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Hi, hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Bold and the Brave, A Parent

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Leader podcast. My name is Melvette Hill and I'm joined by my good friend and colleague

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Zulema Gomez. Welcome back everyone. Hello, Zulema. Hi, hi. It's so good to be here. And

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spring is springing. Oh my goodness. Finally, finally there's some sun in California. Feeling

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good. That's awesome. That's amazing. I love that we are matching today. We both are rocking

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our black and white. What does that say? I just said spring is springing, but then we

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both have our black and white. But it is. We're springing. We're springing. And so is my hair.

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My curls are springing. If you all could see me, for those of you who are listening, I

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have my little curly curls today. And Zulema's hair is like slick and short and chic. Yes.

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You're rocking it out today. So what's new with you, Melvette? Lots of things. Here in

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Connecticut, we are wrapping up our legislative session next week. So things are moving slow

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and fast at the same time. And that's what's new. That's all I have to report. It's not

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raining here, which is great. It's sunny in Connecticut today. What's new with you? Wrapping

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up the school year in another month. So that's exciting for all of us at home. And then some

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work travel in DC in May that I'm really looking forward to. And some fun. Definitely adding

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some fun time. So that'll be great. Yes. Fun is good. Fun is good. You have to make sure

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that you take plenty of pictures. And also please and thank you. Make sure you put some

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photos on your Instagram and maybe do some TikTok. Because inquiring minds want to know

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how you are living life and having fun out there. I'll try. I'll remember. Okay. Yeah.

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So let's see. Last time we were together, we talked a little bit about TikTok. Now that

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you brought it up, it just came to mind. And we were talking about sort of the decision

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making process that was leading to that vote to ban TikTok, as some people are saying.

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And there's some updates since the last time we spoke. And we know that now TikTok will

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no longer be. It will still exist on people's phones and things for a time. But it looks

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like the requirement is really for TikTok to be sold to an American company. And there's

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been some concerns since this vote has passed. Some concerns from those of us who use the

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platform, concerns from parents, concerns from youth advocates, and of course, government

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officials. So it's been just really interesting. And I know that as we were preparing for this,

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Carlos, who is our producer, had shared some really great resources and I had some time

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to really go through all the pros and cons. And I think that's a really good process

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for any civic leader as you're listening to issues is really to hear what are all sides

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saying around this issue. But what I still sit with on this issue of TikTok is trying

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to figure out a way that we can still engage young advocates and youth in civil issues

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or civic issues. Because I think what is the truth is that, or what can't be denied is

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that there was so much advocacy, whether it was misinformation or whether it was correct

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information, it was and it still continues to this moment. It's the space for young voices.

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And so I think what I'm sitting with is like, what is going to be the equivalent to that?

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Because there's not a lot that we can do about the sale, right? There's not a lot that we

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can do about the security piece. And so I think, for me as a civic leader is trying

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to figure out like, how do we engage youth voters in an election year, if TikTok is a

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platform that we won't be able to use at the same capacity, right? And I don't know where

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you sit with any of this moment.

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I understand how important it is to folks. I'm not on TikTok. Actually, I tried to get

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on TikTok and I forgot at one point to put in my date of birth and then they banned me.

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I couldn't get back on. So I gave up. But I do know that it is important for young people,

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especially. I know my daughter is all over TikTok. That's how she gets her news. And

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she's like, oh, you know, weather. And she gets so much information from TikTok. I think

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what concerns me are the security implications. So there are a lot of theories about that

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and even some conspiracy theories about, well, why does the United States want to have all

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this information? There's lots. I don't want to get into that. I think what I think might

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happen is that young people will create their own platforms. That's my hope and dream that

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they create something for themselves. We have a lot of bright young minds out there and

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I'm hoping that we see that young people in the spirit of innovation and creativity will

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create something that our government finds accessible and will allow them to use so that

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they have those platforms to create, to be innovative, to use their voice, to share themselves

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and to collaborate and work with one another. So I think that's my hope. But I do, I know

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there are growing concerns, TikTok and then what's going to happen where, you know, in

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spaces like Instagram and also with X, you know, are we fair across all platforms? And

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of course, this is a foreign owned company and that's a big security concern. Let me

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get my words out. But I do think that we have to be fair across all platforms. And I do

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appreciate as a person who works in government, right, I work in state government, I do appreciate

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that in most cases, legislators are trying to do the right thing because they're people

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just like you and I and they have children, they have families and so they too see the

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implications of the concerns that arise from social media use and whether it's mental health,

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whatever the things that we all hear about and experience, the addiction to social media,

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the images that people see and sometimes young women and young boys and others aspire to,

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right? Like I have to look like that person, I have to be like that person or to be accepted.

