[Music]
I teach hormones you see I’m a middle
school science teacher and I get to
teach a wonderful group of kids that are
very strange and odd and my kind of
crazy in this picture you’ll see a group
of my students and remember those
awkward years in middle school when you
just had strange questions and
everything kind of focused around either
a smell or what was for lunch or who’s
dating who are where’d you get your
shoes so even though we have strange
questions and unique conversations in a
classroom it is my favorite place to be
is in room 202 at Albany middle school
teaching is in my DNA and I did not know
this until I was in college because I
don’t fit the mold of a normal teacher I
don’t come from a long line of educators
I didn’t want to be a teacher when I was
little because I just didn’t think they
made enough money and maybe they still
had home to this day but I wanted to be
a nurse I really did I wanted to save
lives you see when I went to college and
I was in the nursing program I remember
many people walking into my life and
making comments about how I was so
patient and also we went through a
rotation in nursing school culture psych
rotation and we visited a mental
institution and our distinctively
remember a day that really was a turning
point for my career path because there
was a lady in the room that was a
patient and she was told we were told to
her by their care nurse that we were not
to speak to this lady and so I watched
this lady with interests because I was
told not to do it it made me want to do
it just like my students and so she said
it a couch and as she sat there she held
her hands out like so and then she
looked down at her hands and as time
went by she slowly changed one hand to
the next and when I sat by her I noticed
that she was reading a book that she saw
right and I just wanted to remind her
that she was in a safe environment right
and then even though I couldn’t see what
she saw I understood her and sometimes
we just need that right we just need
someone to say I understand you I may
not have full understanding but I get
you and I care for you because you’re a
human and you matter and so I sat next
to her and she began to make sounds as I
was sitting next to her almost as signs
of emotion above the words that she was
reading so whatever sounds she would
make
I would mimic the sound as if I was
reading with her and then she turned to
me and smiled in the nurse that was on
duty that day said I have never this
lady has been here for a long time I’ve
never seen her do that with anyone and
it touched my heart so do you feel like
yes broke it broke through the mold I
got it and so my nursing professor we
were walking back onto our cars in the
parking lot she was walking with me and
she was so proud but also a little upset
cause I was defiant right but she told
me she said you really should be an
educator you had that gift and so I
embarked on that big leap of faith and
changed my major which did cost me six
years to get a four-year degree but I
changed my major to education it was the
best decision that I’ve ever made I made
two promises when I became a teacher
the very first promise was to never give
up on a kid trust me there are kids that
you think about this you do because
they’re difficult and they can they have
this great ability right parents they
have this great ability to get
underneath your skin and you just want
to dismiss them for just a little while
right but I made those two promises and
promise number one was to never give up
no matter how hard the road was how
difficult their path was or how stubborn
they could have been my second promise
was to never lose my cool students also
have that great ability they can get
under your skin
they can aggravate you and annoy you and
those kids of course are present every
day and even though they may try their
best to get a reaction from you I would
smile and it’s really hard to be ugly to
someone when they’re smiling at you all
right
and so my classroom management skills
were so incredible I even had
administrators say wow you’re really
amazing with these kids like you’ve got
a whole class of 32 and you’ve got him
under control but really I knew a secret
that maybe my administrator wasn’t
picking up on and it was this the
teacher look
yeah I remember this look don’t you
don’t nod your head cuz I mean oh yes
the teacher look is a powerful skill
that educators like to keep secret but
we use this all the time because number
one we don’t want to harm the children
and number two we don’t want to make the
news for harming the children so the
teacher look at the powerful skill not
only for classroom management but just
to redirect that behavior without being
verbal right because sometimes we make
silly decisions right and so when
students do those things we want to
redirect them and give them this look
that’s that short bit sharp stare enough
to refocus them and redirect a whole
group of kids many times when students
have misbehavior I’m a huge advocate for
the for the idea of underlying causes
there is something going on with that
child
most times educators when we see this
happening when we have a child it is a
classroom disruption we tend to get
annoyed with that child why do you
continue to disrupt my classroom I’m
trying to teach you son or daughter
don’t you understand that I’m here for
you working hard for you why would you
disrupt instead of having those
questions – there’s children I ask
questions that are different I noticed
