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Hello.

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Hello, my people. Yo. Welcome back to Cheerdo's

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Teachers and Mike, the most dangerous podcast in

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the schoolhouse where we remix the conversation about

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race, power, and education, and all the ways

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that teaching and learning gotta be revolutionary. What's

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going on, y'all? It's me, Gerardo. I'm holding

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it down. And this season

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on the two Dope features and on my

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podcast, we are asking every guest one really

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big question.

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In this moment,

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hello,

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my peoples.

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Yo, welcome back to two Dope Teachers and

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a Mike, the most dangerous podcast in the

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schoolhouse,

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where we remix the conversation about race, power,

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and education,

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and all the ways that teaching and learning

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gotta be revolutionary.

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What's going on, y'all? It's me, Gerardo. I'm

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holding it down. And this season

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on the two Dope Teachers and a Mic

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podcast, we are asking every guest one really

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big question.

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In this moment

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where we stand at the

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crossroads of race, power, and public education,

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what is it that needs a remix?

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Today's guest gave an answer so simple and

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so powerful that it might change the way

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you think about schools.

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He said,

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every time a kid gets access to their

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full potential,

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we all get richer,

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like significantly

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richer.

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And the person dropping that wisdom is my

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friend, Alex Guerriere.

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He's the CEO of DonorsChoose,

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one of the most impactful education nonprofits

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in The United States Of America.

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If you have ever funded

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a classroom

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library,

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a robotics kit, art supplies, calculators,

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headphones,

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or even a set of flexible classroom seating,

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you already know that DonorsChoose

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makes things happen.

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What you might not know is that DonorsChoose

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is more than crowdfunding. See, this is something

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I didn't realize before.

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As the conditions of teaching have steadily deteriorated,

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Alex is leading important work to ask hard

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questions of our education system, which, you know,

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asking the hard questions is my love language,

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y'all,

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as well as those who needed to be

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successful, which is honestly all of us. We

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talk a lot about how

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education

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really is for uplifting individual kids and individual

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communities,

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but, really,

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education is about uplifting

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all of us.

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I'm working on a piece for my Substack

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where I kind of examine why

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public education

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is such an imperative

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for our whole

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society.

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And

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I think a lot of it has to

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do with moving away from the thought

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that

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we don't benefit from education if we don't

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have school aged children

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or if we don't if we don't attend

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or work in public schools. We all benefit

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from a great public education system.

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Here's what I really appreciate

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about Alex, because there's a lot of people

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leading work to strengthen

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teaching and learning

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capacity

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for all kids, particularly kids from historically marginalized

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or minoritized

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backgrounds.

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There's a lot of these kind of billionaire

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do gooders, which, a,

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I would rather you be

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a billionaire do gooder than a billionaire

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bad do bad doer bad doer bad doer.

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And so I'm not mad at people who

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decide to use our considerable resources to do

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something good for communities.

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But Alex is different

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because he lived

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this very issue that he is

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leading the work to transform.

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He's a first generation American. He grew up

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in public schools in New Haven,

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learned English as a second language, which is

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gonna blow you away because this dude

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is just so comfortable in the English language

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and so good at it.

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He became a science teacher and now leads

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the organization that has reached, get this,

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90%

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of all US public schools.

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It has reached teachers who are still spending

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650

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to 1,000 plus a year out of pocket

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for their classrooms.

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And he's reached communities navigating new arrivals, language

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barriers, poverty, burnout,

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and possibility

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that endures

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despite

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all of the barriers.

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So in today's episode, we got four segments.

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Segment one, you're gonna learn a little bit

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about what DonorsChoose really is. Alex breaks down

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how the platform works,

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not as a charity,

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not as a cash drop, but as a

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teacher designed

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dignity centered resource engine

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to get schools exactly what students need.

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No red tape,

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full transparency.

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Segment two,

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we're calling stories from the field, from immigrant

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students learning electronics through hands on robotics

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to a teacher in Puerto Rico building a

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roof type hydroponic

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garden that blended science, service learning, entrepreneurship,

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and food justice.

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These stories remind us what becomes possible when

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educators are trusted with resources.

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In segment three, we will talk about equity

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beyond the buzzwords,

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also my love language. Alex unpacks what equity

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really means. It's not just distribution

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metrics,

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but abundance thinking in a system

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conditioned on scarcity. We dig into teacher burnout,

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remediation versus acceleration,

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learning models, and why scrappy

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shouldn't be the job requirement for educators trying

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to meet kids' basic needs, particularly for kids

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who are very dependent

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on their schools to give them the opportunity

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for a great future. And in segment four,

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we'll talk about DonorsChoose's next twenty five years.

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DonorsChoose

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is more than just crowdfunding.

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That's not

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all they're doing anymore. And I think this

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was probably the most important learning from our

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interview,

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that I had,

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which is that they are starting to aggregate

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real time educator

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insights.

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They're using new technologies to surface trends

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like the ballooning need for student mental health

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support spaces

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and turning local teacher requests into national data

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that can influence

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system

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level

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change, y'all.

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And, of course,

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we close it out the only way we

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know.

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We got a top five rappers with Alex's

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picks.

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It's very heavy on the Fugees, so you'll

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hear about the Fugees, Wyclef, Lauryn Hill, plus

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a little bit of a cultural curveball,

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little change up action from the k pop

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demon hunters soundtrack via his daughters that had

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us laughing and vibing.

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So

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get comfortable. Get ready for this conversation. It's

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about trusting young people's genius. It's about teacher

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powered student leadership. It's about education activism

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fueled by imagination,

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and it's about what it really means

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to remix

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opportunity

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instead of just rationing it. Let's get to

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it.

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Folks, I am here with my friend, Alex

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Guerriere,

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from DonorsChoose.

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This is so exciting to have you back.

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Take two, sir. We got this.

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Yeah. So Well, it is a it is

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a pleasure to be back. So thanks for

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having me again.

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Again. Yeah. And folks, you might be, like,

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thumbing through your podcast feed saying, wait. Again?

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Did I miss an episode?

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No. So there were some tech issues with

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the last time Alex and I talked. I

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really worked hard to try to solve them,

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but turns out that not every tech problem

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has a solution. So,

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but Alex

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was so gracious and kind in coming back,

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and, you know, we're gonna have this conversation

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today. It's gonna be great.

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Tech

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be darned.

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Yeah. Yeah. We're I I think we got

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it covered. We got some backups. I I

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I think we're good. We're good to go.

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We're good to go. Alright. So, Alex, this

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season on two dOPE teachers and a mic,

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we're

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asking

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every guest one big question. Right? We're at

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this very fascinating

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point in, the history of our nation and

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in Yeah. Education.

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In the ongoing conversation about race, power, and

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education,

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what do you think needs a bit of

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a reboots?

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First, I wanna say that I love the

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question,

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because I think

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the dimensions that you're highlighting, even in the

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framing of the question,

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are the ones that we need to think

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about.

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If I were to pick one

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idea,

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one thing that maybe we've lost that needs

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a remix,

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it is

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the

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crystal clear notion

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that every time

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a kid

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has the chance

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to

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access their full learning potential,

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we are all made richer.

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For every single kid

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that gets that chance,

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we all benefit. And I'm not talking about

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a little bit. I mean, hugely,

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hugely. Every kid that gets their full,

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yeah, just the just that full opportunity and

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gets a chance to really show what they

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can do. And the reason I think about

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that in relationship to your question

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is

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that that idea is unifying.

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When we look at the world, we'll see

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that those opportunities

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are not equally

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available, and it's exactly dimensions.

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Race

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is a dimension that

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is relevant here, power, wealth,

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geography. There are all these divisions.

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And and so I like the idea of

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being mindful of those divisions, thinking explicitly about

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them

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with the driving,

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unifying

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idea that actually brings us together, that says,

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actually, we're all in the same effort.

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Yeah.

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That's it. Man, I love that. That if

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if we could remix that one thing, I

285
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think it would be really powerful.

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So much of the way we talk about

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education is operating from a scarcity mindset. Yes.

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There's not enough. There are not enough opportunities.

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There are not enough good schools. There are

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not enough kids who have the supports that

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they need.

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But what you're saying just tracks so powerfully,

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the the kind of exponential impact

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of one kid

295
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tapping into their potential just a little bit

296
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more than they were before. That's awesome. Well,

297
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it it's super, pertinent for our conversation today.

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So folks,

299
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welcome it to the show. Segment one, we're

300
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gonna talk a little bit about Donors Choose,

301
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:27,879
what it is, maybe a little bit of

302
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what it isn't,

303
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because I think that's a powerful conversation to

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have.

305
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Segment two, Alex is gonna share some stories

306
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from the field, some of his favorite anecdotes

307
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from his time and from the history of

308
00:11:40,144 --> 00:11:42,625
Donors Choose. In the third segment, we're gonna

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talk a little bit about equity focus. So,

310
00:11:45,184 --> 00:11:48,625
Alex made some reference to inequitable structures that

311
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are often understood along the lines of race

312
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and power.

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We'll get into some teacher nomics and burnout,

314
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and then we'll kind of go into what's

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next, the next twenty five years of Donors

316
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Choose.

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And of course Alex is gonna have a

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fire top five for us and and we'll

319
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take care of that as we go, you

320
00:12:09,144 --> 00:12:10,204
should see his face,

321
00:12:11,544 --> 00:12:13,084
this audio, it's always,

322
00:12:13,945 --> 00:12:15,324
a tense thing. So

323
00:12:15,704 --> 00:12:16,204
let's,

324
00:12:16,664 --> 00:12:19,004
start with a couple of things. So we're,

325
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we're living

326
00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,399
in in a little bit of a I

327
00:12:23,399 --> 00:12:25,080
was gonna say like a hectic time. I

328
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:26,299
I feel like that undersells,

329
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some of the tension and some of the

330
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insecurity that people are feeling, but we've got

331
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rising school supply costs. We've got stagnant salaries

332
00:12:34,665 --> 00:12:36,504
across the board. We're not just even talking

333
00:12:36,504 --> 00:12:37,705
about teaching. That's right.

334
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And we're gonna talk a little bit about

335
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donors chooses twenty five year fight to to

336
00:12:42,665 --> 00:12:43,805
bridge that gap.

337
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One of the big stats that you shared

338
00:12:45,959 --> 00:12:47,799
with me the first time we talked was

339
00:12:47,799 --> 00:12:50,059
that nearly half of teachers surveyed by DonorsChoose

340
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have a second job.

341
00:12:52,199 --> 00:12:53,100
15%

342
00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:55,980
work more than ten hours a week

343
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outside of teaching.

344
00:12:58,039 --> 00:13:01,464
Let's start with that. How does that sort

345
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of help us understand

346
00:13:03,225 --> 00:13:06,125
the work that DonorsChoose is attempting to do?

347
00:13:06,824 --> 00:13:07,324
Yeah.

348
00:13:08,504 --> 00:13:10,924
It really sets the stage for

349
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the burning urgent need

350
00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:17,100
that we're trying to address. Is it alright

351
00:13:17,100 --> 00:13:19,019
if I take a minute and just describe

352
00:13:19,019 --> 00:13:20,860
our model and lay out some of the

353
00:13:20,860 --> 00:13:21,840
basic descriptions?