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So those are the things I think that run through parents minds, parents are sometimes legislators

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as well and they just want to protect their families, right? So I think like in the broader

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scheme of things, we have to figure it out. We have to figure it out as a society, as

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those who are engaged in systems change, like what is going to work? Because we know that

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social media does work for young people. It's how they choose to engage and so how can we

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support them? How can we support this next generation of leaders to create a platform

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that will work for them and work for the rest of us?

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Yeah, yeah. I mean, I really would love to see the White House or federal legislators

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to create these spaces for these conversations, right? I think, yes, it could be, we also

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do our work as civic leaders and young advocates should do the same, but it would be nice to

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see leaders within our federal government to create these spaces, to not wait till like

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the last minute, which is probably what's going to happen, right? A company might step

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up or no one will step up to buy this platform and then at the last minute, we're sort of

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scrambling for some replacement. And for me, I think the biggest concern is it's such a

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pivotal election year. And if this is where folks are going for information or for having

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the conversation, you know, again, like the app isn't going away if you have it on your

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phone. And, you know, but I think there won't be new uploads or downloads of the app or

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new updates and things like that. Eventually, the app will just not be functioning well,

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right? And that will pose its own security risks. But I think I am concerned with where

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will this conversation move to in a year that's just so important to have the right information

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and to have a conversation as we're looking at not just the presidential election, but

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other other local and state elections.

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So not only is the government trying to ban TikTok or a foreign entity for owning and

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operating it, but there's something else. And so I was reading this article, it's called

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Can Government Coerce Removal of Content on Social Media? And it was really about the

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Supreme Court taking up a case to decide whether the Biden administration's request to remove

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posts from social media platforms violated the First Amendment. And so this conversation

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around freedom of speech is going to continue to be a thread that we see as it relates to

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social media. I'm also wondering in the back of my mind for another conversation, like

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how does that relate to AI as well, right? When people are sourcing using content. So

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anyway, but there's a case arising out of the government's influence on social media

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companies, right? To enforce content moderation policies, right? So they want to control the

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content that's being posted. And there is this case that's before the Supreme Court.

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They haven't decided it yet, but it's in the case, Murthy versus Missouri. And so five

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users of social media platforms, as well as two states, Missouri and Louisiana, sued several

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federal agencies and officials for allegedly violating their First Amendment rights. And

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they were pressuring social media platforms to remove or deprioritize or add disinformation

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labels to their posts. And so these complaints were primarily about posts that were related

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to content concerning COVID-19, the pandemic and the 2020 election. And so that case is

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going to be, I think, settled later this summer. I think that's the timing of it, but it does

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make one wonder how many more of these cases around social media, around freedom of speech,

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will we continue to see? And how will this all play out as we look at our court? And

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also future court appointments, I might add, as we are approaching elections in the fall.

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And we know that each candidate always has their eyes on folks they would like to have

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seated on that Supreme Court. So these are all important things as we try to piece things

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together, all the puzzle pieces. What are your thoughts?

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Yeah. Well, I'm just thinking specifically around our First Amendment, right? How this

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specifically is, it's really in the spotlight this year, right? We were talking about it

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with TikTok. We're talking about it around these cases. And we're seeing this also with

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the protests that are happening around the country and colleges and universities. And

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I think it's a good time, as always, as civic leaders, to really sort through our feelings

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and our beliefs around what trumps the other thing. What's more important? Is it this specific

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right to free speech? Is it community safety? Is it health? These are the things that we're

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always struggling with. And I imagine our legislators are struggling with. These are

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our rights guaranteed to us, but it's not without cost, right? And we definitely saw

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this early in 2020 and 2021 with so much misinformation and how that led to death, right? It led to

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many of our communities being completely at risk. And what was more important? Was it

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important to have a say and to say whatever we believed, whether it was correct or not,

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or is it the health of our communities? And I think we're seeing this again. What's more

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important, the safety of our youth and our communities, that they have the right, or

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that they have the right to say what they believe is right, especially when it concerns

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the life of fellow humans in another country, right? As we're talking about Palestinian

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rights. But I think this is the thing that I'm really like watching, is the conversation

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around this First Amendment right and what we give up to keep or what we give up to say

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what we need to say. It's an interesting time, I think, to be really involved right now.

