1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 Welcome to the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education podcast, the space where education 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:12,080 meets resilience. I'm Joey Weisler, and in each episode, we dive deep into the personal stories 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:19,120 of educators, students, leaders, and frontline advocates who are navigating the complexities 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:24,800 of modern education. Whether you're just starting your teaching journey, or are a seasoned 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:31,040 professional looking for inspiration, we'll explore how to foster meaningful change, prevent burnout, 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:36,080 and build trauma-informed communities in our schools. Now, let's take a seat at the front 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:42,880 of the classroom and get started. Welcome back everyone to a very powerful episode here on our 8 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,680 podcast. Today I have the privilege to be joined with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School English 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:53,840 teacher and yearbook advisor, Sarah Lerner. I asked Sarah to join me so she can speak about 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:01:00,320 "Parkland Speaks". And "Parkland Speaks" is an anthology which Sarah edited within the year of the Parkland 11 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:06,320 tragedy, and it succeeds in portraying the raw emotions of those within the school community 12 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:13,280 through narrative, poetry, photography, and even political speeches. And in the immediate aftermath 13 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:19,600 of Parkland, I remember feeling voiceless in the sense of I wanted to participate in the activism, 14 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:27,600 especially through writing, but I didn't quite know how or when and for who. And when I came across 15 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:33,920 "Parkland Speaks", I felt a connection to the contributors ranging from students to faculty 16 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:39,120 and knew that I could honor their works by presenting the text to my first semester freshman 17 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:45,040 enrolled in my college humanities course. And many of the students who are taking my college course 18 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:50,800 are already navigating the complex emotions during their first semester of college. And when they 19 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:56,080 read this text, they may not have had the same encounters of violence that the "Parkland Speaks" 20 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:02,080 contributors are responding to, but there is still a connection that happens in seeing my students 21 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:08,160 empathize with those community members who are in this anthology articulating the hardest moments 22 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,200 in their lives. So Sarah, I wanted to begin by thanking you for this text as it lives greatly 23 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,320 within my classes, and I'm anxious to talk about the impact this work has had on others as well. 24 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,600 So thank you for being here and welcome, Sarah. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited. 25 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,520 Such a pleasure. So Sarah, tell us a little bit about "Parkland Speaks". What is this text? What has 26 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:35,120 it accomplished for the contributors and the community? And how did you conceive this text? 27 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,440 When was the moment when you came together with a group of people and said, 'let's make this happen'? 28 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:47,520 I, well, first I want to thank you for using this in your class and for hyping it up so much. I knew 29 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:54,720 that the book would have a profound effect on anyone who picked it up, because if you have a 30 00:02:54,720 --> 00:03:01,520 pulse and a heartbeat, this should move you in some way. So I want to thank you for that. 31 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:13,920 As far as how this all started, in March of 2018, I was contacted by the senior editor at the time 32 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:21,920 of Random House Publishing, which is a division of Penguin Publishing. And she reached out and 33 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:30,640 asked if I would be interested in collaborating on a project where I would collect student 34 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:38,080 work. And this was more of an anthology piece. So she was looking for artwork, photography, 35 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:45,920 poetry, prose, speeches, really anything in that kind of creative writing space. 36 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:56,160 And she asked if I had students I thought would be interested, which of course I did. And once I had 37 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:04,080 all the specifics from her, I approached the students. So I started with my yearbook and 38 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:13,120 journalism students first and my seniors from English. And then I opened it up to Stacey Lippel's 39 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:20,720 creative writing students, Melissa Falkowski, the newspaper advisor, her students, both in newspaper 40 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:29,760 and her advanced creative writing classes. And it turned out to total about 43 contributors, 41 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:40,560 including two pieces from myself and two pieces from two different educators at school. And it's 42 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:47,360 a very, very heavy read. I do not recommend reading it straight through in one sitting. 