Episode Transcript
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Hey, good evening.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Good evening. And good evening.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Good evening, everyone. Hi. My name is Denise Papillon and to my right or left is.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: April with diversity and equity in education. That's what we come in live and in full effect on this last session for us of this year. We made it 52. Well, we 51 weeks. No, we 52 at this point.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: That's right. Hey, that's what. That's what I'm talking about.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Still got two more weeks to go. But we on vacation.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: We on vacation.
We sure are. And. And you know your favorite football team is losing anyway, so just join, join. Just tell your people, come on out. Just come on, Come on in the room. Come on, come on in the room. Look, we've given up hope in our house. We are a Cowboy and Saints household at both our team. Susan. So we just come on in the room.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
And it be so interesting to see how people be on social media losing their absolute minds. And at the top of the conversations are them doggone cowboys, buccaneers and the same. There you go.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And so unless every week.
Every week. And then people don't put the money in your pocket. So, yeah, I'm just realizing you just gotta learn to let go. Just let go and let God. God. You know that. That's all you gotta do.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: But if.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Tell us about your there. Snatch them up. Just snatch them by the root. By the root, by the scalp. Right here.
How have you been since last we've been on and I see you all the time, but just tell me a little bit about what you. What's going on.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: So tired.
All I could see was the twinkle of the light for December 19th. And the closer we got to that day or the number of days that was less for us to reach that goal of December 19th, I became more energized. So I will say this.
My God, thank you for December 19th at 4:45.
How about you?
[00:03:22] Speaker A: That, that was when I said that was the most blessed day ever. You know, there are days when you leave work and the parking lot still has cars in it. And then there are days like Friday when you leave working. You can hear echo, hello all the way down. Because, you know, people were booking it up out of that place. So, you know, just understand something. It's not that we don't love and care for the kid. It's just that it is a mentally draining career. Okay. And it is sometimes you just. You just desperate for silence and just quiet and just a moment to just go under your blankets and just. Just come There for. But, but, but can I. Can I just throw a little caveat on in there? Just real quick, Let me Show you my 15 seconds of panic prior to. Because, you know, these Apple products. Apparently my keyboard and my mouse died at the exact same time.
So you should have seen me before we started our show, scrambling for batteries, disturbing my poor husband because I'm like, I need the batteries out of your.
I'm like, pick a TV and run with it because I need the batteries stacked. Okay, so it was rough. It was rough around here. Oh, there's my friend. Okay, it was really rough around here. So I, I just, you know, but. But I. I persevere and I therefore have.
I'm up and running. But, you know, I. I gotta learn to stop panicking. So guess what I did. I immediately decided. Let me go ahead and find that 40.
Just. Just press order because you'll be amazed how much stuff in the house requires double A or AAA batteries.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: It's. It's crazy, right? But anyway, I never have access to those with these kids in the house because of the many remotes. But.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yes, exactly, exactly.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: So just.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: But going. Going forward in terms of our. Of. Of the end of the year, I think we had a great year so far. Our kids are progressing. Moving forward. We, you know, we got. But, but just remember, parents, we got buckle down. So let's talk about what we're going to jump into. First of all, let's discuss this winter break. How long is winter break? April.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: So as of right now, what. So many people.
There's a misunderstanding or a bunch of misconceptions or what I want to say.
What's that word that they use about the misconstrued. No, no, the thing that. When it's a myth and it's stories behind it. What is that called?
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Oh, well, for right now, we're gonna send message until it comes to my mind. Okay.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: Okay. Well, as you. As you process that, there are a bunch of. And for us, it's just. Y' all just telling lies. That's what it is for us.
Yes. We are prepared for when to break. It starts on tomorrow. It goes from December 22 through January 6, which is on a Tuesday.
Say it with me, parents. It's on a Tuesday.
And maybe it's my computer, but something weird is happening right now with the layering.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: I can still see you.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Okay, you still see me. All right, so it happens on a Tuesday. So it's very important.
Go ahead and put that in your phone now with the reminder of 48 hours prior to. So you can go ahead and prepare those kids for bedtime. Clothes are washed and all that good jazz. You might want to do it for 72 hours because that'll give you a little bit more time.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: But again, it goes from Tomorrow, which is December 22, through January 6, which is a Tuesday.
It is very important to send your children back that week, even though it's a partial week, because that's when we bring them back in and get them re acclimated to the learning environment.
And what does that look like, Denise?
[00:06:56] Speaker A: In the classroom, the learning environment, we're talking about structure. So that's the first word I'm gonna look at right there. Because, you know, if you're, you don't have structure during those two weeks, we could have to start from the very beginning again. So what we would actually do on day one as they return is go back over all the policies and procedures, everything that they, they need to remember, hey, this is what we're doing. We asked to go to the restroom. This is what we need to do. When you, how we enter the classroom, how we exit the classroom, remember where our supplies are, where our materials are. These are our procedures, these are our steps that we follow. All of that has to be re. Instilled in them because they've been home for two weeks and we don't know. They just running here and there. They don't ask anybody to go to the bathroom, they just go. They don't, you know, ask to get up and walk out of a room. They go. So there's a lot of things that we have to just put back into them when they come back after the two, two week break. And things that we have to remember as well. My number one thing that I got to remember is my password because I'm there. There's days where I'm not looking at that computer and then when I get back I'm like, ooh, what was my password again? That's okay.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: So I made it a point.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Procedure.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I made it a point to go ahead and put mine in my phone because otherwise I'm not gonna remember it at all. And we wanna make sure that everyone, even on our end and even on the parent side of things, yes, it is a winter break, but it's time for us to reset. That's basically what winter break allows us to do. Reset. And then become re. Energized, Rethink things that the way that they were, you know, conducted in the classroom or the school, setting, the bus, whatever it May be, but it's definitely a reset. So it's, it allows you to be able to be intentional about teaching your children how to regulate themselves. If they had a lot of referrals, they had a lot, you had a lot of parent calls, homes, you know, utilize this time to be able to, you know, engage. Not just on the phone in a room away from you, so that life still, you know, takes place as if they were not there. Let them show up and you'll be present as well. Just my thoughts.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I absolutely agree.