354
00:13:22,220 --> 00:13:24,399
Yeah. Just so folks, if you don't know,

355
00:13:25,179 --> 00:13:26,800
who we are, who DonorsChoose

356
00:13:27,179 --> 00:13:30,684
is, we are a twenty five year old

357
00:13:30,684 --> 00:13:31,184
nonprofit

358
00:13:31,485 --> 00:13:31,985
organization.

359
00:13:33,085 --> 00:13:35,965
We are celebrating our 20 birthday this year.

360
00:13:35,965 --> 00:13:37,504
Happy birthday to DonorsChoose.

361
00:13:39,004 --> 00:13:42,945
We serve public school teachers across the country.

362
00:13:44,470 --> 00:13:47,110
And, really, we are on a journey to

363
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try to reach as many teachers as we

364
00:13:49,269 --> 00:13:51,210
can, as many classrooms as possible.

365
00:13:51,990 --> 00:13:54,549
The core model that we operate on is

366
00:13:54,549 --> 00:13:55,690
pretty simple.

367
00:13:56,070 --> 00:13:58,889
Any public school teacher in the country

368
00:13:59,334 --> 00:14:00,554
can come on to DonorsChoose

369
00:14:01,575 --> 00:14:03,735
and create a request for stuff that they

370
00:14:03,735 --> 00:14:06,375
need to address their student needs. And it's

371
00:14:06,375 --> 00:14:07,995
whatever that teacher knows

372
00:14:08,375 --> 00:14:10,294
is gonna make the biggest difference for the

373
00:14:10,294 --> 00:14:12,134
kids that are right in front of her

374
00:14:12,134 --> 00:14:14,300
or him. So they come on to DonorsChoose.

375
00:14:14,519 --> 00:14:15,660
They create that request,

376
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:17,899
and we're a crowdfunding platform.

377
00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,160
So individuals come to the site and fund

378
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,639
them. We also work with a lot of

379
00:14:23,639 --> 00:14:25,500
corporate and foundation funders,

380
00:14:25,904 --> 00:14:28,225
and we also work with the public sector.

381
00:14:28,225 --> 00:14:30,144
And that's a little bit new over the

382
00:14:30,144 --> 00:14:32,625
last few years where we work with,

383
00:14:33,184 --> 00:14:34,004
state governments

384
00:14:34,464 --> 00:14:37,424
to also meet those requests. One thing that's

385
00:14:37,424 --> 00:14:40,245
a little different between us and other crowdfunding

386
00:14:40,384 --> 00:14:42,299
platforms forms that you may know about is

387
00:14:42,299 --> 00:14:45,100
we don't send cash. We actually have the

388
00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:47,820
engine where we purchase the stuff ourselves. We

389
00:14:47,820 --> 00:14:48,959
send it to the teacher,

390
00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:52,299
at the school. It becomes district property. It's

391
00:14:52,299 --> 00:14:54,299
transparent on our site. And we also, by

392
00:14:54,299 --> 00:14:55,120
the way, handle

393
00:14:55,504 --> 00:14:57,605
returns and, you know, errors,

394
00:14:58,144 --> 00:15:00,225
missing things. We we do all that. So,

395
00:15:00,225 --> 00:15:00,725
hopefully,

396
00:15:01,105 --> 00:15:01,924
it's a delightful

397
00:15:02,544 --> 00:15:04,144
experience for the teacher where they just, you

398
00:15:04,144 --> 00:15:06,625
know, get get the stuff and stuff. Experience.

399
00:15:06,625 --> 00:15:09,125
Yeah. Speaking from experience. Absolutely. Absolutely.

400
00:15:09,985 --> 00:15:12,480
Is a delightful experience. Well, I'm I'm so

401
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:13,679
glad to hear. And it's the it's like

402
00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:15,759
one of my favorite parts when I'm talking

403
00:15:15,759 --> 00:15:17,679
of of this job, when I'm talking to

404
00:15:17,679 --> 00:15:18,899
somebody and, you know,

405
00:15:19,679 --> 00:15:21,360
they may or may not still be in

406
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:22,799
the classroom, but then they say, oh, by

407
00:15:22,799 --> 00:15:24,480
the way, yeah, you know, I benefit. It's

408
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,174
like, yes. You know, a little a little

409
00:15:26,174 --> 00:15:28,414
celebration there. Anyway, so so that's what we're

410
00:15:28,414 --> 00:15:28,914
doing.

411
00:15:29,855 --> 00:15:31,294
Why are we doing that? I mean, you

412
00:15:31,294 --> 00:15:32,995
know, but I'll just say for the audience,

413
00:15:33,454 --> 00:15:35,074
it is because teachers

414
00:15:35,375 --> 00:15:37,620
and I was a classroom teacher myself a

415
00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:40,019
quarter of a century ago, as my daughters

416
00:15:40,019 --> 00:15:42,100
will make sure that you know that would

417
00:15:42,100 --> 00:15:44,100
say. Yeah. So you so, mister, you were

418
00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:46,580
teaching in the nineteen hundreds? Exactly. Oh my

419
00:15:46,580 --> 00:15:49,059
gosh. That's such an attack that they do

420
00:15:49,059 --> 00:15:50,200
that. But Disrespectful,

421
00:15:50,580 --> 00:15:52,440
honestly. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

422
00:15:53,144 --> 00:15:55,404
So, yeah, I was a classroom teacher myself.

423
00:15:55,705 --> 00:15:58,105
And the reason that we do that work,

424
00:15:58,105 --> 00:16:00,264
this this model, is because it links back

425
00:16:00,264 --> 00:16:02,504
to what you described, you know, leading up

426
00:16:02,504 --> 00:16:04,904
to this, which is that public school teachers

427
00:16:04,904 --> 00:16:06,925
across the country are on this continual

428
00:16:07,929 --> 00:16:10,750
grind, it really never ends, to make sure

429
00:16:11,290 --> 00:16:11,790
that

430
00:16:12,250 --> 00:16:15,210
what their kids need is met is met.

431
00:16:16,009 --> 00:16:17,450
You know, it's kind of a

432
00:16:20,084 --> 00:16:21,845
it it it it's a urge, I think,

433
00:16:21,845 --> 00:16:24,084
that is somewhat irresistible because you're in the

434
00:16:24,084 --> 00:16:26,804
classroom. You're with the kids. You can see,

435
00:16:26,804 --> 00:16:28,804
oh, if I just had this or, you

436
00:16:28,804 --> 00:16:30,245
know, a light bulb goes off. If I

437
00:16:30,245 --> 00:16:31,845
could create this experience, it would make such

438
00:16:31,845 --> 00:16:33,924
a difference, you know, for Yeah. They're they're

439
00:16:33,924 --> 00:16:36,519
really gonna be engaged here. And so teachers

440
00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:37,639
are constantly,

441
00:16:38,899 --> 00:16:39,399
constantly,

442
00:16:39,940 --> 00:16:40,440
underscore,

443
00:16:40,980 --> 00:16:41,879
going out

444
00:16:42,259 --> 00:16:44,420
and spending their own cash to make that

445
00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:47,540
happen. No other job has that expectation, and

446
00:16:47,540 --> 00:16:50,179
we take it a 100% for granted in

447
00:16:50,179 --> 00:16:51,315
this profession.

448
00:16:51,695 --> 00:16:54,195
No other job has that expectation. Right? That's

449
00:16:54,415 --> 00:16:56,915
right. I mean, so back in my day,

450
00:16:56,975 --> 00:16:58,595
that was going out for transparencies

451
00:16:59,375 --> 00:17:02,495
and batteries for the calculators and, you know,

452
00:17:02,495 --> 00:17:05,394
and books and notebook and kits and electronics,

453
00:17:05,615 --> 00:17:07,450
and teachers are are still doing that to

454
00:17:07,450 --> 00:17:10,269
the tune of hundreds to thousands of dollars

455
00:17:10,329 --> 00:17:12,169
per year. That's what I mean by constant.

456
00:17:12,169 --> 00:17:14,650
It's not a one time fix. So teachers

457
00:17:14,650 --> 00:17:16,809
are constantly doing that. You know, one of

458
00:17:16,809 --> 00:17:19,609
the notable things about our survey, because, you

459
00:17:19,609 --> 00:17:21,674
know, we serve teachers across the country where

460
00:17:21,914 --> 00:17:23,674
we like to check-in with them. We have

461
00:17:23,674 --> 00:17:26,235
an annual survey. We're we're constantly, you know,

462
00:17:26,235 --> 00:17:28,335
getting feedback, trying to get better ourselves.

463
00:17:28,795 --> 00:17:29,295
But

464
00:17:29,914 --> 00:17:32,475
it's so interesting that the teachers that we're

465
00:17:32,475 --> 00:17:34,095
surveying are using DonorsChoose.

466
00:17:34,715 --> 00:17:35,215
So

467
00:17:35,674 --> 00:17:36,735
they are getting

468
00:17:37,150 --> 00:17:38,609
benefits from Donors Choose,

469
00:17:39,549 --> 00:17:42,029
and they appreciate it, and they still go

470
00:17:42,029 --> 00:17:43,789
above it. It actually enables them to go

471
00:17:43,789 --> 00:17:46,269
even further beyond. So even teachers on our

472
00:17:46,269 --> 00:17:48,529
site who are using Donors Choose

473
00:17:48,990 --> 00:17:49,650
are spending

474
00:17:50,455 --> 00:17:51,975
on average 650,

475
00:17:51,975 --> 00:17:53,015
$700

476
00:17:53,015 --> 00:17:54,455
a year out of pocket, they report that

477
00:17:54,455 --> 00:17:55,994
they would be above 1,000

478
00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:57,275
without DonorsChoose.

479
00:17:58,215 --> 00:18:00,154
And that's what connects to,

480
00:18:01,335 --> 00:18:02,634
I mean, for their own

481
00:18:03,799 --> 00:18:06,299
practice, but also for just their own sustainability,

482
00:18:06,919 --> 00:18:08,599
the doing the second job. It's I mean,

483
00:18:08,599 --> 00:18:10,200
again, I had a second job. I remember

484
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:11,679
that, you know, during the summer and Yeah.

485
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,259
And during the school year,

486
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,960
because you're you're trying to make ends meet.

487
00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,065
You're trying to, you know, do right by

488
00:18:18,065 --> 00:18:20,384
yourself and your family and your and your

489
00:18:20,384 --> 00:18:22,305
kids. It's a big it's a big burden.

490
00:18:22,305 --> 00:18:24,565
So Right. This is this is a need

491
00:18:24,625 --> 00:18:27,184
that exists. And that's right. And there's, you

492
00:18:27,184 --> 00:18:29,450
know, there's that meme that goes around government

493
00:18:29,450 --> 00:18:32,650
funded classroom versus a teacher funded classroom. And

494
00:18:32,650 --> 00:18:35,450
and it's a little extreme, but it it

495
00:18:35,450 --> 00:18:37,630
does sort of point to something

496
00:18:38,009 --> 00:18:40,269
that you said earlier, which is that

497
00:18:40,570 --> 00:18:42,650
the public has gotten to a point where

498
00:18:42,650 --> 00:18:44,955
they absolutely take for granted that the teacher

499
00:18:44,955 --> 00:18:46,494
is going to provide certain things.