you’re having a hard date today is there
something going on you’d like to talk
about would you like some time with our
counselor I want to be able to control
my classroom and keep them with me not
in the principal’s office
also on the other end of the spectrum
there are students that fly below the
radar right these are the kids that are
quiet they don’t cause class disruptions
but they are a red flag because they’re
struggling and sometimes they’re
silently screaming out to their
educators for help but yet they just
don’t have the nerve to go and share
their moments of trauma because it’s
embarrassing and it’s uncomfortable to
talk about who wants to talk about a
home life where they might be being
molested at home are abused from
appearance are neglected or haven’t
eaten in a few days no one was to have
these difficult conversations but
they’re slightly screaming at you
non-verbally trying to get some type of
an adult attention right and I am a
living testimony to that I am a silent
screamer when I sat in my classrooms as
a young child I remember thinking too
much out loud but also in my head at the
same time I wish my teachers knew me
better I wish they knew that
difficulties I faced when I went home at
which they knew what was in my thought
process when she was he or she was
teaching in front of the class because
it was so difficult to focus now luckily
I’m blessed with the ability of being
very smart even though my siblings may
disagree I’m very very intelligent and I
can grasp material even when I’m not
paying attention my momma drift because
when I was nine years old I lost my very
best friend and that was my mother she
was my first teacher the first person
that taught me everything I know from
riding a bike to tying my shoes to
standing up to bullies to beat little
boys of the gave me problem she was my
inspiration and my best friend and to
lose her in a very dramatic way was
traumatic for me as a child because the
person that took her life was my father
the person that was supposed to be the
head of my house but the person that was
supposed to be the leader in the
household and not only that a person I
should be looking up to a man in control
of the family a large family at that
changed my world in a matter of seconds
and I can remember that day so
distinctively I remember my sister
answering that phone call and the utter
sounds coming out of her voice as she as
she reiterated what she heard on the
phone that day and my world was turned
upside down I advised for all my
siblings and school was the last thing
on my mind
of course we traveled around from
different family members to family
members and were rejected over and over
again and only a small few of my
teachers actually knew that about my
past because no there was no caring
adult that stepped up and said what’s
going on
I noticed something different it’s about
is going on with you right now
would you like to talk about it you know
instead I was disengaged from commerce
conversations and I didn’t want to
participate I would never stand in front
of the class and deliver a project I
would always be the group member said
okay if you deliver the project I’ll do
the back work you know those students
that was me grosser adversity I am
living proof for this I believe in
taking away those negative labels that
you were given as a child and replacing
them with positive because as you go
through this list I think of those
labels I failed kindergarten I proudly
say that now when I was little I did not
say those words at all they didn’t utter
acts
my brother picked on me for it because I
was less than right failing a grade
level the way all you do is color in
paints because I truly struggled
coloring between the lines because I
don’t think inside the box there is no
box I’m a science teacher I’m gray right
so I followed my path even in
kindergarten I was showing signs to be a
science educator and when I was 9 of
course my world was turned upside down
at such a trivial age and had to battle
that a mission and we had to grow up so
quickly myself and all my siblings my
father was rightfully serving a sentence
a life sentence at Angola prison and
traveling to that location as a small
child was very tough in such a long road
if you’ve ever been to that location
that road is long and it seems longer
each and every time I went back to live
in a home where my mother was murdered
and visions of her constantly pops in my
head even when I was sitting in the
classroom setting
I remember thinking of her and recalling
information that she had shared with me
and even some things I had said to her
that I wished that I did not when I was
placed in father and foster care in
middle school I battled with the idea
will I ever have a mother or father
again I was angry at other students when
they mentioned the word mom and dad
because it wasn’t fair that the person
to my left or the person to my right got
to have a mom it wasn’t fair that they
got to have a dad why me separated from
our siblings who were my strongest tie
so it’s normal seeing connection and
love and commitment
it was so hard being away from them all
I wondered what they were doing I
wondered how they were and I just wanted
to be with them I became an orphan when
my father died in prison and depression
truly set in I actually remember the day
that I went to my doctor and told him
that I think it’s time I think it’s time
for me to start some medication right
because I was struggling I reached a
point at that when that last label hit
me I struggled with that last label the