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In regards to the protests, I know we on the team have really been watching, I think, both

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in horror and with so much empathy and sympathy for our youth leaders and for parents of advocates

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in these university spaces. And there's a video that I watched. There was a protest

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at USC here in California and there was a video I had watched with a dad who was being

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interviewed and asked how he felt. Was he concerned for his daughter's life in these

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protests? And as a parent watching this Mexican dad say and declare so proudly, right, that

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he was proud of his daughter, that what she was marching for is really anti-genocide,

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right? It's for peace. And I really put myself in that place as I was hearing that, thinking

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of my own son who's 13. But I think to see your children begin to do their advocacy and

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speak out, would I feel the same? How would I feel if their health is at risk? And how

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will my values also show up in his advocacy? And I really felt for that dad thinking, yeah,

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I would be proud too if I've taught my children that peace is a value that we hold, right?

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Or that all humans are equal. If that's a value we hold, how is that going to show up

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in their advocacy? And I really admired this father saying, I would also be proud to be

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arrested alongside these students if that happened to me. But I think I really have

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been thinking a lot of the parents of these youth advocates and where they're sitting

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and what are the conversations they're having over dinner or on the phone in concern, right?

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Or are they expressing that they are proud of what young people are doing in this country?

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And that's regardless of what the argument is around this, right? Just thinking of youth

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advocates in this moment in time. We haven't seen something like this for a long time.

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I think we saw Black Lives Matter marches, but they were not youth focused, right? These

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were full communities. And we're really seeing our youth lead this conversation and lead

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these protests specifically.

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Yeah. And it's exciting to see our young people stepping up. And I'm going to retract that.

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I'm not going to say stepping up. I'm going to say doing what they do, right? Because

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it's almost as if they were in a position of inaction. And I think young people right

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now are in a space where they are acting, right? We don't always see it, but they are

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advocating. And in more and more spaces, we are seeing them live out their truths and

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they're doing it unapologetically. So I don't want to say stepping up. I want to say doing

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what their hearts tell them to do. We might see it as stepping up, but I don't think they

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ever stood back from the challenges that are facing them. I think about my two daughters

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in particular and they were some of the young people who joined in with their neighbors

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and community members during those Black Lives Matter marches and protests. And I was so

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proud of them. I did not. I chose not to march because we all have to know ourselves and

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know what we can engage in and how that will affect us or even our employment. However,

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I do think that there was a sense of pride and also a sense of concern, just like this

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father that you were speaking about. I also have been watching the news and listening

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and even recently what happened down in New York with Columbia University, right? And

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we have to be so aware of what's happening. Regardless of which side of the issue you're

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on, I think everyone has the right to peaceful protests. But I think what is happening was

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becoming more complicated and what makes me more afraid for our young people in this time

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of protests and standing up is that there are the people who are coming in to disturb

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the process. So they're not really on the side of protest. They're coming in to make

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a problem and trouble. And so that's what we saw down in Columbia University where there

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was peaceful protests, they were encampments, but then there was a group of people who were

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not college students who had come from wherever and now they have infiltrated the campus.

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They try to take over a building. And so I think that's what my concern is, is that in

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the midst of young people trying to stand up or standing up and doing what's right for

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them and using their voices and caring about their country and caring about how the United

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States is showing up in the world, there's always something on the other side of it trying

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to make it look different and to disrupt that process. So I think that's what my concern

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is. But I would be with that dad. I would be so proud of my young person standing up

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for what they believe in. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, what you were saying

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was about, you mentioned like being really aware, right to what is happening. And I think

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as as parents, you know, the days are long, all of us are so busy. And it's it's so easy

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to disengage. But it is important to hear like, what is the conversation out there?

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I do see a lot of misinformation around these protests, right? The conversation that's happening.