500
00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:49,755
Some don't think very deeply about how are

501
00:18:49,755 --> 00:18:52,734
they providing these things. Yeah. Exactly. Especially

502
00:18:53,035 --> 00:18:56,250
at least everyone has a surface understanding that

503
00:18:56,410 --> 00:18:58,910
schools, public schools especially, are underfunded.

504
00:18:59,369 --> 00:19:01,529
And so but there's often a disconnect as

505
00:19:01,529 --> 00:19:03,150
to how that happens.

506
00:19:04,250 --> 00:19:05,769
You know, and I think for me, there

507
00:19:05,769 --> 00:19:07,789
are a couple of different DonorsChoose projects

508
00:19:08,250 --> 00:19:10,730
that, that I did were that that were

509
00:19:10,730 --> 00:19:11,549
really amazing.

510
00:19:12,295 --> 00:19:14,855
One was doing differentiated book clubs for a

511
00:19:14,855 --> 00:19:17,335
cross cultural studies class. It was always books

512
00:19:17,335 --> 00:19:19,414
for me because that's, like, my love language.

513
00:19:19,414 --> 00:19:21,494
That's and I would have kids come in

514
00:19:21,494 --> 00:19:23,095
my room. I always had all these books

515
00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:24,695
on the walls, and they'd be like, how

516
00:19:24,695 --> 00:19:26,619
do you have all these books? Yeah. And

517
00:19:26,619 --> 00:19:28,940
it goes into some of that the whole

518
00:19:28,940 --> 00:19:31,579
kind of thing. I I I love that

519
00:19:31,579 --> 00:19:32,079
because,

520
00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:35,339
even as you're describing it, I could hear

521
00:19:35,339 --> 00:19:36,160
your recollection

522
00:19:36,539 --> 00:19:38,559
of the reaction of of the students.

523
00:19:39,099 --> 00:19:39,599
It's

524
00:19:40,220 --> 00:19:42,565
it's a it's such a positive and eye

525
00:19:42,565 --> 00:19:44,724
opening and and sometimes magical moment to know

526
00:19:44,724 --> 00:19:46,404
you're going in the classroom. And then, oh,

527
00:19:46,404 --> 00:19:48,825
wow. There's stuff. I've seen some amazing libraries,

528
00:19:49,204 --> 00:19:51,684
you know, that really just light up kids'

529
00:19:51,684 --> 00:19:52,184
minds.

530
00:19:52,884 --> 00:19:53,544
Oh, yeah.

531
00:19:53,899 --> 00:19:54,380
So,

532
00:19:54,859 --> 00:19:56,539
No. It was really great. And I think,

533
00:19:57,019 --> 00:19:58,319
you know, so I so

534
00:19:58,619 --> 00:20:00,559
just being able to do that and seeing

535
00:20:00,859 --> 00:20:04,319
knowing that there were powerful learning experiences

536
00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:06,380
that students had that they may not have

537
00:20:06,380 --> 00:20:08,875
had access to otherwise. And I'll I'll share

538
00:20:08,875 --> 00:20:10,795
one example and then we'll kind of get

539
00:20:10,795 --> 00:20:12,634
into some stories from the field. It's a

540
00:20:12,634 --> 00:20:13,914
good segue into that.

541
00:20:14,634 --> 00:20:16,734
There was a group of students

542
00:20:17,515 --> 00:20:18,555
that had,

543
00:20:19,515 --> 00:20:21,115
chosen as their book. This was in my

544
00:20:21,115 --> 00:20:22,289
hip hop studies class.

545
00:20:23,009 --> 00:20:25,730
They had chosen to read the book, The

546
00:20:25,730 --> 00:20:27,670
N Word, and it was basically

547
00:20:27,970 --> 00:20:29,910
a history of the word. And,

548
00:20:30,609 --> 00:20:33,009
I think it was Randall Kennedy's book. And,

549
00:20:33,730 --> 00:20:35,904
they were really committed to this. I was

550
00:20:35,904 --> 00:20:37,505
like, alright, so there's a lot of really

551
00:20:37,505 --> 00:20:39,985
intense language in this book, so let's make

552
00:20:39,985 --> 00:20:41,505
sure we talk to parents, let me make

553
00:20:41,505 --> 00:20:42,945
sure I talk to my boss, and that

554
00:20:42,945 --> 00:20:44,625
kind of thing. So everybody was really on

555
00:20:44,625 --> 00:20:47,025
board. And so what the students were challenged

556
00:20:47,025 --> 00:20:49,109
to do, once we ordered the books, there

557
00:20:49,109 --> 00:20:50,950
were there's a group of five kids who

558
00:20:50,950 --> 00:20:53,130
each got a copy of the book. And

559
00:20:53,190 --> 00:20:54,009
what they did,

560
00:20:54,309 --> 00:20:57,910
they were they were directed to do an

561
00:20:57,910 --> 00:21:00,890
action project. So what you have learned,

562
00:21:01,269 --> 00:21:02,710
you and your group are gonna put this

563
00:21:02,710 --> 00:21:03,529
into action.

564
00:21:04,664 --> 00:21:06,125
So what they ended up doing,

565
00:21:06,825 --> 00:21:09,865
this was an epidemic. This this word being

566
00:21:09,865 --> 00:21:11,865
used in our school was an epidemic. And

567
00:21:11,865 --> 00:21:12,365
especially

568
00:21:12,985 --> 00:21:15,244
being used by non black students,

569
00:21:16,424 --> 00:21:18,105
it was just a word they'd become too

570
00:21:18,105 --> 00:21:18,605
casual,

571
00:21:19,049 --> 00:21:20,430
around a lot of students.

572
00:21:21,049 --> 00:21:22,490
And they're like, well, what do we do?

573
00:21:22,490 --> 00:21:23,150
We can

574
00:21:23,769 --> 00:21:25,529
we can just, like, call people out, but

575
00:21:25,529 --> 00:21:27,049
I don't know if that's gonna help. And

576
00:21:27,049 --> 00:21:28,730
how do we, like, do something that's gonna

577
00:21:28,730 --> 00:21:29,630
be really sustainable?

578
00:21:30,170 --> 00:21:30,570
And,

579
00:21:31,210 --> 00:21:32,029
one student,

580
00:21:32,330 --> 00:21:32,830
Zainab,

581
00:21:33,644 --> 00:21:35,164
came up with this idea. I'm trying to

582
00:21:35,164 --> 00:21:37,725
find something that can approximate it. Oh, this

583
00:21:37,725 --> 00:21:39,485
is an audio call. So,

584
00:21:40,125 --> 00:21:42,285
but they so what they decided to do

585
00:21:42,285 --> 00:21:45,005
was print up little business card shaped to,

586
00:21:45,005 --> 00:21:45,985
like, sort of,

587
00:21:47,329 --> 00:21:47,829
info,

588
00:21:48,289 --> 00:21:50,849
like flyers, like one pagers. Okay. And when

589
00:21:50,849 --> 00:21:53,170
they would hear it, they would have their

590
00:21:53,170 --> 00:21:54,309
little, like,

591
00:21:54,769 --> 00:21:57,009
cache of these cards. They would hand it

592
00:21:57,009 --> 00:21:58,289
to the kid, not say a word, and

593
00:21:58,289 --> 00:21:59,029
keep walking.

594
00:21:59,394 --> 00:22:01,015
And I asked them, I was like, so

595
00:22:01,075 --> 00:22:02,515
how are you gonna know if it's if

596
00:22:02,515 --> 00:22:04,595
it's impactful? And she said, we won't really.

597
00:22:04,595 --> 00:22:05,095
But,

598
00:22:05,394 --> 00:22:07,875
you know, you hand a kid something, they're

599
00:22:07,875 --> 00:22:08,934
gonna look at

600
00:22:09,394 --> 00:22:09,974
it even

601
00:22:10,275 --> 00:22:12,535
if it even if they wanna save face

602
00:22:12,809 --> 00:22:15,049
and not be embarrassed, like something in that

603
00:22:15,049 --> 00:22:16,669
card is gonna sit in their heads.

604
00:22:16,970 --> 00:22:18,649
And even if they just throw it on

605
00:22:18,649 --> 00:22:20,490
the ground, someone else might pick it up

606
00:22:20,490 --> 00:22:22,730
and see what's going on. And eventually they

607
00:22:22,730 --> 00:22:23,230
would

608
00:22:23,609 --> 00:22:26,329
eventually students would see Zaynab and her crew

609
00:22:26,329 --> 00:22:26,829
coming

610
00:22:27,255 --> 00:22:29,255
and they would just, like, change the way

611
00:22:29,255 --> 00:22:30,075
they were talking.

612
00:22:30,454 --> 00:22:31,275
Yeah. Wow.

613
00:22:31,894 --> 00:22:33,734
And, and one of the kids was, like,

614
00:22:33,734 --> 00:22:34,855
yeah, but how do you know people are

615
00:22:34,855 --> 00:22:36,375
not saying the word? And Zaynab was, like,

616
00:22:36,375 --> 00:22:38,055
if if there's one time they're not saying

617
00:22:38,055 --> 00:22:38,795
it here,

618
00:22:39,710 --> 00:22:42,289
then that's fine. That's how we start. So

619
00:22:42,349 --> 00:22:44,269
that was a project that would not have

620
00:22:44,269 --> 00:22:46,430
been possible if we hadn't been able to

621
00:22:46,430 --> 00:22:48,430
get those books. And if we hadn't had

622
00:22:48,430 --> 00:22:51,070
donors that said, you know what? I do

623
00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:51,570
want

624
00:22:52,065 --> 00:22:55,105
kids to have critical conversations about this book,

625
00:22:55,105 --> 00:22:57,365
and I do wanna support this classroom. So

626
00:22:57,505 --> 00:22:59,204
that's one of my favorite stories,

627
00:22:59,744 --> 00:23:01,944
about just the casual ways that kids know

628
00:23:02,144 --> 00:23:03,744
Yes. How to make change when you give

629
00:23:03,744 --> 00:23:04,644
them the resources.

