WEBVTT 00:00:03.950 --> 00:00:07.769 Welcome back to Let's Talk HCS. I'm Justin Robertson, 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:09.910 Superintendent, Hamilton County Schools. I'm 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:13.310 really excited about this episode. So when we 00:00:13.310 --> 00:00:15.750 talk about school, we talk about academic press 00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:18.890 and personalization. We'll get to academic press 00:00:18.890 --> 00:00:21.410 later, and I know that sounds odd that we would 00:00:21.410 --> 00:00:23.649 go straight to personalization, but we really 00:00:23.649 --> 00:00:28.030 feel like personalization is the foundation of 00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:31.230 what creates academic success. And so we're going 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:33.840 to start. talking about what it means for us 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:38.200 to create connections for kids, to create environments 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.619 where they feel a sense of belonging and that 00:00:41.619 --> 00:00:43.700 they're valued. We're going to hear from school 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:47.039 leaders at Clifton Hills Elementary and Hickson 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.960 High School, schools that are investing time 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:54.460 and personalization and where we see great academic 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:57.409 outcomes as a result. Afterwards, we're going 00:00:57.409 --> 00:00:59.189 to have a discussion with our school board chair, 00:00:59.350 --> 00:01:01.950 Joe Smith, and our vice chair, Pritza Mosley 00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:05.030 -Jones, about why this is something we believe 00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:07.750 is important for students in Hamilton County. 00:01:09.010 --> 00:01:12.349 As we go right into this, we wanted to come to 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:16.909 a place that I believe has really lived by this 00:01:16.909 --> 00:01:19.769 mantra for a really long time. And so we're here. 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:24.230 at Clifton Hills Elementary that has really led 00:01:24.230 --> 00:01:27.170 the way in personalization for kids. And it's 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:29.269 been under the leadership of Lindsay Starnes. 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:31.269 Lindsay, you've been here how long now? Nine 00:01:31.269 --> 00:01:33.709 years. Nine years. Nine years. Clifton Hills 00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:35.569 is a very different place now than it was nine 00:01:35.569 --> 00:01:37.849 years ago. Talk to us a little bit about your 00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:40.129 nine years and maybe introduce who you've got 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:43.489 with us. So I've got Rachel Shuford. She's a 00:01:43.489 --> 00:01:45.530 fourth grade teacher. And I've got Sarah Mason, 00:01:45.689 --> 00:01:48.219 who's a third grade teacher. They're here to 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:50.920 help today, but they do a really good job with 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:53.840 the personalization aspect in their classrooms. 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.040 And so I brought them along today. But yeah, 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:59.260 this makes my ninth year at Clifton Hills. And 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.480 when I first started at Clifton Hills, I was 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:04.959 actually a teacher here from 2004. Yeah, from 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:10.599 2004 to 2007, it was really different. Then just 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.849 the demographics have completely changed. in 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:20.110 that time period. But nine years ago, 2017, actually, 00:02:20.569 --> 00:02:24.009 you know, you and Jill Levine offered me the 00:02:24.009 --> 00:02:28.009 job. And so I remember getting a letter from 00:02:28.009 --> 00:02:31.030 the education commissioner basically saying Clicton 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:32.590 Hills was one of the lowest performing schools 00:02:32.590 --> 00:02:37.229 in the state. So we had a lot of work to do at 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:39.689 that time. We had been a priority school. We've 00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:44.750 been an ATSI school. But we've also gotten off 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:46.810 the priority list, have been a level five school 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:50.849 several years. And so I think it really just 00:02:50.849 --> 00:02:54.650 goes back to that personalization. That was really 00:02:54.650 --> 00:02:57.710 my purpose in getting started here at Clifton 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:01.370 Hills. My mentor, Sonia Goss, at the time, you 00:03:01.370 --> 00:03:03.030 know, was basically like, you've got to get the 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:05.310 climate and culture right first before you can 00:03:05.310 --> 00:03:09.389 worry about academics. And we started with the 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:13.000 house system. Nine years ago, I had gone to Ron 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.560 Clark previously, and I knew that's something 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.199 that I wanted to start. So I know several schools 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.919 in Hamilton County use the house system, but 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.520 I think we were the first in Hamilton County 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:27.259 to start the house system. It's become like more 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:30.240 people are doing it, but what is the house system? 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:32.639 Yeah, I'll let you all explain. Okay, yeah. So 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.520 every student is placed into a house, like they 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:39.300 spin a wheel. We have, we started, we only had... 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:41.810 four houses and our school has grown so much 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:44.770 we now have six houses. And it kind of makes 00:03:44.770 --> 00:03:47.569 just a smaller community inside of a big community. 00:03:48.449 --> 00:03:50.930 They have their own house colors. They have their 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:54.610 house mascot. They have a teacher on each team 00:03:54.610 --> 00:03:57.750 that is a representative of that house. So those 00:03:57.750 --> 00:04:00.729 students that aren't necessarily in your classroom 00:04:00.729 --> 00:04:03.490 will come to your room like once a month and 00:04:03.490 --> 00:04:06.349 you'll celebrate being a house. And the students 00:04:06.349 --> 00:04:11.210 can earn points. based on our Cubs commitment 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:14.289 on our rules. And if they're working hard, they're 00:04:14.289 --> 00:04:16.569 doing what they need to be doing, they can earn 00:04:16.569 --> 00:04:19.370 points. And whoever gets the most points can 00:04:19.370 --> 00:04:21.589 do a house party at the end of the month. And 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:24.589 they're K through five, right? Yes. What about 00:04:24.589 --> 00:04:27.550 the connections that creates for kids together? 00:04:28.189 --> 00:04:31.870 Yeah, I think we started it, you know, specific 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:33.889 grade levels were houses, but then we thought. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.500 This could be really powerful if we mix kids 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:39.439 and even let some of the older kids be mentors 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.839 to the younger kids. And so that's really... 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.519 Seems like every year it gets better and better 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.519 or like every year it's like, oh, let's change 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.160 this, you know, or let's change this. So, yeah, 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.699 I think we we started doing it, you know, specific 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:56.540 grade levels. But that's evolved over time to 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:58.980 where now it's like a mentorship and getting 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.420 to know people that aren't just necessarily your 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:03.620 grade level teachers. Yeah. And it also allows 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.379 teachers to know each other. And I think that's 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:07.199 part of it is we have a great culture between 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.660 teachers here. And it's not just incentives. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:11.879 Kids enjoy it and the teachers enjoy it. Like 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:13.779 we look forward to pep rallies and we all have 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:16.399 our gear and we're excited. And the kids see 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.360 us excited and they see us interacting with other 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:19.879 people in the school that we don't typically 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:22.240 interact with. And so that's a model for them 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.360 of how to treat each other as well. A little 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:28.879 competition there. The teachers are very competitive, 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:33.079 very competitive. So when it's pep rally day, 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.180 like everybody's all decked out. Because they 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:40.639 earn awards for pep rally day. So I've given 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.620 away like observation passes and they get really, 00:05:43.779 --> 00:05:46.459 yeah. It's really just, we also get a sticker 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:48.480 outside of our door that says like spirit award. 00:05:48.699 --> 00:05:50.579 And so even having that sticker, I mean, that 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:54.360 really is some motivation. It is. So one thing 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:56.759 that you said, and I don't want to skip over 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:58.839 it because I'll forget if I don't get right back 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:02.240 to this. Got a letter from the state. Yeah. Right 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.319 when you got here, you went through all the things, 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.550 which were listeners. Those are different levels 00:06:07.550 --> 00:06:10.589 of basically state intervention, right? And it's 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:13.910 about academic performance, not where we need 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:18.569 to be. Clifton Hills is no longer on any list. 