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Welcome to Cultural Connections Lab. I'm your host Dr. Kelly Forbes. We are here to talk with educational professionals around the world to impact and influence the education system as we focus on cultural connections and the education of multilingual, diverse students.

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We're excited to have you join us today. We sincerely hope that you enjoy the show.

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EDGE Skills, transforming education, one student at a time.

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Welcome to another episode of Culture Connections Lab with myself, your host, Dr. Kelly Forbes. I am so excited to be here today with our co-host, Dr. Jeffrey Taylor Tribble, the president and CEO of EDGE Skills and our sponsor for this podcast.

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Listeners, I am so happy that you're here with us today for a very special treat. We have not only someone who is an amazing educator, but she is also our current Miss Oklahoma 2023, Miss Sunny Day.

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Miss Sunny Day, again, she is Miss Oklahoma 2023. She is a first generation high school and college graduate. She graduated Norman Public Schools in 2013 and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Communications at the University of Oklahoma in 2018.

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She has been a public school teacher at Bridgestone Intermediate and Western High School since 2018 as well. Sunny has had many roles in her school. She has taught sixth grade, served as an ESL teacher, and a fifth grade ELA and social studies teacher.

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Some of her proudest moments in her teaching career are being named Next Gen 30 under 30 in education in 2020 and Teacher of the Year in 2021. She calls her school a second home, which is why she has decided to continue to teach during her reign as Miss Oklahoma.

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Sunny has a personal connection to volunteerism. As a little girl, she and her family were often taken care of by churches, schools, and other generous people within her community.

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As she got older, she decided she wanted to give back in the same way. She has invested over 5,000 hours in her community service endeavors. Two of her favorite organizations she has been a part of are OKC Team and the Tim Tebow Foundation.

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Aside from her service work, she has done a lot within the walls of her own school, planting a school garden, starting her school's first cheer team, and establishing a recycling club are some of her many leadership roles in her school.

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Over time, she has created her own character development school program called Ready, Set, Go! Building Skills Today for Tomorrow's Success. Her community service initiative is a mission that provides a path to gain life skills, mentorship, scholarships, and the dream life for youth of all ages and upbringings by helping them navigate school, the workforce, and life experiences.

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Through her interactive three-pillet approach, the set is support, encourage, and teach. So Ready, Set, Go! empowers youth to embrace our mission, to provide our youth with the skills to be their most successful, confident, and empowered selves, no matter their life circumstances.

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Sunny began her unique journey in the Miss Oklahoma organization in 2020. She held her local title for two years and went on to compete at Miss Oklahoma 2021, where she placed fourth runner up. She was also awarded multiple community service awards, interview awards, and overall rookie.

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After the 2021 competition, Sunny's journey in the Miss Oklahoma organization came to an end due to aging out until Miss America announced their age increase in 2023. Sunny earned the title of Miss Norman and went on to compete at Miss Oklahoma 2023. She walked away as Miss Oklahoma 2023, and she won over $70,000 from the Miss Oklahoma organization and is now debt free and on her way to obtain her master's in education.

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Sunny has big plans to travel the state as Miss Oklahoma and make Oklahoma her classroom by going into schools across the state and implementing her school program. As a big sister and educator, she is looking forward to educating and empowering today's youth. Aside from connecting with students, she is eager to speak with legislators about education reform, bring in new sponsors and partnerships to the Miss Oklahoma organization, and build an empowerment workshop program for the future women of this organization.

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Sunny is also the daughter of Jamie Day and Samuel Day, the big sister to Callie Day, Marin Day, Harley Day, and Jordan Day, and a proud dog mom to her boxer, Ari. And you can also follow Sunny on social media. We will have this in the description as well for the podcast.

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It is at Miss America OK and at Sunny M Day. Again, that's at Sunny, S-U-N-N-Y-M-D-A-Y. So without further ado, I am so excited to welcome not only Miss Oklahoma 2023, but more importantly to me, an amazing friend, a mentor, and an awesome colleague in peer and education. Welcome, Sunny Day. How are you doing today?

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I am great. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. I know that you said you were fangirling, but I am a fangirl of yours. So I was excited to get to sit down and talk with you today.

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Well, it truly is such an honor to get to have you here. I know that we were working on certain dates and times and I know that your schedule is incredibly busy. So it is a humbling opportunity for us to get to have you and your wisdom here and as well as your platform.

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And I'm just really excited to get to discuss you, your journey, education, and things that we've learned from our students through this process and kind of that role that culture plays and who we are, what that cultural journey has been like.

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Culture being, you know, not just geographical locations, but also those are beliefs, our traditions, our experiences, culture within culture, but then connecting that to not only what we do in education, but also to your current platform and how you really leverage that platform to help support public education in the state of Oklahoma specifically, but also beyond.

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And so I'm just really excited to sit back and to learn and to listen from you. But my first question just to start us off and get going and we can just kind of go from there.

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I want to hear about your journey, your path, who you are. But before we dig into all of that, what is something that has been really exciting that you have learned from our students that has helped you as an educator and also in this Oklahoma?

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I feel like something with the students is kind of fun.

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You know, I love the position that I'm in right now. I think it's super special getting to carry both roles as Miss Oklahoma and Miss Day.

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I love because I get to go out and I get to be kind of, it feels like a local celebrity in a sense when I go to all of these schools. But what's really neat is, you know, I get to go to all of these schools and all over the state of Oklahoma and I get to learn what they're doing differently from versus what we're doing at Western Heights.

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And so it's a learning opportunity for me to be able to take this insightful information that I've asked principals and other educators across the state and get to take it to our principals so we can learn and grow as well. But in terms of being a teacher, the one thing I've learned about my students or from my students that's helped me as Miss Oklahoma is that sometimes it's more important to be the student than it is the teacher.

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We oftentimes think of us as adults. We're the ones in front of the room with the microphone. We're the ones talking 24-7. But because I'm in this unique position as an emergent bilingual teacher, there's so much that I have yet to learn.

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And I love getting to learn from them, whether it's about their traditions or it's about their languages. One thing that I do at the end of every day is I tell my kids, if you guys can stay focused and you can do what you need to do for you to gain the knowledge that you need to today,

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for the last 45 minutes of school, I will let you guys teach me whether it's your favorite music from your favorite country. Maybe you can show me online a recipe that maybe I can go home and cook one of your favorite foods, or I can learn some of your language.

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I did not come into this role speaking any Spanish. And now it's gotten a little bit better and it's inspired me to want to use my Miss Oklahoma scholarships to start Spanish classes this summer so I can better serve my students next year.

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But I've learned to just be a better listener and to be a student. And when I go and do things as Miss Oklahoma, instead of me being the girl with the crown with the microphone in front of all the kids, I give the microphone to the kids because I want to hear their stories.

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Because I as a teacher and as Miss Oklahoma, I'm representing people. I can't accurately represent people if I don't know where they come from. And so it's been really great to be able to learn about my students and the students of Oklahoma by just simply listening.

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I know that a lot of what we do in education and what you were mentioning right now is really centered around the idea and the understanding of servant leadership. How are we best service to those to whom we are serving?

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And I think that you bring up an incredible point of stopping and listening. And I know that I've mentioned this in previous episodes before that the students were the best professors that I've ever had.

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And I didn't always realize that in the moment, but now that I look back, I really don't take that for granted. And I sit and I really do make sure that there's time to stop and to listen because I think that we can learn so much from our students that just empowers us even to be better educators overall.

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So I really appreciate you bringing that to the forefront. With that, though, I know that there are personal stories and experiences that kind of prepare us to get to where we are today.

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And I know that Dr. Tribble is one of the best co-hosts, and so I'm so glad to have him on. But he's really good about digging deep into like, where was the beginning of all this? So I want to pass this off to you, Dr. Tribble, just because it is exciting.

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I know not everything about our amazing Miss Oklahoma, but I've been fortunate to work with you, Sandy, and to hear some of your stories. But I want to kind of pass this off to you, Dr. Tribble, for asking some questions about how do we get to where we are today?

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Sure, yeah, no, it's a pleasure to be with you guys. I'm honored to learn from you guys today. It's always a learning experience for sure being on the podcast. And before we go too far backwards, I just kind of in reference to what you've already mentioned, I'm curious, what does the population mix look like in your classroom?

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Approximately, how many students, what are some of the countries represented? And then maybe if you could give a specific example or two of like, some of the things that you have learned from your students in the classroom.

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I have also worked as a teacher of emergent bilingual students and learned so much from them. And I'm just curious, kind of some specific stories that you might be willing to share about some of the things you've learned that might be inspirational.

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Absolutely. So at my school Bridgestone, we are the intermediate fifth and sixth grade center of Western Heights. There are about 500 students and 141 of them are mine and qualify for my emergent bilingual services.

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So they are in all different levels and all different tiers. And this year I have nine newcomers. They come from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. And what I've learned about them specifically is that a few of them have actually never set foot in a classroom before.

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And that was something that I never realized that some countries kids simply just don't have the privilege and the honor to go to school. And I didn't know this right off of the bat. This is something that I picked up on really quick. I have a new kid.

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He's been here for about six or seven months. And he was really all over the place. In the beginning when he was in my classroom, he did not know how to sit down in the desk. He was throwing pencils. And I was like, this kid is not acting out.

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I don't think that maybe he knows what he's doing. And so I did a little bit of research and I realized that he's never been to school before. So I have this sixth grader who I'm not only teaching the alphabet. So he's far behind his other peers, but he doesn't even know how to sit in a desk.