630
00:23:05,529 --> 00:23:07,210
Exactly. Oh, first of first of all, I

631
00:23:07,210 --> 00:23:08,670
am so proud retroactively

632
00:23:09,130 --> 00:23:11,869
of Zaynip. Like, and, proud or

633
00:23:12,329 --> 00:23:13,369
admiring. I mean,

634
00:23:13,849 --> 00:23:16,730
that that's that's an inspiring story. And I

635
00:23:16,730 --> 00:23:18,809
I would imagine that a lot of your

636
00:23:18,809 --> 00:23:20,910
audience is pretty familiar with

637
00:23:21,244 --> 00:23:23,725
education and the sector, but I also imagine

638
00:23:23,725 --> 00:23:25,565
that there are some folks that are using

639
00:23:25,565 --> 00:23:27,085
this podcast as a way to get a

640
00:23:27,085 --> 00:23:27,585
window

641
00:23:27,965 --> 00:23:31,485
into what the world is like. And, like,

642
00:23:31,485 --> 00:23:33,904
what an amazing story just to

643
00:23:34,940 --> 00:23:35,440
illustrate

644
00:23:35,740 --> 00:23:38,319
the levels and layers of learning

645
00:23:38,940 --> 00:23:39,920
that can happen,

646
00:23:41,259 --> 00:23:43,900
but it's difficult to facilitate. Right? I mean,

647
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:46,220
there are so many ways that that kind

648
00:23:46,220 --> 00:23:48,634
of situation can go wrong. You know, people

649
00:23:48,634 --> 00:23:50,095
using a word callously,

650
00:23:50,394 --> 00:23:52,575
you know, you know, feelings, emotions.

651
00:23:52,954 --> 00:23:53,454
Basically,

652
00:23:54,234 --> 00:23:57,375
the default is some kind of negative outcome,

653
00:23:57,994 --> 00:24:00,410
but with the right resources and, let's give

654
00:24:00,410 --> 00:24:02,970
credit where credit's due, the right educational leadership,

655
00:24:02,970 --> 00:24:04,809
right, from the amazing teachers that are bringing

656
00:24:04,809 --> 00:24:06,190
these resources in,

657
00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:08,509
you can take that fraud,

658
00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:11,400
situation.

659
00:24:11,704 --> 00:24:13,545
And, I mean, what's happening here, peer to

660
00:24:13,545 --> 00:24:16,744
peer relationships, leadership is being tried out, you

661
00:24:16,744 --> 00:24:18,045
know, ways of influencing,

662
00:24:18,505 --> 00:24:20,365
taking a risk, self advocacy.

663
00:24:20,904 --> 00:24:22,664
I mean Yeah. Right? All of the I

664
00:24:22,664 --> 00:24:24,744
mean, they were even doing data collection. They're

665
00:24:24,744 --> 00:24:26,904
like Wow. Yes. How do we know if

666
00:24:26,904 --> 00:24:28,440
this is working? Do we need to change

667
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,160
our approach? And then they would, like then

668
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:32,839
they would, like, ask people, and people wouldn't

669
00:24:32,839 --> 00:24:35,000
really answer directly. So, like, what else can

670
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,740
we yeah. So yeah. So it's it's great.

671
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,460
People use that phrase critical thinking.

672
00:24:40,759 --> 00:24:42,424
Sorry to but, like, you know and but

673
00:24:42,424 --> 00:24:44,345
this is this is what that means. Like,

674
00:24:44,345 --> 00:24:46,924
here's a perfect example. All of those questions,

675
00:24:46,984 --> 00:24:47,804
the deliberations,

676
00:24:48,184 --> 00:24:49,644
the thinking of the thoughtfulness,

677
00:24:50,184 --> 00:24:52,025
that's the kind of critical thinking. It is

678
00:24:52,025 --> 00:24:52,765
not easy.

679
00:24:53,544 --> 00:24:56,025
Mhmm. But but you see why the more

680
00:24:56,025 --> 00:24:58,370
kids have a chance to develop, the again,

681
00:24:58,370 --> 00:25:00,549
the better off we all are. Right? Because

682
00:25:00,850 --> 00:25:02,309
the world is better off that

683
00:25:02,850 --> 00:25:04,690
Zane have got that experience, and now she's

684
00:25:04,690 --> 00:25:05,430
in the world,

685
00:25:05,970 --> 00:25:08,049
you know, just a little bit more knowledge

686
00:25:08,049 --> 00:25:10,130
and power. Like, wow. I I I feel

687
00:25:10,130 --> 00:25:11,110
better about it.

688
00:25:11,565 --> 00:25:13,724
Yep. So I think and and, like, thank

689
00:25:13,724 --> 00:25:16,044
you so much for that. And, it's just

690
00:25:16,044 --> 00:25:17,505
so much fun to, like, remember,

691
00:25:18,204 --> 00:25:19,585
you know, things like that.

692
00:25:20,204 --> 00:25:21,904
I imagine in your work

693
00:25:22,365 --> 00:25:24,924
that that story is just a star in

694
00:25:24,924 --> 00:25:27,139
a galaxy of stories that you

695
00:25:27,599 --> 00:25:30,559
have access to. Do you wanna share some

696
00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:33,460
of your favorite anecdotes Yeah. From,

697
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,799
DonorsChoose and just from being from bearing witness

698
00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:38,019
to this important work?

699
00:25:38,335 --> 00:25:40,035
This is just the absolutely

700
00:25:40,654 --> 00:25:43,055
unfair privilege that I have in this role,

701
00:25:43,055 --> 00:25:43,775
which is

702
00:25:44,095 --> 00:25:44,994
I mean, sometimes

703
00:25:45,375 --> 00:25:47,555
and I this sounds like an exaggeration,

704
00:25:49,295 --> 00:25:51,615
but you can prove to yourself, any listener,

705
00:25:51,615 --> 00:25:53,375
that it's not an exaggeration by trying it

706
00:25:53,375 --> 00:25:53,875
yourself.

707
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:55,400
Sometimes I just go on to the site

708
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:56,960
and I just read the projects. You know,

709
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,599
I'll just search for think of a topic,

710
00:25:58,599 --> 00:26:00,759
you know, maybe, you know, violin or whatever.

711
00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:01,559
You know? And,

712
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,440
it because it covers arts. It covers sports.

713
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,375
It covers, you know, all kinds of stuff.

714
00:26:06,375 --> 00:26:08,375
And then just start Knowing what people are

715
00:26:08,375 --> 00:26:10,394
doing is Yes. Exactly. People

716
00:26:11,015 --> 00:26:12,875
are setting things. We will also link

717
00:26:13,174 --> 00:26:15,994
the site itself. Oh, great. Because listeners,

718
00:26:16,775 --> 00:26:19,255
y'all could do something besides just share and

719
00:26:19,255 --> 00:26:21,755
listen to this story. You could actually contribute

720
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:23,299
to Alex's

721
00:26:23,679 --> 00:26:24,179
experiencing

722
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,159
way more joy than a lot of people

723
00:26:26,159 --> 00:26:26,659
do.

724
00:26:27,039 --> 00:26:27,539
Yeah.

725
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,079
Yeah. Hey. It's it's fun. It's it's it's

726
00:26:30,079 --> 00:26:32,559
slightly addictive, so fair warning. But, yeah, I

727
00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:34,640
mean, this could be a a a, a

728
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,244
listen along activity, donorschoose.org.

729
00:26:37,325 --> 00:26:38,924
Click on the link or, you know, just

730
00:26:38,924 --> 00:26:41,505
just just bring that up right now. But,

731
00:26:42,045 --> 00:26:44,285
you know, I I have a a lot

732
00:26:44,285 --> 00:26:46,865
of stories. If it's alright, maybe I can

733
00:26:47,005 --> 00:26:48,305
bring some that,

734
00:26:48,924 --> 00:26:50,224
Yeah. That

735
00:26:51,150 --> 00:26:52,849
and explain a little bit of the personal

736
00:26:52,990 --> 00:26:55,730
meaning Yeah. For me. Love that. Love that.

737
00:26:56,029 --> 00:26:58,830
So, you know, my background, I'm a first

738
00:26:58,830 --> 00:27:02,269
generation American. My parents are from Haiti and

739
00:27:02,269 --> 00:27:04,769
Brazil. Right? So born in Haiti and Brazil.

740
00:27:04,910 --> 00:27:06,289
My my language

741
00:27:06,795 --> 00:27:07,535
as a

742
00:27:07,835 --> 00:27:10,715
kid was Haitian Creole. So actually, English is

743
00:27:10,715 --> 00:27:12,875
my second language, and I learned in school.

744
00:27:12,875 --> 00:27:15,434
Okay? So I remember going to school and

745
00:27:15,434 --> 00:27:16,815
not speaking English.

746
00:27:18,475 --> 00:27:18,975
And,

747
00:27:19,355 --> 00:27:20,840
you know, I went to public schools. I

748
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,600
I grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. Born

749
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:23,640
in New York, but grew up in New

750
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,960
Haven, Connecticut. So New Haven Public Schools k

751
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:26,940
through twelfth.

752
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,080
So that's just a a little bit about

753
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,420
me and a just a hint about family.

754
00:27:32,054 --> 00:27:34,075
And so I I joined DonorsChoose

755
00:27:34,534 --> 00:27:36,375
a little over three years ago as CEO.

756
00:27:36,375 --> 00:27:38,214
So I'm not the founder. I succeeded our

757
00:27:38,214 --> 00:27:41,095
incredible inspirational founder, Charles. You know, and I

758
00:27:41,095 --> 00:27:42,615
came on and, you know, I had a

759
00:27:42,615 --> 00:27:43,734
lot of work to do and try to

760
00:27:43,734 --> 00:27:45,335
figure out, keep my head above water in

761
00:27:45,335 --> 00:27:47,700
this big machine. And then, you know, a

762
00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:50,099
little bit into it about, about two years

763
00:27:50,099 --> 00:27:52,500
in, I suddenly realized, wait a second. The

764
00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:54,359
whole reason I'm in here is because

765
00:27:55,619 --> 00:27:58,099
I saw firsthand actually as a student and

766
00:27:58,099 --> 00:27:58,920
as a teacher

767
00:28:00,505 --> 00:28:01,884
that gap between

768
00:28:03,544 --> 00:28:05,325
every kid's true potential

769
00:28:05,625 --> 00:28:06,125
and

770
00:28:06,984 --> 00:28:07,884
what's available

771
00:28:08,265 --> 00:28:08,924
to them,

772
00:28:09,384 --> 00:28:11,724
and what is sometimes available and not available.

773
00:28:11,785 --> 00:28:13,865
You know? So I lived that gap as

774
00:28:13,865 --> 00:28:14,444
a kid,

775
00:28:14,769 --> 00:28:16,789
and I lived that gap as a teacher.

776
00:28:17,569 --> 00:28:20,369
And that's why I'm in this job right

777
00:28:20,369 --> 00:28:22,309
now. And I was thinking, wait a second.

778
00:28:23,569 --> 00:28:27,089
I'm the frigging CEO of DonorsChoose. I can

779
00:28:27,089 --> 00:28:27,589
maybe,

780
00:28:27,890 --> 00:28:30,494
like, go to my school and just look

781
00:28:30,494 --> 00:28:32,174
teachers up at the high school that I

782
00:28:32,174 --> 00:28:34,654
went to, Wilbur Ross High School. An amazing

783
00:28:34,654 --> 00:28:37,294
rich set of experiences. I'm proud of it.

784
00:28:37,294 --> 00:28:38,734
There were a lot of challenges, so I'm

785
00:28:38,734 --> 00:28:40,974
not gonna sugarcoat that and and see if

786
00:28:40,974 --> 00:28:42,734
anybody's using it. Maybe I'll just, you know,

787
00:28:42,734 --> 00:28:43,634
ping some teachers.