word orphan
really didn’t resonate with me well and
I didn’t want to accept it and so he
gave me a prescription for
antidepressants and I traveled 1200
cranes and when I sat in the line
waiting to see if I was going to drop
off this prescription or rip it up I
cried and cried and cried and I decided
to drive away and I threw that
prescription away refusing to let a
label be attack
to me once again because I have a vision
and that vision is for my students we
want our students to recognize that no
matter how difficult their day is they
know that there is always a second
chance just like I have a second chance
and so do we all and that great thing is
called tomorrow because tomorrow is
always a better day today we may be
going through difficulties or obstacles
that we’re facing we all have a battle
that’s unbeknownst to each other but
tomorrow is a better day there is
excellence in education and I’m a firm
believer in this and actually I had the
privilege of sitting in one of our
school board meetings and I listened to
the words of dr. Malcolm and he said
education is livingston parish and
livingston parish is education and those
words resonated with me because i could
plug my name in there right because i’m
a product of this parish that went
through many obstacles as a child and i
had great people and still some light
into me and plant seed to me but no one
ever followed that path just to help
feed me as i grew but you know this
great thing called faith has really been
my motivation and god has been steering
me through my life even when i felt like
no one was there because if you look at
statistics 15 percent of children that
go through trauma fall into a lap of
depression four percent of those
children follow some type of alcoholic
path another four percent of those
children also follow some type of drug
addiction another four percent of those
children follow some type of sexual
abuse abuse or a sexually contract a
sexually transmitted disease those
statistics are numbers that I refuse to
be attached to my name and I can gladly
say that both myself and my siblings
have rejected all those labels when it
comes to education I’m a huge advocate
for having a mindset and there’s two
types of mindsets we have in education
and this can even apply to your daily
life whatever your job maybe there’s a
compliance mindset and what that means
is I’m not gonna do the bare minimum and
just check it off the list saying I did
this check I did this check I made sure
this this skill was mastered check I’m
moving on or the second mindset is a
growth mindset and that’s the mindset I
had not only for myself but also for my
students I don’t want them just to
master the
skill I want them to achieve the skill
and then advance it I want them to push
to the limits I raise the standards to
high expectations and they exceed the
standard because that intrinsic
motivation is placed inside of them
because I believe in them each and every
one of them I remind them of how
important they are I replace their
labels that they may have been given as
a child with words like your scientists
you’re an author you’re a historian
you’re a difference maker and you’re
mine tomorrow’s leaders are in today’s
classrooms in that beautiful word
beautiful phrase rather tomorrow’s
leaders are in today’s classrooms when I
look at my audience of my classroom
actually I’m actually picturing all of
you as middle schoolers right now and so
when I look around the room I love to
see diversity I love to see the idea
that some of you may have different
positions that are in play important
roles in our communities and you are
students right
we’re continual learners constantly and
my students are just the same they have
a huge role to play in the environment
they have a huge role to play in their
communities and they’re gonna be
difference makers because we’re planting
seeds in them all across our state
education was not ticket it really was
it was my ticket to a better life a
ticket to advance and to really use my
abilities and my gifts to spread back
into young people and I can tell you
with a clean heart I’m so glad I chose
to be an educator cultivating community
leaders so one of the main things that
tries to do with my students does not
teach them science actually I want them
to be good members of society I really
do more than I want them to be have
proficiency scores on their state
assessment testing I want them to be
good members of society I want them to
give back I want I want to build a
bridge between my classroom and the
community so I cultivate them as a
community leader and we plug in where we
can and this last year we were exposed
to a statistic that broke my heart and
it said that our prisons are using our
literacy levels of second graders to
predict the numbers of what’s to come so
my students wanted to make a difference
about that number because we’re all
about changing statistics in my room and
so we decided to embark on a barrage
called the community community literacy
project and as you can see the students
revamped old newspaper stands that were
flooded and we sanded them with the help
of other people in this room we’ve
sanded them and painted them and my
students were able to leave their mark
and these stations are full of free
books we brainstorm – where to place
them right where we gonna put these –
make sure they have access all parents
go to gas stations and all parents have
that ability to say to their child if
their child ask mom can I go get a book