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:24.930 But what we always talk about with schools is 00:06:24.930 --> 00:06:27.790 like improving achievement, right? Or kids actually 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.509 hitting the standard and then pairing that with 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:34.800 growth. Clifton Hills consistently over the past 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.600 three to five years has shown both. Does personalization 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.120 play a part of that? Yeah, I mean, I think I 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:43.860 learned something when I when I went to grad 00:06:43.860 --> 00:06:46.319 school is like one of the professors said, you've 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:48.500 got to have like one eye on academic achievement. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:50.639 You've got to have one eye on personalization 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.560 like they can't exist without the other. You 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:57.379 can't like favor one more than the other. It's 00:06:57.379 --> 00:07:00.079 got to be it's got to be equitable. And so I 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.870 think. You know, having that personalization 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:06.350 first where everybody, you know, feels like they're 00:07:06.350 --> 00:07:09.170 apart. You're establishing a culture leads to 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:12.990 having a culture of high expectations. And so 00:07:12.990 --> 00:07:15.629 I think it's just being really clear in everything 00:07:15.629 --> 00:07:18.870 that we do. Yes, we want we want to personalize 00:07:18.870 --> 00:07:21.209 school for kids, but we also want to hold kids 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:25.009 to high expectations. I think one of the things 00:07:25.009 --> 00:07:28.360 when I first started. As a principal, that I 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:30.420 said to every teacher is like, when I go into 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:33.779 classrooms, I think about my kids. Like, would 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:36.779 I put my kid, Lauren William, in your class? 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.439 And if I would not put Lauren William in this 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.220 class, then this is not the place for you. So 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:48.100 a few years ago, I brought William here to Clifton 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:52.600 Hills because what I saw in the classrooms, like, 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:55.279 it was rigorous. It was high expectations. It's 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.709 what I wanted for him. And he thrived here. I 00:07:58.709 --> 00:08:00.269 mean, the teachers were probably like, oh, I 00:08:00.269 --> 00:08:03.230 can't wait till he leaves. But, you know, he 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:05.629 had a great experience here. And so I think that's 00:08:05.629 --> 00:08:09.170 just having high expectations of like, what are 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:12.209 we providing kids with? What opportunities? But 00:08:12.209 --> 00:08:15.430 it also goes back to academics. Like we want 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:18.209 kids to be successful. You know, we want them 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.490 to be productive citizens. And so that's where 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:22.050 it goes hand in hand. You've got to have the 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:25.399 right culture, but you've also got to have. you 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:28.000 know, the academics piece to go with it in order 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.019 to meet those goals. And I think when you have 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.299 the right culture, it makes you want to have 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:35.659 high expectations. When you know and love each 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:38.139 kid individually, you want the best for them. 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:40.059 And so then you want to push them and you know 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:42.399 what they can do. Whereas if you're missing that 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.659 piece, then you may not know, oh, this student 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:46.740 can achieve more and you won't push them for 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:50.120 more. I think a huge thing, too, that Starnes 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:52.039 has done is just created such a good culture 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.460 with staff. So a lot of the staff here has been 00:08:55.460 --> 00:08:58.200 here. Like this is my eighth year here. This 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.860 is your fifth year here. So I've worked with 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.620 all these people for a long time and we care 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.960 deeply. So that adds to personalization here 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.799 too. Like we know these kids from other grades. 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:12.480 We know our friends taught them first grade. 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.139 We know our friend taught them third grade. So 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:17.240 I think that adds a lot to it that teachers want 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:19.039 to stay here because we have such good leadership 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.740 too. Do you feel pressure, though, in the classroom? 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:24.019 Like, I hear this a lot from people in the public 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:26.039 to be like, you know, y 'all have been on the 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:29.080 list. You're not on the list anymore. Pressure 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:31.700 to skip over the personalization and go right 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:35.960 to the academics? No. It's the fun part of teaching 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.500 for me. And it's like what makes teaching worth 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:41.440 it. And I'm someone that you hear a lot of negative 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.600 things about education. And I always tell people 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.139 I don't agree with a lot of it because I really 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:49.960 love my job. That's why I'm doing my job. It's 00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:55.600 because I love it. Sorry. It's time to do content. 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:58.919 No, I agree. And we do crew here every morning, 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.370 like morning meetings. And it's so important, 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:05.070 especially with students from different backgrounds, 00:10:05.350 --> 00:10:07.250 like it doesn't matter what your first language 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:10.769 was, where you're from or who you are. This is 00:10:10.769 --> 00:10:12.190 like the class that you're going to be learning 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:14.870 with all year. And you have to be able to talk 00:10:14.870 --> 00:10:17.350 to everybody and you have to be able to learn 00:10:17.350 --> 00:10:19.750 from everybody. So that's what we're doing right 00:10:19.750 --> 00:10:22.210 now at the start of the year. During morning 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:23.710 meeting, you're going to say good morning to 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:26.149 everyone and maybe find someone you don't normally 00:10:26.149 --> 00:10:28.690 talk to and ask them about their weekend. So 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:30.590 that when, you know, a few months from now we're 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:33.070 having them doing like major academic discourse, 00:10:33.169 --> 00:10:35.529 it doesn't matter if it's two kids that don't 00:10:35.529 --> 00:10:37.669 necessarily play on the playground. They'll still 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:40.169 talk to each other. And that's important. And 00:10:40.169 --> 00:10:42.309 so like I was in Shuford's classroom the other 00:10:42.309 --> 00:10:44.480 day and they had a beach ball. And they were, 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:46.460 you know, they had just switched classes because 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:48.840 she's departmentalized. So this was a new class 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.500 coming in. And so they were playing this game. 00:10:51.659 --> 00:10:53.419 It was like the name game, you know, because 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:56.100 we've got several new kids this year and kids 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:57.679 that are mixed up that haven't been in class 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.980 with each other. So taking that time, you know, 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:03.320 to learn and identify people's name and to speak 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.240 to them, like that's the expectation. Like we 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.799 speak to everybody. And I also think it helps 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:09.480 them get to know the teacher. I think that's 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:11.139 an important part of it is like we want to know 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:13.419 them, but I also want them to know me. And I 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:15.240 think that helps them feel comfortable to then, 00:11:15.299 --> 00:11:17.220 when we get to the academic discourse, they're 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.879 only going to talk to me if they trust me. That's 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:23.120 good. One of the things that y 'all will remember 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.000 this, about two years ago, we started talking 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.220 about the building at Clifton Hills. And, you 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:30.139 know, at that point, we were talking about adding 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.519 on to Eastside, adding on to Eastlake, closing 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.279 it. And you guys have talked about relationships 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:40.360 with kids. staff relationships, which obviously 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.419 we saw that come through in that conversation. 