Things that we need to understand about school. School is the place for structure, right?
And the things that we made a note of structure. They receive meals regularly and they have that stability. Especially if you're coming into classes where you all. We almost guarantee it's a shock for you when your teacher not there, because your teacher is always there, right? So imagine that structure just fizzling out over the next two weeks. Try to provide some sort of structural. Kid, this is a, a bedtime, this is a wake up time. This, I mean, yeah, I know they're on break, but also as, maybe even as you get closer to going back to school, you want to put, reinstall those, those particular structures right there. Because it's very important. I mean it's not, you know, get that stomach energy, as I call it, back on track. Because they like we could eat all day long, you having breakfast.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Parents don't put them on some type of schedule structure. They gonna eat them out of house and whole. Because mine just eat. Just because they're thinking about eating all day. They have just eaten an hour ago and they be like, what can I get a snack? Snack where? Snack, sit down, snack, go in your space.
Cause you're not hungry. You just know that it's there because there's no reason why a half of a six pack, right? A half of a six pack of Gatorade is gone within 24 hours. Make it, make it make sense.
[00:10:15] Speaker A: Make it make sense. Exactly. Especially since food prices are astronomical.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Not the price, the calls.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Food prices are astronomical. We do not, we will not, do not. We're not going to just be sitting there eating through the fridge once the.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Prices are through the roof.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: So just make sure that we understand that that's, that's the situation right there. But we know the kids get that type of structure at school. So you know, just try to keep them in some kind of line with, with those type of structures that we've established. Because it's so important that when they return, I mean we we, we. We love a break, right? As educators, we love the break. But we do understand it is hardest for us when they come back from a break. Because you coming from a place where there is. I can do whatever I want, say what I want, and now I got to come back to complete structure. And that. That takes time. That takes time. And then on top of that, the curriculum is still moving, so you still gotta get. Get the information that you need to them. So we just ask you again. We have some wonderful quotes.
Routine still matters, right? And how we must use this break will impact how our children return in January. So just keep that thought in mind as we move along. Any other thoughts about that, April?
[00:11:25] Speaker B: No, that's it. As we move right along into parents. What you all say? Parents do what? Denise?
[00:11:31] Speaker A: What they need to do. Parents. Parents need to check canvas before the break is over. They also need to clean them backpacks out.
That's the two things that was on the list. I can't stress better. Oh, I'll buy them a new one.
Let me tell you something. You should add Lysol wipes to your. To your. Listen, you want to buy stuff for the kids for charisma.
[00:11:54] Speaker B: But there are things.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: They're all. They've been getting sick. They sound like. Like an actual musical chord. How they coughing in the classroom.
I mean, what you.
Please back up off me. Back up off me.
I can't take it.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: What you want them to do?
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Back up off me. Like this.
Away, away at.
Just coming to your desk. Just hot, hot. Just snatch em. Snatch em right out class. Just snatch em. I can't take it. I can't take it.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Now they're making a musical note. They're making a song. They do and it's coughing all the.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: And so parents and you sending them to school like that.
I know you heard them coughing.
You send them and put them in an enclosed room with 24 other people and let them cough on each other. Okay. And now they come back to you. Vitamin C is your friend. Theraflu is your friend. Give him water. And I'm gonna tell you what adds to that. Let me tell you what it is.
I've watched so many kids prior to taking an exam in the morning, they are. They are eating bags of Takis and they're drinking sodas and juices. Now, again, April and I used to be a. We were engaged in a program called what the brain Brain is. Well, it's something like a brain break.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: It has to do with the water Brain gym.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: What's it called Brain, Brain Gym. There you go.
And it emphasized how important it is for kids to consume water to get the blood moving through the brain. These kids are eating the most ridiculous stuff first thing in the morning. So they are crashing in the middle of day and they're taking exams. So again we, we, we, we encourage you, we encourage you to, to get, force them to drink more water because it'll flush out those toxins out of the system and it also help them, you know, with, with studying and retaining information.
So and plus it helps us because they, they clearing all that stuff out of their system and we don't.
Okay, so going back to canvas. Listen, just like we check our phones, we're going to say it again and again and again. Just like you could check your phone every five minutes for an update or forget notifications for this that you can check canvas often. That is there's the link right there. We have it up on the screen for you. Canvas, please check your child's canvas. No one should be surprised by what the grades look like. These are real time live grades. They're live. And you can communicate with the teachers like that. The kids can send messages. It is so important to use that. And that is by the way the district tool. So if you try to communicate in other ways, yes, you might get a text message, yes, you may get a phone call. But this is the one legal document that we can refer to when people say, oh yeah, I, you know, how my child failed. Well, wait a minute, I can look in there and see how often you logged in. You, you're telling me you check canvas every day. But according to the, you know, so what Maury Povich used to say that. But a lie detector said that this is a lie.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: That's what we want you all to do something different. If you are, do. If you are not, if you have not done already, we want you to sit down with them. With the canvas open, they can open their portal. Not a problem. Then you have them click on each individual class and identify anything that's missing.
