole blocks and then like, again, we drive off and I gated. And then we come back and say we, but we. Worshiping. Worshiping what? Anyway, so again, quick reminder. This Thursday is the Excellence in Education Awards ceremony. You know, I will be there along with a lot of my. Well, let me say my friends and my close friends and some family because I have a small family. And again, let's just put this out here. It was a great experience just to be nominated as a finalist. You know, the win would be great. And if it don't win, I already won because, you know, I'm almost coming out this thing, you know, you know, the. The. My time has been served well, and I know what I have done done over the years collectively with the support of friends, colleagues, as it relates to meeting the needs of children in and outside of school, because again, it's always been about them and the focus will continue to be that. So, you know, again, you know, the win would be great, but if not, congratulations, you know, to all that were nominated. So with that being said, our next. [00:57:11] Speaker A: Next, let's see. Our next show date is February 15th. [00:57:19] Speaker B: February 15th. And that's the day after good old the Val. The Valentine's Day. [00:57:25] Speaker A: So that's when Candy is extra cheap. So that's all I do. Daddy. Half price on the 15th say, go get the candy. [00:57:34] Speaker B: Go get the candy, Rush. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Go get the candy. [00:57:36] Speaker B: So definitely, definitely, definitely remember, remember to always keep children at the center of all conversations and decisions that are being made that you know are alignment with adult life because again, it trickled down and impacts them either whether we want to accept it or not, it impacts them in some type of way. And yeah, we thank you all for joining us again for another session of diversity and equity and include equity but only got tired again, y', all tomorrow. And we thank our host, Bianca Goozy with Teacher for the Culture. And again, we got so many things that's coming up this year and we're excited and yeah, that's all we got. Anything you want to close out with, Denise? [00:58:23] Speaker A: No, that's it. Just continue to read. That's all I keep on encouraging everyone to do. Have a wonderful evening, everybody. [00:58:29] Speaker B: Build a library. Bye. [00:58:32] Speaker A: Yes. Sam.