and the parent the second the second
question is always well how much does it
cost and if the child is able to read
the sign it says they’re free so then
the child can go get a book and then you
have made a huge difference just by
putting one book into that child’s
handle so as we place these we have
seven of them places as a grassroots
project so resist our new beginning and
we we are predicting and hoping for this
to grow across the parish as a whole and
as you can see on the left they’re
leaving their mark as a science teacher
we like to leave a mark either a hand
for an or a footprint of positivity and
they’re leaving a positive handprint and
they actually get to sign it as well so
they take ownership in their difference
making they get to brag to their other
peers and classmates as well that that’s
their name on that stand making a
difference for – for statistics of
prison rates on the right you’ll see my
students engaged in feeding the
community we know that hunger is real
poverty is real and we want to make a
difference in those numbers as well so
once a month my students and I and they
are so impressive it was storming two
months ago and they all showed up on
that day I was so proud of those little
stinkers
and so when we bought in and we were
serving food to the community and what’s
so beautiful about that moment is I see
12 year olds make connections with
family members that are suffering in a
kind way by making sure that they’re fed
for the week we serve hot meals and they
also get to go home with pantry items as
well we also believe in equity I believe
in this so strongly that I make sure I
emphasize it in my classroom so that my
students will begin to emphasize it in
their homeless and in their community as
well what a wonderful world of we could
be equitable to one another if we could
respect everyone everyone for their
differences and being able to meet those
needs
and to have not just a compassionate
heart but to have empathy for others so
before I leave you today and the spirit
of teaching I would like to give you
homework it’s due on Monday okay I want
you to find a young person somehow in
your community that needs new labels
just like I needed new labels and be
that caring adult in his or her life
because one of my favorite quotes is
from Josh Shipp and it says every kid is
one caring adult away from being a
success story how was that kid make sure
we leave a positive footprint wherever
we go I would like to leave you with the
same words I’ll leave my students
whenever they travel out of my classroom
when the bell rings and these words are
so I love you all and thank you for
exuding smarter than when you walked in
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Applause]
I teach hormones you see I’m a middle
school science teacher and I get to
teach a wonderful group of kids that are
very strange and odd and my kind of
crazy in this picture you’ll see a group
of my students and remember those
awkward years in middle school when you
just had strange questions and
everything kind of focused around either
a smell or what was for lunch or who’s
dating who are where’d you get your
shoes so even though we have strange
questions and unique conversations in a
classroom it is my favorite place to be
is in room 202 at Albany middle school
teaching is in my DNA and I did not know
this until I was in college because I
don’t fit the mold of a normal teacher I
don’t come from a long line of educators
I didn’t want to be a teacher when I was
little because I just didn’t think they
made enough money and maybe they still
had home to this day but I wanted to be
a nurse I really did I wanted to save
lives you see when I went to college and
I was in the nursing program I remember
many people walking into my life and
making comments about how I was so
patient and also we went through a
rotation in nursing school culture psych
rotation and we visited a mental
institution and our distinctively
remember a day that really was a turning
point for my career path because there
was a lady in the room that was a
patient and she was told we were told to
her by their care nurse that we were not
to speak to this lady and so I watched
this lady with interests because I was
told not to do it it made me want to do
it just like my students and so she said
it a couch and as she sat there she held
her hands out like so and then she
looked down at her hands and as time
went by she slowly changed one hand to
the next and when I sat by her I noticed
that she was reading a book that she saw
right and I just wanted to remind her
that she was in a safe environment right
and then even though I couldn’t see what
she saw I understood her and sometimes
we just need that right we just need
someone to say I understand you I may
not have full understanding but I get
you and I care for you because you’re a
human and you matter and so I sat next
to her and she began to make sounds as I
was sitting next to her almost as signs
of emotion above the words that she was
reading so whatever sounds she would
make
I would mimic the sound as if I was
reading with her and then she turned to
me and smiled in the nurse that was on
duty that day said I have never this
lady has been here for a long time I’ve
never seen her do that with anyone and
it touched my heart so do you feel like
yes broke it broke through the mold I
got it and so my nursing professor we
were walking back onto our cars in the
parking lot she was walking with me and
she was so proud but also a little upset