And if it doesn't say if there's a, a button that they could click on. I mean it is still. Or if it's still colored there, they still could click on it and complete the assignment. A lot of teachers left the assignments unlocked for that reason because grades aren't due until January 12th. And yes, you're going to have some teachers that be like, no, no, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. My God, thank you. That he extended the grace. Because I know this one to the left or right of me, she's a stickler for that as well. But, you know, I kind of rubbed on her a little bit. Be like, all right now. All right, Remember what we worked on?
[00:15:45] Speaker A: I do look great this month. You do, you do, you do.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: It took a minute, but yeah. Cause the other Denise, the one from the islands too, Saint.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: What is it?
[00:15:55] Speaker B: St. Croix, she went ahead on me. So I said, nope, not gonna do it. Sorry. But you know, I had to give my whole grace spill. And then she was like, but you know, I'm like, yeah, I know. We math people, I get it. It gets hard, it gets difficult, which leads to.
Parents. If your child is struggling, there are resources available over the winter break. You want to talk about that real quick, Denise?
You want me to go ahead?
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Yes. Okay, so, but, but we do want to always mention our quote. I love, I love this right here. Hold on. These quotes are the best. Was it. Closing academics gaps now can reduce stress in January and help your child start strong instead of playing catch up. So that's important. Important. That's why we're saying go back and check canvas. But let's talk about again, Grace. Okay. Now, many children don't come from homes where deadlines are modeled. Okay?
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: Because survival, that's the key.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Say that again.
Say that again.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Many children do not come from homes where deadlines are modeled because survival comes first.
So now we're going to talk about that. Okay, I, we. Oh, I'm going way back in the days we were at DW Waters, where we had a kid that lived across the street from school and that child never made it to school on time because nobody in the house cared about getting anywhere on time. So if you're literally living across the street and this is more than 20 something years ago, but you would never. School started at 7:30 or something like that. Got to school around 9, 45, 10 o'. Clock. Look, I gotta make me a sandwich and all that. I gotta do everything, what I gotta do before I get to school, because school is not that important. So if, if, if the family is operating out of a strictly survival mode, that child doesn't understand why you want your paper turned in on time. Why this has to be done on time. Why if I can miss five days of school, why? Well, why I miss a math test? I mean, but what does that matter, you know? So you have to. This is why we go back to. And again, I learned this from my friend this Is why I. You do have to go ahead and extend that grace, too, because again, recognizing that every household is not the same, every household don't have strong WI fi, every household might not have laptops, every household might not even have lights on this week. You know, so you have to. And we look at a community that we serve, and you have to sit there and say, you know what? I am going to extend that grace. Because again, you know, the grace that was extended to me, I need to continue to pass it on to somebody else. Well, I need to be. If I'm blessed, I need to be a blessing to other people. So that. That's what it really boils down to. So just, you know, just think about that and that it takes us back to that. The very beginning of school April, when we all went on the bus tour and. And went around the community and started to see where the children were living and the neighborhoods they came from, it really opened up your eyes to where, man, you know, I do need to extend this grace because some kids don't have.
They look like they come to school big and bad and tough, but we know where they're coming from. And some of them are actually homeless.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: So it's just.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Those are things you got to take into consideration when you're dealing with the population that we serve. And just. And all around the East Tampa, just pay attention, look at what's going on.
High rises, the people that can't afford to live in. You know, so.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: So.
[00:19:00] Speaker A: But just that's what we talk about when we say that we really need to understand it. Extending grace does not weaken expectations.
It is literally just saying, hey, I'm going to work with you because of. You have extenuating circumstance. And the word I was looking for when you were talking earlier is logical fallacies. That's what I'm thinking of. Right? You, you, you. You think that it makes sense, but it don't. Okay, so I'm sorry, backtracking, but still. Okay, but.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: But again, but it can still fly in my mind like that. Further on that, Denise, even to go a little bit further than that, because y' all know, you was talking about sometimes, you know, individuals seeing that as it's weakening the expectation. No, it actually strengthens the trust. It restores dignity for that child, and it keeps the child connected to the learning instead of pushing them out. Because in the end, if they don't, if they never get to taste success in your class, whether it be they get it done now, doing a lunch and learn doing two or three questions versus 15. If they never take success in their academic learning, the academic gap continues to widen. That's just common sense. Think about it.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: If I went to work every day and they never gave me a paycheck, you think I'm gonna keep coming back to that damn job?
[00:20:12] Speaker A: No. Right, right. Exactly.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: That's not the successful happening there.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Even the ones that, even the ones that are like literally just work your very last nerve, they can have one thing that they could do that was correct. It'll. It might, it might not hold them for the whole semester, but they might change for, for a couple days cuz they're like, oh, okay, wait a minute, I got, I got a B on this. I got a on this.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: She like my work. Okay, good. And then, and then in that thing, start incorporating things that are their strengths. Because I have kids, I've learned over the decades, I've learned everybody's not a test taker. Everybody is not able to write a paper with fidelity. Everyone. But guess what? There's some kids who can tell you the whole story. You know what I do? The ones who love to run in the class and tell about all the fights. Those are the ones who give oral presentation. I said, you, you know how to tell a story.
So everything we just read, you're going to stand in front of this class and you going to tell the whole entire thing. And they can, and they're very animated now. They might not be able to write it, but they certainly know how to say, okay. And then this what happened? And this what happened? This what, this what happened in this character? And this character. And they got it. That's me saying, okay, I'm assessing that they got the information. Okay. So, you know, just look at how they learn. Okay, go ahead.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: And then that, that ties into Di. You know, before we start getting so blown up and torn apart about dei.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: That's dei.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: That's realistically what differentiated instruction is, you know, and that's what it's supposed to look like. If we were trying to create what would say, robots, then yeah, everybody should be doing the same thing at the same time and produce the same product.
