[Music]
I walked into the office eagerly
anticipating my meeting with the
assistant to the assistant
superintendent of business affairs I was
giddy with excitement in my mind and
visioning all of the changes I would
make is my huge school budget
he started by congratulating me on my
position as the new principal of the
knight alternative high school and
before I could respond he said to me
that I really didn’t have a school
budget I had a budget for office
supplies only you have about fifteen
hundred dollars he said and with a
chuckle he added but that’s enough for a
bulletproof vest and then he laughed a
little harder but when he realized I was
not laughing with him he cleared his
throat and reminded me and more serious
in hushed tones you don’t have a school
budget mrs. Bradley because you don’t
have a school you have a program but you
really don’t need that much money for
those kids anyway right right I thought
and then I simply said thank you who
left his office my eyes fixed on the
floor beneath me as if each step were
placed on delicate crackling ice my
first staff meeting as the new principal
of the night school I called a
professional gathering because one most
teachers hate the words of professional
development and two because I wanted it
to truly be a gathering of professional
models I opened funny enough for the TED
talk by Rita F Pierson every kid needs a
champion in it miss Pearson she has a
heartwarming anecdote of how she built
relationships with her students by
becoming their personal champion
celebrating their successes of great and
small I thought it appropriate for the
moment I wanted to begin by humanizing
my students as children or at the very
least students you see prior to becoming
the principal of this night school I had
taught there for two years and the
discourse around night schools and the
students
had not changed so in spite of what I
have been told about my program I
introduced my vision of my school I
stated emphatically to my staff despite
what you have heard or think this is a
school it is not the precursor to the
juvenile detention center
it is not baby jail and it is not the
land of the misfit toys it is a school
and these students are not criminals or
throwaways or the Forgotten ones let me
tell you who they really are I have four
parents under the age of 20 the young
father has a full-time job during the
day as does one of the young mothers the
other two are home with their babies
during the day and their working parents
are their babysitters while they attend
classes in the evening I have at least
four students who suffer from some form
of social anxiety and find it too
difficult to function in the one school
building that serves over 2300 students
from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I have
students who understand that at 19 or 20
years old this is their last option
because they cannot see themselves
holding a full-time job and sitting in
classes in 14-year olds and they all are
excessively absent from school now I do
have a few students who fit the common
stereotype for example I have a student
who was previously incarcerated and
could not see himself assimilating back
into a traditional high school
environment at 19 with less than five
credits and although we never seek
confirmation I am pretty sure I have
students who are affiliated with oh
let’s just say they belong to some
questionable social families
and I have students who came to me
because they were caught self-medicating
they’re undiagnosed psychological
disorders frequently on school grounds
and I have students who were suspended
from the day school for fighting or
other infractions so many times that
well they’ve worn out their welcomes in
the day school Oh ever what is unique to
my program and I don’t know of any other
alternative school designed this way but
I am also responsible for every student
who is suspended from the middle schools
and the high school for as little as one
day to as much as an entire year for
gross violations of the school’s code of
conduct so while I am trying to run a
school I am also trying to rehabilitate
and I am expected to do all of this in a
building that is literally one floor one
hallway and six classrooms space that is
shared with officers during the day home
here and a $1,500 budget for office
supplies now for most people the
discourse around night schools is that
any student who attends a night school
either by choice or by referral is a bad
student they are troubled
they are troublemakers they are too
difficult to handle they are lost causes
and they do not belong in the same
how can the discourse change it will
always remain the same if the attitude
is out of sight out of mind when I was a
night school teacher I worked very hard
to make sure that my students did not
accept the labels that were being placed
upon them so when I took over the
program three years ago as the principal
one of my primary objectives was to
change the discourse and change the
objective at that same professional
gathering I gave my inherited staff the
analogy of new cheese you go to the
store you buy new shoes
try them on walk around on the carpet
they feel great so you take them home
when you put those shoes on at home it
feel a little tighter than they did in
the store and you have to decide in that
moment will you keep the shoes and walk
through the tightness until you break
them in or will you take them off with
them back in the box without scuffing
the soles and return them for a
different pair of new shoes well as a
new principle of this night school
program I have just purchased a pair of
new shoes and as my team you are all
wearing new shoes and they are a little
tighter than we anticipated and if you
keep them on they will surely become
uncomfortable at times so you have to
decide in this moment will you keep the
shoes and walk through the tightness
until you break them in or will you take
them off and search out a different pair
of new shoes well three years later I
have had to ask the same question every
year only about 10% of my original staff
remains those who bought into the
original discourse decided they needed a
different pair of new shoes and those
who remain wore those new shoes and
broke them and I am so very grateful to
what I believe to be the most important
and perhaps the most difficult directive
I give my team has become my personal
and professional mantra seek first to
understand now I do not see my students
through rose-colored glasses but I see
them receive them accept them and meet
them right where they are and I seek to
understand the stories they carry with
them before making a judgement about who