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.000 But when we brought that to the community, one 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.799 thing that I noticed is how deep the roots are 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.179 with Clifton Hills and your families, specifically 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:54.600 your Latino families. The trust is there. The 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.740 care is there. That doesn't just happen. There's 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:00.899 got to be some intentionality. What have you 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:04.200 all done to build those community relationships? 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.879 I think, you know, We look at data. So one of 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.419 the data points that we looked at over the years 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:15.220 was like chronic absenteeism. And really thinking 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:19.679 about, like, how do we improve chronic absenteeism? 00:12:19.779 --> 00:12:21.720 And so I know we're talking about families. So 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.799 one of the things that, you know, I told the 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.440 ILT team is like, think outside the box. You 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.779 know, we've got this strategic funding and we 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:32.240 can use it to meet the needs of the school. So 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.580 I'm like, how, like, what are the barriers for 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:37.639 families? So we really try to identify what are 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:40.759 the barriers for our families? What do they need? 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:44.279 How can school be sort of like a one -stop shop? 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.299 It's not just school. Like, how can we support 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.440 families? Because we know if families are supported, 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:53.960 then kids will be supported. So we talked about 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:56.940 one of the things was like, I wonder if we could 00:12:56.940 --> 00:13:00.700 provide a nurse practitioner. Because a lot of 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:04.669 our kids. did not have health insurance. And 00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:07.990 so just common childhood illnesses like strep 00:13:07.990 --> 00:13:10.809 throat, ear infection, they would miss five days 00:13:10.809 --> 00:13:13.070 because they would not go to the doctor just 00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:16.370 due to health insurance. And, you know, so we 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:20.070 talked about, you know, what would that be possible? 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:21.830 And you said to think outside the box. And so 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.309 when we brought it, you were like, let's do it. 00:13:24.389 --> 00:13:28.539 So we worked out a partnership where... Hamilton 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:31.539 County is paying for the nurse salary that they 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:32.919 would normally pay for, but then we're using 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:36.740 strategic funds for a nurse practitioner to pay 00:13:36.740 --> 00:13:40.639 for that additional cost. And so, you know, kids 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.759 this morning, families coming in the door, so 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.700 -and -so was running a fever over the weekend. 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.899 Can we have the nurse check them out? And so 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:51.159 families just feel comfortable coming to the 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:54.059 school like we are going to help you here. So 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:57.700 that's been huge. Adding the nurse practitioner, 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:00.700 like our chronic absenteeism has decreased tremendously. 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:03.480 And that's a really hard number to move. But 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.679 it's decreased tremendously over the year and 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:08.299 a half that we've had the nurse practitioner. 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:13.220 We also have a great social worker that also 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:17.519 speaks Spanish. And so families, if they have 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.259 a need, they come to the school. And that's because 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:23.539 they know that. We love them. We love their kids. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.259 And we will do anything that we can to try to 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:29.100 help them. So I think that plays a huge role 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.419 in that trust, just with families, just trying 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:33.059 to meet their needs here at the school. I agree. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.259 It's a safe place. And they know many adults 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:37.080 in the building. Like, it's not just that they 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:39.759 know me. They know our admin. They know our nurse. 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:41.259 They know the social worker. And I think that 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:43.279 makes a difference. In the five to eight years 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:45.759 y 'all have been here, have you seen it improve? 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:48.889 And what would you... Why would you say it's 00:14:48.889 --> 00:14:53.210 improved? We do a lot of like after school activity 00:14:53.210 --> 00:14:57.850 nights, too, that are catered for. And like was 00:14:57.850 --> 00:15:01.009 it Hispanic Heritage Month? And we invite families 00:15:01.009 --> 00:15:03.490 in and we provide dinner. And I mean, we'll see 00:15:03.490 --> 00:15:07.779 a huge turnout for those. And a lot of times, 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:10.740 too, you know, their siblings will go through 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:12.940 it. So you have some of the same parents that 00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:15.620 you've had in the past because of their siblings 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:18.259 coming through. And so you just kind of get to 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:21.360 know them. And we're so thankful for our translators 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.860 here, too, that work so well with these families 00:15:23.860 --> 00:15:26.159 and help the teachers so much when it comes to 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.919 communication. Yeah, I think if I had this one 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:31.850 family that I had both the sons. And in one of 00:15:31.850 --> 00:15:33.429 the parent -teacher conferences with the second 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:36.070 one, he got emotional and started crying. He 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:37.629 was like, I just, like, I'm so happy they're 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:39.769 safe and they're learning. And we had seen a 00:15:39.769 --> 00:15:42.049 lot of growth in one of the sons. And so, like, 00:15:42.110 --> 00:15:43.929 that has stepped with me. And it's, like, made 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:45.970 me want that piece of personalization now because 00:15:45.970 --> 00:15:49.269 it meant so much. And it's also, like, a community 00:15:49.269 --> 00:15:52.549 effort, you know, when we have these nights. 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:55.289 And, again, I think a lot of times we try not 00:15:55.289 --> 00:15:59.480 to focus on. oh, this is math night, this is 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.299 ELA night, or this is reading night or science 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:05.919 night, but really ask the parents, like, what 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:11.259 do you need? We've had, you know, sessions on 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:15.000 Tech Goes Home, but it was just in Spanish, you 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.559 know, for access to technology because we find 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:20.740 a lot of times, like, coming to register emails 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:22.879 and things like that, it makes it difficult. 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.080 So we really just try to ask parents, like, what 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:27.669 do you need? How can we provide that? And it's 00:16:27.669 --> 00:16:30.289 not necessarily just school -based. It's community 00:16:30.289 --> 00:16:32.649 organizations that help. I had a teacher yard 00:16:32.649 --> 00:16:35.289 sale a couple years ago, too. Teachers brought 00:16:35.289 --> 00:16:37.049 in things that, I mean, they were going to take 00:16:37.049 --> 00:16:39.090 to Goodwill anyways. And we did it in the gym, 00:16:39.190 --> 00:16:41.509 and the turnout was crazy, more than you ever 00:16:41.509 --> 00:16:43.649 expect at all. And it was fun because it wasn't 00:16:43.649 --> 00:16:45.250 just the parents. Like, high schoolers were looking 00:16:45.250 --> 00:16:46.830 through things. And I remember there was a high 00:16:46.830 --> 00:16:48.830 school girl, and she was so excited about it. 00:16:48.830 --> 00:16:51.090 It was like a shirt of one of my teammates. And 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:53.549 it's just, it was fun, definitely. Yeah, that's 00:16:53.549 --> 00:16:57.730 good. Thank you guys for joining us. What I will 00:16:57.730 --> 00:17:01.710 say about Clifton Hills is it's unique in its 00:17:01.710 --> 00:17:05.549 journey of going from a school that literally 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:09.609 was pretty close to state takeover. And within 00:17:09.609 --> 00:17:14.009 a five to seven year period now is not on any 00:17:14.009 --> 00:17:17.109 list that you're thriving academically. But more 00:17:17.109 --> 00:17:18.730 importantly, what we're talking about today is 00:17:18.730 --> 00:17:21.240 you guys have created. the conditions within 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.500 your school that not only allow kids to thrive, 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.480 but you're welcoming families and families that, 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.559 let's be honest, right now in Chattanooga don't 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:31.759 often feel welcome. And so I want to say thank 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.799 you for, Lindsay, what you've been doing, what 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.900 you guys have done to build those just deep relationships. 