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And it's not to say that there might not be a few people there saying like anti-Semitic

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remarks. But for the most part, what I've seen in communities around here, this is,

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you know, a lot of these protests are about a government accountability. They're about,

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you know, tax dollars being used a certain way. They're about, you know, being pro-human

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life, right? And, and it's very easy to hear these other remarks about what this isn't.

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And I think as parents, whether it's this issue or anything, we we have to be informed.

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And whether it's like a podcast or like a quick 10 minutes on NPR in the morning, whatever

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that source is for you as a parent, you can't tune out. Because this is where there's like

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disconnect, right? As young people are engaging in this conversation as parents, we don't

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know what they're saying, right? Yes, let's ask questions. But I think we have to bring

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something to the conversation to around like, this is what I'm hearing. What's going on?

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You know, I've been having this conversation with my own son, like asking him, what have

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you heard? This is what I'm hearing. So we're having our own conversations around this issue

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and other civic issues. But we we just can't tune out as busy as things get. And yes, our

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mental health matters. But we really have to hear both sides of the conversation to

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be fully informed leaders.

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Yes, I think we have a clip of that video we want to play for people to see and to hear.

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Carlos, you want to roll that for us?

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They are threatening. If we don't leave the campus, we are going to be arrested. But the

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students are so brave. Look at them. They don't want to leave the campus.

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Does that concern you, though, as a father, that your daughter is somewhere?

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You know, it concerns me. But my daughter did the right decision. If she rather be arrested

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fighting for Palestine, I will be the happiest daddy. I will be the happiest dady if she's doing the

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right thing. And I know she's doing the right thing. If the police arrest me now, I am willing

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to go with the students. I have no problem because what I am doing is the right thing.

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I'm fighting against a genocide. I have kids, not only teenager. I have a seven year old. And

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I imagine being a father in Palestine to see my kid be assassinated by Israel. That's not

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good. We are humanity. This is not a matter of religion, political. No, we are humans.

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We cannot support any genocide.

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Wow. That's my first time seeing that clip.

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Yeah, I've seen this several times. And it always makes me teary, especially where he

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says at the end, I am a parent of a seven year old. And to think of other parents, right?

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Yeah, Palestinian parents and their own children being murdered. And I think, again, you know,

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we talk about parent leadership and that that is parent leadership is to think of all of

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these different social issues through that lens, whether it's this specific war, or it's

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you know, policies that, you know, could uplift families and poverty, like, what would that

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feel like for me as a parent, those nights where I can't feed my child, and you know,

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or you know, issues around like bullying or any other policy, what would it feel like

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as a parent, if my family was going through this, if my child was going through this,

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that empathy is powerful. And we don't always do that. Right? We think of like our ideals

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now our values now, instead of like really thinking of like, what would that feel like

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for me that like, that hopelessness, right, that your community isn't being helped. It's

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powerful. I think for me, the most powerful thing is like that empathy that this father

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shows in that moment.

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Yeah, it is it is beautiful. And I just kept focusing on his words of, you know, we're

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humans, and this is about humanity. And again, you know, people have their opinions on both

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sides of it, right. I also want to note that there, there are Jews, there are Israelis

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who, who don't want this, who don't want this to continue. And so it really, to me, what,

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no matter what side you're on, we all can come around and agree that the loss of life

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is terrible. And the loss of seeing babies and children on both sides die is not, it's

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not lost on me. And also, I would say that it's important that we continue to raise our

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voices around these issues and issues elsewhere in the world, right? Like we, if we look at

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the African continent, we look at the Congo, we look at what's happening in Sudan, all

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of these places. These things happen every single day to mothers, to children, to whole

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communities being wiped out. There's genocide in Africa and on the African continent that's

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happening. And so I think these, these issues are important right now. We know that this

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is a hot spot in the world. The Middle East, it always has been. I'm a woman of a certain

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age and ever since I was young and can watch the news and read the newspaper, this is not

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a new story being told, right. And, and so we just, we have to get to a point where we're

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actually doing something and we are valuing human beings' lives. And if I think we center

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ourselves in that, in the hope of acknowledging and understanding that people, like we're

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all human beings, then maybe we can move towards something. But until we stop looking at land

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and ownership of things, it's going to be hard to do that around the world. And I think

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land has been an issue since the beginning of time. So I'll leave it there. But I am,

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I wish I was able to meet that dad. I wish I, watching that video, I just wanted to go

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and hug his neck and say, I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. So much pride

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there.