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And I thought it was such a cool and unique opportunity. I know it was really hard for me to grasp, but this kid has never had the honor to sit in a classroom and to learn before. But I saw this as an opportunity to let him fall in love with being in a classroom and to make it fun.

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And so for the first month, it was all about him and where he came from. I'd started off being the student for him. And we use these incredible translating devices for, he is kind of like an AirPod. He has one in his ear. I have one in the other. And we're going back and forth and it's translating.

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And I'm learning so much about him. And what I learned is that he was very scared, but he was very excited to learn. And I've taught, you know, Kelly read my bio. I did sixth grade ELA. I've done fifth grade social studies. But this position that I've been in this year, I've never had students with such small behavioral problems and students that were so eager to learn.

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And oftentimes, you know, it can be a little upsetting to be in this position because I often hear remarks on the side that these kids are really fidgety. They are misbehaving. They don't want to focus, but it's simply that they can't because of that language and cultural barrier.

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And so I wish that every teacher had the opportunity to work with them one-on-one like I do because I've never had kids that are just so excited and so willing to learn. But in the past, I've had students from Vietnam and we've had students from Afghanistan. So we are kind of a melting pot at Western Heights, which I think is really a beautiful thing.

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But I think the one thing that most people do need to realize is that from a lot of these countries is some kids don't go to school at all. And so we have the opportunity to let them adapt to this country, this culture, this language, but to also let them fall in love with learning because sometimes our sixth graders, they take it for granted.

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And I can speak from experience. You know, I wish that I would have known that maybe one of my classmates when I was sitting in a sixth grade classroom had never been to school before because I maybe didn't think that it was as special as it was. And so I wish that little Sonny knew what I knew now because I would have appreciated my school much more as well.

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I think that's so accurate, right? Because I know, and you know, Taylor, I think from your experiences too, it's been the language learning students overall, but most specifically your newcomer students, and they're not taking anything for granted. They are there every single day.

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Their parents come to every single parent teacher conference, and you also reap the benefits of having great food often delivered, great other cultural types of dishes, or you learn different beliefs and practices in the culture.

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And I think all that does is just really help us understand more how to best serve our students.

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Yeah, that's a great, great example of kind of a way we can learn from our students who oftentimes are viewed as having deficits, you know, in the emergent bilingual field.

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We talk a lot about looking at the assets instead of the deficits or disadvantages that our students are coming with.

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So in regard to that specific example that you gave with the student that's never been in the classroom, thinking about the assets that he has come with, like what are some of the assets that he has that you're like, man, I just wish my other students had this.

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And just thinking about somebody that most teachers would think, man, poor student, but I'm sure he comes with so many things that you wish other students have because of his experience.

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Are there specific examples that you have that you can share that kind of are an example of the assets that the students is coming with?

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Honestly, the one that I can think of is respect. He has a totally different level of respect.

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And I think that it's a cultural thing. And I think, you know, like Kelly mentioned, I see much more parent involvement than I see from any students that I've ever had before.

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And I think that that is so special because there is this misconception about families that come from other countries and how they do not value and they do not care.

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And I've seen that to be the complete opposite. Their parents are so involved. And so their asset is their family involvement and their level of respect that they have for the education system.

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And I think another component to that is that whenever we have students, and most specifically our newcomer students that are coming to the United States, so anywhere where they're coming or wherever this episode might land and in the other country where you have a quote unquote newcomer student,

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I mean, they are also bringing in not only the respect that is very cultural, I believe, in some ways, like the respect that other countries show to educators and professional educators in our pre-K through 12 system,

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but also that superpower of already having another language. And so, I mean, there are there are students that pay thousands and thousands of dollars to gain.

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And I am one of those students that was fortunate enough to be able to receive scholarships to go to the university to have a great high school teacher to get me engaged and involved in another language.

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But these students are already coming with that. They're already coming with the opportunity to become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural by choice.

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And I think that is just an amazing superpower that they that they also bring. That's exciting.

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Absolutely.

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Now, I whenever I first got into education and our listeners know this, and I think that you you probably know this, too.

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I didn't want to get into education. I was going to be a dancing bilingual veterinarian.

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There was nothing in in the educational horizon for me. People would often ask me, what do you want to do?

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Do you want to be an educator? You know, having Spanish as your major? And I said, absolutely not. No, no.

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And then I found myself in the situation of becoming an educator and would never take it back for anything in the entire world.

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So I was curious, what what what was your calling to get an education?

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Like, who is Sunny Day from the beginning to get to where she is now to decide that, like, I have all because you have a rich, rich past of experiences that have helped form and shape who you are today.

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I'm just curious to hear as much as you're willing and wanting to share and about how that developed into becoming the professional educator that you are today.

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Yeah. Well, much like you, being a teacher was not the dream.

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It was not something that I ever imagined.

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It actually wasn't until three days after graduating from college with a degree in something different that I decided to be a teacher.

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But I'll kind of start from the beginning. So education truly has always been, I would call it home for me.

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So I grew up in a, you know, a very adverse childhood situation.

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My mom was a single mom. My dad was addicted to substances and very quickly ended up living life on the streets for 18 years of my life.

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And that's what I remember is my dad either living literally in tent city or in a car and struggling with substance abuse.

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And because of that, I grew up very fast. I grew up, became kind of an adult at 10 years old, helping my mom raise my brothers and sisters, but also taking care of my dad.

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I was one of the only ones that did not give up on him. I remember when I was first able to get my driver's license after school, I would go find him.

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I didn't know where he was, but I always had a feeling location wise and I would go find my dad and I would bring him money and I would bring him food.

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And for the longest time, I got called an enabler. And growing up now, maybe I'll accept that.

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But at the same time, I think what it was was love because my dad came from, he was unfortunately a product of his environment.

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Both of my grandparents about two years ago, both passed away six months apart from an overdose.

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And that's whenever I finally had that conversation with my dad. But I knew for some reason at a young age that my dad almost didn't have a choice.

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But what I did realize is that I did. I at least had a mom who was taking the right path and who could show me that there was a better life, a better outcome for us.

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And I had a mother that chose us. And I thought that was super special.

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So the one thing that I knew growing up is that I was in this position to make a difference in my family as big sister of five.

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And so I said, you know, I don't know everything. I don't understand substance abuse. I don't understand homelessness.

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But what I do understand is that neither of my parents are very successful and they're very much struggling and they both lack an education.

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Neither of them made it past the 10th grade. So I said, I'm going to see that as the common denominator.

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So my number one goal in life as like an 11 year old girl was to just graduate from high school. I didn't think beyond that.

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I didn't think about college. I just said, I'm going to graduate high school. I'm going to get a degree. And so I worked really hard.

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I joined cheerleading. I joined student council, which, as you can imagine, a girl living in poverty and living in Section 8 was really tough.

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But like he mentioned in my bio, churches and teachers paid for every belief that I had when I was a kid. They paid for my school supplies.

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They played for my cheer uniforms. They made sure that I was able to get accomplished the things I wanted.

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And so in 2013, I became the first person in my family to graduate. And I was so excited.

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Congratulations. That's such a cool story. Where did you graduate?

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Thank you. And it was a huge honor. Norman High School. And I still live in Norman today.

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Go Tigers.

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Yep. Yes, exactly. I love it. And so, you know, I knew that I wanted to continue to go further.

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So I randomly went out on a whim and I filled out this long scholarship application for the University of Oklahoma as a first generation graduate.

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And I love to write. So it was like an essay. Sign me up. I'll do it.

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So I spent countless hours writing that essay and I got accepted to OU.

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And it was so exciting. But at the same time, I was terrified because I did not have people that I could ask questions to.

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Neither of my parents knew anything about college or knew anything about how to choose a degree.

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So I said, you know, I love to talk. I love people. I'm just going to pick a communications degree because that sounds fun.

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And I anywhere, any job you do, you're going to need to talk to people.

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So I chose communications, which a lot of people told me was, you know, the fallback degree. But I use it every day now.

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So how about that? And so I got my degree from OU in 2018. And at the time I had just done my very first pageant.

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I competed at Miss OU because I saw a sign for scholarships. So all of a sudden I became very interested in fashion.

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And I was like, you know what? I'm going to go work at New York Fashion Week.

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So right after graduating OU, I went to New York City and I worked at New York Fashion Week. And listen, guys, I did not love it.

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I immediately was like, Mom, New York is not for me. It's too busy. And like growing up in Oklahoma, I was like, I just miss my Oklahoma people.

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They're nice. They'll talk to you. You know, New York, everyone's on the go. They're too busy for anyone.

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I was like, these people are not nice. So I came home. And at the same time, the teacher walkout was happening.

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And my teachers have always been very important to me. I have a former eighth grade teacher, Miss Swapapa.

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She was my English teacher and her husband, Mr. Harris, was my sixth grade art teacher.

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And I saw that they were at the Capitol. So I said, you know what? I'm going to go for them.

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So I went to the Capitol. I took my little siblings. And it was in that moment that I ran into Miss Swapapa.

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And she said, have you ever thought about being a teacher? And I was like, absolutely not.

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This is a terrifying idea. I was like, I bring it up here today.

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Exactly. I was like, I have raised helped raise four kids. They scare me.

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No. And she was like, I think you'd be really good at it. Have you thought about doing your emergency certification?

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Immediately went home and got on top of it. And then I researched where I wanted to work because I love the city of Norman.

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But as a student, I felt like an outcast. It is a very, you know, it's a college town.

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It's a very privileged town. And growing up in poverty, I remember how I felt when other students could see me getting off the bus at my Section 8 apartments.

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And I said, I want to work with kids who feel the way that I did.