But what she has explained to us is that there's different products that can be, you know, in response to the learning that a child has received. So just think about that. Something to think about. Because if they're showing up every day, I believe, this has always been my belief. If they're showing up every day and they earn a complete F, that mean you failed them?
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: That means they didn't hear nothing either, then that was beneficial to them.
They should be able to at least walk away with the D.
Now, if they showing up twice a week, yeah, that ain't gonna cut it. That means.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: And if they can't verbally, there's no.
But if they showing up daily and they're not getting nothing out of your, that's on you, right?
[00:22:35] Speaker A: They. We have. I have one who is a. I mean, just the tenants is atrocious, but you know, that kid is the opposite. That kid is a master test taker. Like, I don't need class, but when I come to take them standardized tests, I'm knocking out the water. So I'm just like, ooh, how do you justify that? But I mean, I can't pass you for the class. But I know for a fact when it comes to those tests, boy, them state tests, you just like come in there and say, okay, three. Now, I don't need a ready, one, two, three. I'll take it. I'm just like, what? Okay, so.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Which means at some point, his. The child's background knowledge, and even the days that they are there, they're still getting something from it. They're able to absorb more and then take that information and disaggregate it to where it says, okay, this goes here. Yeah, but they getting something from your clients.
But you're right.
If you not come to class for three times a month, there's no way I could pass you. There's no way. And that happens more often than most would even be able to think that it's the truth anywhere. It happens a lot. And it's not our site thing, it's a district thing. It's district, it's a state thing, it's a nation thing.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: And I want, I want to mention something too, especially when it comes to the absences, right? Parents, this is so important. I've encountered this about five times for the school year. If we come across situations where kids just stop coming to school, they just stop. Okay?
But if you're going to, if you're going to keep your child home or send your child to a charter, wherever they're going, right? You have to withdraw them from the school that they're attending because every single day our absences are building up. So I've seen kids sitting there and I've reached out, reached out and reached out. I mean, I'm to the point where, well, can we send somebody over there? Because where is the child? Where is.
And all the kids, remember, think about kids Kids, they have information. They know everything. All the kids will tell you. Oh, yeah, they moved out of state. They moved here. They moved here. They gone. Oh, I just saw them. I was playing. Playing a fortnight. We just played the other day. Okay, fine. The kid is okay, safe. However, parents, if you, if you take changing schools, you got to withdraw them from the current school that they're at. So it's just, it's just a paperwork thing that we need to follow through on. Okay. And, but, and also, if you're not in school, you know, you got to be in school, then you can't have kids being truant. They have to be enrolled somewhere in school. So please do the right thing. That's one thing I wanted to add.
[00:24:57] Speaker B: On and leading into that conversation there, because from district to district, we will be able to. That information will eventually come. That means that the child will show up in the system somewhere. We could see that district to charter. No, we can't see that district to out of state. We cannot see that. So that's what Denise is referring to. Because many assume that, oh, when they leave the school, they'll show up. No, we're not in the same district anymore, though. You know, we don't share that information. It doesn't align. And then going into that good old word called truancy, let me be clear at this point, all the grace that could have been extended in first and second quarter, which accumulated, which accumulates to become a semester, the grace is over. If your child does not have a documented illness at this point and information has been submitted to the school and the unexcused absences continue, whether it be elementary, middle or high, high school, they get em with their driver's license, they get them, you know, off rip. But elementary and middle, you should expect for the social worker to now become a part of your business.
And you cannot get upset with them because the failure to communicate has opened up that window of opportunity for them to now include them in your business. Which could lead to juvenile court.
Right, Correction, truancy court.
That is a thing In Hillsborough county, it's assumed that it's not. And it's always associated with juveniles. No, that's also associated with children that have no juvenile record and parents are not getting them to school or making certain that they're in school or communicating with the school to say as to why they're not in school.
So the district is all over this attendance thing this year. Like the attendance committees, the number of meetings are being monitored by the attendance committee reports are being submitted. I'm here to say there are quite a few that have missed more than 50 days at our site.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: Yes.
Yeah.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: So you can expect, you can expect it. And the only person you could be upset with at this point is yourselves.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: That's it.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: Because you. It's not like no one has been calling.
Yes, the calls are happening. The computer system shows it Unless you change your number every month. And that's a whole nother call.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: That's a whole nother thing.
[00:27:30] Speaker B: The whole nother thing on the doors. That's how we find out. Some kids don't even live there anymore. They go to bus stops and all this other stuff. And then you want to get upset with a child. When a child explain what's happening. No, adults are not doing adult things.
Adulting is your responsibility to take on those conversations whether they are uncomfortable. That's the better, best way I can explain it. Do your part. Don't put your children, children in those types of situations. And I'm off my soapbox. We're ready to move forward.
[00:28:01] Speaker A: Well, no, but I absolutely agree. I mean, you know, listen, when people start knocking your door, don't get mad because you all you. It's a simple as a phone call if you just say hey listen, I need, I need a couple things. One, we move it or I need some help with this. I, I don't. I. We moved away so I can't have the child. Actually I had two kids who came up to me and told me that that Friday was their last day because they're going to move, you know.
[00:28:25] Speaker B: Oh, we had.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: Further away.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: And so there's just, but you know, like I said, just remind your parent to call the school, contact the school, let us let them know that you, you're being withdrawn so that you can then please re enroll as quickly as possible someplace else.