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Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. And I think what more could we want as parents for our

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children to live out the values that we've brought them up with and to do so bravely

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and fiercely. Yeah, I think there's different, there are different ways to advocate for sure.

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I think just to see your children speak up, I think that's always, yeah, it feels good.

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It feels good as a parent.

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Yeah. And a lot of times they learn that from us, from watching us in community and, right,

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and read their examples and they watch us and like, I can do that too. Yeah, maybe I

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can do that too.

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Right. Right. Yeah. I mean, you know that in my local community, I'm pretty public.

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I speak out quite a bit around like education issues. I've had my son there in the room

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with me or watching on zoom. And usually before I go, I'll tell him, like, I'm going to go,

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I'm going to talk at the board meeting, or I'm going to mention your name or today I

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talked about you, right? Like all of the advocacy I do, I do with him in mind, even though he

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might not be impacted by the issue, it's him in the community that surrounds him, right?

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And that that's really important for me to be able to show that. And this last month,

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I mean, May 1st today as we're meeting, but in April at the last board meeting, I talked

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about language justice. I've been advocating around language justice for my school community

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for a while. If you know me, it's been a while. And one of the things that I did this time

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is I gave my comment completely in Spanish and had no intent of translating it or wondered

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if they would interpret, right? That things are a little tense on the school board right

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now. But I gave my three minutes in Spanish as I was listing out what language justice

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would look like in the district, asking for an expansion of our interpretation and translation

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department. And I said, you know, this this day last year, I asked for these things and

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I'm back again, right? And when emails go unresponded, or there's no action over like

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a year's time like this, for some of us, the only place is the public square. And so you

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know, I got on the agenda that way. And my comment was not interpreted. And then there

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was a Spanish speaking parent after me that spoke on another issue, and they received

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interpretation. And there was a board member, right, right. There was a board member that

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then looked at her fellow board and looked at her board president and said, Why didn't

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she pointing to me in the audience? Why didn't she get the same interpretation? I didn't

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understand anything of what she was saying. And so they had a debate from the board around

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who gets interpretation, who doesn't, they then asked me to send them the translated

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message. And it was it was just so interesting for me to watch their Spanish speaking folks

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in the audience, we had a good conversation around it after and I went to a meeting yesterday,

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a school meeting on equity and anti racism. And a few folks showed me from the district,

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look, I've been translating these things, I want you to know that I trans we saw your

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comment. And someone else said, I want you to know, like, we had all these slides translated,

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we didn't know if there were going to be any Spanish speakers. And I just had that moment

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of like, it's working, right? Like no one told him to do it, right? This definitely

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wasn't a directive from the district. But people were watching. And this is why you

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engage in that space, right? And you know, someone said, like, someday, this won't be

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a thing we have to think about. It'll just be the culture. But like, thank you for doing

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that. Right. And I just think it was so amazing, though. But like, for parents who are like

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pushing, I think it's important to say like, keep pushing. I always talk about like, I'm

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the pebble in like the shoes of these board members, I'm just gonna keep bugging until

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they take off their shoe. And they're like, fine, let's do something about this. Right.

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And like, I do it as lovingly as possible in the only way I can. But we can't give up,

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you know, we and this is still not what I've asked for. Right. But I think little by little,

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those who are watching the community will begin to shift this culture. But, you know,

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again, like, as soon as I heard that happen, I came home and I told my kid, I was like,

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yes, this is what I heard. Right. So like, for him to see like the process or progress.

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Right. Yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. I just can't get over the blatant disregard for like,

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here's this parent and certainly they know you and they know like, you become that parent,

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right? That they fear that that's the troublemaker or disruptor, right? So they're like, we know

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she knows how to speak English, right? Oh, for sure. I'm going to tell you, like, they

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were like, this is what they were thinking. I'm making a lot of assumptions, but I bet

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I'm pretty close. And the blatant disregard for not even like having what you said interpreted

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for others is so, so interesting. So interesting. But you did what you needed to do and stuff

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is happening. I think also sometimes people just need to hear it because sometimes they

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don't know what they don't know. Right? Like it's not as obvious to people what to do.