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And I did a lot of research and found Western Heights and saw that a lot of their kids have gone through similar situations as me.

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Our adversity may be different, but I at least know I can stand in front of that classroom and say, hey, if I did it, you can do it too.

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And so I have found my forever home and it was just meant to be.

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And I am forever grateful for all the teachers that poured into me to get me to where I am today.

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But most importantly, that teacher that told me to take a leap of faith because now I'm in love with my job.

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Not a lot of people can say that. And you are so wonderful at it as well.

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And I know I've been there. I've been in your classroom. I've walked the halls of that school with you both as a as an employee there myself working with you.

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But also fortunate to be able to do some consulting work. It's just really, really been fantastic.

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But you also I mean, so a lot of us have these Venn diagram kind of like stories where we don't necessarily have the exact same experience with our students.

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But you have so many overlapping stories and scenarios and situations of not feeling maybe that sense of belonging and being quote unquote othered.

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And so you are really coming into this profession as an advocate and as an ally and you were seeking where you wanted to go teach.

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Our students do not always get to pick where they go to school, but we get to choose where we go and serve.

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And you have chosen that so intentionally and so on purpose.

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What is the part of that Venn diagram that you have really seen that connects your past to their current present?

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And how do you bridge that together as you learn more about your students through that cultural lens?

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I think for me, the biggest one, the biggest thing I find in common with my students is being a first generation, at least a high school grad.

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You know, a lot of our students, especially ones that do come from other country, maybe their parents do not have a degree and maybe their parents either aren't over here with them at all.

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Or they came over here too late in the game to get a high school diploma.

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And so a lot of them do feel lost and like they don't have a person at home much like I did that they could ask questions too on how to navigate school and how to be successful.

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There are so many of our students that don't even know about the Oklahoma Promise Scholarship that is offered to kids who live in poverty or single parent household.

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And so even though they don't do that until the eighth or ninth grade, I tell my parents every single parent teacher conference about that because I want them to know that financial means are not always the number one thing that gets you to college.

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And that this kid just needs to work hard. And as their advocate and as their teacher, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they have the grades to qualify for that scholarship.

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And so it's nice to just be able to tell them my story about being a first generation high school and college graduate, but also being vulnerable and saying like, it was really intimidating.

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Like whether you do not feel like you fit in at school because your parents didn't go to school simply because of where you've come from, maybe the neighborhood that you live in or you have a parent that's incarcerated.

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I get it. I know what it feels like to feel alone, even if you're the one self isolating because oftentimes I made myself alone more than I actually needed to be.

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And a lot of our kids do that simply because they're ashamed. And so I think by telling my students that, you know, I miss Oklahoma.

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I have this level of status or success that some people think. But what you may not realize is that I was a little girl just like you who didn't believe in myself and who was embarrassed of the circumstance I grew up in.

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And it's OK. But at the same time, don't let that hinder you. And here's why you shouldn't be ashamed.

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And so I think just getting to be a human, you know, oftentimes one of the things you hear becoming a teacher is you're not their friend.

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You're their teacher. I think that is the biggest lie in the education system because you have to be their friend.

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And, you know, teacher to student, it's a relationship and it has to be mutual. And the number one thing you need is trust. And so I always work on developing a friendship or a relationship with my students and their families before anything, because I want them to know that I'm just a person and I don't see myself above them in any way.

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I'm just simply there to help them and to guide them.

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That's really powerful that you have that background and can really connect with students in that way.

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As I'm sure you are very aware, many teachers do not have that background that you have. They might have a more privileged background, even if it's just middle class.

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But they still have a passion for kids. They might not fully understand how to connect. So wondering if you have one, two, three recommendations for teachers that may not have the same background that you do that would help them better support their students that do have a background similar to yours.

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What can they do to help build a connection and support them better, even without having that background?

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Yeah, there are two things that I always suggest. And I suggest this to Miss Oklahoma contestants as well, because I'm kind of an anomaly in the pageant world. I just come from a very different background than most title holders.

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And I always tell them one, just like I said in the beginning, you've got to be a good listener. Pass on the microphone. Let the kids tell their stories and get to know them, whether you do some sort of compelling writing assignment.

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You do some, some really cool activity. You know, this entire podcast is about culture. And I think your classroom is a culture. I think it has the ability to be a family.

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So by creating the safe space and passing the microphone on to your students and letting them tell their stories to each other, because you may not be able, the teacher may not be able to relate to the students.

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But what you're doing by letting them share a little bit about themselves and creating a safe space is you're letting them relate to each other. And a lot of the problems we have in schools as kids against kids, whether it's fighting or it's arguments, and it's because they don't think they have anything in common.

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So by doing that, you're creating this better culture and this kind of this family. But secondly, I think teachers should go out and they should do community service.

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You know, I've gone through so much in my lifetime, yes, but my community service experience has been very humbling for me because I realized that I don't have it as bad as I could have. And there's always worse.

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You know, I have this experience with homelessness in my family, but I've done a lot of work with the Homeless Alliance and I've done a lot of work with City Rescue Mission.

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And I've learned more about homelessness than just from my dad's side of the story. And it's been really interesting. So I think that if these teachers went out and did some sort of service at food banks or homeless shelters or even adoption centers, and they would be able to learn more about the kids and the communities that sit in their classrooms every day.

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I know that we definitely have culture as the through line on this podcast. And just as a friendly reminder to all of our listeners, culture really does transcend just geographical location. There are cultures within cultures that we have.

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But then to what you're speaking to specifically, there is a culture within poverty as well. And so I think that you really are able to leverage your personal and professional experiences because many of our multilingual students, sometimes because they have come through a system and they have been

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encountering a lot of obstacles along the way that sometimes our families can often find themselves on the brink of poverty or they're currently in poverty and they may or may not be on a path toward, unfortunately, a homeless or an unhoused situation.

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And so I'm so again, just thankful that you really do speak to this. You bring a lot of awareness to the topic. And I think that we really need to expand this conversation way beyond even this podcast, because we know that there are many different posses.

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I'll just say trying to add in their thoughts of all of this. And I often just wonder how many people have released that down to have a real genuine conversation with someone who is unhoused. What would that be for financial situations?

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What would that be for even domestic violence situations? These are still real world scenarios that our multilingual students, just because they're multilingual, doesn't mean that they don't deal with those same exact issues.

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Sometimes it's like even compounded in some ways. Any thoughts or anything about that?

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No, I think that's completely accurate. A lot of times people only see these students just as someone who speaks another language or just as someone who comes from another country, not accepting the fact that they're also now constituents of America.

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We have this whole list of problems.

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Yes, they have their own adversity that they're bringing over and then they're adopting. They're almost in a worse situation and have more levels of adversity because of that.

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And we will be right back.

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Your success is our commitment. Contact us now and let's start building a brighter tomorrow together.

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And now back to the show.

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Got a side note, question, comment, way that I think if I remember your introduction correctly, that a way that you can connect multiple cultures that sounds like you do, it sounds like you have a school garden, is that correct?

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Yes.

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Yeah, so that's a side hobby of mine. I've done a lot of gardening, actually worked on a lot of farms all through Central America. And I've done some research on school gardens.

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One other common thing that you and I have actually, my last teaching job was at Bridgestone.

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And I taught EL there, like, I think that was like 2010, something like that. And I always remember looking at the back area thinking that that would be perfect for a school garden.

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So I'm just curious to know a little bit about your school garden and if you found that that has helped connect cultures and kind of how long you've had that going. Just tell us a little bit more about the school garden.

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Yeah, so, um, it's we started it two years ago, no, one year ago. And I will say it was the most special thing because the kid, it was their idea.

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I gave them a list of things I said I want to do some sort of community service project, and I want you guys to the word of the day was legacy. I want you guys to leave behind a legacy on Bridgestone for the future students to come and for you to have something to look back on.

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And I listed a bunch of things we could do a time capsule all these things. And then they said, Well, you really like butterflies. Could we do something with butterflies? And I was like, Okay, so I guess my legacy is a butterfly.

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And I said, What about a garden? And I then I got to tell them the story about how whenever I was young, and we were living in poverty, that we started to grow our own vegetables because it was much more affordable.

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So not only did I get to teach them a skill, something that they could take home and they could do with their own families like now, a few of them have told me that they now grow their own onions, and they're well, they're not my students anymore. They're well past that. But it's something that they've carried with them.

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But it was so exciting because it was a full week project, we started off doing research about their different plants, I let them each have their own little flower.

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And some of them got to do the fence and all of that. And so they did research and they got to work in groups, they did not get to pick their groups. And so I intentionally put them with kids because it wasn't just my homeroom, it was my homeroom and Mr. Cheeks.

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So we combined our classes, and we put them in groups with kids that they would normally never willingly put themselves in groups with.

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But they got to bond over the super fun project. They were getting down, they were getting their hands dirty, they were shoveling, they were picking up weeds, they were doing all the things, doing all the dirty and the hard work of putting a garden together.

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But they enjoyed it because at the end, they got to see how beautiful it was. And that that was their collective work that they did.

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And so I got to show them so many different life skills, which is really important to me is life skills and things that they can carry with them, is I got to show them the importance of teamwork, and how in a professional setting, you may not always work with people that you agree with or work with people who are just like you.

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But if you have this collective goal to make something work and to make something beautiful, and you use your different skill sets and you do different things to make that work happen, then you can work together.

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And so it was really cool to get to show them that no matter where you come from, you're going to work with people who are different from you. But if you work together with your skills, you can make something beautiful happen.