43 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:54,000 I have never sat down to read it straight through in one sitting. And I edited every single piece 44 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:00,880 and read them over and over and over again. So the work contained within "Parkland Speaks" 45 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:10,640 is the story of what happened to us from different perspectives and different modes and medium, 46 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:17,440 medium, because we have artwork, we have photography, we have firsthand accounts from students 47 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:23,840 who were in that building. We have Stacey Lippel's congressional testimony. We have 48 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:31,600 part of the 'We Call BS' speech that Emma Gonzales made. We have so many different things, which I 49 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:38,400 think is what makes the book unique. On top of that, there was nothing like this that existed 50 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:47,280 prior to Parkland Speaks. Like there was no other book from Columbine or Sandy Hook or any of the 51 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:56,000 schools that came before us, we as a MSD school and community could turn to, to read those stories 52 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:02,480 and hear those narratives, which is something that I'm so proud of. And I hope that the book 53 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:09,360 has helped people not just to see what we went through and what we experienced, but to help them 54 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:17,600 through their own trauma and to help them have a better understanding about what happens when there 55 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:27,440 is a mass casualty. And honestly, if you took out Parkland and you put any other city in the title, 56 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:34,320 it all rings true. One of my very, very best friends is Abby Clements, who is a survivor teacher 57 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:41,840 from Sandy Hook. I am incredibly close with Amy Stevens, who is a survivor teacher from Oxford 58 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:51,040 High School in Oxford, Michigan, and people in between our three tragedies. It's really just 59 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,960 insert city here and all of our stories are the same. I wanted to echo that. I've also been reading 60 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:03,040 with my class on the composition of activism. They read a text called "Parkland" by David Cullen. 61 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:08,240 And what Cullen says is that we had this, as he phrases it, this perfect storm of events that 62 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:14,480 happened here in Parkland, because at Columbine, we didn't have the capacity to mobilize through 63 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,320 social media and means of that nature back in 1999. With Sandy Hook, the students themselves 64 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:26,800 were too young. The parents did incredible efforts. But Parkland, as he says, is the first time we 65 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:33,280 actually hear from who he coins to be the targets themselves and hearing their stories. And I also 66 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:39,600 echo that I just recently reread creative writing instructor Stacey Lippel's congressional testimony 67 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,480 called 'Nothing Bad Ever Happens in Parkland', very recently from my own classes and from my dissertation. 68 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,720 And what Stacey does is that she uses the repetition of that line, 'nothing bad ever 69 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,520 happens in Parkland...nothing bad ever happens in Parkland'. And in between that repetition, 70 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:01,040 she is showing how she saw carnage in front of her face with her next door teacher neighbor, 71 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:06,240 with her own students, and to herself when she was also grazed. But she says, 'nothing bad ever 72 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:12,160 happens in Parkland'. When she heard a sound, she said, it could have been fireworks, it could have 73 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:19,120 been desks falling. That's reality. To say it was gunshots is unreal, because nothing bad ever happens 74 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:24,480 in Parkland. That stuck with me. And I wanted to ask Sarah, when we think about the different 75 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:30,400 narratives that are within "Parkland Speaks", what are some of the ones that still stick with you 76 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:37,360 so poignantly? Definitely Stacey's congressional testimony. There was a piece that Kat Tibbetts 77 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:44,160 wrote with his like inmate number. And it's a long string of numbers and letters, and I can't 78 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:51,440 remember what they are. But that piece stuck with me, because at the end of it, she repeats like, 79 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:57,120 'you don't exist, you don't exist, you don't exist'. I mean, there's just so many, like we have 80 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:04,320 photographs that Kyra Parrow took, and she was a senior that year, she was on my yearbook staff. 81 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:13,200 There's so many pieces in this book, it's hard to isolate what really stands out the most. 82 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,920 I just think it was so incredibly brave. And anytime I've talked about the book in TV 83 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:28,000 interviews, or even we did an episode of it on the podcast that I host, and anytime I've talked 84 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:37,040 about the book, I always say how honored and in awe I was and am of these contributors, that they 85 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:45,440 trusted me with something so raw, and so personal and so intimate of theirs, and trusted me to do 86 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:53,600 right by them and edit it in a way that didn't change the meaning behind what they experienced, 87 00:09:53,600 --> 00:10:01,280 and that Random House trusted me to put this together to honor our experience. 