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You know, I had a friend one time make an assumption that I knew how to do some things

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like, well, I thought you, everybody should just know how to do that. They felt like I

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wasn't showing up for them in a certain way. And during a rough time. And I was like, I

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am not a mind reader and I'm like, I only can pull from my experience. And maybe what

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I need is not the same thing that you need. And so if you need something from me, just

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tell me, because I don't know what I don't know. Right? Like, please don't make assumptions

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about what you think I know. Right? And so I think that that showed you that some of

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these people just needed to hear it. Like, tell us what to do. We'll do our best, right?

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To do it. And then there are the others that are like, I still don't care. Right? Right?

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And those are the folks that are going to have to change hearts and minds if they really

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want to want to help children and to be the educators and the administrators that we need

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for our communities. That's so interesting. And that was during public comment at a board

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of ed meeting, a school board meeting. Right. Yeah. Yeah. We're still getting there. We're

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getting there. We'll get there eventually. So, you know, I wonder, I'm not sure how many

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school board meetings are left in the school year, but I know that, you know, we're not

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quite there. Some parts of the country, they're moving along to the close. I'm pretty sure

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in the South, May is kind of like we're out of school almost. And then maybe in other

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parts of the country. I wonder what are the conversations that parents are having, right?

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With their children, with the teachers, with the administrators. I remember something I

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used to do, and this is probably bored. I would love to hear your ideas on it. But I

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came to know after many years, so I have four children, they're all adults now. But, you

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know, I've been around the block a few times with teachers. I can't imagine, you can imagine

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how many teachers we had and all the things. And, you know, you buy teacher gifts and they

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get mugs and, you know, you give them a gift card or the kid makes them flowers, whatever.

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There's lots of things that I've seen happen over the years. But one thing I started doing,

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because I asked the principal one time, I said, I want to do something for the teachers,

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but I want to do something different because I'm pretty sure they're tired of all these

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mugs that we're giving them. How many mugs can they have? And this was an elementary

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school teacher, I mean, principal. And she said to me, write them a letter. Write a letter.

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Thank them. She said, or even write, write a letter and give me a copy so that they know

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that their boss is seeing what you're saying, the good about them and how their interaction

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with their child might have helped or changed their life. And so that's what I started doing

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with all the teachers. I would write them letters at the end of the school year and

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thank them and like go back and think about some of the things that I know happened for

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my child because that teacher did it, right? Because they were patient and they were patient

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in a way that helped my child to blossom in this area. Or some of the little idiosyncrasies

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our children have, like, I know they like to tap their foot. Thank you for your patience,

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helping us have strategies that... And I'm going to tell you, one of the teachers, they

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all, I'm going to tell you, not one of them did not like the letters. I never heard a

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teacher say, I wish you had given me a gift card. They all liked the letters. And then

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my, when my oldest son graduated from high school, I wrote letters to all the teachers

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I can remember. And I told them they all had a hand in helping him to graduate. I wrote

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it to the principals. I was just writing letters. And then I stopped writing the letters when

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the other kids got older. I just did cards, like, thank you for helping them achieve this.

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I think that's just something to do. That's the conversation that I like to have with

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parents. And I think there are different conversations that might be happening. There might be conversations

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around, hey, can I give you some feedback as a teacher? Because sometimes it becomes

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combative where we're like, you're just not responding to my child's needs. But maybe

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on the way out, you give them something, right? Like, hey, here's a thank you. One thing I

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like that you did. One thing I would do different to the teachers. What other kinds of conversations

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do you think are happening during this end of the school year time? Or what kind of conversation

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should be happening?

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Yeah, I mean, this, this is also testing time, right, for a lot of our school districts.

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And I think this is a good time for mental health conversations with administrators.

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And certainly, this is a conversation that we have had as parents of a student that's

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about to go through testing. This reminder of like, those tests do not define you. These

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tests are about how they're teaching you, but it's not it has nothing to do with you,

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whether you do well or you don't do well. It has no bearing on how we see you, right?