cause I was defiant right but she told
me she said you really should be an
educator you had that gift and so I
embarked on that big leap of faith and
changed my major which did cost me six
years to get a four-year degree but I
changed my major to education it was the
best decision that I’ve ever made I made
two promises when I became a teacher
the very first promise was to never give
up on a kid trust me there are kids that
you think about this you do because
they’re difficult and they can they have
this great ability right parents they
have this great ability to get
underneath your skin and you just want
to dismiss them for just a little while
right but I made those two promises and
promise number one was to never give up
no matter how hard the road was how
difficult their path was or how stubborn
they could have been my second promise
was to never lose my cool students also
have that great ability they can get
under your skin
they can aggravate you and annoy you and
those kids of course are present every
day and even though they may try their
best to get a reaction from you I would
smile and it’s really hard to be ugly to
someone when they’re smiling at you all
right
and so my classroom management skills
were so incredible I even had
administrators say wow you’re really
amazing with these kids like you’ve got
a whole class of 32 and you’ve got him
under control but really I knew a secret
that maybe my administrator wasn’t
picking up on and it was this the
teacher look
yeah I remember this look don’t you
don’t nod your head cuz I mean oh yes
the teacher look is a powerful skill
that educators like to keep secret but
we use this all the time because number
one we don’t want to harm the children
and number two we don’t want to make the
news for harming the children so the
teacher look at the powerful skill not
only for classroom management but just
to redirect that behavior without being
verbal right because sometimes we make
silly decisions right and so when
students do those things we want to
redirect them and give them this look
that’s that short bit sharp stare enough
to refocus them and redirect a whole
group of kids many times when students
have misbehavior I’m a huge advocate for
the for the idea of underlying causes
there is something going on with that
child
most times educators when we see this
happening when we have a child it is a
classroom disruption we tend to get
annoyed with that child why do you
continue to disrupt my classroom I’m
trying to teach you son or daughter
don’t you understand that I’m here for
you working hard for you why would you
disrupt instead of having those
questions – there’s children I ask
questions that are different I noticed
you’re having a hard date today is there
something going on you’d like to talk
about would you like some time with our
counselor I want to be able to control
my classroom and keep them with me not
in the principal’s office
also on the other end of the spectrum
there are students that fly below the
radar right these are the kids that are
quiet they don’t cause class disruptions
but they are a red flag because they’re
struggling and sometimes they’re
silently screaming out to their
educators for help but yet they just
don’t have the nerve to go and share
their moments of trauma because it’s
embarrassing and it’s uncomfortable to
talk about who wants to talk about a
home life where they might be being
molested at home are abused from
appearance are neglected or haven’t
eaten in a few days no one was to have
these difficult conversations but
they’re slightly screaming at you
non-verbally trying to get some type of
an adult attention right and I am a
living testimony to that I am a silent
screamer when I sat in my classrooms as
a young child I remember thinking too
much out loud but also in my head at the
same time I wish my teachers knew me
better I wish they knew that
difficulties I faced when I went home at
which they knew what was in my thought
process when she was he or she was
teaching in front of the class because
it was so difficult to focus now luckily
I’m blessed with the ability of being
very smart even though my siblings may
disagree I’m very very intelligent and I
can grasp material even when I’m not
paying attention my momma drift because
when I was nine years old I lost my very
best friend and that was my mother she
was my first teacher the first person
that taught me everything I know from
riding a bike to tying my shoes to
standing up to bullies to beat little
boys of the gave me problem she was my
inspiration and my best friend and to
lose her in a very dramatic way was
traumatic for me as a child because the
person that took her life was my father
the person that was supposed to be the
head of my house but the person that was
supposed to be the leader in the
household and not only that a person I
should be looking up to a man in control
of the family a large family at that
changed my world in a matter of seconds
and I can remember that day so
distinctively I remember my sister
answering that phone call and the utter
sounds coming out of her voice as she as
she reiterated what she heard on the
phone that day and my world was turned
upside down I advised for all my
siblings and school was the last thing
on my mind
of course we traveled around from
different family members to family
members and were rejected over and over
again and only a small few of my
teachers actually knew that about my
past because no there was no caring
adult that stepped up and said what’s