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And then of course, they get to take the gardening skills home and hopefully carry that with them for the rest of their lives. So it was more so like a teamwork and working together type of project, but it turned out really beautiful.

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And a lot of the kids during the summer, their parents would text me pictures and they said, so and so wanted to go get ice cream and to go see the flowers today. And so even after school was done, they were still making trips to the school to see their work pay off, which was neat.

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That's so cool. Yeah. If you continue to do that, then what resources, things like that would love to sponsor and help that school garden and community garden grow.

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The one of the coolest examples I've seen of school garden was in New Orleans, because I for a while back I visited a bunch of different school gardens.

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And they had actually an employee that was just focused on on the garden. It was a very large garden, but then they would integrate it into their social studies class to teach other cultures, they would cook food, they would even take the kids to a farmers

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market and teach them about business, how to sell sell the vegetables and teach them about money and management, money management. It was like the coolest all encompassing school garden and then they even invite parents and then teach them about serving,

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putting tablecloths on. I mean, it was like, I mean, they connected the garden to so many things. And so that's wonderful. Yeah. So if you guys continue that at Bridgestone, let me know.

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One of them awesome opportunity and a little full circle moment that I had forgotten to even mention to you, Sunny, that yeah, so Dr. Tribble had worked in Western Heights and was in the same role in the same school as you, so I'm glad you guys got to make that connection.

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Yes, that's awesome.

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You didn't know, you didn't know Taylor, right, that you were helping you know that you know set up the stage for from Miss Oklahoma.

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Exactly. Fabulous education.

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Thank you. Thank you for your help.

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Yeah, I did so much.

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Wonderful and as fabulous as as as things are. I also know that the reality is is that we do encounter obstacles along the way. And I really do want to just do a big shout out to to Western Heights for really having a very mitigated focus which I think we're all growing and trying to get better

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in any district where we work across the nation and beyond, but has had a really strong focus on supporting their multilingual multicultural students. So big shout out to Western Heights for that. And then specifically to to Bridgestone, Dr.

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Brandt, who's the principal there is very supportive and is very engaged in this as well. And then I just know that you have just been such a huge ally and an advocate.

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But as you were discussing kind of the setup and how you've created this collective goal with the garden. It made me consider the question, what have been the obstacles and in what ways have you have you helped create and through the conversation a collective goal in how to best serve our

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multilingual and multicultural learners in Bridgestone, for example, what's been like a real life obstacle conversation that collectively as collective goal that you've worked through as a faculty to be able to help better serve.

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Like I said our multilingual multicultural students and then maybe something that our listeners can take away and also implement themselves in their own settings.

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Yeah, so I would say that there are two. And the first thing is just really getting teachers to buy in to allowing students to truly be themselves.

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When I first started teaching before I was even in this position, I would often hear, maybe more like veteran teachers teachers who have been in the position for a long time, and that they do not let students speak their native language in class.

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And this year I loved being in this position and being able to be an advocate for these students because I get to tell them, no, no, no, we are going to let them speak their native language and here's why because these kids, whether you think so or not, are going to be so much more successful.

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And I always tell my students the moment that they walk in my door. My goal is to not overshadow your native language with English. My goal is to teach you a skill set on top of the language that you already have, because I know and I believe in the fact that you're going to be more successful than people who only speak one language, and a lot of kids don't know that.

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And a lot of kids see them having a different language as a barrier and as a setback. And so I get I love getting to pull up different job descriptions and I love getting to show them different salaries based off of being bilingual in any different career or career profession.

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And so it's really eye opening them, eye opening for them to get to see that. And so really getting teachers to buy into the fact that they have got to keep using their language. And that's a way for them to connect with students because for a newcomer sitting, I mean, sitting in a classroom and not knowing a single word that any of your peers or any of your teachers are saying, you're doing that for eight hours. That is not fun. It is not enjoyable.

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But when they can connect and they can speak and engage with other students who understand them and who they can communicate with, it's a beautiful thing. The second thing that I've done that I think really opens eyes to these teachers really wanting to and being willing to make those accommodations for those students because they are so important is I do a student led professional development.

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And so I will have one of my students who is well versed in Spanish, sit in a classroom with all of the teachers, give them work that isn't complete Spanish and do the entire lesson and directions in Spanish.

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That's so awesome. Just sit there and be like, you know, the same look that the students get is what I get from the teachers. And then I'm like, OK, guys, you have about 25 minutes to complete this assignment. And some of them literally walk out.

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Some of them just sit there. A lot of them will start to ask questions. And I'm like, oh, you can't ask questions in your native language. You can't do that.

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We don't speak English in this classroom. And so I kind of the roles are reversed. And it's really cool for a student to be able to have that power and to almost be like, this is me trying to make you empathetic to me because this is what I go through in your classroom.

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But it's very eye opening for those teachers to be like, if I had to do this for 30 minutes and it was hard, I can't imagine what it's like for this to be an eight hour thing, five days a week.

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And so I think that that's really cool as a way to get your students involved to do a student led professional development in a complete different language, because more than anything, teachers can be given a document all day long about why those own accommodations are important.

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But until they're in that position, that level of empathy is not there and now it is. So I think that that's one of the most profound things that people can do for their remote and bilingual students.

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I absolutely love I know I love it so much. I think that is so fantastic. And I'm sure that even through that, the student probably feels probably guilty in such a way to tell them that you can't use any English, automatically modeling when empathy looks like from the side, the flip side of the adult educator that has at least a bachelor's degree, if not a master's or a doctorate.

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And so whenever we consider that like here we are full grown adults with a degree in this situation, and I'm seeing actually what I could and should be doing through the eyes of one of my fifth or sixth grade students.

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Yes. I don't know how you get closer to empathy than that.

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Yep.

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It works.

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It really helps.

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And then it's also so true. I mean, I love these conversations where I get to go to other places and discuss the power of using the child's first language for both languages because again, just as a reminder, many of our, you know, multilingual students are born right here in the United States because sometimes contrary to popular belief, this is a very multilingual nation.

268
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:44,000
And so whenever we're, we're able to create space for students to use their entire linguistic repertoires to be able to build upon their language, that has never hurt me.

269
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:54,000
But that people see me, and they think well that what a privilege that you were able to do that and how great that is, but we don't always see that with our students coming in with the other language.

270
00:48:54,000 --> 00:49:04,000
And so I think it really takes us as professional educators again to really reflect upon our own mindset and to consider the role that empathy plays in all of this.

271
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:16,000
We can make this appropriate cultural connections because language and culture cannot be separated. And how do we create space to have that be leveraged in our classrooms, whether it be through English, Spanish, Vietnamese or any other language.

272
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:27,000
How do we help students learn content, go through that cognitive process while still being very culturally responsive and uplifting the cultures, the heritages and the languages of our students.

273
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:31,000
I think that is so dynamic.

274
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:39,000
I had, I did have teachers before that would also tell me, saying, well, I don't want them to speak Spanish in class because maybe they're talking about me. So I just said you can't speak any Spanish.

275
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:48,000
I'm like, well, listen, let him talk because the English teacher might be talking to and you can't tell them to be quiet, but the rest of the entire.

276
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:50,000
Exactly. Yep.

277
00:49:50,000 --> 00:50:03,000
We teach content and characters so I think that we can do that in any language and allow any language to be spoken, even if I myself may or may not be monolingual. I think it's a very, very good point.

278
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,000
I love it.

279
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:13,000
I don't know another ally or another advocate for so many different cultural groups.

280
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:18,000
You really, you really just jump in to the community at large.

281
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:24,000
You are truly, and I mean this as a professional and also as your friend.

282
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:32,000
I mean, you really are the epitome of an example of somebody who is not just talking the talk, but you really walk the walk.

283
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:40,000
You go into different communities, you, you, you listen to seek to understand, not just to respond and to answer.

284
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:50,000
I know that you've helped myself consider different, different things about me and how, how I play my role as a human in this world.

285
00:50:50,000 --> 00:51:01,000
And I don't think that we always know the impact that another person might make in our lives because we don't call them up and say, hey, I was a better person today because of you two months ago whenever you said such and such.

286
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:08,000
Right. And so I want to take this moment to just stop and just to have gratitude and say thank you for doing that for me.

287
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,000
And I really do appreciate that.

288
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:15,000
And you just you really create a space where you can do that for so many other people.

289
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:23,000
So with that, I do wonder what's been maybe in education and then an example, maybe outside of education.

290
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:34,000
Maybe. But what really has been the biggest impact on you where you've walked away and said, wow, because of this or being involved in this, my life has also changed.

291
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:39,000
And I'm now a better person because I've experienced this.

292
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:41,000
Is there a moment like that?

293
00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:46,000
You know, when I hear that question, I think of.

294
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:55,000
Yeah, I think of one specific situation, and I think it goes back to me saying that we must be our students friends more than anything.

295
00:51:55,000 --> 00:52:05,000
And I had a student for two years and who was really just acting completely different.

296
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:08,000
I saw a huge attitude change more than anything.

297
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:11,000
And so I was like, if I don't say something, this is going to continue.

298
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:13,000
And I just want to ask what's going on with this sweet student.

299
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:18,000
And so I sat him down and I just said, you know, I want you to know that I see you.

300
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:26,000
And so because I see you so well and I'm constantly looking and checking on you, even when you don't think I am, I've seen a huge shift in behavior.

301
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,000
And is there something going on?

302
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:34,000
And he opened up about his sexuality and about how that was something that he was struggling with.

303
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:41,000
And because of his, you know, his culture, that's not something that's very accepted in his family.