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We love you, very stressed, you know, all of these things. And I think I'm finally starting

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to see schools communicate the same thing. We had a letter from our principal that said

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almost the same type of message, right to talk to our students and to let them know

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that, you know, if they need certain like strategies to get ready, but that this isn't

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the most important thing. And I really appreciated that because that is that is a philosophy

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that I hold around tests specifically. They're only meant for certain type of students and

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has nothing to do with really tracking proficiency. And so, you know, we've had those conversations,

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but I'm glad to see administrators are having those conversations. And really the mental

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health for our teachers and staff also, you know, people don't talk about like how students

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right now are also like all over the place emotionally as they're closing out the year.

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That has an impact on classroom environment. That has an impact on teachers who have done

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really well all year, but now students are just like kids are just everywhere emotionally,

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right? It's like a roller coaster these last couple of months. And I think, you know, we

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have to be really extra thankful and grateful that teachers are holding it together and

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staff are holding it together. And so I, you know, I think that's one of the things I try

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to communicate and I haven't done the letters. I love the letters idea. I think that's something

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I'm going to try doing this year. What we usually do is I talk to Logan like who is

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the teacher or who are the teachers that made a difference for you. And let's get something

393
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:43,400
together, right? Whether it's like one chocolate bar because it's like his teacher's favorite

394
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:48,600
chocolate bar snickers, right? But that it's something from him and that he really thinks

395
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:53,960
intentionally, right? About what his teacher's doing.

396
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:54,960
I love that.

397
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:59,360
One of the, I'm just going to go kind of dark. So I'm sorry if I'm going to go there, but

398
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:06,560
one of the recent conversations I had with a former teacher now retired that has made

399
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:11,000
me really think of teachers differently since we had this conversation almost a month ago

400
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:17,600
was you know, as we begin the year again, you know, we're talking about sort of like

401
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:22,640
August when we go back, we were sharing how we always have the active shooter conversations

402
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:30,520
of family. And she shared how that's a conversation that teachers have amongst themselves and

403
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:38,480
that the unspoken thing though in those conversations is this expectation that teachers are the

404
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:45,960
protectors of our children, right? That their bodies are meant for not just teaching our

405
00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:50,520
children, but their bodies are meant to protect the lives of our children.

406
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:51,660
Wow.

407
00:41:51,660 --> 00:41:56,360
And I had never, I had never really thought of it. I've never heard that from a teacher,

408
00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:03,280
first of all. And it made me, it made me appreciate them in such a different way because she's

409
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:08,640
right. We don't talk about the expectation that they need to protect their children.

410
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:16,400
Right. And so I have felt so much gratitude for our educators because it's not just that

411
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:23,520
they're educating our students, but they go in there knowing every school year that when

412
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:30,940
the worst happens, right, they are meant to guard our children. And I think as I'm going

413
00:42:30,940 --> 00:42:37,800
into like teacher appreciation week, it's just, it's a heavier feeling for me. It's

414
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:43,320
not just, you know, yes, they're there to teach my children, but it's also an appreciation

415
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:50,560
that they're every day putting their life on the line for our kids. Cause that's America

416
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:55,600
today, right? Unfortunately that is America today. So yeah, I'm definitely feeling something

417
00:42:55,600 --> 00:43:03,280
different this year as I go into this appreciation space.

418
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:12,680
Thank you for sharing that. I don't have children in schools, you know, K through 12 anymore.

419
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:19,720
So that's not so apparent for me in that way. What I can tell you, as I got chills as you

420
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:25,920
were sharing that there are two things. So one, anytime we have this conversation, I

421
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:31,840
can't not say this person's name because I'd like to honor her life every time I can. And

422
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:37,080
so I'm going to speak the name of Lauren Russo, who was a teacher who was killed in Sandy

423
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:44,000
Hook, who I knew well, who was a beautiful human being. And her dream was to be a teacher.

424
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:50,040
I met her when she was a barista at Starbucks. And I remember when she was in school and

425
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:57,160
I remember when she finally got that assignment to go be a teacher in school. And so I'm just

426
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:04,480
going to say her name and honor her because she did put her life on the line for children.