788
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,539
And so I did exactly that.

789
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,320
Teachers got back to me, you know, doing

790
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:50,400
amazing work. And so there was this one

791
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,180
teacher, mister David Lopez.

792
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:53,840
And, you know, I was doing that. I

793
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,359
was like, hey. Would you be up for

794
00:28:55,359 --> 00:28:57,039
a conversation? And he got back. He's like,

795
00:28:57,039 --> 00:28:58,484
yes. I was like, could, you know, could

796
00:28:58,484 --> 00:29:00,085
I just talk to you about what you're

797
00:29:00,085 --> 00:29:01,525
doing so I could learn? Because I have

798
00:29:01,525 --> 00:29:02,744
this connection to

799
00:29:03,125 --> 00:29:04,964
your workplace. That was my high school. You

800
00:29:04,964 --> 00:29:07,365
know, I graduated from Wilber Cross High School.

801
00:29:07,605 --> 00:29:09,285
You know, I was four year student there.

802
00:29:09,285 --> 00:29:10,585
And so he said yes.

803
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:11,640
And,

804
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:12,859
mister Lopez,

805
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,420
moved here from Spain. The school,

806
00:29:16,359 --> 00:29:17,740
Wilber Cross High School,

807
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:18,940
serves

808
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,500
as it always has, a very diverse

809
00:29:21,799 --> 00:29:22,299
population,

810
00:29:24,835 --> 00:29:27,715
of kids. And I'll just sometimes, I don't

811
00:29:27,715 --> 00:29:29,634
know, people use that word diverse in interesting

812
00:29:29,634 --> 00:29:32,375
ways. Like, literally, what I mean is many

813
00:29:32,515 --> 00:29:34,134
different groups of

814
00:29:35,634 --> 00:29:36,134
ethnicities

815
00:29:36,674 --> 00:29:38,295
and countries and languages.

816
00:29:38,674 --> 00:29:40,319
You know? Yeah. That was true when I

817
00:29:40,319 --> 00:29:42,660
was there. It's actually only increased

818
00:29:43,039 --> 00:29:45,599
over time, and he described how in the

819
00:29:45,599 --> 00:29:47,920
few years that he had been at I

820
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,119
mean, he was a long time teacher, but

821
00:29:49,119 --> 00:29:50,480
in the few years that he had been

822
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:51,700
in at Cross,

823
00:29:52,924 --> 00:29:54,544
the population had grown

824
00:29:55,964 --> 00:29:58,284
by a few 100, mostly due to new

825
00:29:58,284 --> 00:30:00,284
arrivals to the country, you know, coming from

826
00:30:00,284 --> 00:30:02,865
different places and and and stressed places. Right?

827
00:30:04,044 --> 00:30:05,265
And he was teaching

828
00:30:06,580 --> 00:30:07,779
robotics. Oh, and by the way, I the

829
00:30:07,779 --> 00:30:09,380
reason I I reached out to him was

830
00:30:09,380 --> 00:30:11,619
I was funding him. Like, that was you

831
00:30:11,619 --> 00:30:12,660
know, he was one of the ones that

832
00:30:12,660 --> 00:30:13,860
I love to fund. And the reason I

833
00:30:13,860 --> 00:30:15,320
did it is because I'm a big nerd.

834
00:30:16,180 --> 00:30:18,420
You know, I studied physics in college, and

835
00:30:18,420 --> 00:30:21,240
he was doing these robotics and Arduino

836
00:30:22,095 --> 00:30:24,194
projects, you know, electronics and stuff.

837
00:30:24,815 --> 00:30:27,054
Exactly the kind of teacher and the experience

838
00:30:27,054 --> 00:30:29,454
that I would have loved to have. Like,

839
00:30:29,454 --> 00:30:31,535
I dreamed about having that kind of thing

840
00:30:31,535 --> 00:30:32,894
in high school, and we didn't have it.

841
00:30:32,894 --> 00:30:34,940
So I was you know? And it turned

842
00:30:34,940 --> 00:30:36,859
out that he was doing these projects with

843
00:30:36,859 --> 00:30:38,240
a focus on

844
00:30:38,779 --> 00:30:39,599
the new

845
00:30:39,900 --> 00:30:41,980
arrivals to the country, which may be a

846
00:30:41,980 --> 00:30:44,460
little bit surprising. But, you know, some of

847
00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:46,859
the kids whose income you know, they might

848
00:30:46,859 --> 00:30:48,059
join in the middle of the year

849
00:30:48,865 --> 00:30:50,325
Right. Not speak English

850
00:30:50,625 --> 00:30:52,304
as a high schooler. Again, I remember how

851
00:30:52,304 --> 00:30:54,384
tough that was in in kindergarten and first

852
00:30:54,384 --> 00:30:57,024
grade. So high school, you're coming in. You're

853
00:30:57,024 --> 00:30:58,884
maybe two you know, you're a sophomore.

854
00:30:59,904 --> 00:31:02,830
Midyear, you're coming in from a stressed situation

855
00:31:03,049 --> 00:31:04,910
to you know, you're bringing that with you.

856
00:31:05,369 --> 00:31:07,690
And he's doing electronics, but he was able

857
00:31:07,690 --> 00:31:09,150
to tell the story of how

858
00:31:10,090 --> 00:31:10,590
just

859
00:31:11,210 --> 00:31:14,009
allowing the kids to have success. Like, he

860
00:31:14,009 --> 00:31:17,035
had this project where they built this model

861
00:31:17,095 --> 00:31:18,474
house, like, imagine,

862
00:31:19,335 --> 00:31:20,794
almost a, you know,

863
00:31:21,095 --> 00:31:22,394
a table size

864
00:31:22,855 --> 00:31:23,355
cardboard,

865
00:31:23,815 --> 00:31:26,134
you know, dollhouse, but they build it and

866
00:31:26,134 --> 00:31:28,535
they do the electronics in it and they

867
00:31:28,535 --> 00:31:31,410
make, you know, working garage doors and timed

868
00:31:31,410 --> 00:31:33,570
lights. And and they're just working on it,

869
00:31:33,570 --> 00:31:36,289
and it's hands on, and it's creative, and

870
00:31:36,289 --> 00:31:38,369
they're learning some programming, and they're doing the

871
00:31:38,369 --> 00:31:38,869
hardware,

872
00:31:39,490 --> 00:31:41,730
and he makes it accessible to them. And

873
00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:44,230
to have those students who come in,

874
00:31:47,345 --> 00:31:48,164
from challenging,

875
00:31:49,024 --> 00:31:51,424
you know, challenging environment and to give them

876
00:31:51,424 --> 00:31:53,524
a chance of success for something so

877
00:31:54,464 --> 00:31:56,085
fun, incredible, and impressive,

878
00:31:56,544 --> 00:31:57,444
show their families,

879
00:31:58,144 --> 00:31:58,644
would

880
00:31:59,299 --> 00:32:02,339
turn the whole experience around for kids and

881
00:32:02,339 --> 00:32:03,960
just open up their eyes.

882
00:32:04,339 --> 00:32:05,319
And he would

883
00:32:05,619 --> 00:32:07,539
he he just described how they they carry

884
00:32:07,539 --> 00:32:08,679
themselves differently,

885
00:32:09,220 --> 00:32:11,960
you know, and how he could watch that

886
00:32:12,505 --> 00:32:15,164
transformation over the course of a few months.

887
00:32:15,544 --> 00:32:18,585
And, man, that's like one story. That's yeah.

888
00:32:18,585 --> 00:32:20,744
That's beautiful. Well, and if I could, like,

889
00:32:20,744 --> 00:32:23,144
I think I think just thank you for

890
00:32:23,144 --> 00:32:25,005
sharing that. Shout out, mister Lopez.

891
00:32:25,464 --> 00:32:27,085
Yes. That's super dope.

892
00:32:27,580 --> 00:32:29,359
You know, the thing that kinda comes

893
00:32:29,740 --> 00:32:32,140
to mind for me is is you kind

894
00:32:32,140 --> 00:32:34,960
of you know, as you describe the backgrounds

895
00:32:35,019 --> 00:32:37,200
of the students and you describe that

896
00:32:38,859 --> 00:32:39,359
seemingly

897
00:32:39,660 --> 00:32:40,160
insurmountable

898
00:32:40,460 --> 00:32:42,994
hill to climb Yes. Which is to

899
00:32:43,535 --> 00:32:45,154
gain enough English proficiency

900
00:32:46,335 --> 00:32:47,714
really late in childhood

901
00:32:48,335 --> 00:32:49,934
to be able to graduate high school and

902
00:32:49,934 --> 00:32:51,855
have some options like that. That's gotta be

903
00:32:51,855 --> 00:32:54,195
really daunting. And I think about

904
00:32:55,019 --> 00:32:57,440
so many district leaders that I hear

905
00:32:57,980 --> 00:33:00,559
saying that, well, yeah, like

906
00:33:01,099 --> 00:33:04,160
robotics and project based learning and creativity,

907
00:33:05,019 --> 00:33:06,640
that's all good and well,

908
00:33:07,099 --> 00:33:09,365
but we gotta get them on grade level

909
00:33:09,365 --> 00:33:12,085
first. And Yeah. I've always felt like that

910
00:33:12,085 --> 00:33:14,505
line of thinking was so wrong headed because

911
00:33:14,644 --> 00:33:15,785
here we have students

912
00:33:16,244 --> 00:33:17,924
who aren't coming in with a lot of

913
00:33:17,924 --> 00:33:20,825
the privileges that their peers had. And

914
00:33:21,230 --> 00:33:23,710
it's that it's not just that you're having

915
00:33:23,710 --> 00:33:26,190
fun. Although, I think fun is extremely important

916
00:33:26,190 --> 00:33:28,269
when it comes to learning, but it's also

917
00:33:28,269 --> 00:33:29,250
about recognizing

918
00:33:30,430 --> 00:33:33,089
what you can actually do and having

919
00:33:33,710 --> 00:33:35,890
that possibility open up to you.

920
00:33:36,544 --> 00:33:37,044
Absolutely.

921
00:33:37,424 --> 00:33:38,865
To to give a shout out do you

922
00:33:38,865 --> 00:33:39,424
know the,

923
00:33:40,224 --> 00:33:43,204
also a nonprofit focused on math called Zearn?

924
00:33:43,744 --> 00:33:46,544
It's a it's an online program mostly for

925
00:33:46,544 --> 00:33:48,724
for for the younger kids. You know?

926
00:33:49,349 --> 00:33:50,710
But I'll just give a shout out to

927
00:33:50,710 --> 00:33:54,470
Zern and Shalini Sharma who, another person that

928
00:33:54,470 --> 00:33:56,549
I admire a great deal. Just wrote a

929
00:33:56,549 --> 00:33:57,289
book, MathMind.

930
00:33:58,470 --> 00:34:00,630
And they Zern did a study a few

931
00:34:00,630 --> 00:34:01,450
years ago

932
00:34:02,150 --> 00:34:03,049
that actually

933
00:34:03,484 --> 00:34:05,184
took on exactly what you're describing,

934
00:34:05,644 --> 00:34:06,945
and they contrasted

935
00:34:07,805 --> 00:34:08,545
the approaches

936
00:34:08,925 --> 00:34:11,824
of remediation when there's a a learning gap

937
00:34:12,045 --> 00:34:13,265
versus acceleration.