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:39.980 I love the story about the brothers. I've got 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:43.019 two older brothers. Unfortunately, I was at the 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:46.369 bottom, right? And they were better than I was. 00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:48.390 I was the one that the teachers didn't want to 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:51.109 see. But those family connections are big. So 00:17:51.109 --> 00:17:53.349 thank you for joining us today and what you're 00:17:53.349 --> 00:17:56.430 doing here at Clifton Hills to build really strong 00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:59.509 connections with kids. Yeah. Thank you for coming. 00:17:59.769 --> 00:18:06.799 Thank you. Welcome back to the podcast here at 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.599 Hickson High School. We intentionally wanted 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480 to come to Hickson because Hickson over the past 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.339 number of years has done an incredible job of 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:18.880 really holding true to our academic press and 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.299 personalization framework of making sure that 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:24.390 kids academically are moving in the right direction. 00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:26.609 But what we believe is the foundation of that 00:18:26.609 --> 00:18:29.869 is personalization and relationships. So here 00:18:29.869 --> 00:18:33.089 with former principal, Dr. Lee Ziegler. Lee, 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:34.970 you mind introducing yourself and tell us about 00:18:34.970 --> 00:18:37.990 your time at Hickson? Yes. My name is Lee Ziegler. 00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:40.950 I came here during COVID. That was my first year. 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:44.269 And I was able to be here five years. Probably 00:18:44.269 --> 00:18:46.809 the highlight of my career so far in education 00:18:46.809 --> 00:18:48.430 would have been the principal of Hickson High 00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:52.450 School. Hello, I am Shante Daniels. I am the... 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:54.759 freshman academy administrator, and I'm going 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.319 into my third year here at Hickson High School. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:00.859 Hello, my name is Ms. McDaniel, and I kind of 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:03.220 started as a Northside employee, and now I'm 00:19:03.220 --> 00:19:06.539 an employee of the school. I'm Jeremy McPherson, 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:09.119 and I'm an ambassador here at Hickson High School, 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:14.660 and I am a senior. Hickson, I think it is one 00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:18.319 of the schools that's steeped in tradition in 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.640 Hamilton County, but Lee, when you came here, 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:23.220 I know that you committed, especially at the 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:25.059 beginning of COVID, but throughout your five 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:28.920 years of really making sure that you operationalize 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:31.099 connecting with kids. Talk a little bit about 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:33.500 what you believe about connections and how you 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:36.220 implemented that at Hickson. Yeah. First of all, 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.119 I was not a good student myself when I go back 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:40.920 to my high school career. And so I do know that 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.400 the teachers that I responded the best to were 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.000 the ones that took the time to build relationships 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.960 in a classroom and kind of that warm demander, 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:52.519 you know, just. holding us to high standards 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:54.339 but at the same time building those connections 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:56.240 with us to let us know that they cared about 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.920 us and so when I came here as a principal or 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:00.900 even when I was at Daisy as a principal there 00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:04.500 it was very important for me to build relationships 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:07.500 with my students and and emphasize to my teachers 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:09.759 that the best way that they can connect and get 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.640 their kids to grow and be productive in their 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:16.559 classroom was through a connection through a 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:20.099 relationship and so part of that was making sure 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:22.480 I had hired the right people in the right position. 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:25.500 And she's one of those that when I got the opportunity 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:28.000 to hire another assistant principal, it was important 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.839 to me to hire someone that was able to build 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.740 connections with kids and just to emphasize that 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:36.559 to my teachers as well. When you would interview, 00:20:37.019 --> 00:20:39.440 was that part of the interview process? Very 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.160 much part of our interview process. And same 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.519 thing with Ms. McDaniels. When I had the opportunity 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.400 to hire her as a school community coordinator, 00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:50.660 that was part of our interview too, is how do 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:53.380 you build connections with the kids? And when 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:55.920 she came to me and said, hey, I want to be an 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.140 ex -ed teacher in your building, I jumped at 00:20:58.140 --> 00:21:00.240 that opportunity because we saw through a year 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.809 of her being here. She was very good at building 00:21:03.809 --> 00:21:06.150 connections with kids. And we know that kids 00:21:06.150 --> 00:21:11.029 only learn from people that they have a connection 00:21:11.029 --> 00:21:15.109 with. That's very important to me. Jamie, so 00:21:15.109 --> 00:21:17.849 you're a senior. We talked a little bit earlier. 00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:23.349 You're going to be looking to go to UTC and major 00:21:23.349 --> 00:21:25.450 in chemical engineering, which kind of blows 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:28.690 my mind. I don't get the chemistry part, so that's 00:21:28.690 --> 00:21:31.460 super impressive. You're a senior, though. You've 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:34.579 been involved in a lot. Talk about the four years 00:21:34.579 --> 00:21:36.579 that you've been here and what you feel like 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:42.059 has been the most connecting experience that 00:21:42.059 --> 00:21:45.220 you've had as a student. I would say the most 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:46.799 connecting experience I had was when I was a 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.839 junior. Getting to help all the freshmen with 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:55.619 their classes and helping them just get to know 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:58.660 everybody, especially if they were new. My hardest 00:21:58.660 --> 00:22:00.940 time, though, was my freshman year. I didn't 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.200 have any, like, mentor. I didn't really know 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.119 a lot. I was sort of new to the school. I went 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.740 to the middle school. But I had failed, like, 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:13.640 I failed one class. I had, like, three Ds. And 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:16.420 it was just a bad year. So when I heard my sophomore 00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:18.240 year that there would be an ambassadorship for 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.599 the freshmen, I signed up. Talk to me a little 00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:23.119 bit more, like as an ambassador, what did you 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.359 do that you felt like really helped freshmen 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.440 connect? Definitely the circle times and connections. 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:32.180 Just talking to them about, you know, like silly 00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:34.519 things like, how was your weekend? What'd you 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.420 do? What's your favorite chip? Like whatever 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:39.579 your favorite snack is. It just helped build 00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:43.579 connection. And I think it helped a lot of them. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:46.880 I even started a band. What's the best song y 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.900 'all play? Is it like 80s rock or is it? Awesome. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:56.220 Good. Shante, so running the Freshman Academy. 00:22:56.500 --> 00:23:00.240 Yes. And we just heard Jamie talk about, you 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.640 know, he struggled a little bit of freshman year. 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.880 I'm a firm believer as a former high school principal 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:08.440 that like freshman year, you've got to get kids. 