Because we just need to know that you're, you're, you're still in school. So it's just important parents do, do you do your part be. You know, if you're a parent, do your part. We've seen so much stuff over the past month and a half of how. Of parents just being laxadaisical. I mean you got the, you know, I, I can't even get into the things that we've seen especially all that stuff happened in Chicago last month, the month before. But it's just so much stuff going on. Be a parent. You had these children. You had them.
Please be a parent. That's all we begging you to do. And I will Come off my soapbox. Let's talk about academic resources during the winter break. Let's talk about that. Bianca, do you have some things to put up on the screen for us?
[00:29:17] Speaker B: So I will say that there are free academic resources during the winter break for our families. And when we say for our families, we are basically highlighting that those resources are available for the children. There are a plethora. So if you go to Hillsborough County Public School, public library, and the key thing is, let me back up, you got to have a library card. Now there are some there that you're just going to go to go there on that list. It'll take you to a list of things that you do not need to have a library card. But if you have a library card, they're free. And if you go get a library card, it's free. I believe you could register for a library card even online. And it's free. And it's free. And it's free. Then it make these resources that would be extremely costly to you free.
Like the one on one live tutor.
Not tuta Tuta.
You cannot beat that. So again, families, there are reading platforms that are there. There are math practice, skill building programs there. And we all know that a lot of our children, even all the way through middle and high school are still struggling with phonics. They're still struggling with it.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: That's.
[00:30:29] Speaker B: Beyond kindergarten. First, second, third, fourth, five, six, seven and eight, nine, 10 and 11 and 12. Yeah, 11 and 12.
I forgot my six, 17.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 11, 12. Remember that one?
[00:30:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
That's why we, that's why we know. That's why they always are singing on the TV teaching us something. Always. Thank you. And those programs were designed for us.
[00:31:01] Speaker A: Yes, we, we, we could do all.
[00:31:05] Speaker B: Where are we, where are we?
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Right?
[00:31:08] Speaker B: Where are we? Where all the programs where the intentionality is there.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: It is so funny you said that because I know I have. I don't know if it was, you know, I record this stuff and then I, I don't post it till like three days later. But anyway, I, I just talked about that and I was saying how, you know, back in the day we used to have.
Listen how they would plant stuff in our brain on the cars. We showed a different world. They would wear sweatshirts and also on Living Single they would wear the HBCU sweatshirts on the show. The art displayed in the show was from black painters and artists and things like a sculpturers. Right. They would have. So it was like Living single Martin. It was. We call it Cosby shul. You had different world. You had.
There were just so many. And then the cartoons were proud family. You had Fillmore, you had, you had the Hanna Barberica. It was happier and it was more pro black. And now, now when you ask kids what they watch, baddies, hold on, they're watching P. Valley.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: And even the family shows that are being being advertised as such, what do we see? The angry black killing woman or the horrible don't know nothing woman? The man is abusive and she isn't killing him. I'm like always see Tyler Perry dressed up as Madea, right?
[00:32:26] Speaker A: What is happening? Tyler Perry's name can't get a pass either. He can't get a pass either because he always show a broken family. So it's like, that's who I'm talking about.
What happened to the love? Because I knew, I just knew. Like, like I'm telling you, my little sister, she knew she could be a doctor. She knew because she said Claire Huxtable was a lawyer and Cliff was a doctor. And when you start to see these things, look at Whitley. Whitley. That's what my sister is fancy. I ain't gonna lie. That's why she extra fanc. Because Whitley Gilbert was high society on, on campus. On, on human campus. And she was like, oh no, I'm going to be high society. That's. And it's nothing wrong. That was, that was that strong.
You had a strong foundation. And so, but, but the thing about it is those, those were so positive. Kids don't see any of that. Kids don't believe that that can exist. And that's some scary stuff. I'm like, what, what are you talking about? No, you got those. A lot of black shows, but a lot of them are still gangsters, murderers, thugs, prostitutes. Come on, man. That's why when Black Panther first came out, it was so a billion dollars within the first. I think it was the first two months or something like that. Because people want to see black people positively displayed, positively portrayed. So it's important people, parents watch what your children watching on tv. That's what we say. We saying all that to say pay attention to what they watch. I mean, I, I posted something the other day too that where say if you, if you listen to. If you grew up with Electric Company, you think like this. If you grew up with Sesame street, you can this. If you grew up with Blues Clues, you got critical thinking skill. Because what did Blue do? Tell you to go find, look, find the evidence, find the Evidence before you. Okay, how we solve this? We're looking for the evidence. Okay? That's what Blue was telling you.
[00:34:04] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: Dora had you exploring all over the place. She was like, look, this, we gonna find it. And she would teach you bilingual, okay, critical thinking. So that's what's in your critical thinking skill. So it's like, what are you letting your children watch? Why they can't have these. These critical thinking skills. This is the reason why. Look, you know, reason why I know how to do a multiply by nine. Because I had. I had. We called your Schoolhouse Rock seven times nine, doing just fine. What.
But I knew that conjunction junction. What's your function? Okay, I knew all that. I knew that. But again, again, it was because we were.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: We were given.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: We're fed things that was just developing the brain and it was fun and it was just.
It combated the literacy problem. So again, when you talk about high school students who don't have literacy skills, look at what happened. Look at what? If I'm listening to no, I love me some trap music. But if I'm listening to trap all day and all night with no clear.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: I've seen it.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: It's not clear.
[00:35:07] Speaker B: Okay?
[00:35:08] Speaker A: The word. None of the words are spelled correctly.