938
00:34:14,204 --> 00:34:14,704
Okay?

939
00:34:15,085 --> 00:34:16,065
So that is

940
00:34:16,550 --> 00:34:18,550
it's you know? So they're talking about math.

941
00:34:18,550 --> 00:34:20,469
And, look. I'm not gonna do it justice.

942
00:34:20,469 --> 00:34:22,230
I'll just say briefly, and then and folks

943
00:34:22,230 --> 00:34:24,150
can go look it up. But, basically, if

944
00:34:24,150 --> 00:34:25,289
you have kids that

945
00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:27,909
miss a concept because, look, we all learn

946
00:34:27,909 --> 00:34:28,809
things differently

947
00:34:29,190 --> 00:34:31,264
in in math, And you think, oh,

948
00:34:32,045 --> 00:34:33,565
that's math builds on itself. So you got

949
00:34:33,565 --> 00:34:35,505
to make sure that kids have that concept.

950
00:34:35,804 --> 00:34:37,105
One approach is to

951
00:34:37,724 --> 00:34:38,224
pause,

952
00:34:38,605 --> 00:34:40,684
go back and, like, kind of cover that

953
00:34:40,684 --> 00:34:41,505
thing again.

954
00:34:41,804 --> 00:34:42,864
Okay. Remediation.

955
00:34:43,885 --> 00:34:45,264
In some sense, it's logical.

956
00:34:46,699 --> 00:34:48,699
But what's the consequence of that? Well, you

957
00:34:48,699 --> 00:34:50,880
took time to do that. So they

958
00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:52,960
are still behind, actually,

959
00:34:53,260 --> 00:34:55,339
because the curriculum moved on while you were

960
00:34:55,339 --> 00:34:57,920
doing that. Okay. So now you're remediating this,

961
00:34:58,699 --> 00:35:00,799
and the curriculum has moved on.

962
00:35:01,454 --> 00:35:03,934
And she contrasted that with a different approach,

963
00:35:03,934 --> 00:35:05,155
which is acceleration.

964
00:35:06,015 --> 00:35:06,755
You actually

965
00:35:07,454 --> 00:35:09,775
keep going forward and you sort of just

966
00:35:09,775 --> 00:35:10,755
do more

967
00:35:11,375 --> 00:35:14,515
and you accelerate the rate at which kids

968
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,880
are learning. And then you find that that

969
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,920
is actually what allows for lasting success. So

970
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,840
I'll just stop there because it's go deeper

971
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,400
there. You know, go read the paper and

972
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,840
go look that up. Absolutely. But I but

973
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:28,679
it's exactly kind of gets to the heart

974
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:30,135
of what you're describing.

975
00:35:30,835 --> 00:35:33,635
You know, like, what do you do? And

976
00:35:33,635 --> 00:35:35,494
sometimes I like to make analogies

977
00:35:35,875 --> 00:35:38,914
for folks to other spheres of learning because,

978
00:35:38,914 --> 00:35:39,414
actually,

979
00:35:40,515 --> 00:35:41,974
the learning that we do,

980
00:35:42,909 --> 00:35:45,070
it works largely the same. It could if

981
00:35:45,070 --> 00:35:46,530
it's on the athletic field,

982
00:35:46,909 --> 00:35:49,329
if it's in a art, you know, context,

983
00:35:49,389 --> 00:35:50,929
learning an instrument, etcetera.

984
00:35:54,924 --> 00:35:56,125
If you want to be able to play

985
00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:57,565
on it, you gotta keep up with that

986
00:35:57,565 --> 00:35:59,404
team. You know? So you gotta do the

987
00:35:59,565 --> 00:36:01,724
Yeah. You know, you can't stop because you

988
00:36:01,724 --> 00:36:02,784
missed some skill.

989
00:36:03,324 --> 00:36:05,885
Right. Lose what the play is. Lose Sorry.

990
00:36:05,964 --> 00:36:07,565
You know? Time out. I need to Yeah.

991
00:36:07,644 --> 00:36:09,005
I need to figure out how to go

992
00:36:09,005 --> 00:36:09,480
left.

993
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,920
Yeah, exactly. So you guys go ahead, and

994
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:14,359
I'm going to work just on the left,

995
00:36:14,359 --> 00:36:15,659
and then I'm going to lose.

996
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:18,380
Good luck.

997
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:20,619
You can't do that. No, you can't.

998
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:22,519
You keep up, and then you learn it

999
00:36:22,519 --> 00:36:23,420
in the context.

1000
00:36:23,864 --> 00:36:25,784
So you're working hard, but but our brains

1001
00:36:25,784 --> 00:36:27,945
are capable of doing that. And, actually, it's

1002
00:36:27,945 --> 00:36:28,525
a better,

1003
00:36:28,905 --> 00:36:31,144
yeah, it it's a better situation. Try to

1004
00:36:31,144 --> 00:36:32,204
keep it up. Like

1005
00:36:32,985 --> 00:36:34,525
and and I've not done

1006
00:36:34,905 --> 00:36:36,505
the level of reading that I need to

1007
00:36:36,505 --> 00:36:38,605
do on accelerated learning.

1008
00:36:39,900 --> 00:36:41,500
But it the way you describe it, it

1009
00:36:41,500 --> 00:36:44,000
makes it sound like it's more organically iterative

1010
00:36:44,299 --> 00:36:46,299
that you go through the things, you do

1011
00:36:46,299 --> 00:36:47,039
the things,

1012
00:36:47,420 --> 00:36:47,920
and

1013
00:36:48,380 --> 00:36:48,880
you

1014
00:36:49,420 --> 00:36:52,460
and and you just work on things as

1015
00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:55,054
they come and start plugging those gaps rather

1016
00:36:55,054 --> 00:36:55,554
than

1017
00:36:55,855 --> 00:36:56,914
taking a whole,

1018
00:36:57,775 --> 00:36:59,234
you know, chunk of time

1019
00:36:59,534 --> 00:37:02,014
to go back and, you know, focus in

1020
00:37:02,014 --> 00:37:03,534
on one scope. Because then you end up

1021
00:37:03,534 --> 00:37:05,214
in this Yeah. Kind of,

1022
00:37:05,694 --> 00:37:06,194
remediation

1023
00:37:06,574 --> 00:37:10,099
cycle. Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly right. Interest. Yeah.

1024
00:37:10,099 --> 00:37:11,539
I'll have to do more reading on that

1025
00:37:11,539 --> 00:37:13,539
one for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what

1026
00:37:13,539 --> 00:37:15,239
mister Lopez is doing, acceleration

1027
00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:18,500
to stuff that anybody would be challenged by,

1028
00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:20,680
you know, electronics Oh my gosh. Yeah. Programming.

1029
00:37:21,140 --> 00:37:23,515
It's It's acceleration, but that's another example of

1030
00:37:23,515 --> 00:37:25,355
it. You know? Like, re in in a

1031
00:37:25,355 --> 00:37:26,494
sense, raise the bar.

1032
00:37:27,675 --> 00:37:27,835
But

1033
00:37:28,875 --> 00:37:30,494
or raise your level of expectations

1034
00:37:30,795 --> 00:37:33,515
up to what the kid's potential actually is.

1035
00:37:33,515 --> 00:37:35,914
You know? Yeah. And then magical things can

1036
00:37:35,914 --> 00:37:36,414
happen.

1037
00:37:36,849 --> 00:37:39,010
Yeah. What about are there any other, like,

1038
00:37:39,010 --> 00:37:40,690
kind of I think we could probably do

1039
00:37:40,690 --> 00:37:43,010
one more anecdote if Yeah. I mean, I

1040
00:37:43,010 --> 00:37:45,609
I imagine it's a matter of choosing from

1041
00:37:45,889 --> 00:37:47,190
I it it is. Anecdotes

1042
00:37:47,730 --> 00:37:49,795
that you have access to. You know, I

1043
00:37:49,795 --> 00:37:50,695
wanna celebrate,

1044
00:37:51,394 --> 00:37:52,534
our team at DonorsChoose

1045
00:37:53,155 --> 00:37:55,235
for a new challenge. You know, we have,

1046
00:37:56,275 --> 00:37:58,275
we've been in operation for twenty five years.

1047
00:37:58,275 --> 00:38:00,594
We started small in the in The Bronx,

1048
00:38:00,594 --> 00:38:02,195
you know, in the the high school that

1049
00:38:02,195 --> 00:38:03,929
that Charles taught in in The Bronx and

1050
00:38:04,010 --> 00:38:05,069
have grown nationwide.

1051
00:38:05,609 --> 00:38:06,670
To date, we've served

1052
00:38:06,969 --> 00:38:07,769
90%,

1053
00:38:07,769 --> 00:38:10,829
like, a full 90% of American schools. Okay?

1054
00:38:11,130 --> 00:38:12,269
American public schools.

1055
00:38:13,210 --> 00:38:14,909
But but not quite a 100%.

1056
00:38:14,969 --> 00:38:17,210
One more time for the people. Yeah. Yo.

1057
00:38:17,210 --> 00:38:19,275
That is 90%.

1058
00:38:19,275 --> 00:38:21,434
Yeah. Nine zero. 90%

1059
00:38:21,434 --> 00:38:23,594
of full I'm not even rounding up here.

1060
00:38:23,594 --> 00:38:24,414
90%

1061
00:38:24,474 --> 00:38:27,534
of American schools have benefited from from DonorsChoose.

1062
00:38:28,714 --> 00:38:30,554
And but not a 100%. You know, we're

1063
00:38:30,554 --> 00:38:31,855
trying to click that up.

1064
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,239
One of the components of that gap has

1065
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:35,739
been,

1066
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:38,699
the island of Puerto Rico,

1067
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:40,219
because,

1068
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,260
you know, we send stuff to schools.

1069
00:38:44,199 --> 00:38:47,074
And so, actually, in our model, it's nontrivial

1070
00:38:47,614 --> 00:38:48,994
to do the operations,

1071
00:38:49,454 --> 00:38:51,135
on the island of Puerto Rico. And so

1072
00:38:51,135 --> 00:38:53,054
we actually hadn't taken that on as a

1073
00:38:53,054 --> 00:38:53,554
challenge,

1074
00:38:54,255 --> 00:38:56,094
but we we took it on for the

1075
00:38:56,094 --> 00:38:58,094
first time as a our first pilot last

1076
00:38:58,094 --> 00:38:59,474
year, and it also involved,

1077
00:39:00,659 --> 00:39:03,380
introducing Spanish with and other languages in a

1078
00:39:03,380 --> 00:39:04,760
different way on our site.

1079
00:39:06,819 --> 00:39:07,319
And,

1080
00:39:08,659 --> 00:39:10,980
then I had the chance to go and

1081
00:39:10,980 --> 00:39:14,065
and and visit, you know, some of

1082
00:39:14,364 --> 00:39:15,904
the the schools that benefited.