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:11.500 If you don't get them early, you're going to 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:13.339 be playing catch up the rest of the time. What 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:15.700 are some of the things as you're. Weeding the 00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:17.720 Freshman Academy that you're doing to make sure 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:20.119 that kids are connected and get off to a good 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:23.500 start. Yes. So like what Dr. Zeke was saying, 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:25.160 he's very intentional about choosing the right 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.099 person for the job. I've truly enjoyed my experience 00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:31.859 here as the Freshman Academy administrator. We 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:34.839 have a lot of things in place. One is them having 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:39.710 their own freshman counselor. The RC coach also 00:23:39.710 --> 00:23:44.670 had the ambassadors come in and be mentors for 00:23:44.670 --> 00:23:46.869 the freshman academy. And like you said, Dr. 00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:49.089 Robertson, there is research that says if freshmen 00:23:49.089 --> 00:23:51.869 fall behind in their freshman year, they are 00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:55.170 highly likely to drop out and not graduate on 00:23:55.170 --> 00:24:00.150 time. And so we have teams up there. You know, 00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:01.910 the biggest difference between eighth grade and 00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:05.009 ninth grade is two months. And so there's a lot 00:24:05.009 --> 00:24:07.210 of preparation and a lot of. things that they 00:24:07.210 --> 00:24:09.509 need to learn, like how to walk in the hallway. 00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:12.190 And, you know, we submerge them. Our lunchtime 00:24:12.190 --> 00:24:14.509 is with seniors and juniors. And so they kind 00:24:14.509 --> 00:24:18.369 of see the behaviors of the upperclassmen. So 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:22.369 they know how to behave and do what is expected 00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:25.750 and what high school looks like. We all along 00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:29.970 with teaming, we just have we meet weekly to 00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:32.789 talk about the data. We call it the bag, which 00:24:32.789 --> 00:24:35.750 is behavior, attendance and grades. And we look. 00:24:35.789 --> 00:24:38.549 We look at the data on our tier one students, 00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:41.450 our tier two and our tier three, and we put those 00:24:41.450 --> 00:24:43.410 additional supports. We link in the counselor, 00:24:43.569 --> 00:24:46.150 the social worker, the seed coach, making those 00:24:46.150 --> 00:24:50.670 parent contacts, those conferences. We put them 00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:52.529 in our after school program if they need that 00:24:52.529 --> 00:24:55.809 additional support. I mean, it's just really 00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:59.450 heavy hands on. And like Jamie said, the ambassadors 00:24:59.450 --> 00:25:01.390 have really helped with that because sometimes. 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.460 With freshmen, it sounds better coming from a 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:06.819 peer, a student, than coming from all of the 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:10.900 adults. How do you choose the ambassadors? So 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:13.240 we really want to focus on the students that 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:18.339 have shown a natural leadership. It's not really 00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:21.099 based on like the highest GPA. It's not based 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:24.119 on the most popular football player, basketball 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:27.740 star. Other students that have strengths, the 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:31.299 opportunity to also be in a leadership role. 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:34.880 And so it's character based. We do recommendations 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:40.299 from teachers. And there's an interview process 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:45.240 with us, as well as Miss McDaniel and our seed 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:48.839 coach or prior seed coach before her amazing 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:52.799 promotion, Miss Herbert Heights. And they have 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:56.680 to write an essay. on why they want to be an 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:59.460 ambassador. And so we take all of that into account 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:02.759 when it comes to choosing them. Ms. McDaniel, 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:04.640 you've had a couple of different roles at Hickson, 00:26:04.700 --> 00:26:07.519 right? Yes. And worked with our ex -ed students, 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:10.299 now kind of working on that connection overall. 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:14.460 What are your thoughts on the importance of creating 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:17.839 a community of belonging and the conditions where 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:21.150 students can thrive? Well, I think relationships 00:26:21.150 --> 00:26:23.410 is where it's at. It's the basis of everything. 00:26:23.750 --> 00:26:26.710 And I see it with ambassadors and I see it with 00:26:26.710 --> 00:26:28.910 sped kids and I see it with regular kids. So 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:31.190 when I go into a classroom, I'm not just zeroing 00:26:31.190 --> 00:26:34.069 in on those kids. I'm zeroing in on all kids. 00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:36.769 One thing that Shontayne does that's amazing 00:26:36.769 --> 00:26:38.910 that I'm trying to do better is she knows everyone's 00:26:38.910 --> 00:26:42.250 name. And I think that first name is huge for 00:26:42.250 --> 00:26:46.720 kids. So when I came in, we did kind of an alignment 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:50.579 of self -care. It was a social worker. It was 00:26:50.579 --> 00:26:54.460 myself as Northside. It was the C coach. It was 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:58.079 the instructional coach. Our administrators, 00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:00.680 our counselors, we just decided that we were 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.259 going to go to work on barriers and we were going 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:05.880 to wrap ourselves around these kids and we were 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:08.359 going to remove the barriers. And he removed 00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:11.380 barriers in classrooms doing circles, which was 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:14.619 astounding to me that these kids were reaching 00:27:14.619 --> 00:27:17.619 out and they were taking care of the barriers. 00:27:17.819 --> 00:27:20.000 And all we had to do was just a little push, 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:23.259 didn't we? So that's kind of where my role has 00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:26.210 been. I kept the ambassadors because. We had 00:27:26.210 --> 00:27:28.390 such a good connection and he wanted a student 00:27:28.390 --> 00:27:32.430 voice and we needed a student voice and I just 00:27:32.430 --> 00:27:35.250 couldn't give them up. So both principals have 00:27:35.250 --> 00:27:38.410 allowed me to stay a part of them. Let me push 00:27:38.410 --> 00:27:43.150 a little bit. I have thought for a number of 00:27:43.150 --> 00:27:46.029 years, Hickson's been innovative in how we serve 00:27:46.029 --> 00:27:49.470 our students with disabilities. Years ago, this 00:27:49.470 --> 00:27:52.329 may be even before Dr. Ziegler got here, and 00:27:52.329 --> 00:27:53.650 I can't remember what we called the program, 00:27:53.769 --> 00:27:58.130 but you guys were connecting. a senior that had 00:27:58.130 --> 00:28:00.890 some flexibility in their schedule to go and 00:28:00.890 --> 00:28:05.049 pair with a student in biology class or in English 00:28:05.049 --> 00:28:07.750 to provide some one -on -one. But that created 00:28:07.750 --> 00:28:10.430 connections. Talk a little bit about the impact 00:28:10.430 --> 00:28:12.670 for our students with disabilities that y 'all's 00:28:12.670 --> 00:28:16.309 approach to this has made. So one of the things 00:28:16.309 --> 00:28:18.869 we really wanted out of the ambassadors was to... 00:28:19.180 --> 00:28:22.200 to mirror our population at Hickson. So we absolutely 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.559 have students with disabilities that are ambassadors. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.299 So that's the first thing. And then last year, 00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:31.160 I personally had a student that had some medical 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:34.440 issues that were very significant. And I had 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.259 an ambassador that had the same condition. Wow. 00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:41.220 So they met once a week and had like a, and I 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:45.380 mean, she just blossomed into this person because 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:50.670 this senior took, took. ownership of her so that's 00:28:50.670 --> 00:28:52.589 more of where we're going with the ambassadors 00:28:52.589 --> 00:28:55.430 we want to connect them with certain kids kids 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:57.470 with disabilities kids with language barriers 00:28:57.470 --> 00:29:01.390 kids with barriers and meet with them one -on 00:29:01.390 --> 00:29:03.869 -one more so we're kind of going a little away 00:29:03.869 --> 00:29:07.380 from circle which jamie loves circle but in and 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:09.779 putting them one -on -one with some students. 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:11.799 Can I speak to what you were talking about? Yeah. 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:14.079 We still have that program, and I'm drawing a 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:15.740 blank on it, or they still have the program. 