304
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:47,000
And I was like, oh, this is something I cannot resonate with because I come from a very accepting family.

305
00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:50,000
And I said, but what I can do is maybe I can be that person.

306
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:54,000
And so I wrote a sticky note for that student that said, I love you.

307
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,000
I see you. I hear you. I accept you.

308
00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:59,000
Signed it, Miss Day folded it up.

309
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:00,000
And I said, here you go.

310
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:05,000
And I thought, like most students would just throw away the little notes that I give them.

311
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:11,000
And so, you know, six months goes by and this dad shows up to parent teacher conferences.

312
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:13,000
And I've been trying to work on this student.

313
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:17,000
Like, maybe you would feel better if you, you know, maybe told your dad.

314
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:20,000
But I'm not going to press you to do that because that's not my place.

315
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:22,000
This is done on your time.

316
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:26,000
And this dad is sitting in this conference is with me and this student.

317
00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:29,000
And he says, is there something that you want to tell me to his student?

318
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,000
And his student says no.

319
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:33,000
And I just look at him and I'm like, OK, he's not ready.

320
00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:34,000
That's totally fine.

321
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:41,000
After conferences, this dad comes up to me and he says, Hey, I know what it is that my son needs to tell me.

322
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:44,000
And it's because of the sticky note that you gave him.

323
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:50,000
He said, you may not know this, but for the past six months, that sticky note has stayed in his lunchbox.

324
00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:55,000
And he puts it on his nightstand and repacks it in his lunchbox every single day.

325
00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:57,000
And I was like, what?

326
00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:01,000
The kid let like kept my note and it like, you know, it means so much to him.

327
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:09,000
Well, this year, the second year I've had this student, he finally came up to me and told me that he was ready to tell his dad.

328
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:12,000
And I was like, oh, wow, what a beautiful thing.

329
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,000
OK. I said, you know, when and how do you want to do it?

330
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:15,000
You want to do it at home?

331
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:16,000
Like, how can I help you?

332
00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:18,000
And he said, no, I would like to do it here.

333
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:19,000
Can you be there?

334
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:20,000
I was like, wow.

335
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:22,000
OK, sure.

336
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:23,000
So we called his dad.

337
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,000
And of course, his dad already knew.

338
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:31,000
So the beautiful moment, whatever he told his dad that was so special.

339
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:39,000
And you know, he told me that he grew the courage to do that simply because I saw him and I accepted him.

340
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:45,000
And I didn't impress him to share that part about him in any timely manner.

341
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:54,000
And so I think what teachers don't realize is oftentimes those kids that are acting out are the ones that need us the most.

342
00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,920
I think that I can relate to that a lot.

343
00:54:56,920 --> 00:54:58,920
A lot of people look at me and they're like,

344
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:02,200
she was probably goody goody two shoes in school.

345
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,680
I will tell you right now, I was that kid

346
00:55:04,680 --> 00:55:07,360
who was constantly either sleeping in class

347
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:11,500
or arguing with teachers or getting in fights at school.

348
00:55:11,500 --> 00:55:14,880
And it's because I needed someone to give me attention

349
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:16,600
and I needed someone to see me.

350
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:19,720
I needed someone to hear me and I needed someone to love me.

351
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:21,640
And that's what I did for that student.

352
00:55:21,640 --> 00:55:23,800
And I have showed up for that student

353
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:26,140
every single one of their honor choir things.

354
00:55:26,140 --> 00:55:28,600
And so I think if teachers realize

355
00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:32,040
that we can be more than just a teacher from seven,

356
00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:35,920
from our contract hours to support them as who they are,

357
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:38,860
not as just a student, but as human beings outside of school

358
00:55:38,860 --> 00:55:40,560
that we could change their life.

359
00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:43,160
Because that's a demographic of students

360
00:55:43,160 --> 00:55:46,860
who are usually battling mental health.

361
00:55:46,860 --> 00:55:49,840
And that's a very high suicide rate.

362
00:55:49,840 --> 00:55:53,580
And I would hope that by starting up that conversation

363
00:55:53,580 --> 00:55:55,400
and by accepting and loving that student,

364
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:56,880
that I could have prevented that kid

365
00:55:56,880 --> 00:56:00,000
from going through something very dark, a very dark time.

366
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:01,920
And that he now sees himself as someone

367
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:04,000
who is accepted, loved and beautiful.

368
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:06,640
And I created that safe space and that home as well.

369
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:09,380
And so I think more than anything,

370
00:56:09,380 --> 00:56:11,880
get to know who your students are outside of just the kid

371
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:14,920
with the pencil in the desk, in the back of your classroom

372
00:56:15,780 --> 00:56:16,900
and be there for them.

373
00:56:16,900 --> 00:56:19,880
Because we may be one of the only adults in their lives

374
00:56:19,880 --> 00:56:21,640
that do accept and see them.

375
00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:24,880
And we get to see them for much more than their parents do.

376
00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:28,060
And so I think that also goes to show the importance

377
00:56:28,060 --> 00:56:30,700
of building connections with their parents

378
00:56:30,700 --> 00:56:32,580
and their families as well.

379
00:56:32,580 --> 00:56:35,580
So where their parents can trust you with their child also.

380
00:56:37,100 --> 00:56:40,480
You touch on so many good points.

381
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,900
Whenever I asked that question and I had known this story,

382
00:56:43,900 --> 00:56:45,480
but I didn't know you were gonna say that story.

383
00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:48,760
And so it automatically like, I'm not crying, you're crying.

384
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:50,540
But it's-

385
00:56:50,540 --> 00:56:51,720
That's tears to my eyes.

386
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:54,240
It means a lot.

387
00:56:54,240 --> 00:56:57,960
And it's fun to have Ms. Oklahoma on here.

388
00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:01,700
And then, formerly being Mr. Gay Oklahoma.

389
00:57:01,700 --> 00:57:05,980
And so it's fun to have both of us on here doing this.

390
00:57:05,980 --> 00:57:09,520
But yeah, I wasn't the language learner per se,

391
00:57:09,520 --> 00:57:12,600
but I understand the aspects of what that's like to be,

392
00:57:14,180 --> 00:57:17,600
participating or part of another even culture,

393
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:20,000
within a culture in the classroom and knowing about it

394
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:23,280
and knowing Carrie to discuss it or,

395
00:57:23,280 --> 00:57:27,960
not having necessarily that adult to always go to in school.

396
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:32,960
And so just the fact that you do have great relationship

397
00:57:34,140 --> 00:57:35,120
with your students.

398
00:57:35,120 --> 00:57:37,860
I hear the same thing often about being a friend,

399
00:57:37,860 --> 00:57:40,120
being versus friendly, et cetera.

400
00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:43,200
I think you take that however you're gonna take that.

401
00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:45,680
But I think the main takeaway is that we need to have

402
00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:47,720
a real authentic relationship with our students

403
00:57:47,720 --> 00:57:49,560
and getting to know them in such a way

404
00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:52,820
that we can constantly show that friendly behavior

405
00:57:52,820 --> 00:57:55,200
toward them because we need to create a place

406
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:57,520
of inclusion and acceptance for our students.

407
00:57:57,520 --> 00:58:01,160
So I just, again, just thank you so much for that.

408
00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:03,520
Yeah, no, very inspirational story.

409
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:06,400
I'm curious, you know, we,

410
00:58:07,880 --> 00:58:11,600
Kelly alluded to, it's not all sunshine and rainbows,

411
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:14,600
you know, everything doesn't go perfectly every day.

412
00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:16,720
Even though we love sunshine and rainbows.

413
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:17,560
Yeah.

414
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:21,840
Exactly, but you, I'm just curious

415
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,020
from a practical standpoint,

416
00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:28,920
like when everybody faces challenges, right?

417
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:31,380
And adversity and some dark times,

418
00:58:31,380 --> 00:58:34,120
do you, what gives you your fire personally?

419
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:37,360
Like how do you face those dark times?

420
00:58:37,360 --> 00:58:40,540
Do you have any, like from a practical standpoint,

421
00:58:40,540 --> 00:58:44,120
strategies, whether they're religious or just,

422
00:58:44,120 --> 00:58:45,840
you know, meditation, prayer,

423
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:48,040
anything that you do on a daily basis

424
00:58:48,040 --> 00:58:51,480
that just helps you be a better person

425
00:58:51,480 --> 00:58:53,640
and support people in the way that you do?

426
00:58:55,280 --> 00:58:59,440
Yeah, so I actually have a photo back here.

427
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:02,480
I'll show you, of my siblings

428
00:59:02,480 --> 00:59:06,480
and specifically my little brother, his graduation photo.

429
00:59:06,480 --> 00:59:10,640
And for me, when I was younger going through adversity,

430
00:59:10,640 --> 00:59:12,520
I don't think if I wouldn't have had

431
00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:14,180
little eyes looking up to me,

432
00:59:15,040 --> 00:59:18,760
that I wouldn't have been willing to break the barriers

433
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:21,720
that my family had and to really break down those walls

434
00:59:21,720 --> 00:59:23,640
and to be the first to graduate.

435
00:59:23,640 --> 00:59:25,560
But I knew that I had little brothers and sisters

436
00:59:25,560 --> 00:59:27,840
and I said, if I'm not going to be the change, who is?

437
00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:32,480
Because they're so young and they need a beacon of hope.

438
00:59:32,480 --> 00:59:34,080
They need someone to do it for them

439
00:59:34,080 --> 00:59:36,240
and to lead the path and to ignite the way.

440
00:59:36,240 --> 00:59:40,380
And so my students are the same thing for me.