1083
00:39:16,684 --> 00:39:17,184
And,

1084
00:39:19,005 --> 00:39:21,164
and, actually, I I also brought brought my

1085
00:39:21,164 --> 00:39:22,065
daughters down.

1086
00:39:22,444 --> 00:39:23,344
Again, like,

1087
00:39:23,964 --> 00:39:25,885
you know, the connection. I I'm I'm an

1088
00:39:25,885 --> 00:39:29,320
island person here. You know? Yeah. Yeah. You

1089
00:39:29,460 --> 00:39:30,679
know? I see. And,

1090
00:39:32,820 --> 00:39:33,480
and I

1091
00:39:35,780 --> 00:39:38,199
I wanna paint an accurate picture here.

1092
00:39:38,579 --> 00:39:39,079
The,

1093
00:39:41,315 --> 00:39:44,454
kind of, the built environment that is characteristic

1094
00:39:44,835 --> 00:39:47,174
of the public schools on the island

1095
00:39:47,474 --> 00:39:48,295
are different.

1096
00:39:48,674 --> 00:39:49,174
They're

1097
00:39:49,474 --> 00:39:49,974
qualitatively

1098
00:39:50,275 --> 00:39:52,914
it's qualitatively different than what you would find

1099
00:39:52,914 --> 00:39:55,094
in pretty much anywhere in the Continental

1100
00:39:55,474 --> 00:39:55,974
US.

1101
00:39:56,699 --> 00:39:59,179
Even adjusting for levels of,

1102
00:39:59,739 --> 00:40:00,239
income

1103
00:40:00,539 --> 00:40:01,599
and ruralness,

1104
00:40:02,300 --> 00:40:03,440
it's it's a different,

1105
00:40:04,059 --> 00:40:06,380
infrastructure and a different level of spending and

1106
00:40:06,380 --> 00:40:06,880
lower.

1107
00:40:08,219 --> 00:40:10,159
So the gap, I in resources

1108
00:40:10,460 --> 00:40:10,960
is

1109
00:40:11,424 --> 00:40:11,924
significantly

1110
00:40:12,385 --> 00:40:14,164
bigger in terms of really

1111
00:40:14,464 --> 00:40:16,704
thinking, you know, imagining what we could bring

1112
00:40:16,704 --> 00:40:17,204
kids.

1113
00:40:18,944 --> 00:40:20,704
And and and this is something that that

1114
00:40:20,704 --> 00:40:22,545
I knew from from past work and and

1115
00:40:22,545 --> 00:40:24,304
and visiting the island and also doing other

1116
00:40:24,304 --> 00:40:25,904
work, you know, in Brazil and and other

1117
00:40:25,904 --> 00:40:26,400
places.

1118
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:27,380
Yeah.

1119
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:29,359
The schools in Puerto Rico are a lot

1120
00:40:29,359 --> 00:40:31,119
more like the schools in Brazil, for example,

1121
00:40:31,119 --> 00:40:33,519
than they are, like, schools in Miami. By

1122
00:40:33,519 --> 00:40:35,219
by I mean so,

1123
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:38,960
so we had a chance to see it.

1124
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,019
One of my favorite

1125
00:40:40,364 --> 00:40:41,585
projects was

1126
00:40:42,284 --> 00:40:44,925
you know, you described this experience in your

1127
00:40:44,925 --> 00:40:46,925
school with the books, and it was this

1128
00:40:46,925 --> 00:40:48,385
rich sort of multilayered,

1129
00:40:49,005 --> 00:40:50,385
you know, learning experience.

1130
00:40:51,565 --> 00:40:54,065
There's one of these creative teachers

1131
00:40:54,445 --> 00:40:57,079
who decided there was an open space that

1132
00:40:57,079 --> 00:40:58,280
I got to see it. Like, there was

1133
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,840
just an open space on the roof that

1134
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,920
was just open. It was just kinda blank.

1135
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:04,599
He's like, you can do something with this.

1136
00:41:04,599 --> 00:41:06,920
You know? It wasn't it's not inside the

1137
00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:08,840
building. It's outside the building. It's on the

1138
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,679
roof. But he's like, we can do we

1139
00:41:10,679 --> 00:41:13,135
can do something with this. And he built

1140
00:41:13,135 --> 00:41:13,795
a hydroponic

1141
00:41:14,174 --> 00:41:16,654
roof? Yeah. No. Yeah. I'm like, that would

1142
00:41:16,654 --> 00:41:18,014
be my reaction. Yeah. We went up Yeah.

1143
00:41:18,174 --> 00:41:20,674
Like, on top. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Just,

1144
00:41:21,135 --> 00:41:21,795
you know,

1145
00:41:23,694 --> 00:41:25,875
and he created a hydroponic

1146
00:41:27,579 --> 00:41:28,059
garden,

1147
00:41:28,539 --> 00:41:29,519
and raised funds,

1148
00:41:29,980 --> 00:41:32,239
used donuts juice to get stuff, and

1149
00:41:32,780 --> 00:41:34,859
had some coverings up there, had the pipes,

1150
00:41:34,859 --> 00:41:37,280
had motors, had the seeds, etcetera.

1151
00:41:37,739 --> 00:41:39,260
And there was so much going on. You

1152
00:41:39,260 --> 00:41:41,260
know, I I I likened it a bit

1153
00:41:41,260 --> 00:41:43,694
to that multilayered learning experience that you described

1154
00:41:43,694 --> 00:41:46,255
with the book and how it kinda radiates

1155
00:41:46,255 --> 00:41:49,135
out because he's a science teacher, so there's

1156
00:41:49,135 --> 00:41:51,614
just science happening there. It's an activity for

1157
00:41:51,614 --> 00:41:52,275
the kids.

1158
00:41:52,654 --> 00:41:53,635
There is

1159
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:56,699
a requirement

1160
00:41:57,079 --> 00:41:57,579
for

1161
00:41:59,160 --> 00:41:59,820
a service

1162
00:42:00,679 --> 00:42:03,719
that existed in that area. And so, actually,

1163
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:05,880
this became a resource where kids from other

1164
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:07,019
schools could come

1165
00:42:07,559 --> 00:42:10,380
and do service by working in this garden.

1166
00:42:12,045 --> 00:42:12,784
They produced

1167
00:42:13,244 --> 00:42:13,744
edible

1168
00:42:14,045 --> 00:42:17,724
crops, these different lettuces. And so actually then

1169
00:42:17,724 --> 00:42:19,484
what they did was they took some portion

1170
00:42:19,484 --> 00:42:22,445
of it and they made that available for

1171
00:42:22,445 --> 00:42:25,505
families in need and also sold some.

1172
00:42:26,820 --> 00:42:27,800
So you're getting

1173
00:42:28,260 --> 00:42:29,640
service. You're getting,

1174
00:42:29,940 --> 00:42:32,440
you know, the connections across school

1175
00:42:32,900 --> 00:42:35,059
school buildings of, you know, kids getting to

1176
00:42:35,059 --> 00:42:37,700
work together. You're actually getting the science and

1177
00:42:37,700 --> 00:42:38,680
the hands on.

1178
00:42:40,404 --> 00:42:43,605
And and there's the, you know, economics and

1179
00:42:43,605 --> 00:42:44,264
the entrepreneurship

1180
00:42:44,644 --> 00:42:45,944
Yeah. And nutrition.

1181
00:42:46,324 --> 00:42:48,025
You know, they're they're growing healthy.

1182
00:42:48,804 --> 00:42:52,164
So all these all these different benefits are

1183
00:42:52,164 --> 00:42:52,664
unlocked,

1184
00:42:54,289 --> 00:42:56,309
in the context of the of a school,

1185
00:42:57,969 --> 00:42:59,269
when you just

1186
00:42:59,969 --> 00:43:00,469
empower

1187
00:43:00,769 --> 00:43:03,969
a creative educator mind to have what they

1188
00:43:03,969 --> 00:43:05,489
need, you know, to,

1189
00:43:05,809 --> 00:43:06,469
to actually

1190
00:43:06,929 --> 00:43:08,150
get their vision realized.

1191
00:43:08,954 --> 00:43:11,535
What? The that's that's such a dope story.

1192
00:43:11,755 --> 00:43:13,195
I love that. And I think, like, I

1193
00:43:13,195 --> 00:43:15,275
even think about myself, and maybe it's because

1194
00:43:15,275 --> 00:43:18,094
I was a social studies teacher. But, like,

1195
00:43:18,235 --> 00:43:18,974
the application

1196
00:43:19,835 --> 00:43:20,335
of

1197
00:43:20,715 --> 00:43:22,094
a resource like DonorsChoose,

1198
00:43:22,635 --> 00:43:24,389
it would have never occurred to me

1199
00:43:25,109 --> 00:43:26,630
to deploy it in the way that you

1200
00:43:26,630 --> 00:43:28,089
just described. And I think

1201
00:43:28,710 --> 00:43:29,369
that highlights

1202
00:43:30,389 --> 00:43:31,529
the need for both

1203
00:43:32,869 --> 00:43:34,569
uplifting teachers. Right?

1204
00:43:34,869 --> 00:43:37,849
Yeah. Who know their content areas and

1205
00:43:38,945 --> 00:43:40,565
teachers who are passionate about

1206
00:43:41,664 --> 00:43:42,324
really engaging

1207
00:43:42,625 --> 00:43:45,684
in a teaching and learning experience with students

1208
00:43:46,065 --> 00:43:48,625
that sticks. Like, these are the things that

1209
00:43:48,625 --> 00:43:49,125
stick.

1210
00:43:50,704 --> 00:43:51,204
And,

1211
00:43:52,119 --> 00:43:54,619
you know, really going into that authentic

1212
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:56,139
learning kind of environment.

1213
00:43:56,599 --> 00:43:58,119
And and I think it occurs to me

1214
00:43:58,119 --> 00:43:58,940
too that

1215
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:01,420
you're also getting people

1216
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,099
at such a great stage of their development

1217
00:44:05,795 --> 00:44:08,454
that these things will be cemented. The notion

1218
00:44:08,595 --> 00:44:09,095
that

1219
00:44:10,114 --> 00:44:12,195
you could put a hydroponic garden on top

1220
00:44:12,195 --> 00:44:12,934
of a building

1221
00:44:13,474 --> 00:44:14,434
is something

1222
00:44:15,235 --> 00:44:17,394
I mean, shoot, Alex. That might save us.

1223
00:44:17,394 --> 00:44:20,440
Right? Yeah. It's how we find these creative

1224
00:44:20,500 --> 00:44:23,099
ways to meet food shortages and that kind

1225
00:44:23,099 --> 00:44:24,280
of thing. And

1226
00:44:24,900 --> 00:44:26,599
if we went if I went

1227
00:44:27,300 --> 00:44:29,380
to my old employer and said, we got

1228
00:44:29,380 --> 00:44:31,380
that roof. Let's make a garden. I think

1229
00:44:31,380 --> 00:44:32,644
adults don't

1230
00:44:33,184 --> 00:44:35,025
necessarily Oh. Like, it's a lot more work

1231
00:44:35,025 --> 00:44:37,184
to get adults to think big in that

1232
00:44:37,184 --> 00:44:37,684
way.