they are or who they pretend to be I
want my staff and anyone who interacts
with them that 99% of them walk around
with a chip on their shoulders they see
authority figures particularly those in
uniform as the enemy they are naturally
defensive and oppositional and they do
not believe in themselves so they do not
believe that anyone else would or could
believe in them so before you take their
language their behavior or their
attitudes personally seek first to
understand where they are coming from
not necessarily in their lives but just
in that moment and that is where we
begin every year every month every week
every day every moment that we interact
with our students it has not been
perfect and it has not been easy but we
are on a forward trajectory and we
continue to push one of our greatest
accomplishments is changing the attitude
and the perception of our students they
have accepted that they attend school
not just a program they have accepted
that their teachers expect them to do
their best to try to give it their best
shot and will hold them accountable for
their own six
they have witnessed their peers walk
across the stage at graduation all 500
of those seniors at the day school and
attendance is still a great concern but
even instituted incentives to reward
good attendance we now go on trips yes
we actually take them out of the school
this year we were fortunate enough to be
invited to tour a college in Brooklyn
and it was a pivotal moment for me as
much as it was for them because prior to
that moment I did not think that my
students were even interested in college
it turns out they are interested they
just needed someone to reassure them
that it is possible for them we’ve gone
bowling hosted our own Korea fair and
even partnered with another alternative
school to play competitive basketball
and this year for the first time our
school will be featured with his own
page in the high school yearbook
[Applause]
listen I don’t have all of the answers
and because my school is only a program
on paper I certainly don’t have the
resources to create even small miracles
but what I do have is a team of staff
members will see my students as human
beings who sometimes watch to their own
teams and eat their own drums I have a
team who believes in building genuine
relationships with spirits that have
been beaten abused and discouraged and I
have a team who understands that when
you have tried the same thing a thousand
times with the same results
you must try something different Rita
Pearson is one of my heroes she
challenged me to be a champion for young
people and I strive to live up to that
challenge every day both as a teacher
during the day and a principal at night
I take it personally when people speak
negatively about any of my students and
I am quick to have a conversation with
anyone who tries to stereotype them
because I was an honor student who was
excessively absent from school who
became an alternative school student I
actually went to day school and night
school concurrently so that I could
graduate on time I live through the low
expectations cynical stares and
skeptical whispers of teachers who saw
so today I challenge you to do what I
demand of my team seek first to
understand and then you too will know who we really are thank you
I walked into the office eagerly
anticipating my meeting with the
assistant to the assistant
superintendent of business affairs I was
giddy with excitement in my mind and
visioning all of the changes I would
make is my huge school budget
he started by congratulating me on my
position as the new principal of the
knight alternative high school and
before I could respond he said to me
that I really didn’t have a school
budget I had a budget for office
supplies only you have about fifteen
hundred dollars he said and with a
chuckle he added but that’s enough for a
bulletproof vest and then he laughed a
little harder but when he realized I was
not laughing with him he cleared his
throat and reminded me and more serious
in hushed tones you don’t have a school
budget mrs. Bradley because you don’t
have a school you have a program but you
really don’t need that much money for
those kids anyway right right I thought
and then I simply said thank you who
left his office my eyes fixed on the
floor beneath me as if each step were
placed on delicate crackling ice my
first staff meeting as the new principal
of the night school I called a
professional gathering because one most
teachers hate the words of professional
development and two because I wanted it
to truly be a gathering of professional
models I opened funny enough for the TED
talk by Rita F Pierson every kid needs a
champion in it miss Pearson she has a
heartwarming anecdote of how she built
relationships with her students by
becoming their personal champion
celebrating their successes of great and
small I thought it appropriate for the
moment I wanted to begin by humanizing
my students as children or at the very
least students you see prior to becoming
the principal of this night school I had
taught there for two years and the
discourse around night schools and the
students
had not changed so in spite of what I
have been told about my program I
introduced my vision of my school I
stated emphatically to my staff despite
what you have heard or think this is a
school it is not the precursor to the
juvenile detention center
it is not baby jail and it is not the
land of the misfit toys it is a school
and these students are not criminals or
throwaways or the Forgotten ones let me
tell you who they really are I have four
parents under the age of 20 the young
father has a full-time job during the
day as does one of the young mothers the
other two are home with their babies
during the day and their working parents
are their babysitters while they attend
classes in the evening I have at least
four students who suffer from some form
of social anxiety and find it too
difficult to function in the one school
building that serves over 2300 students
from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I have
students who understand that at 19 or 20
years old this is their last option
because they cannot see themselves
holding a full-time job and sitting in
classes in 14-year olds and they all are
excessively absent from school now I do
have a few students who fit the common
stereotype for example I have a student
who was previously incarcerated and
could not see himself assimilating back
into a traditional high school
environment at 19 with less than five
credits and although we never seek
confirmation I am pretty sure I have
students who are affiliated with oh