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:18.700 I'm drawing a blank on the name of it. But we 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:21.640 have an adaptive PE class as part of that where 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:24.880 they get – Tell what an adaptive PE class is. 00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:26.539 I don't know. The listeners may not know what 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:29.240 that is. So the adaptive PE class is for some 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:33.349 of our – ex -ED students that have higher needs 00:29:33.349 --> 00:29:36.509 and so what they do is they pair those ex -ED 00:29:36.509 --> 00:29:39.910 students with some of the general students that 00:29:39.910 --> 00:29:42.730 we have in the building that want to be in there 00:29:42.730 --> 00:29:45.829 and they're kind of like a mentor or a pal with 00:29:45.829 --> 00:29:48.970 them and they have a PE class but they're in 00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:51.390 there to help those ex -ED students in that PE 00:29:51.390 --> 00:29:53.789 class and they make a connection with them in 00:29:53.789 --> 00:29:57.519 that PE class and so one of our PE teachers runs 00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:59.480 that and has been doing it since I've been here. 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:01.839 I think before I got here, that's what you were 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:04.140 talking about. Can't remember the name of that, 00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:06.160 but we still do that program in the building. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:10.819 So, Dr. Ziegler, you came to Hickson during the 00:30:10.819 --> 00:30:13.240 pandemic, which I think everybody would probably 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.000 agree was one of the hardest times to help kids 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:21.259 create connections. You changed some things, 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:24.940 but I always thought that. your leadership could 00:30:24.940 --> 00:30:28.500 have been defined by creating a community. Like 00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:33.200 you wanted Hickson to be a community. From an 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.660 academic standpoint, obviously you did a ton 00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:37.960 to create that community. From year one to year 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:41.329 five, do you feel like you saw... academic outcomes 00:30:41.329 --> 00:30:44.069 as a result of creating that sense of community? 00:30:44.349 --> 00:30:46.269 Well, most definitely. You know, one of the things 00:30:46.269 --> 00:30:49.109 that I did when I got here, and Danny over there 00:30:49.109 --> 00:30:51.950 was part of this process, but we developed what 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:54.269 we called our core values. About the same time 00:30:54.269 --> 00:30:57.029 that Hamilton County was developing theirs, and 00:30:57.029 --> 00:31:00.549 community was one of our core values. And we 00:31:00.549 --> 00:31:02.910 wanted to push that down to all the schools that 00:31:02.910 --> 00:31:07.269 feed into. higson high school so we reached out 00:31:07.269 --> 00:31:10.430 to higson middle higson elementary but also the 00:31:10.430 --> 00:31:13.369 other other military schools that feed in here 00:31:13.369 --> 00:31:17.170 and just said we're community schools and so 00:31:17.170 --> 00:31:20.130 i feel like because we've done such hard work 00:31:20.130 --> 00:31:22.569 around that and the faculty here is fabulous 00:31:22.569 --> 00:31:24.869 about this they have bought into it never pushed 00:31:24.869 --> 00:31:28.750 back on this idea whatsoever that we are a community 00:31:28.750 --> 00:31:31.829 in this building and because we're our community 00:31:31.829 --> 00:31:34.339 we're here to support you And I think because 00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:38.099 of that and some of the hard work around academics 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:41.339 that Danny's responsible for and some of the 00:31:41.339 --> 00:31:45.359 work that these two have done as well, our academics 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.960 have blossomed as well. So we've done very well 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:53.500 here. Level five pretty much every year. Proficiency 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:56.480 is high. So we're doing really good here at Hickson 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:59.420 High School. But I think because of the work 00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:03.740 around community has. Push that. Success. Can 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:06.880 I speak to community? 100%. When he brought me 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:08.819 on, that was one of his big goals. He wanted 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:11.619 to get out into the community. And one of the 00:32:11.619 --> 00:32:14.099 really cool things that come to my mind is we 00:32:14.099 --> 00:32:18.839 have a community member who will pay for caps 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:22.339 and gowns if that's an issue or if they can't 00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:25.660 afford their fees for a sport. He would never 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:28.119 want his name to be known, which I love about 00:32:28.119 --> 00:32:30.519 him. But that's some of the connections we made 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:32.859 out in this community. So by making those, they 00:32:32.859 --> 00:32:36.900 came into our building and they believed in Hickson. 00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:39.960 And I think that was one of my funnest, best 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:44.079 roles was doing that for Dr. Z's vision of community. 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:47.039 Ms. Sanders, what does that look like for freshmen? 00:32:49.470 --> 00:32:51.329 First and foremost, I would just like to say 00:32:51.329 --> 00:32:55.130 the Wildcat family here, we are such a beautiful, 00:32:55.289 --> 00:32:59.650 diverse, melting pot of everyone in all walks 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:04.170 of life. And I think the biggest thing is every 00:33:04.170 --> 00:33:07.279 student having someone. an adult in this building 00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:09.599 that they trust, an adult in this building that 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.059 knows their story, that is very intentional with 00:33:13.059 --> 00:33:15.059 getting to know them and providing that support 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:19.400 around those barriers. The community here, they 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:21.900 want to be involved. It's like, just let us know 00:33:21.900 --> 00:33:25.859 what you need. And the meetings took place. Dr. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:29.059 Ziegler, our community coordinator, Ms. McDaniel 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:32.759 at that time, we will all come together. We will 00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:35.900 meet, discuss our needs and reach out. the community, 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.579 and they were more than willing to give to meet 00:33:39.579 --> 00:33:41.700 those needs and remove those barriers from those 00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:45.680 students. And I think, I mean, our counselors, 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:49.099 as well as myself, we communicate with the middle 00:33:49.099 --> 00:33:53.420 school and the middle school counselors and administrators. 00:33:53.960 --> 00:33:56.200 So we try to make the transition from eighth 00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:59.839 grade across the sidewalk over here to high school 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:03.500 as smooth as possible. And so we are really connected 00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:07.710 to the middle school. Jamie, senior year coming 00:34:07.710 --> 00:34:12.010 up. Big year, right? You excited about it? I'm 00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:13.449 a little excited. It's going to be really busy. 00:34:13.590 --> 00:34:16.190 Yeah. I'm in AP chemistry, so it's going to be 00:34:16.190 --> 00:34:19.409 a lot of work. I'm also in like, I'm in another 00:34:19.409 --> 00:34:22.829 AP class and then SDC free cow. So there's going 00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:26.269 to be a lot of heavy lifting. Yeah. Good. Good. 00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:31.909 What advice would you give to us in, you know, 00:34:31.909 --> 00:34:35.840 leadership roles? really trying to help create 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:37.940 connections for kids, what advice would you give 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:41.059 to us in terms of how we can do better at making 00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:44.179 that happen? I would say using what you're good 00:34:44.179 --> 00:34:47.780 at to help them. Like when I was a pastor, when 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:50.500 I was an ambassador, I told them, you know, if 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:53.059 you need any help with math or science, if you 00:34:53.059 --> 00:34:56.960 have English troubles, don't come to me. I'm 00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.519 not there to answer. But if just being there 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:05.019 and using. what you have in your mind and skills 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:10.199 to help them grow. So kind of make the connections 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.820 natural, not, not for some. So as we're closing 00:35:15.820 --> 00:35:20.400 up the, this segment, and again, want to reemphasize 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:23.280 coming to Hickson, it's because you guys have 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.599 done such a great job over the past five years 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.780 of creating that community. And then our belief 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:31.460 that it leads to academic achievement, right? 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:33.840 Academics have gotten better. Growth's gotten 00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:37.679 better. What have we not hit on that is important 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:40.059 for the community to know about our commitment 00:35:40.059 --> 00:35:44.739 to creating connections for kids? I think also 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:47.960 attendance. When there is student belonging, 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.659 when they feel that this is a safe place, it 00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:55.900 also improves the chronic absenteeism. Our attendance 00:35:55.900 --> 00:35:59.260 rate goes up as well. And just a phone call. 00:35:59.420 --> 00:36:02.019 I know when I was in my other role, they would 00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:04.460 just hand me a list of 10 kids to call. And that 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:07.460 meant a lot to the parents that somebody called 00:36:07.460 --> 00:36:09.440 them. When it's not something bad to you, right? 