88 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:06,240 And I think what Sarah also emphasizes is that the purpose of her anthology is to share hope. 89 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:12,160 And when I share this with my first year freshman students in college, they look at these stories. 90 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:16,000 One that also comes to mind because we talked about it a week ago is called 'Life's Test'. 91 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:22,320 And 'Life's Test' is when these students say, our test was the final, hinting back to that event. 92 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:27,760 There's also one called 'The Words', where the student cannot find the actual words to speak 93 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:34,080 through the event, but in writing it out, there's some element of closure that comes alongside that. 94 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,200 There's another really powerful piece juxtaposed from the same author called 'Rainbow' and 'Black 95 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,720 Bullets', where 'Rainbow' was written an hour before this tragedy happened in the class period before, 96 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,560 where this person is looking for the best shade of love for Valentine's Day. 97 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:55,040 And her whole perspective on what love indicated to her changes with her follow-up piece shortly 98 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:00,960 after, called 'Black Bullets'. As someone who has been both personally and professionally involved 99 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,920 with trauma recovery after Parkland, what is a message that you would want to send based upon 100 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:11,440 our dialogue tonight to other teachers, students, and policymakers about the importance of having 101 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:18,480 trauma-informed education in our classrooms and as a whole? I think it's incredibly important to have 102 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:25,600 a strong support system, whether it be for your students, whether it be their parents, their 103 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:32,560 friends, a significant other, extended family. If you're married, if you have children who are 104 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:39,360 old enough to engage in these conversations with you, it's just so, so important to have 105 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:48,240 that support system. Outside of that, I have always been an advocate of therapy and taking care of 106 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:56,800 your mental health. I think it's important for schools and school districts, school systems, 107 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:04,880 to have people in place who are trauma-informed. You can't counsel people who have been through 108 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:15,680 a traumatic event if you are not trauma-informed to counsel people. And I think that outside of 109 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:21,840 all of that, self-care, and I know people hate that phrase and it can be so cheesy, 110 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:29,200 but self-care is important and taking time to do things that center you and ground you, 111 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:36,880 whether that's yoga, meditation, something a little more aesthetic like getting your nails done or, 112 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:44,480 you know, going for a massage, like those things, if it makes you happy and it makes you feel good, 113 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:53,840 do it. I think for policymakers and whether they are elected officials or school board members or 114 00:12:53,840 --> 00:13:06,240 anyone who is above my pay grade, it's really important to not only talk to survivors of a 115 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:16,480 of a tragedy, but listen to them. Ask them what they need and listen. And if they don't know what 116 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:22,720 they need, because half the time, more than half the time, almost seven years later, I still don't 117 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:32,720 always know what I need. But if I don't know, ask me again. Not in like five minutes, but, you know, 118 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:40,000 circle back and check in because when people in positions of power just make these blanket 119 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:46,960 decisions and have these knee-jerk reactions, as well intentioned as they may be, it's not a one 120 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:56,320 size fits all. Trauma and healing aren't linear. And what worked at Columbine wouldn't necessarily 121 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:04,400 work all those years later at my school at Stoneman Douglas. What worked for us may not have 122 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:13,680 worked at Oxford High School a few years after us. And when you need someone to be trauma informed, 123 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:24,000 you can't look at all tragedies and PTSD and anxiety the same. So anyone in a position of power 124 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:33,680 who's listening or otherwise really needs to sit with those who were directly impacted and allow 125 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:41,760 them to help write your policies, guide you as you are making these decisions. Because unless you've 126 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:47,280 been through something like this, you don't know what it's like and you don't know what the people 127 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:54,000 need, but the people in it don't know what they need. So it's kind of the blind leading the blind, 128 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:01,840 but one side has to be able to see well enough to guide. I echo Sarah that much like 