441
00:59:40,380 --> 00:59:44,200
So when I actually found out that I could compete again

442
00:59:44,200 --> 00:59:46,880
in Miss Oklahoma, my journey is unique.

443
00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:49,080
In 2021, I actually aged out.

444
00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:51,080
I was 25, so I hit the cutoff.

445
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:53,100
So I made fourth runner up and I was like,

446
00:59:53,100 --> 00:59:54,880
man, my journey's over.

447
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:57,560
Like my dreams were crushed.

448
00:59:57,560 --> 00:59:59,160
I had that door closed on me

449
00:59:59,160 --> 01:00:02,640
and then I found out in February I could compete again.

450
01:00:02,640 --> 01:00:07,640
And I said, okay, well, I have one more chance at this dream.

451
01:00:08,100 --> 01:00:09,920
And you don't get a lot of second opportunities.

452
01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:11,920
Once a door is closed, it's usually closed.

453
01:00:11,920 --> 01:00:13,680
And this opened back up for me.

454
01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:16,560
So what am I gonna do different this time?

455
01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:20,960
And I really involved my students in my preparation.

456
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:23,680
I remember asking them last year in February,

457
01:00:23,680 --> 01:00:26,280
if I were to become Miss Oklahoma,

458
01:00:26,280 --> 01:00:28,960
what kind of person would you want me to be?

459
01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:32,760
And they literally said, I would want you to be goofy

460
01:00:32,760 --> 01:00:35,240
like you are in the classroom.

461
01:00:35,240 --> 01:00:36,760
Don't be so serious and don't think

462
01:00:36,760 --> 01:00:38,520
that you're better than other people.

463
01:00:38,520 --> 01:00:42,160
And that was so telling to me because at first,

464
01:00:42,160 --> 01:00:45,720
these kids who barely know what Miss Oklahoma is told me,

465
01:00:45,720 --> 01:00:48,160
do not gain a sense of entitlement.

466
01:00:48,160 --> 01:00:50,320
And I was like, okay, that's so important.

467
01:00:50,320 --> 01:00:54,060
Well, then I've heard kind of a little unspoken rule

468
01:00:54,060 --> 01:00:55,640
that if you win Miss Oklahoma,

469
01:00:55,640 --> 01:00:58,360
you do not work throughout your year of service.

470
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:00,300
That's just traditional the past 90 years,

471
01:01:00,300 --> 01:01:02,880
Miss Oklahoma quits her job, quits school

472
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:05,240
and dedicates her year to Miss Oklahoma.

473
01:01:05,240 --> 01:01:07,240
So I signed the leave of absence

474
01:01:07,240 --> 01:01:09,000
two weeks before Miss Oklahoma

475
01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:10,920
to kind of put it out in the universe.

476
01:01:10,920 --> 01:01:12,580
I'm a big on manifesting.

477
01:01:12,580 --> 01:01:13,880
I put it out into the universe.

478
01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:15,120
I'm gonna win Miss Oklahoma.

479
01:01:15,120 --> 01:01:16,640
So I'm telling my principal right now,

480
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:18,760
I'm not gonna work next year.

481
01:01:18,760 --> 01:01:21,200
Well, the night that I won Miss Oklahoma,

482
01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:23,160
instead of going back to my hotel suite

483
01:01:23,160 --> 01:01:26,100
and crying about winning Miss Oklahoma,

484
01:01:26,100 --> 01:01:28,080
I cried because I realized that my life

485
01:01:28,080 --> 01:01:30,760
was just about to be devoid of teaching.

486
01:01:30,760 --> 01:01:34,240
And the next day you sit down with your board of directors

487
01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:37,320
for an entire 12 hours and you discuss your year of service

488
01:01:37,320 --> 01:01:38,840
and what your plans are.

489
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:40,280
And the very first thing I said is,

490
01:01:40,280 --> 01:01:43,880
can we please call my principal and my superintendent

491
01:01:43,880 --> 01:01:46,080
and figure out how I can do both?

492
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:47,440
Because I can tell you right now

493
01:01:47,440 --> 01:01:49,480
that I would not be in this room

494
01:01:49,480 --> 01:01:51,520
and not be wearing this or this

495
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:53,500
if it weren't for my students.

496
01:01:53,500 --> 01:01:55,320
They literally told me what to do

497
01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:57,800
leading up to this moment to be myself,

498
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:01,000
to be authentic, to be sunny day.

499
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:03,640
And now I'm gonna spend a year without them?

500
01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:04,920
That doesn't sound fun to me.

501
01:02:04,920 --> 01:02:08,440
So my directors were very hesitant,

502
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:12,160
but I really told them, you know, like, I'm 28 years old.

503
01:02:12,160 --> 01:02:14,040
I'm the oldest Miss Oklahoma you've ever had.

504
01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:15,640
I've worked since I was 14.

505
01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:16,560
I can do this.

506
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:18,480
I can do it.

507
01:02:18,480 --> 01:02:21,560
And so I am so grateful that my superintendent

508
01:02:21,560 --> 01:02:23,840
and my principal were able to let me work this year

509
01:02:23,840 --> 01:02:26,640
and to have such a flexible schedule like I do have.

510
01:02:26,640 --> 01:02:29,000
And I'm grateful that my directors understood

511
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:30,920
why my job is so important.

512
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:33,400
And the one thing that has really inspired me this year

513
01:02:33,400 --> 01:02:36,840
is whenever I'm going to do all the work is Miss Oklahoma

514
01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:38,560
and I get to come back in my room

515
01:02:38,560 --> 01:02:40,940
and tell my students what I've done.

516
01:02:40,940 --> 01:02:44,240
Because I think that I get to inspire them a little bit

517
01:02:44,240 --> 01:02:46,000
to chase after their dreams,

518
01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:48,140
but also it's very humbling to me.

519
01:02:48,140 --> 01:02:51,840
I'm not able, like it keeps me kind of a sense of normalcy

520
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:52,760
in my life.

521
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:54,960
So there's no opportunity to become entitled

522
01:02:54,960 --> 01:02:58,360
because I'm going and speaking to students as Miss Oklahoma

523
01:02:58,360 --> 01:02:59,820
and I come straight back to mine

524
01:02:59,820 --> 01:03:02,400
and share those experiences and share those stories.

525
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:04,000
So kind of leading to what you said,

526
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:06,800
I would say manifesting is a really big thing,

527
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:08,860
but in order to pursue anything,

528
01:03:08,860 --> 01:03:11,640
I think you have to be 100% authentic.

529
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:14,080
I've done pageants for 11 years.

530
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:16,880
And I can tell you right now that I am guilty

531
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:19,000
for nine of those years,

532
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:20,960
going on that stage and going in that interview room

533
01:03:20,960 --> 01:03:23,240
and pretending to be someone that I'm not.

534
01:03:23,240 --> 01:03:25,080
This was the first year in an interview room

535
01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:27,460
that I completely just let all the walls down

536
01:03:27,460 --> 01:03:29,760
and I shared the story of my childhood.

537
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:31,300
And this was the year that I won.

538
01:03:31,300 --> 01:03:33,400
I even tripped on stage, you guys.

539
01:03:33,400 --> 01:03:36,680
I tripped on stage this year in my evening gown,

540
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:38,080
but guess who won evening gown?

541
01:03:38,080 --> 01:03:38,920
I did.

542
01:03:38,920 --> 01:03:40,120
And I asked the judges, I said,

543
01:03:40,120 --> 01:03:44,320
why did you give me that award out of 45 women?

544
01:03:44,320 --> 01:03:45,520
I'm the one that tripped.

545
01:03:45,520 --> 01:03:48,040
And they were like, it's because you laughed it off.

546
01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:50,280
And every one of us have tripped.

547
01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:53,880
And so I think not taking yourself so seriously

548
01:03:53,880 --> 01:03:56,920
is so important and just being so genuine

549
01:03:56,920 --> 01:03:58,300
and authentic to yourself.

550
01:03:58,300 --> 01:03:59,140
Thank you.

551
01:03:59,140 --> 01:03:59,980
Wow.

552
01:03:59,980 --> 01:04:03,980
I bet that every single time that you've gone

553
01:04:03,980 --> 01:04:05,900
to serve as Miss Oklahoma and you come back

554
01:04:05,900 --> 01:04:08,340
to the classroom, the kids are just so eager

555
01:04:08,340 --> 01:04:11,940
and waiting to hear about what story it's coming up.

556
01:04:11,940 --> 01:04:13,260
Oh, they love it.

557
01:04:13,260 --> 01:04:15,100
They love it.

558
01:04:15,100 --> 01:04:16,820
Is there a favorite or one that's been

559
01:04:16,820 --> 01:04:18,700
most impactful for them?

560
01:04:18,700 --> 01:04:22,580
You know, I did an appearance with the Homeless Alliance,

561
01:04:22,580 --> 01:04:25,980
like I mentioned, and I got to talk to them about

562
01:04:25,980 --> 01:04:29,300
how real these people were and that they,

563
01:04:29,300 --> 01:04:30,700
at the end of the day, are human beings.

564
01:04:30,700 --> 01:04:34,020
Because even kids have, I think maybe because they're told

565
01:04:34,020 --> 01:04:37,060
from their parents that a lot of homeless people

566
01:04:37,060 --> 01:04:38,700
put themselves in that situation

567
01:04:38,700 --> 01:04:40,500
or that they deserve to be there.

568
01:04:40,500 --> 01:04:43,020
And I got to tell them what I learned about them.

569
01:04:43,020 --> 01:04:48,020
Like I met a homeless man who, he was a US veteran

570
01:04:48,340 --> 01:04:50,620
and he just got really sick afterwards.