[00:35:10] Speaker B: So.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: So this is how you think. You're supposed to talk and write.
Think. Think about this, parents. Now this is how you writing and talking, because all you're listening to is trapped. There's the. We had R B and love songs and. And we had. We had. We've had a lot of instrumental music and stuff, but we did it and it helped us. It didn't detract from our. Our ability to learn. So that's reason why when kids are going out to college and when they're going to jobs, even the bosses are saying, man, this kid ain't got no skill. Look at this kid. Can't follow basics.
Definitely.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: Yeah, they don't have the soft skills at all. That's one of the key things that career readiness programs try to hone in on that the soft skills, by now they should be at a much higher quality. And unfortunately, due to technology, they are not. They are well below where you have. Individuals from other countries have better soft skills than us. As us said, it's natives. I mean, I don't anyway. But parents, we say all that to say this.
Learning during the spring break does not have to feel like school. It should be supportive, light, and doable. So the ultimate goal is have them add a couple of apps on their phones. They're on them anyway. Or just make them take out like about 25 to 30 minutes a day where it's structured learning, whether it's sitting at the computer or even on their device sitting next to you. Turn off the tv, you read somebody exhibit what you would like for them to be doing, which is being in tune with their academic side while they are actually on winter break. It won't hurt them. It won't kill them. I don't know it. They get ready to all read books.
Sergio got two.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:36:50] Speaker B: Nice. Gonna have his look. That chapter book gonna eat him alive. But we reading it. We reading it. We reading it.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: Exactly. It's just 30 minutes a day. You'd be amazed at what you can accomplish. 30 minutes a day. Your kid reads a million words a year. If you just give them 30 minutes a day, you'd be amazed. Okay. And they're just exposed to the words. And that's how they learn to spell and master phonics and things like that. So we. We want you to talk about that, but let's. Let's talk about a hard truth. So I give. Since we've given enough to that one particular subject right now, let's talk about a hard truth.
[00:37:20] Speaker B: Let's talk about something.
[00:37:21] Speaker A: And we're going to use it backward because the word itself is called hope.
But we feel hopeless. So I want April to talk about hope. Let's go ahead, talk about that.
So.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: I know for a fact, based upon my experience on this past Saturday at the 18th annual the Heights Holiday event, shout out to Coach Jamal. It was a phenomenal event. The sponsor that was featured, there was a lady named. I think it was Patsy. Look, charge it to my arm, mind and not my heart. Cause I'm not a good person. Person that remembers names itself for children's. Anyway, that's just my thing. I don't remember a lot of adults that I'm not engaged with.
But she brought out some very nice things for parents to be able to win for their children. But the room was covered with, I would say, thousands at this point. It had to be toys that was there.
The room was nice. It was done well. And coach Jamal always very intentional about how he bring together individuals that are supportive for children.
He don't like all that lights, camera, action stuff if it's not authentic and genuine for the kids. And it was a good event. But during that time when I was there having a conversation about youth mental health, because that's one of the key areas of concerns that I always talk about and feel the need to bring forward in our community about youth mental health. That as an educator in a school setting, public school setting, that has a combination of kids that's coming from, you know, very communities that are filled with turbulence. I'll say that that's what I want to describe it as.
We know that they come with baggage. And also for the teachers, in survival mode. We've been in survival mode, some of us now, as educators, for years. For years, because the raise is not raising, but the economy cost to live is. That's a whole nother conversation too.
So a lot of things that we are disciplining the students for is actually because we're trying to treat.
Treat some type of mental disconnect, some type of mental disease disorder, some type of lack of self regulation that the child just don't know how to do. We're trying to treat that with a referral.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: You can't.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: They don't go together.
Now. Is that the only thing that we have? Yes, because I am not a clinician, nor is Denise, nor is the principal.
We're just not those things.
So we have to use the tool that we are able to use. And at this point it has just become explosive.
Not just at our school site, not just in our district. It is a nationwide thing. Like Denise said, Chicago, look at all the children that we see are.
I don't even want to say it.
It's out there. It's out there.
It ain't anger no more. They are rageful, they are. They're full of like just.
I don't even know how to explain it. It's like vengeance against everybody. And it's like they can't let things go. And the question becomes why? But long story short, hope for schools was explained to them in that setting.
And you could tell that parents in that. And it had to be.
It was well over 500 people in that room. Well over.
You could look at their faces that they did not understand when it was being explained to them that hopeful schools, which is basically meaning that you're gonna have charter schools be able to school, be able to come in. And there's certain ones, it's not all charter schools, but charter schools that have registered and blah, blah, blah, they're able to come in and co locate at specific schools because they are. And it's not just because they're low performing, it's because the schools are underused.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Hmm. They mean housed inside the school.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: So what would that look like is the question.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: So at these schools, and I want y' all to pay attention to the list. That's what got me when I was like, wait, it's not all schools. No, here's the list.
The list consists of Adams.
[00:41:50] Speaker A: Leave it on the screen for a while.
Yeah, leave it on the screen.
[00:41:53] Speaker B: Adams is closed. However, they're not looking at Adams anyway because they want to go to school sites where there are children already at.
So you got Adams, Broward, Burnett. And the list is there for you all. Chamberlain, Cleveland, Doddell, Dr. Carter, G. Woodson. For some, that's the old Van Buren, Edison, Farrell, Franklin, Graham, James, Just Aiden, King, Lomax, Monroe, Oak Park, Seffner, Smith, Town and Country, Washington, and young Black. Where I just came.
[00:42:28] Speaker A: Where I just came from. Right.
[00:42:29] Speaker B: So now what I want you all to make note of inner city folks.