00:36:09.860 --> 00:36:13.639 Yes, as your kid. One thing that we've worked 00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:15.880 on the last couple of years, more so than the 00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:17.900 first three that I was here, is making connections 00:36:17.900 --> 00:36:22.219 with the parents and letting them know that they're 00:36:22.219 --> 00:36:24.360 welcome in our building. And then we want to 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:28.960 hear from them as well because... They feel good 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:30.860 about us. They feel good about their children 00:36:30.860 --> 00:36:33.739 coming here. And so we just want to continue 00:36:33.739 --> 00:36:36.780 that work of making the connections. And I know 00:36:36.780 --> 00:36:40.500 Dan Lunt, the new principal here, feels the same 00:36:40.500 --> 00:36:42.679 way I do about all this. And so he's going to 00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:45.789 continue that work that we put out. We're excited 00:36:45.789 --> 00:36:47.510 about him being here. When we were going through 00:36:47.510 --> 00:36:49.550 that interview process, one of the things that 00:36:49.550 --> 00:36:52.610 I was most concerned about was finding someone 00:36:52.610 --> 00:36:55.829 that had that same vision of obviously high academic 00:36:55.829 --> 00:36:58.070 standards, but again, the belief that the foundation 00:36:58.070 --> 00:37:01.849 of that is relationships, right? And so we're 00:37:01.849 --> 00:37:04.070 excited about what he's going to do here at Hickson. 00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:08.920 I love Hickson High School. What I think is so 00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:11.500 neat about it is you walk around, and Jamie, 00:37:11.619 --> 00:37:13.219 I don't know if you've looked on the walls for 00:37:13.219 --> 00:37:15.280 the Hall of Fame of how many different people. 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:18.360 that are in leadership positions in our community 00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:20.420 have come through Hickson. I think about, you 00:37:20.420 --> 00:37:23.280 know, former mayor Jim Coppinger. I think he 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:24.940 may have played a little bit of quarterback here 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:27.679 at some point, but people like that that have 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:30.280 walked these halls and gone on to lead our community. 00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:32.659 And I think for them, when you talk to them, 00:37:32.780 --> 00:37:35.420 it's the connections, you know, it's, you know, 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:38.000 playing on the football team or being involved 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.699 in a rock band that recently got started. So 00:37:40.699 --> 00:37:43.900 I appreciate what you guys do here at Hickson. 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:46.139 Jamie, I appreciate. you coming on. I'm sure 00:37:46.139 --> 00:37:49.619 this was nerve -wracking for you. Maybe we can 00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:52.619 get you in something to play that favorite rock 00:37:52.619 --> 00:37:55.739 song. You talk to the band and make it happen? 00:37:56.039 --> 00:37:57.659 I'm going to talk to them this Friday. All right. 00:37:57.820 --> 00:38:00.900 Good, good. Thank you guys for joining us. Appreciate 00:38:00.900 --> 00:38:03.880 what you do at Hickson to create the conditions 00:38:03.880 --> 00:38:07.199 of belonging for our kids in Hamilton County. 00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:10.230 Thank you for this opportunity. All right, so 00:38:10.230 --> 00:38:13.469 welcome back. Sitting here with our two longest 00:38:13.469 --> 00:38:16.590 serving board members, board chair Joe Smith, 00:38:16.809 --> 00:38:20.329 vice chair Kritza Mosley -Jones. Thanks for joining 00:38:20.329 --> 00:38:23.849 us. Thank you for the invitation. Glad to be 00:38:23.849 --> 00:38:27.289 here. We're talking about personalization, our 00:38:27.289 --> 00:38:29.670 commitment to student belonging, making connections 00:38:29.670 --> 00:38:32.349 with kids. Thought about you two for a couple 00:38:32.349 --> 00:38:34.429 reasons. Number one, you've seen a real shift 00:38:34.429 --> 00:38:38.099 in the district over both of your... now going 00:38:38.099 --> 00:38:39.980 on 10 years for both of you, a little bit over 00:38:39.980 --> 00:38:43.300 10 years. So you've seen that shift, but also 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:45.800 in your personal lives, like you guys have lived 00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:48.820 this in your work and in your ministries, connecting 00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:51.800 with people, building relationships to move them 00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:54.440 in a positive direction. So talk a little bit 00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:56.860 just about from y 'all's perspective, what does 00:38:56.860 --> 00:39:00.219 personalization mean for us as a school system? 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:05.559 How does it help move our kids forward? Go ahead, 00:39:05.659 --> 00:39:10.079 Ms. Jones. Well, I always like the value of personalization 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:12.559 and providing that in Hamilton County Schools 00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:15.280 because it lets a student know. I feel like we 00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:18.860 let students know that what they need to be successful, 00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:22.860 be academically or socially or whatever, that 00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:25.139 we're trying to we want to hear that from them. 00:39:25.219 --> 00:39:27.639 We see them, we value them, and we want to make 00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:29.679 sure that we're providing that as best we can 00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:31.840 in that space for them and their learning environment. 00:39:32.789 --> 00:39:34.630 because everybody's unique. Everybody's coming 00:39:34.630 --> 00:39:36.750 from a different household. Everybody's coming 00:39:36.750 --> 00:39:39.369 from a different community. And even within the 00:39:39.369 --> 00:39:41.030 same community, sometimes there are just a lot 00:39:41.030 --> 00:39:43.090 of differences, right? And so making sure that 00:39:43.090 --> 00:39:45.610 we are able to support those students as they 00:39:45.610 --> 00:39:49.570 are learning academically by personalizing things 00:39:49.570 --> 00:39:51.130 and making sure that they feel like they belong 00:39:51.130 --> 00:39:54.429 in that space. Ms. Jones is absolutely correct. 00:39:54.750 --> 00:39:59.090 You know, I often think about just how big hamilton 00:39:59.090 --> 00:40:01.150 county yes and i'm not just talking about the 00:40:01.150 --> 00:40:04.889 number of students but geographically we're the 00:40:04.889 --> 00:40:08.409 biggest school district in terms of square miles 00:40:08.409 --> 00:40:12.170 in the state so given that fact then you've got 00:40:12.170 --> 00:40:16.409 kids that are from all kinds of different backgrounds 00:40:16.409 --> 00:40:19.750 and and so if they're from all kind of backgrounds 00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:23.989 then obviously they're presenting with just like 00:40:23.989 --> 00:40:28.059 you said all kinds of different needs And so 00:40:28.059 --> 00:40:30.780 I think it's very important that the public school 00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:32.920 system, whether it be this county or any county, 00:40:33.059 --> 00:40:37.440 be poised to meet needs that are often multifaceted 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:41.480 and very complex. And that's what we have here 00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:44.619 in Hamilton County. And I know that Ms. Jones 00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:48.099 and I have too. Our life has been to try to figure 00:40:48.099 --> 00:40:51.420 out a way in our maladaptive way sometimes to 00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:55.760 meet those tremendous amount of varying needs. 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:58.659 I always talk about the county, and it's easy 00:40:58.659 --> 00:41:03.940 to show a distinction between, let's say, Signal 00:41:03.940 --> 00:41:07.280 Mountain and where we are right now, Clifton 00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:10.099 Hills. People don't realize, I always talk about 00:41:10.099 --> 00:41:12.639 Cell Creek and Lookout Valley. There are differences 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:18.300 across schools that look very similar demographically, 00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:21.420 but the needs and the communities are different. 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:25.800 So what does it mean? When we say connected, 00:41:26.739 --> 00:41:29.719 Sometimes I think when we use things like well 00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:33.480 -being, it creates like some tension for people. 00:41:33.699 --> 00:41:36.960 When we say connected, though, to me, what we're 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.579 saying is we want our adults to know our kids. 00:41:39.699 --> 00:41:43.239 We want our families to be part of the school 00:41:43.239 --> 00:41:46.380 and their community. What does it mean for y 00:41:46.380 --> 00:41:48.219 'all when we just talk about connecting someone? 00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:51.440 Well, when I hear connected, not just even with 00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:53.260 the school system, just in general, when I think 00:41:53.260 --> 00:41:54.920 of the word connected, it means a relationship, 00:41:55.159 --> 00:41:59.389 a bond. a tie to another person, thing, object, 00:41:59.489 --> 00:42:01.269 whatever, right? And so I feel like in the school 00:42:01.269 --> 00:42:03.969 system, oh, in Hamilton County, when we want 00:42:03.969 --> 00:42:07.530 our students to feel connected, we want our staff 00:42:07.530 --> 00:42:09.369 to feel connected, right? We want our parents 00:42:09.369 --> 00:42:11.210 to feel connected. We want our partners to feel 00:42:11.210 --> 00:42:13.610 connected. We want our governing and leadership 00:42:13.610 --> 00:42:17.070 to feel connected. We want everyone that is in 00:42:17.070 --> 00:42:20.650 some shape, form, or fashion in the... the fabric 00:42:20.650 --> 00:42:23.130 of Hamilton County Schools to know that their 00:42:23.130 --> 00:42:25.969 thread in the fabric matters and is significant. 00:42:26.210 --> 00:42:29.329 And without my thread, your thread isn't, you 00:42:29.329 --> 00:42:31.829 know, it's not going to survive. Our students, 00:42:31.949 --> 00:42:33.730 you know, everybody, we all tie together to make 00:42:33.730 --> 00:42:35.690 this beautiful quilt, right? But we have to know 00:42:35.690 --> 00:42:38.210 that we each bring something different and unique 00:42:38.210 --> 00:42:42.590 to that. And because I bring that and you bring 00:42:42.590 --> 00:42:44.530 yours, then we're making something even beautiful. 