571
01:04:50,620 --> 01:04:53,220
And the paperwork to fill out all of the VA paperwork,

572
01:04:53,220 --> 01:04:54,540
completely stressed him out.

573
01:04:54,540 --> 01:04:57,140
Because of the level of PTSD he had.

574
01:04:57,140 --> 01:05:00,540
Or I could tell them about a mom with three kids

575
01:05:00,540 --> 01:05:02,780
who was an incredible mom, but lost her job.

576
01:05:02,780 --> 01:05:05,580
And they said, so normal people are homeless.

577
01:05:05,580 --> 01:05:07,780
And I said, yes, they are.

578
01:05:07,780 --> 01:05:10,060
And I think that it was so enlightening

579
01:05:10,060 --> 01:05:12,420
to be able to teach these kids

580
01:05:12,420 --> 01:05:15,180
that people all around them are struggling.

581
01:05:15,180 --> 01:05:17,660
And at the end of the day, we're all kind of the same.

582
01:05:17,660 --> 01:05:20,100
Each and every one of us are living in this world,

583
01:05:20,100 --> 01:05:21,620
really just trying to make a living

584
01:05:21,620 --> 01:05:23,700
and trying to survive in this world.

585
01:05:23,700 --> 01:05:26,740
Trying to survive in our own different unique ways.

586
01:05:26,740 --> 01:05:30,620
And do some of us maybe somehow make a mistake

587
01:05:30,620 --> 01:05:32,260
and put ourselves in those situations?

588
01:05:32,260 --> 01:05:34,380
Yes, but we can get out of it.

589
01:05:34,380 --> 01:05:36,100
And then I get to tell them about how my dad

590
01:05:36,100 --> 01:05:37,580
was homeless for 18 years.

591
01:05:37,580 --> 01:05:39,700
And it was one really tough conversation

592
01:05:39,700 --> 01:05:41,860
between he and I to change that.

593
01:05:41,860 --> 01:05:45,100
And for the past year and a half, he has not been homeless

594
01:05:45,100 --> 01:05:46,460
and he's gotten his life together.

595
01:05:46,460 --> 01:05:49,180
And so I tell them that through love and support

596
01:05:49,180 --> 01:05:54,180
that you could change the trajectory of someone else's life.

597
01:05:55,340 --> 01:05:56,780
I am.

598
01:05:56,780 --> 01:05:59,300
I'm just speechless whenever I get to sit with you.

599
01:05:59,300 --> 01:06:00,780
And I'm just in awe of everything.

600
01:06:00,780 --> 01:06:02,580
And hopefully one day, whenever I grow up,

601
01:06:02,580 --> 01:06:03,780
I can be just like you.

602
01:06:03,780 --> 01:06:04,900
I can be just like you.

603
01:06:04,900 --> 01:06:05,740
Oh, stop it.

604
01:06:05,740 --> 01:06:06,580
Yeah.

605
01:06:06,580 --> 01:06:08,180
Just like this Oklahoma.

606
01:06:08,180 --> 01:06:09,900
I know, I'm thinking I've got, you know,

607
01:06:09,900 --> 01:06:11,500
I have four daughters, Sunny.

608
01:06:11,500 --> 01:06:14,340
And I'm thinking that you're such an inspiration.

609
01:06:14,340 --> 01:06:17,180
Can't wait for them to listen to your story

610
01:06:17,180 --> 01:06:20,020
and hopefully learn from you.

611
01:06:20,020 --> 01:06:20,860
Thank you.

612
01:06:20,860 --> 01:06:24,500
Well, you, just so you know, to my friend Taylor,

613
01:06:24,500 --> 01:06:26,900
she is an inspiration to many of us.

614
01:06:26,900 --> 01:06:30,900
And every single time that we ever get to work together

615
01:06:30,900 --> 01:06:32,180
or to collaborate together,

616
01:06:32,180 --> 01:06:35,420
or even there's just a minute text message,

617
01:06:35,420 --> 01:06:37,820
I'm always thankful to get to have this relationship with you

618
01:06:37,820 --> 01:06:40,620
and to know that your students also feel the exact same way

619
01:06:41,540 --> 01:06:43,140
as well as your colleagues.

620
01:06:43,140 --> 01:06:46,100
So Western Heights, the field of education in Oklahoma

621
01:06:46,100 --> 01:06:49,260
is very fortunate to have you.

622
01:06:49,260 --> 01:06:50,540
I mean that sincerely.

623
01:06:50,540 --> 01:06:53,820
And I know that you have a very busy schedule.

624
01:06:53,820 --> 01:06:55,380
You've made time to be with us

625
01:06:55,380 --> 01:06:57,460
and we genuinely do appreciate that.

626
01:06:57,460 --> 01:06:59,780
I know the listeners really appreciate it as well.

627
01:06:59,780 --> 01:07:01,100
Before we sign off here though,

628
01:07:01,100 --> 01:07:03,220
is there anything that you would like to share?

629
01:07:03,220 --> 01:07:06,300
Any last words, any thoughts for educators,

630
01:07:06,300 --> 01:07:07,700
for Oklahoma, for advocacy,

631
01:07:07,700 --> 01:07:10,020
anything at all that you would like to share

632
01:07:10,020 --> 01:07:11,860
before we close up and wrap up today?

633
01:07:12,700 --> 01:07:13,820
Yeah, so a few things.

634
01:07:13,820 --> 01:07:16,900
So the first thing that I want to throw out there,

635
01:07:16,900 --> 01:07:17,740
and this is for people

636
01:07:17,740 --> 01:07:20,300
who are wanting to consider being a teacher.

637
01:07:20,300 --> 01:07:23,700
This year I've gone to three different job fairs

638
01:07:23,700 --> 01:07:25,700
to represent Western Heights,

639
01:07:25,700 --> 01:07:28,620
but also as Miss Oklahoma to try to get to talk to kids

640
01:07:28,620 --> 01:07:30,500
going to college about being an educator.

641
01:07:30,500 --> 01:07:33,660
And I've really seen a discouraging amount

642
01:07:33,660 --> 01:07:35,020
like how low the number is

643
01:07:35,020 --> 01:07:38,460
of kids who are pursuing a degree in education.

644
01:07:38,460 --> 01:07:40,500
And I know that a lot of it has to do

645
01:07:40,500 --> 01:07:43,260
with what is going on politically, maybe in the state.

646
01:07:43,260 --> 01:07:44,420
I know a lot of it has to do

647
01:07:44,420 --> 01:07:48,140
with the financial burden of becoming an educator.

648
01:07:48,140 --> 01:07:50,940
But what I will tell you is that being an educator

649
01:07:50,940 --> 01:07:53,660
truly is the most special job in the world.

650
01:07:53,660 --> 01:07:56,420
I am best friends with some very successful people,

651
01:07:56,420 --> 01:07:58,820
people who are in political position,

652
01:07:58,820 --> 01:08:02,020
people who make an amount of money

653
01:08:02,020 --> 01:08:05,340
that I will never see the day in my life.

654
01:08:05,340 --> 01:08:08,220
But I will tell you that I am,

655
01:08:08,220 --> 01:08:10,460
I believe that I have a different level of gratitude

656
01:08:10,460 --> 01:08:13,500
and appreciation for life because of my profession

657
01:08:13,500 --> 01:08:16,420
than those people who may seem like they have everything.

658
01:08:16,420 --> 01:08:18,900
And so the work that you get to do as a teacher,

659
01:08:18,900 --> 01:08:21,940
no one gets to do and no one will understand other than us

660
01:08:21,940 --> 01:08:24,860
because we are truly the only profession in the world

661
01:08:24,860 --> 01:08:27,540
that gets to see a glimpse of the future.

662
01:08:27,540 --> 01:08:31,160
Not a lot of people get to work with the future lawmakers,

663
01:08:31,160 --> 01:08:33,580
the future teachers, the future presidents.

664
01:08:33,580 --> 01:08:35,700
We get to help shape those minds

665
01:08:35,700 --> 01:08:37,820
and we get to help kids figure out who they are

666
01:08:37,820 --> 01:08:40,500
and such a beautiful and special thing.

667
01:08:40,500 --> 01:08:42,500
But what I will say is the second thing is

668
01:08:42,500 --> 01:08:44,740
to not be afraid to use your voice.

669
01:08:44,740 --> 01:08:47,820
I have a meeting later today with someone very important

670
01:08:47,820 --> 01:08:50,960
at the state Capitol and I have been super nervous about it.

671
01:08:50,960 --> 01:08:54,860
And I will say that I had a really beautiful

672
01:08:54,860 --> 01:08:56,340
planned out written agenda

673
01:08:56,340 --> 01:08:59,140
of how this conversation was going to go.

674
01:08:59,140 --> 01:09:01,780
And there have been a few different bills

675
01:09:01,780 --> 01:09:06,020
that have come to the forefront the past week and a half.

676
01:09:06,020 --> 01:09:08,460
And I've realized it completely changed

677
01:09:08,460 --> 01:09:11,500
the route of the conversation today.

678
01:09:11,500 --> 01:09:14,180
But I'm going to go into the meeting today

679
01:09:14,180 --> 01:09:15,100
and to be a listener.

680
01:09:15,100 --> 01:09:16,660
And I know I've said that a few times,

681
01:09:16,660 --> 01:09:20,520
but you don't have to always be afraid

682
01:09:20,520 --> 01:09:24,260
to meet with people who think differently than you.