going on
I noticed something different it’s about
is going on with you right now
would you like to talk about it you know
instead I was disengaged from commerce
conversations and I didn’t want to
participate I would never stand in front
of the class and deliver a project I
would always be the group member said
okay if you deliver the project I’ll do
the back work you know those students
that was me grosser adversity I am
living proof for this I believe in
taking away those negative labels that
you were given as a child and replacing
them with positive because as you go
through this list I think of those
labels I failed kindergarten I proudly
say that now when I was little I did not
say those words at all they didn’t utter
acts
my brother picked on me for it because I
was less than right failing a grade
level the way all you do is color in
paints because I truly struggled
coloring between the lines because I
don’t think inside the box there is no
box I’m a science teacher I’m gray right
so I followed my path even in
kindergarten I was showing signs to be a
science educator and when I was 9 of
course my world was turned upside down
at such a trivial age and had to battle
that a mission and we had to grow up so
quickly myself and all my siblings my
father was rightfully serving a sentence
a life sentence at Angola prison and
traveling to that location as a small
child was very tough in such a long road
if you’ve ever been to that location
that road is long and it seems longer
each and every time I went back to live
in a home where my mother was murdered
and visions of her constantly pops in my
head even when I was sitting in the
classroom setting
I remember thinking of her and recalling
information that she had shared with me
and even some things I had said to her
that I wished that I did not when I was
placed in father and foster care in
middle school I battled with the idea
will I ever have a mother or father
again I was angry at other students when
they mentioned the word mom and dad
because it wasn’t fair that the person
to my left or the person to my right got
to have a mom it wasn’t fair that they
got to have a dad why me separated from
our siblings who were my strongest tie
so it’s normal seeing connection and
love and commitment
it was so hard being away from them all
I wondered what they were doing I
wondered how they were and I just wanted
to be with them I became an orphan when
my father died in prison and depression
truly set in I actually remember the day
that I went to my doctor and told him
that I think it’s time I think it’s time
for me to start some medication right
because I was struggling I reached a
point at that when that last label hit
me I struggled with that last label the
word orphan
really didn’t resonate with me well and
I didn’t want to accept it and so he
gave me a prescription for
antidepressants and I traveled 1200
cranes and when I sat in the line
waiting to see if I was going to drop
off this prescription or rip it up I
cried and cried and cried and I decided
to drive away and I threw that
prescription away refusing to let a
label be attack
to me once again because I have a vision
and that vision is for my students we
want our students to recognize that no
matter how difficult their day is they
know that there is always a second
chance just like I have a second chance
and so do we all and that great thing is
called tomorrow because tomorrow is
always a better day today we may be
going through difficulties or obstacles
that we’re facing we all have a battle
that’s unbeknownst to each other but
tomorrow is a better day there is
excellence in education and I’m a firm
believer in this and actually I had the
privilege of sitting in one of our
school board meetings and I listened to
the words of dr. Malcolm and he said
education is livingston parish and
livingston parish is education and those
words resonated with me because i could
plug my name in there right because i’m
a product of this parish that went
through many obstacles as a child and i
had great people and still some light
into me and plant seed to me but no one
ever followed that path just to help
feed me as i grew but you know this
great thing called faith has really been
my motivation and god has been steering
me through my life even when i felt like
no one was there because if you look at
statistics 15 percent of children that
go through trauma fall into a lap of
depression four percent of those
children follow some type of alcoholic
path another four percent of those
children also follow some type of drug
addiction another four percent of those
children follow some type of sexual
abuse abuse or a sexually contract a
sexually transmitted disease those
statistics are numbers that I refuse to
be attached to my name and I can gladly
say that both myself and my siblings
have rejected all those labels when it
comes to education I’m a huge advocate
for having a mindset and there’s two
types of mindsets we have in education
and this can even apply to your daily
life whatever your job maybe there’s a
compliance mindset and what that means
is I’m not gonna do the bare minimum and
just check it off the list saying I did
this check I did this check I made sure
this this skill was mastered check I’m
moving on or the second mindset is a
growth mindset and that’s the mindset I
had not only for myself but also for my
students I don’t want them just to
master the
skill I want them to achieve the skill
and then advance it I want them to push