Most of the schools are in the inner City District 5.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Think about that.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: Mm. The question is why? The question is why?
[00:42:49] Speaker B: Because they could have.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: They could have thrown them out there in Wesley Chapel. They could have thrown them out there in New Chapel. They could have thrown them out there in Plastic.
Adams is.
Kimball is empty.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: And that.
[00:43:00] Speaker A: Would you close something.
[00:43:02] Speaker B: But they want to come into the schools and basically market to the students that's already there.
Or in those communities where those kids already come to those specific schools and basically divisiveness. They can pick and choose which kids they wanna market to. You know how they. At the charter schools, a lot of times they always dangle that and you go get a free laptop and free. And free. And free.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: And free and free.
[00:43:32] Speaker B: You know, those marketers, you know, I won't call it a scheme. Cause they do give it to em. But it's the dangling, the shiny object in front of them to say this is why it's better.
[00:43:42] Speaker A: However.
[00:43:47] Speaker B: Who paying for that?
[00:43:48] Speaker A: Ooh, that's the question. And then the other part of that is you accept these children into the charter that's housed inside the school.
But then. And get the. And you get the money.
Don't forget, you gotta follow the money. Get the money. Right. Well, if the behavior is bad, I can just kick them back out and they can stay in the eyesight. And I'm gonna still keep the money.
[00:44:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna still.
[00:44:09] Speaker A: Oh, yes, yes.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: And then these hope schools.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Get to have access to every child's information in this district.
We. As far as what we read.
Exactly.
Did we just talk about that earlier?
[00:44:32] Speaker A: We talked about that.
[00:44:34] Speaker B: We don't know what that looks like. I just know that I would not want organization, a school, any company or whatever it is to have access to all my child's information.
Because what if they wanted to target discipline? What if they wanted to target attendance? We already know the inequities with the discipline nationwide take out district nationwide.
And we already know what county was that where they were using the student discipline. And it was being funneled to. Was it their, the juvenile justice or some type of organization?
[00:45:16] Speaker A: I don't remember the county.
I don't remember the county. But it was definitely funneled directly to the juvenile justice system.
[00:45:23] Speaker B: It was in Florida. Pasco. It was in Pasco to where? And notice how that information got.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Yeah, quiet, quiet like, like I'm staying fast.
[00:45:37] Speaker B: You gonna get outside. Not giving.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Aside.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: So again, we need you all to be vocal about this.
We need you all paying attention, right? We need you all to realize that they pulled the dollars from already. The underfunded public school said it, it is what it is. We're underfunded raises. We don't, we got stipends. We don't get raises.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: What that is, we get stipends. What that is, we don't get raises.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: But yeah, and when we say a raise, I mean something that I can feel, something that's going to make a dent into. If I was paying $2,000 for a mortgage, which is the average. 1,500 to $2,000 for a mortgage has now become the average.
So that's not my, that's not my plight because you know, my house, you know, I got it way back and I did no refill. We got, we almost paid off. Yeah, glory, that's right.
That's right.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying.
[00:46:43] Speaker B: You talk, you talk about what? Look, we going back when it was.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: Like early 2000, 2003, I was like, wait a minute, let's do the, on that carry the one. Okay. We almost paid off. Okay. So yeah, yeah. So it's like. But see, and that's when mortgages was still like 700 and 800. I mean that's feasible today day. But I couldn't even wrap my mind around, I couldn't wrap my mind around paying $2,500 for a one bedroom apartment. I still can't. I, it's just scary. So I don't know.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: It, it, that, that, that's it.
[00:47:14] Speaker A: It's painful because you see, Sergio, you.
[00:47:16] Speaker B: Got that WI fi on because this.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: Internet is slow housing when it comes to, you know, just food and everything. Oh, my friend got frozen, but I think she's still moving around a little bit.
I'll just continue. But that is a. A. A dangerous thing. So. But going back into the school, parents, pay attention. Pay attention to what's happening and the fact that it's all about money. It's all about money. Nobody really. Nobody really.
Are we looking at what's in the best interest of our students and the best interest of the children, or you just simply focusing on the fact that, hey, we're just gonna move in here. How does. How does that even look at it?
I think about the school I worked at, Young, right. I do understand that there is. There was one particular building where it was. It was severely underused, but they saved it for a lab.
But how does that look when. When kids are passing in the halls or passing, you know, to cafeteria or passing from building to building? You got a whole set of kids. Our kids are. Are famously known for. For, you know, she looked at me, he looked at me, she looked at me. And now you're gonna have two separate entities. I'm gonna call it in the same school.
They might even be wearing two different sets of uniform. They might even be just.
[00:48:35] Speaker B: I.
[00:48:37] Speaker A: You know, a lot of these decisions that they've seen to make, they seem to making these decisions without the input of actual educators. And that is a. A very dangerous thing to do. Because if you are not boots on the ground, as they say, how are you thinking that this is going to work? But, you know, like I say, we just work here, okay? We just. That's. That's all we do is we just work. It seems to be. Seems to me be that we may have lost Friend. Friend has needs to jump back into the studio. But it's okay. We're going to continue this on and keep the show rolling. One of the things that we did want to talk about was our favorite. Our. Where our heart and Soul lies, District 5, which is in East Tampa, okay? Where the real impact is in East Tampa. The real impact is happening in public schools, community programs, and family partnerships. So we have to think about what.
[00:49:33] Speaker B: What that looks like.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: Right?