00:42:44.690 --> 00:42:46.809 There's a song, and I'm going to be quiet, but 00:42:46.809 --> 00:42:49.780 there's a song that our church sings. And it's 00:42:49.780 --> 00:42:52.000 by Hezekiah Walker, but it's like, I need you. 00:42:52.039 --> 00:42:54.179 You need me. We're all a part of God's body. 00:42:54.340 --> 00:42:58.099 Stand with me. Agree with me. You know, all this 00:42:58.099 --> 00:42:59.980 is, and it's, I need you to survive. And when 00:42:59.980 --> 00:43:01.679 I think connected with Hamilton County Schools, 00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:04.719 I think that we each, no matter what our roles 00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:07.679 is as stakeholders in this system, we each need 00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:09.840 each other for Hamilton County Schools to survive. 00:43:11.139 --> 00:43:15.219 So true. You know, our... it's important that 00:43:15.219 --> 00:43:19.739 our kids develop those relationships with the 00:43:19.739 --> 00:43:23.679 teachers. And it's also important that the teachers 00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:26.699 develop relationships with their leaders. And 00:43:26.699 --> 00:43:29.360 then those leaders develop relationships with 00:43:29.360 --> 00:43:33.340 you and your staff. And then just encouraging 00:43:33.340 --> 00:43:37.489 kids to... Step out on the waters of faith, for 00:43:37.489 --> 00:43:40.110 lack of a better term, and try something different. 00:43:40.550 --> 00:43:43.190 Try something new, even though it might be uncomfortable. 00:43:44.489 --> 00:43:46.849 That's what I try to push kids into. Let's get 00:43:46.849 --> 00:43:48.690 out of your comfort zone. Let's try this. It 00:43:48.690 --> 00:43:50.789 may not be for you, but you don't know if you 00:43:50.789 --> 00:43:56.329 like broccoli until you take a bite. I think 00:43:56.329 --> 00:43:58.989 that's really, in this day and age in society, 00:43:59.210 --> 00:44:01.650 those connected pieces in relationships. We get 00:44:01.650 --> 00:44:03.610 so busy and hustle and bustle that people don't 00:44:03.610 --> 00:44:05.760 see the value of relationships. But I think back 00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:07.800 to my experience as a Hamilton County School 00:44:07.800 --> 00:44:12.019 student. I, at my age now, as a parent of a Hamilton 00:44:12.019 --> 00:44:13.300 County School student, I have relationships with 00:44:13.300 --> 00:44:14.960 my children's teachers in the administration, 00:44:15.159 --> 00:44:18.119 but I still have relationships with my old principals 00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:20.340 and teachers and guidance counselors. I saw my 00:44:20.340 --> 00:44:23.539 old custodian last week. Like, I still, Mr. Heston 00:44:23.539 --> 00:44:25.980 remembers me, and I remember him. And so I think 00:44:25.980 --> 00:44:28.739 the relationship matters because they care, we 00:44:28.739 --> 00:44:31.119 care enough about each other. Our students should 00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:32.780 know that, vice versa. Our staff should know 00:44:32.780 --> 00:44:34.880 that. So, like, when our teachers are sick, As 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:37.219 they age, we check on them. I'm sorry to hear 00:44:37.219 --> 00:44:39.579 that. Or if we have babies, oh, congratulations. 00:44:39.820 --> 00:44:41.639 Or you get them job promotion, oh, I'm so proud 00:44:41.639 --> 00:44:44.480 of you. I talk a lot. I have a teacher told me 00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:46.199 last week, I knew that math was going to take 00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:48.639 you so long. But it's just those relationships, 00:44:48.820 --> 00:44:51.059 right, that she saw beyond me just being a talkative 00:44:51.059 --> 00:44:54.099 teenager to say there's potential in her being 00:44:54.099 --> 00:44:57.199 able to use her words and her vocal skills to 00:44:57.199 --> 00:44:59.820 be something, right? And coming back to say that, 00:44:59.860 --> 00:45:01.219 not just, oh, I thought you were a menace, you 00:45:01.219 --> 00:45:03.019 just talk too much. No, I saw this potential 00:45:03.019 --> 00:45:05.659 in you. And I'm proud of you for the work that 00:45:05.659 --> 00:45:09.880 you do. Those relationships matter. And that's 00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:12.500 really important. It is so, so important. And, 00:45:12.500 --> 00:45:15.559 you know, it's not always comfortable for us 00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:19.079 as leaders. So when we're encouraging kids, gather 00:45:19.079 --> 00:45:22.139 comfort zone. Sometimes we need to, you know, 00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:24.599 I need somebody, Mr. Joe, get off your blessed 00:45:24.599 --> 00:45:27.800 assurance and go love on somebody. And that's 00:45:27.800 --> 00:45:31.699 so important. So we've got a couple of minutes. 00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:34.019 I'm getting the. wrap it up sign, but I've got 00:45:34.019 --> 00:45:36.780 to ask you guys both. You again mentioned longest 00:45:36.780 --> 00:45:40.139 tenured board member, second longest tenured 00:45:40.139 --> 00:45:43.519 board member. You guys have over 20 years combined 00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:46.719 experience on the school board. I think that 00:45:46.719 --> 00:45:49.360 the board and the board, I think the school system 00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:51.820 was in a very different place when you both came 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:55.420 onto this board. Looking back at your time, what 00:45:55.420 --> 00:45:59.360 would you say you're most proud of? You're most 00:45:59.360 --> 00:46:03.559 proud to see improvement or change? in your time 00:46:03.559 --> 00:46:08.619 on the board? I think for me, when I came on, 00:46:08.739 --> 00:46:12.360 it was going to be 10 years. We were, you know, 00:46:12.360 --> 00:46:14.760 it had some things that have gone on in the district 00:46:14.760 --> 00:46:16.960 that were real uncomfortable and unfortunate 00:46:16.960 --> 00:46:20.480 and right in the middle of dealing with all that. 00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.360 And shortly, not too long after that, we had 00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:25.480 the bus tragedy, and it just seemed like it's 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:28.599 just been one kind of episode after another. 00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:31.840 But in the middle of all that, in the middle 00:46:31.840 --> 00:46:35.400 of all that COVID and all that craziness, man, 00:46:35.420 --> 00:46:38.090 I'm proud of what Hampton County has done. And 00:46:38.090 --> 00:46:42.409 not only to stabilize ourselves in the midst 00:46:42.409 --> 00:46:47.230 of chaos, but to improve. And we're a much better 00:46:47.230 --> 00:46:51.429 school system. The thing that I enjoy the most 00:46:51.429 --> 00:46:53.690 that I think is so important that we're doing 00:46:53.690 --> 00:46:57.789 is giving our kids pathways through the future 00:46:57.789 --> 00:47:00.409 ready. Because every kid's not a college student. 00:47:00.570 --> 00:47:04.010 I wasn't a college student. I learned on the 00:47:04.010 --> 00:47:07.639 streets. And every kid's not going to be a college 00:47:07.639 --> 00:47:11.139 student, but given these different pathways where 00:47:11.139 --> 00:47:15.300 we can nudge kids and doing stuff that they love 00:47:15.300 --> 00:47:17.960 to do, I'm very proud of that. That's a personalization 00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:21.880 piece, right? I'm just most proud of us being 00:47:21.880 --> 00:47:25.340 resilient. Like Mr. Smith said, I have seen Hamilton 00:47:25.340 --> 00:47:28.400 County go through some things, some triumphs 00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:30.420 and some tragedies, and we have survived them. 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:33.960 And come back better. That's right. About to 00:47:33.960 --> 00:47:36.360 say better every time. Most proud of the resiliency. 00:47:36.519 --> 00:47:40.460 Most proud of us being one of the fastest improving 00:47:40.460 --> 00:47:43.539 districts in the state of Tennessee. Oftentimes, 00:47:43.760 --> 00:47:45.480 and people can say data shows what you wanted 00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:48.019 to show. But what we do know is, is that in a 00:47:48.019 --> 00:47:51.059 lot of capacities, we outperform the state at 00:47:51.059 --> 00:47:53.539 a certain level. I'm very proud to be. That makes 00:47:53.539 --> 00:47:55.559 me proud to say, well, yeah, but Tennessee is 00:47:55.559 --> 00:47:57.489 here. So like you're saying this about Hamilton 00:47:57.489 --> 00:47:59.829 County, but look at where the state is with that, 00:47:59.889 --> 00:48:02.849 right? And we supersede the state. And so not 00:48:02.849 --> 00:48:06.429 always big accomplishments, but it's just the 00:48:06.429 --> 00:48:09.210 small things. And I feel like getting people 00:48:09.210 --> 00:48:12.510 and getting students in buildings that are beautiful 00:48:12.510 --> 00:48:14.690 and safe and aesthetically pleasing, letting 00:48:14.690 --> 00:48:16.710 them know that they matter there. But then what 00:48:16.710 --> 00:48:19.030 we can't do that, just being able to meet other 00:48:19.030 --> 00:48:23.280 needs and rising above the noise. Because sometimes 00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:25.099 the noise gets crowded in the community, but 00:48:25.099 --> 00:48:26.980 just rising above that to say, yeah, yeah, all 00:48:26.980 --> 00:48:28.800 that static. But this is what's really going 00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:31.119 on in Hamilton County Schools and great things 00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:33.780 are going on and great students are coming out 00:48:33.780 --> 00:48:35.460 of Hamilton County Schools prepared for whatever 00:48:35.460 --> 00:48:38.119 life has for them. I appreciate y 'all's leadership. 00:48:38.320 --> 00:48:41.219 People don't realize how much you work as a school 00:48:41.219 --> 00:48:44.500 board member and how much stress the weight that 00:48:44.500 --> 00:48:47.599 you carry as a leader on the school board. So 00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:49.880 I want to say thank you for that. But most of 00:48:49.880 --> 00:48:51.940 all, thank you for your connections, like the 00:48:51.940 --> 00:48:55.280 ministry that you've done through YCAP, Jabbing 00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:57.920 for Jesus, the ministries that you've done in 00:48:57.920 --> 00:49:00.639 your work of connecting kids in Chattanooga and 00:49:00.639 --> 00:49:04.159 making sure that our schools are a hub for our 00:49:04.159 --> 00:49:08.030 communities. That's super, it's meaningful. It's 00:49:08.030 --> 00:49:10.250 meaningful work. So I want to say thank you. 00:49:10.789 --> 00:49:13.210 Thank you to our listeners again. Second, you're 00:49:13.210 --> 00:49:15.809 on the second episode. We're pretty important. 00:49:15.989 --> 00:49:19.059 Yeah, you are. I told the first of the teams 00:49:19.059 --> 00:49:20.599 in trying to get me to do this for a year and 00:49:20.599 --> 00:49:23.179 a half or so. It's actually been way more fun 00:49:23.179 --> 00:49:24.880 than I thought it would be. So hopefully we'll 00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:27.360 get some more listeners. I've got to remind you, 00:49:27.380 --> 00:49:30.059 you can listen to Let's Talk HCS on Spotify, 00:49:30.460 --> 00:49:33.420 Apple, or anywhere you get your podcasts. If 00:49:33.420 --> 00:49:35.860 you have a topic or a good idea for discussion, 00:49:36.119 --> 00:49:39.900 please send that to hcscommunications at hcde 00:49:39.900 --> 00:49:43.400 .org. We'll see you back in two weeks for a deep 00:49:43.400 --> 00:49:45.719 dive episode on school facilities.