to the limits I raise the standards to
high expectations and they exceed the
standard because that intrinsic
motivation is placed inside of them
because I believe in them each and every
one of them I remind them of how
important they are I replace their
labels that they may have been given as
a child with words like your scientists
you’re an author you’re a historian
you’re a difference maker and you’re
mine tomorrow’s leaders are in today’s
classrooms in that beautiful word
beautiful phrase rather tomorrow’s
leaders are in today’s classrooms when I
look at my audience of my classroom
actually I’m actually picturing all of
you as middle schoolers right now and so
when I look around the room I love to
see diversity I love to see the idea
that some of you may have different
positions that are in play important
roles in our communities and you are
students right
we’re continual learners constantly and
my students are just the same they have
a huge role to play in the environment
they have a huge role to play in their
communities and they’re gonna be
difference makers because we’re planting
seeds in them all across our state
education was not ticket it really was
it was my ticket to a better life a
ticket to advance and to really use my
abilities and my gifts to spread back
into young people and I can tell you
with a clean heart I’m so glad I chose
to be an educator cultivating community
leaders so one of the main things that
tries to do with my students does not
teach them science actually I want them
to be good members of society I really
do more than I want them to be have
proficiency scores on their state
assessment testing I want them to be
good members of society I want them to
give back I want I want to build a
bridge between my classroom and the
community so I cultivate them as a
community leader and we plug in where we
can and this last year we were exposed
to a statistic that broke my heart and
it said that our prisons are using our
literacy levels of second graders to
predict the numbers of what’s to come so
my students wanted to make a difference
about that number because we’re all
about changing statistics in my room and
so we decided to embark on a barrage
called the community community literacy
project and as you can see the students
revamped old newspaper stands that were
flooded and we sanded them with the help
of other people in this room we’ve
sanded them and painted them and my
students were able to leave their mark
and these stations are full of free
books we brainstorm – where to place
them right where we gonna put these –
make sure they have access all parents
go to gas stations and all parents have
that ability to say to their child if
their child ask mom can I go get a book
and the parent the second the second
question is always well how much does it
cost and if the child is able to read
the sign it says they’re free so then
the child can go get a book and then you
have made a huge difference just by
putting one book into that child’s
handle so as we place these we have
seven of them places as a grassroots
project so resist our new beginning and
we we are predicting and hoping for this
to grow across the parish as a whole and
as you can see on the left they’re
leaving their mark as a science teacher
we like to leave a mark either a hand
for an or a footprint of positivity and
they’re leaving a positive handprint and
they actually get to sign it as well so
they take ownership in their difference
making they get to brag to their other
peers and classmates as well that that’s
their name on that stand making a
difference for – for statistics of
prison rates on the right you’ll see my
students engaged in feeding the
community we know that hunger is real
poverty is real and we want to make a
difference in those numbers as well so
once a month my students and I and they
are so impressive it was storming two
months ago and they all showed up on
that day I was so proud of those little
stinkers
and so when we bought in and we were
serving food to the community and what’s
so beautiful about that moment is I see
12 year olds make connections with
family members that are suffering in a
kind way by making sure that they’re fed
for the week we serve hot meals and they
also get to go home with pantry items as
well we also believe in equity I believe
in this so strongly that I make sure I
emphasize it in my classroom so that my
students will begin to emphasize it in
their homeless and in their community as
well what a wonderful world of we could
be equitable to one another if we could
respect everyone everyone for their
differences and being able to meet those
needs
and to have not just a compassionate
heart but to have empathy for others so
before I leave you today and the spirit
of teaching I would like to give you
homework it’s due on Monday okay I want
you to find a young person somehow in
your community that needs new labels
just like I needed new labels and be
that caring adult in his or her life
because one of my favorite quotes is
from Josh Shipp and it says every kid is
one caring adult away from being a
success story how was that kid make sure
we leave a positive footprint wherever
we go I would like to leave you with the
same words I’ll leave my students
whenever they travel out of my classroom
when the bell rings and these words are
so I love you all and thank you for
exuding smarter than when you walked in
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Applause]
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