683
01:09:24,260 --> 01:09:26,180
Because one of the most beautiful things that we can do

684
01:09:26,180 --> 01:09:30,340
is try to understand and try to get to know the other side

685
01:09:30,340 --> 01:09:31,740
before we tell our own story.

686
01:09:31,740 --> 01:09:35,140
So I'm going to go into today's conversation

687
01:09:35,140 --> 01:09:38,340
with listening ears and a compassionate

688
01:09:38,340 --> 01:09:40,480
and an open mind and open heart.

689
01:09:40,480 --> 01:09:42,380
Because I think if we start a conversation,

690
01:09:42,380 --> 01:09:44,980
a hard conversation off that way,

691
01:09:44,980 --> 01:09:47,980
then maybe people may be more willing to listen to us.

692
01:09:47,980 --> 01:09:52,860
And I know that with in terms of policies and advocacy

693
01:09:52,860 --> 01:09:55,780
that it can be a very frustrating position to be in.

694
01:09:55,780 --> 01:09:58,160
But if you lead with your heart,

695
01:09:58,160 --> 01:09:59,500
then I think that we're more willing

696
01:09:59,500 --> 01:10:02,460
to make a profound difference.

697
01:10:02,460 --> 01:10:05,300
And so I do encourage people to use their voices,

698
01:10:05,300 --> 01:10:06,700
especially if you are a teacher,

699
01:10:06,700 --> 01:10:09,420
because there is no one who can speak for your students

700
01:10:09,420 --> 01:10:10,980
and there is no one who can speak for you

701
01:10:10,980 --> 01:10:13,180
and your colleagues better than yourself,

702
01:10:13,180 --> 01:10:14,820
because you live it and you know what happens

703
01:10:14,820 --> 01:10:16,020
in that classroom.

704
01:10:16,020 --> 01:10:19,140
And I do encourage future teachers

705
01:10:19,140 --> 01:10:21,180
to consider going into politics,

706
01:10:21,180 --> 01:10:23,820
because I think that we need more representation.

707
01:10:23,820 --> 01:10:25,140
So I will leave it on that.

708
01:10:26,420 --> 01:10:29,620
Lead, learn and teach with your heart first.

709
01:10:29,620 --> 01:10:30,460
Yes, absolutely.

710
01:10:30,460 --> 01:10:33,100
That is exactly what you do every day.

711
01:10:33,100 --> 01:10:35,880
Well, America, I hope you are listening

712
01:10:35,880 --> 01:10:37,940
and I believe in putting things out

713
01:10:37,940 --> 01:10:39,360
good in the universe as well.

714
01:10:39,360 --> 01:10:42,020
Hopefully we will see you in some political realm

715
01:10:42,020 --> 01:10:44,780
that would not be a horrible idea.

716
01:10:44,780 --> 01:10:47,120
I think it'd be actual fantastic idea

717
01:10:47,120 --> 01:10:49,380
where you can continue to be a teacher to many of us

718
01:10:49,380 --> 01:10:52,620
and help lead that charge, lead that change.

719
01:10:52,620 --> 01:10:55,300
And again, to be of service and doing what's best

720
01:10:55,300 --> 01:10:57,580
for our communities and for those around us

721
01:10:57,580 --> 01:11:01,140
and most specifically our students and most specifically

722
01:11:01,140 --> 01:11:03,100
our most vulnerable students.

723
01:11:03,100 --> 01:11:05,420
So I just wanna say thank you again.

724
01:11:05,420 --> 01:11:08,740
Thank you so much, Dr. Tribble for being our cohost

725
01:11:08,740 --> 01:11:10,500
and with us today.

726
01:11:10,500 --> 01:11:11,340
A big shout out to our-

727
01:11:11,340 --> 01:11:12,940
Thank you for the opportunity.

728
01:11:12,940 --> 01:11:13,780
Yes, and also-

729
01:11:13,780 --> 01:11:15,860
Yeah, Sonny, thank you for everything that you do.

730
01:11:15,860 --> 01:11:17,660
Really, thank you for your service.

731
01:11:18,780 --> 01:11:21,580
And a big shout out to our producer, Mike Overholt.

732
01:11:21,580 --> 01:11:24,020
Thank you so much for being the one

733
01:11:24,020 --> 01:11:24,860
who does all the editing for us and everything.

734
01:11:24,860 --> 01:11:26,760
Thank you guys for having me.

735
01:11:26,760 --> 01:11:29,340
Yes, and I'm just, again, so delighted

736
01:11:29,340 --> 01:11:32,020
that we got to be here with you today.

737
01:11:32,020 --> 01:11:35,300
So from myself to you as a friend,

738
01:11:35,300 --> 01:11:36,900
just thank you with all my heart.

739
01:11:36,900 --> 01:11:41,540
And as the one who is able to get to be here

740
01:11:41,540 --> 01:11:43,740
and have a master class with so many people,

741
01:11:43,740 --> 01:11:45,300
thank you on behalf of all the listeners

742
01:11:45,300 --> 01:11:46,660
for everything that you shared today.

743
01:11:46,660 --> 01:11:48,980
You are the real deal and a game changer

744
01:11:48,980 --> 01:11:50,660
and I support you so much.

745
01:11:50,660 --> 01:11:51,500
Thank you.

746
01:11:52,980 --> 01:11:55,620
All right, but with that, everyone have a great day

747
01:11:55,620 --> 01:11:58,460
and we'll see you next time in Cultural Connections class.

748
01:11:58,460 --> 01:11:59,300
Adios.

749
01:12:01,300 --> 01:12:02,860
Thank you for joining us today.

750
01:12:02,860 --> 01:12:05,500
Don't forget to like, follow and subscribe.

751
01:12:05,500 --> 01:12:06,340
Adios.

752
01:12:08,700 --> 01:12:10,260
Two of our favorite organizations,

753
01:12:10,260 --> 01:12:12,900
she has been a part of our OKC team

754
01:12:12,900 --> 01:12:15,100
and the Tim Thibault Foundation.

755
01:12:15,100 --> 01:12:15,940
How do you pronounce that?

756
01:12:15,940 --> 01:12:16,780
Tim Thibault?

757
01:12:18,220 --> 01:12:19,060
Thibault?

758
01:12:19,060 --> 01:12:20,060
Thibault.

759
01:12:20,060 --> 01:12:22,300
Thibault, Tim Thibault.

760
01:12:22,300 --> 01:12:23,820
I probably need to go ahead and restart this.

761
01:12:23,820 --> 01:12:25,380
Yeah, come on.

762
01:12:25,380 --> 01:12:26,220
Mr.

763
01:12:26,220 --> 01:12:27,060
That's my-

764
01:12:27,060 --> 01:12:29,060
No, he's not an athlete.

765
01:12:29,060 --> 01:12:31,300
No, what's funny is that as I was reading,

766
01:12:31,300 --> 01:12:32,220
Mike, I'm gonna start over.

767
01:12:32,220 --> 01:12:34,940
As I was reading this though, I had to know to ask you that

768
01:12:34,940 --> 01:12:37,140
but then I was like, I know that my Spanish

769
01:12:37,140 --> 01:12:40,060
is gonna mispronounce this, like Thibault, Thibault.

770
01:12:40,060 --> 01:12:40,900
Thibault, though.

771
01:12:40,900 --> 01:12:43,180
But you know who Tim Thibault is, right?

772
01:12:43,180 --> 01:12:45,260
I do, but I just didn't want to.

773
01:12:45,260 --> 01:12:48,380
Yeah, actually, but I wasn't reading the name.

774
01:12:48,380 --> 01:12:51,180
Let me go ahead and start that over so it sounds better.

775
01:12:52,540 --> 01:12:53,780
All right, my apologies.

776
01:12:53,780 --> 01:12:55,300
There's anything else I need to look at?

777
01:12:55,300 --> 01:12:57,500
I read through this already this morning.

778
01:12:57,500 --> 01:13:00,500
I mean, I think it's better just to keep it in there.

779
01:13:00,500 --> 01:13:02,580
Let me go ahead.

780
01:13:02,580 --> 01:13:04,340
Mike, take two.

781
01:13:04,340 --> 01:13:05,340
Here we go.

782
01:13:05,340 --> 01:13:06,820
Oh my God, Thibault.

783
01:13:06,820 --> 01:13:08,780
I'm gonna like say it, say it, Taylor,

784
01:13:08,780 --> 01:13:10,700
if I say it wrong.

785
01:13:10,700 --> 01:13:11,540
Yeah.

786
01:13:11,540 --> 01:13:13,300
You say Tim, I say Thibault.

787
01:13:13,300 --> 01:13:15,580
You say Tim, I say Thibault.

788
01:13:15,580 --> 01:13:16,740
Tim, Thibault.

789
01:13:18,500 --> 01:13:19,460
Oh my gosh.

790
01:13:19,460 --> 01:13:21,380
I didn't even make the connection when I read.

791
01:13:21,380 --> 01:13:23,180
I'm so, I'm just laughing at myself.

792
01:13:23,180 --> 01:13:24,020
That's so funny.

793
01:13:24,020 --> 01:13:25,700
I'm like, Thibault, I'm gonna have to ask you,

794
01:13:25,700 --> 01:13:26,540
and then I did.

795
01:13:26,540 --> 01:13:27,380
Thibault, got it.

796
01:13:27,380 --> 01:13:28,340
Here we go.

797
01:13:28,340 --> 01:13:29,540
Mike, my apologies.

798
01:13:29,540 --> 01:13:49,540
Hi, I'm Dougくん.

799
01:13:59,540 --> 01:14:04,540
Stay in my memory