427
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:13,240
And we don't think about that often enough that they're there to teach, but they're also

428
00:44:13,240 --> 00:44:21,520
there to protect as well. And we don't see them as a first responder at all. We don't

429
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:29,680
see them as we see police officers who are protecting and serving. And so I'm so appreciative

430
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:35,160
of you bringing that today. And I hope that when others hear this podcast, that they're

431
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:42,440
able to think a little differently about teachers as well. Yeah, I think that's all. I was going

432
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,360
to say something else. I think that's it. And we're going to keep, I'm just going to

433
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:51,560
leave it right there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think as we're like ending the close of

434
00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:56,360
our time, we can definitely end this in like a celebratory, like, yes, let's celebrate

435
00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:03,920
teachers. I know it just got a little like heavy. It's okay. It's real. This is real.

436
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:08,240
But it's also like a time of celebration, right Malvette? Like what are the things that

437
00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:15,400
we celebrate? It is. So I also, I'm just pulling it out there. So I do have loved ones who

438
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:23,880
work in schools. My daughter in love is a teacher and I know she's always so excited

439
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:27,880
at the end of the year, right? Looking at her students and how they're progressing and

440
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:31,420
you know, a lot of stuff is confidential. She doesn't share that, but she just has such

441
00:45:31,420 --> 00:45:39,360
joy in the work. But there are lots of folks out there who are graduating, both students

442
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:45,800
who are, you know, graduating, but also just moving up to the next grade. And there are

443
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:51,880
a lot of parents who are graduating too, who are going through their own journey of, you

444
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:58,240
know, completing school or getting a certification or even embarking on a new dream, like entrepreneurship.

445
00:45:58,240 --> 00:46:03,080
Like there are people who are saying, making a decision. Now that my child has graduated

446
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:07,280
high school and they're in college, or maybe my college student is off on, I'm going to

447
00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:11,160
now pick up the dream that I wanted. I'm going to become an entrepreneur. I'm going to start

448
00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:15,760
a business. I'm going to do a new thing. I'm going to be a social influencer, whatever

449
00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:21,720
it is. I think that in this season of spring, of, you know, new life that springs forth

450
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:26,200
as we look around, I think that there are a lot of things that parents, that we should

451
00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:31,280
be celebrating about how parents are moving up and doing things as well as their kids.

452
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:33,480
I don't know.

453
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:40,480
Yeah. Yeah. I, that's beautiful. And I'm also celebrating parents who, you know, through

454
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:48,080
these last 12 years of, or more, right, of public school. And let's add like preschool

455
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:54,240
and all of that, that you've like made it and whatever, wherever your kiddo goes next,

456
00:46:54,240 --> 00:46:57,920
right? There's always like this conversation. There's that question, like what's happening

457
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:02,800
next? Where's your kid going next? Let's, can we just like celebrate that we have made

458
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:11,600
it right to this moment in whatever capacity, you know, we have like brought our children

459
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:16,520
to like this finish line. And I think sometimes as parents, you just need to sort of like

460
00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:24,440
take that in and like appreciate all of that hard work that parents put in and that our

461
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:29,240
young ones put in also, it's not just parents. And of course we do this with the help of

462
00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:35,080
like counselors and teachers. But I think if you're a parent that is here and your child

463
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:40,800
is graduating high school or college, like celebrate yourself. Just take a moment, whatever

464
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:47,200
that means for you. But I'm celebrating parents who have made it, have made it to like high

465
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:49,400
school graduations right now.

466
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:55,520
Yes. I mean, because let's just be clear. The graduation is about the student, but it

467
00:47:55,520 --> 00:48:01,640
really is about that parent. It's about us too. It's about us. Yeah. It's about us.

468
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:06,480
For sure. Yeah. So we're like, we're in May now. So we're like, what's next? What's coming

469
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:07,480
up?

470
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:13,000
Yeah, I think, you know, you and I are traveling for different things. We want to hear about

471
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:20,960
your new job for the next podcast. So that we can make that like a little bit more official.

472
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:25,240
But I think there'll be some things, right? We're taking parents to DC in May. So I want

473
00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:31,480
to be able to talk about like that experience. But I just want to say thank you, Movet, for

474
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:37,320
this like wonderful conversation for letting me go all over the place with it. I always

475
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:38,320
appreciate it.

476
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:46,160
I love our time together where we can just chop it up. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. So until

477
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:47,160
next time.

478
00:48:47,160 --> 00:49:09,480
All right. Till next time.