let’s just say they belong to some
questionable social families
and I have students who came to me
because they were caught self-medicating
they’re undiagnosed psychological
disorders frequently on school grounds
and I have students who were suspended
from the day school for fighting or
other infractions so many times that
well they’ve worn out their welcomes in
the day school Oh ever what is unique to
my program and I don’t know of any other
alternative school designed this way but
I am also responsible for every student
who is suspended from the middle schools
and the high school for as little as one
day to as much as an entire year for
gross violations of the school’s code of
conduct so while I am trying to run a
school I am also trying to rehabilitate
and I am expected to do all of this in a
building that is literally one floor one
hallway and six classrooms space that is
shared with officers during the day home
here and a $1,500 budget for office
supplies now for most people the
discourse around night schools is that
any student who attends a night school
either by choice or by referral is a bad
student they are troubled
they are troublemakers they are too
difficult to handle they are lost causes
and they do not belong in the same
how can the discourse change it will
always remain the same if the attitude
is out of sight out of mind when I was a
night school teacher I worked very hard
to make sure that my students did not
accept the labels that were being placed
upon them so when I took over the
program three years ago as the principal
one of my primary objectives was to
change the discourse and change the
objective at that same professional
gathering I gave my inherited staff the
analogy of new cheese you go to the
store you buy new shoes
try them on walk around on the carpet
they feel great so you take them home
when you put those shoes on at home it
feel a little tighter than they did in
the store and you have to decide in that
moment will you keep the shoes and walk
through the tightness until you break
them in or will you take them off with
them back in the box without scuffing
the soles and return them for a
different pair of new shoes well as a
new principle of this night school
program I have just purchased a pair of
new shoes and as my team you are all
wearing new shoes and they are a little
tighter than we anticipated and if you
keep them on they will surely become
uncomfortable at times so you have to
decide in this moment will you keep the
shoes and walk through the tightness
until you break them in or will you take
them off and search out a different pair
of new shoes well three years later I
have had to ask the same question every
year only about 10% of my original staff
remains those who bought into the
original discourse decided they needed a
different pair of new shoes and those
who remain wore those new shoes and
broke them and I am so very grateful to
what I believe to be the most important
and perhaps the most difficult directive
I give my team has become my personal
and professional mantra seek first to
understand now I do not see my students
through rose-colored glasses but I see
them receive them accept them and meet
them right where they are and I seek to
understand the stories they carry with
them before making a judgement about who
they are or who they pretend to be I
want my staff and anyone who interacts
with them that 99% of them walk around
with a chip on their shoulders they see
authority figures particularly those in
uniform as the enemy they are naturally
defensive and oppositional and they do
not believe in themselves so they do not
believe that anyone else would or could
believe in them so before you take their
language their behavior or their
attitudes personally seek first to
understand where they are coming from
not necessarily in their lives but just
in that moment and that is where we
begin every year every month every week
every day every moment that we interact
with our students it has not been
perfect and it has not been easy but we
are on a forward trajectory and we
continue to push one of our greatest
accomplishments is changing the attitude
and the perception of our students they
have accepted that they attend school
not just a program they have accepted
that their teachers expect them to do
their best to try to give it their best
shot and will hold them accountable for
their own six
they have witnessed their peers walk
across the stage at graduation all 500
of those seniors at the day school and
attendance is still a great concern but
even instituted incentives to reward
good attendance we now go on trips yes
we actually take them out of the school
this year we were fortunate enough to be
invited to tour a college in Brooklyn
and it was a pivotal moment for me as
much as it was for them because prior to
that moment I did not think that my
students were even interested in college
it turns out they are interested they
just needed someone to reassure them
that it is possible for them we’ve gone
bowling hosted our own Korea fair and
even partnered with another alternative
school to play competitive basketball
and this year for the first time our
school will be featured with his own
page in the high school yearbook
[Applause]
listen I don’t have all of the answers
and because my school is only a program
on paper I certainly don’t have the
resources to create even small miracles
but what I do have is a team of staff
members will see my students as human
beings who sometimes watch to their own
teams and eat their own drums I have a
team who believes in building genuine
relationships with spirits that have
been beaten abused and discouraged and I
have a team who understands that when
you have tried the same thing a thousand
times with the same results
you must try something different Rita
Pearson is one of my heroes she
challenged me to be a champion for young
people and I strive to live up to that
challenge every day both as a teacher
during the day and a principal at night
I take it personally when people speak
negatively about any of my students and
I am quick to have a conversation with
anyone who tries to stereotype them
because I was an honor student who was
excessively absent from school who
became an alternative school student I
actually went to day school and night
school concurrently so that I could
graduate on time I live through the low
expectations cynical stares and
skeptical whispers of teachers who saw
so today I challenge you to do what I
demand of my team seek first to
understand and then you too will know who we really are thank you
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