I think that East Tampa is strong because of the fact that everyone tries their very best to work together. Without the constant sense of community, people would feel, you know, that desperation that's out there. You. There's everywhere you turn around in East Tampa, you can find a lot of people in the community struggle. Strong people who are able to help each other out and able to bring resources to where they need to go. So it's so important that we understand that we have educators, we have the crt, that's the community resource Teachers, we have the social workers, we have our entire community who are filling in these gaps every single day. So we just wanted to take a moment right now to just give a big, great, big old shout out to East Tampa. And as we say, East Tampa. Strong, right? And how we are pulling together all of our resources and pulling together everything that we need.
Right here. Okay. All right. Despite limited funding, East Tampa continues to show resilience, innovation at heart. And that's one thing I need to. Need to understand is that when people think they can knock you down, that's when the innovation comes the strongest. Which is the reason why a lot of people have issues with people of color. Because, like, okay, I'm gonna take away everything from them, but you could take away a whole bunch of stuff from me, but you're gonna take away the best of.
[00:50:48] Speaker B: The best of the.
[00:50:49] Speaker A: Of the meat from the. From. From the animal. But I'm gonna still use that ham hock and make me some excellent collard greens, you know what I'm saying? So there's things that people will take away from us that we reuse them and turn around and make it 20, 20,000 times better. Like all. All you got is a can of beans and a little bit of cornbread. Well, guess what? I can make. I can make some. A. A whole entire meal with. With cornbread and beans. So I'm good to go. Is that. Friend. Friend came back. Hey, welcome, welcome. Was just talking a little bit about. Are you on there? Is she still frozen? I was just talking a little bit about East Tampa, on how East Tampa is strong when it comes to innovation, when it comes to the community, working together with the CRTs, the teachers, the educators, every single thing. And then. And the key that I mentioned was that despite limited funding, East Tampa continues to grow in terms of resilience and in terms of innovation at heart. Okay, that's. That's. There's some strong people out there.
[00:51:41] Speaker B: Go ahead. Okay, hold on. I don't have nothing else to add. Cause we'll know when this good old.
I'm gonna show out.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: Right? Right. If we do understand that. And again and again, we in. In all these different pockets of areas where the Internet might be strong here and never weak here, so. And it ain't even raining either. So, you know, we got. We do the best that we can.
[00:52:00] Speaker B: You evolved, though. When you move out of the.
When you move into the beautiful. So now I'm over here still in the. In between what it said, the blank.
I. I ain't gonna lie.
[00:52:14] Speaker A: I Have upgraded. I know.
Let's just say like this. My upgrade went from a overnight Amazon to a same day delivery Amazon. That's an upgrade.
[00:52:25] Speaker B: Boo.
That's an upgrade. That's an upgrade.
[00:52:31] Speaker A: That's a place to order at 6am and get it by 11am Exactly.
[00:52:35] Speaker B: Exactly. Get it done.
[00:52:36] Speaker A: Get it done. Don't tell them. Tell you.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: So before we go. Cause I know I think you probably riled up on everything I want to say this.
Go ahead. It is very important that as an organization or as a person that your words line up with what it is that you say you're going to do. Don't volunteer to lie to people that work directly in contact with children. And that goes from any organization and leadership. Leadership in our very own district. Let your words line up because again, when you're heavy in the community, when you are directly engaged with families and so on and so forth and the conversation comes back and it'll be like well what happened? Well what happened is individuals that said they were going to do something don't do it. And then it creates a domino effect. These children's lives depends on things like experiential learning in the community.
They need times to get away, to be able to get out, explore, see different things that are capable of being a change, make a change mindset for them.
So be very intentional about what you say. Do not voluntold lies. It's not a good look. It's not a good look at all. And I'm just going to pin that there.
[00:53:44] Speaker A: And children have a very long memory child. Once you tell a child you're going to do something, they're going to be back and back and keep on asking you again and again and again until it gets done. So please, please make sure you say, mean what you say and you say what you mean and you do what you have to do. Okay. And then also create barriers.
[00:54:01] Speaker B: If you have access to a discounted something, extend the information.
It does not hurt you at all.
How to get discounted tickets, discounted transportation discounted when it's serving children that you know already cannot afford. Those you know cost at two and $3,000 buses $80 tickets to get in places like Kennedy Space Center.
[00:54:29] Speaker A: Mm, exactly.
[00:54:33] Speaker B: Don't get keep because it's disgusting.
[00:54:37] Speaker A: Yeah, and I agree. And, and don't get keep because you don't understand.
You're holding it back from, from a future scientist. You're holding it back. Don't, don't look at it as all these kids can't afford. You might that might be a future president, a future scientist, a future judge, a future superstar. Sports. You don't know what, what seed you can plant. If you just let release that information, release that accessibility, you amazed what these children turn around and do in the future. You be like, whoa, I remember when you were 8 years old. I remember when. And your eyes lit up because you went to such and such a place. So just keep that in mind. It ain't about you. We going to die. Let me say it one more time. We going to die. So this ain't about us.
[00:55:19] Speaker B: And it's not always just because your child is benefiting. Then everything else is okay? No, because it can very well be you and your child in the future.
[00:55:29] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you.
[00:55:31] Speaker B: Far away from it because we've seen millionaires be brought out anyway.
Just be mindful. Your child, listen, it's children, not just your child.
When it comes to impact. Think about that. If you have the ability. Otherwise it questions you're in that job. How and why.
[00:55:51] Speaker A: That'S important to know. Anyway, we got a closing message for you. So as we head, anything else you want to add? Fran? We good?
[00:55:56] Speaker B: No, we good. Good, good, good. We will see you all on January 18th. Same time, definitely not the same year. And on that note, Happy New Year.
[00:56:21] Speaker A: Sam.