'Parkland 129 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaks', the purpose of the 'Classroom Narratives Healing In Education' podcast that we're all 130 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:12,080 a part of tonight, and Sarah, I'm so glad that you're here, is to again mobilize conversation that 131 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:18,160 amplifies light and hope to the audiences that we want to reach. So 'Parkland Speaks' and this podcast 132 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:23,040 have that exact same goal. And in doing so, Sarah and I would probably both agree that the most 133 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:29,680 important thing that our work can do for anyone who is in the system, especially for those in power, 134 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:35,200 is to just start talking, start having those conversations. Don't be afraid to, or rather, 135 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:40,800 as Brene Brown would say, have the courage to be vulnerable. And by being vulnerable, that gives you 136 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,760 a space to listen and make things better for the people around you. And before we wrap up, I wanted 137 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,560 to ask Sarah, there's any organizations, I know you have your own, the "Teachers Unified to End Gun 138 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,120 Violence". Are there any organizations that we can talk about real quick for our audiences to follow 139 00:15:55,120 --> 00:16:00,560 up with? Yeah, I would love to talk to you about Teachers Unified to End Gun Violence. It was 140 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:09,360 co-founded very shortly after the shooting at Oxford High School, co-founded by me and Abby 141 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:15,920 Clements, who I mentioned earlier, and Sari Beth Rosenberg, who is a teacher in New York City. And 142 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:23,360 while Sari thankfully is not a gun violence or school shooting survivor, both Abby and I are. 143 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:33,760 And from this little group chat where we were just fed up with everything and so incensed after the 144 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:43,200 Oxford High School shooting, it has grown into a network of over 15,000 advocates and activists, 145 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:50,560 and we have ambassadors. It's really just something to give that teacher voice, because 146 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:58,960 in all of the conversations about gun violence and school shootings, there was never a teacher voice, 147 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:06,160 regardless of whether it's a school shooting or community gun violence, domestic violence, any kind 148 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:15,200 of anything, the kids are bringing this baggage in with them. And we as the teachers are going 149 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:22,880 through the trauma in a tangential way with these kids, because we listen to the stories, we wipe 150 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:29,840 their tears, we give them hugs. They sit with us at lunch when they don't feel comfortable sitting 151 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:38,000 in the cafeteria. We are with them oftentimes more hours a day than their own parents. And no one 152 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:46,640 looked for that teacher voice. And with all of the other outstanding gun violence organizations, 153 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:53,840 there was nothing for teachers. And I'm so incredibly proud of the work that we've done 154 00:17:53,840 --> 00:18:00,960 and the podcast that I mentioned earlier that I host is the Teachers Unified podcast. And 155 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:07,760 it's fun tonight being on this end of the mic. I'm usually, I'm the one asking the questions, 156 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:15,040 but I enjoy it because I get to talk about something about which I'm passionate and use 157 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:22,240 my journalism skills. And it incorporates all of the things that mean a lot to me. 158 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:32,320 And I get to work alongside Abby and Sari, who are just two outstanding women. We're out here 159 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:39,120 doing all the heavy lifting. So it's nice to have such a network of both current and former 160 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:46,640 educators and allies who see the value in what we're doing and support us. 161 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:51,440 I believe that Sarah presents a very important point that educators need to step back in to 162 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:57,120 acknowledge that we are the ones doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to being on the 163 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:03,760 front lines of students' emotions in our classrooms. And it makes me question who's checking in on us. 164 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:09,520 And I wanted to take a moment as we come to our conclusion here to really acknowledge and celebrate 165 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:15,280 the work that Sarah has done in enabling teachers to get the check-ins that they deserve. Because 166 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:21,040 remember, the more we support one another, the more we will be able to succeed in humanizing 167 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:27,120 education. Thank you for joining us on the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education podcast. 168 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:31,680 If today's episode inspired you or made you think differently, I'd love to hear from you. 169 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:38,320 Drop a comment or review wherever you listen to podcasts and stay connected with us on the 170 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:44,320 at Classroom Narratives podcast over Instagram and Facebook. Remember, together we can transform 171 00:19:44,320 --> 00:20:02,240 our scars into stars in education, one conversation at a time.