1233
00:44:38,304 --> 00:44:40,324
Where with kids, it's like,

1234
00:44:40,864 --> 00:44:42,164
of course, that's possible.

1235
00:44:42,704 --> 00:44:44,005
Let's do it. Yes.

1236
00:44:44,769 --> 00:44:46,930
Yes. Oh, I was, I was talking to

1237
00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:50,230
someone recent. We, one of our funding partners

1238
00:44:50,369 --> 00:44:52,789
is Allstate, you know, the insurance company,

1239
00:44:53,329 --> 00:44:55,190
and they have a whole,

1240
00:44:56,690 --> 00:44:58,710
program focused on youth,

1241
00:44:59,574 --> 00:45:00,155
in service.

1242
00:45:00,614 --> 00:45:03,515
It's actually the the nature of our partnership

1243
00:45:03,574 --> 00:45:05,735
with them is that they fund teachers that

1244
00:45:05,735 --> 00:45:06,394
are creating,

1245
00:45:07,735 --> 00:45:10,454
chances for kids to engage in service. And,

1246
00:45:10,454 --> 00:45:12,135
actually, we also have it's a it's a

1247
00:45:12,135 --> 00:45:13,574
tripart partnership with,

1248
00:45:14,054 --> 00:45:14,954
Time for Kids.

1249
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:17,920
They have a a a way of highlighting

1250
00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:20,099
teachers called Service Stars. And so then,

1251
00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:22,960
Time for Kids often will highlight some of

1252
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:24,960
these projects and and share the word. You

1253
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:26,960
know? Oh. So it's it's very cool. I

1254
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:28,640
mean, again, just a That's really cool. Yeah.

1255
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:30,405
I've just imagined getting a chance to hear

1256
00:45:30,405 --> 00:45:31,385
some of these kids.

1257
00:45:31,765 --> 00:45:32,985
And I remember,

1258
00:45:34,405 --> 00:45:35,545
one of the teachers,

1259
00:45:37,045 --> 00:45:39,304
was talking, and somebody asked,

1260
00:45:40,005 --> 00:45:40,505
him,

1261
00:45:40,965 --> 00:45:41,864
you know, like,

1262
00:45:42,244 --> 00:45:43,224
what can we

1263
00:45:43,550 --> 00:45:45,650
as adults, you know, how can we encourage

1264
00:45:46,429 --> 00:45:48,289
kids to do more service?

1265
00:45:50,190 --> 00:45:51,630
And he thought about it. He's like, you

1266
00:45:51,630 --> 00:45:52,929
know, in my experience,

1267
00:45:54,510 --> 00:45:56,909
really, the biggest thing is to get out

1268
00:45:56,909 --> 00:45:57,554
of the way

1269
00:45:58,034 --> 00:45:59,414
Because in practice,

1270
00:46:00,594 --> 00:46:01,255
it's often

1271
00:46:02,234 --> 00:46:02,734
some

1272
00:46:03,714 --> 00:46:04,214
hesitation,

1273
00:46:04,755 --> 00:46:05,255
fear,

1274
00:46:06,114 --> 00:46:08,675
you know, uncertainty. Can kids can you really

1275
00:46:08,675 --> 00:46:10,034
take that? I don't know if they can

1276
00:46:10,034 --> 00:46:11,494
really do that. You know?

1277
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:13,940
Maybe they need some oversight. Like, let's

1278
00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:17,200
it's we we have this

1279
00:46:17,599 --> 00:46:19,059
adults, you know,

1280
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,659
can have an instinct to kind of derisk

1281
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:24,659
a lot of the ingenuity

1282
00:46:25,599 --> 00:46:26,340
out of

1283
00:46:27,494 --> 00:46:28,714
a kid's potential.

1284
00:46:29,654 --> 00:46:31,734
And he said that Absolutely. You know? So

1285
00:46:31,734 --> 00:46:33,734
that can be so that's a he had

1286
00:46:33,734 --> 00:46:35,335
an answer that was a challenge to the

1287
00:46:35,335 --> 00:46:36,934
audience. This was on on a panel, which

1288
00:46:36,934 --> 00:46:38,154
was essentially

1289
00:46:38,454 --> 00:46:40,295
yeah. If you're really interested in this, then

1290
00:46:40,295 --> 00:46:42,130
take a look inward. See what you can

1291
00:46:42,130 --> 00:46:43,510
do to unblock

1292
00:46:44,210 --> 00:46:46,929
because Yeah. I'll say it and, you tell

1293
00:46:46,929 --> 00:46:48,610
me if you agree, feel free to disagree

1294
00:46:48,610 --> 00:46:49,429
if you do.

1295
00:46:49,809 --> 00:46:51,889
It's it's already innate. I mean, for young

1296
00:46:51,889 --> 00:46:54,130
people, they're they're working on things. The world

1297
00:46:54,130 --> 00:46:56,449
is new. They're having new ideas. They're going

1298
00:46:56,449 --> 00:46:58,585
to be doing new things. So it's an

1299
00:46:58,585 --> 00:47:00,985
innate part of what they're doing, you know,

1300
00:47:00,985 --> 00:47:04,364
exploring. Yeah. They learn to stop that exploring

1301
00:47:04,664 --> 00:47:07,885
from, you know, constraints around them. So just

1302
00:47:08,265 --> 00:47:10,125
don't do them. Don't don't do those things.

1303
00:47:11,030 --> 00:47:11,530
Absolutely

1304
00:47:11,909 --> 00:47:13,829
agree with that take. And I would say

1305
00:47:13,829 --> 00:47:16,489
that that take is probably more controversial

1306
00:47:16,869 --> 00:47:19,349
in some spaces than it should be because

1307
00:47:19,349 --> 00:47:21,190
I think there is this and we can

1308
00:47:21,190 --> 00:47:22,949
get into a whole kind of money trail

1309
00:47:22,949 --> 00:47:25,190
on this one. But, you know, there is

1310
00:47:25,190 --> 00:47:26,329
this kind of

1311
00:47:26,765 --> 00:47:29,025
question. I remember somebody posing this question

1312
00:47:29,724 --> 00:47:32,045
to me. I was still relatively early in

1313
00:47:32,045 --> 00:47:34,204
my career. I just changed schools. But I

1314
00:47:34,204 --> 00:47:37,244
remember going to a conference presentation that was,

1315
00:47:37,805 --> 00:47:39,485
two friends that I still have, Annie and

1316
00:47:39,485 --> 00:47:42,460
Darren. And I remember Annie posing the question

1317
00:47:42,460 --> 00:47:43,199
and saying,

1318
00:47:43,659 --> 00:47:45,900
the big thing around student voice and the

1319
00:47:45,900 --> 00:47:48,319
big thing around student centered work

1320
00:47:48,779 --> 00:47:51,659
is do you trust your students with the

1321
00:47:51,659 --> 00:47:53,440
things that you are teaching them?

1322
00:47:53,914 --> 00:47:55,215
Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

1323
00:47:55,755 --> 00:47:58,474
And for me Uh-huh. It was always about

1324
00:47:58,474 --> 00:48:01,594
getting to yes on that. Like Yes. And

1325
00:48:01,594 --> 00:48:03,135
do do I trust them

1326
00:48:03,675 --> 00:48:06,234
that they that do I essentially, it was

1327
00:48:06,315 --> 00:48:07,454
do I trust myself?

1328
00:48:07,889 --> 00:48:09,489
Do I trust myself? Yes. Exactly. That's the

1329
00:48:09,730 --> 00:48:11,489
Yeah. That's the thing. Am I putting things

1330
00:48:11,489 --> 00:48:12,789
in front of my students

1331
00:48:13,250 --> 00:48:16,389
that are going to be motivational for them

1332
00:48:16,529 --> 00:48:18,869
to be creative in the meet those learning

1333
00:48:18,929 --> 00:48:19,429
experiences

1334
00:48:20,164 --> 00:48:22,005
from where they are. And so I think

1335
00:48:22,005 --> 00:48:23,925
I think that's an incredible take. And I

1336
00:48:23,925 --> 00:48:26,005
think a lot of the time it is

1337
00:48:26,005 --> 00:48:28,085
particularly around student voice, which is something I'm

1338
00:48:28,085 --> 00:48:29,464
super passionate about.

1339
00:48:30,164 --> 00:48:30,984
It's about,

1340
00:48:31,364 --> 00:48:31,864
like,

1341
00:48:32,244 --> 00:48:33,304
it's about being,

1342
00:48:34,329 --> 00:48:35,309
student centered

1343
00:48:36,010 --> 00:48:38,329
and teacher powered. I'm borrowing that from my

1344
00:48:38,329 --> 00:48:39,250
friends at the,

1345
00:48:39,690 --> 00:48:42,569
at the Escuela Verde and the teacher powered

1346
00:48:42,569 --> 00:48:43,469
schools network.

1347
00:48:43,849 --> 00:48:46,670
Yeah. The students have the ideas. The students

1348
00:48:46,809 --> 00:48:48,994
have the passion and the desire

1349
00:48:49,295 --> 00:48:50,355
to meet a challenge.

1350
00:48:50,894 --> 00:48:52,815
What do we as teachers have? We have

1351
00:48:52,815 --> 00:48:53,954
access to resources.

1352
00:48:54,494 --> 00:48:56,674
We can put in a donor's juice.

1353
00:48:57,054 --> 00:48:57,875
We can

1354
00:48:58,734 --> 00:49:00,734
talk to people in our networks and in

1355
00:49:00,734 --> 00:49:02,974
our communities to make things happen, but the

1356
00:49:02,974 --> 00:49:04,329
students lead that,

1357
00:49:04,630 --> 00:49:06,630
and we are like, hey. I've been around

1358
00:49:06,630 --> 00:49:08,309
the block a few times, especially at our

1359
00:49:08,309 --> 00:49:09,130
age, Alex.

1360
00:49:09,510 --> 00:49:10,869
I know a lot of people, and I

1361
00:49:10,869 --> 00:49:12,789
know some places you might be able to

1362
00:49:12,789 --> 00:49:15,030
look to get the resources you need for

1363
00:49:15,030 --> 00:49:16,869
this thing they wanna do. I think that's

1364
00:49:16,869 --> 00:49:18,809
also, like, that touches on

1365
00:49:19,265 --> 00:49:23,204
the idea of equity focus. Right? Equity is

1366
00:49:23,505 --> 00:49:25,844
is is still a word that we're still

1367
00:49:26,144 --> 00:49:28,385
more or less permitted to use in different

1368
00:49:28,385 --> 00:49:29,525
education spaces.

1369
00:49:30,065 --> 00:49:32,065
But one of the things around that like,

1370
00:49:32,065 --> 00:49:34,005
when I think of equity, I think about

1371
00:49:34,224 --> 00:49:36,160
what does every learner need

1372
00:49:36,539 --> 00:49:38,940
in order to succeed, and it's not gonna

1373
00:49:38,940 --> 00:49:41,099
be a uniform thing. Can you talk a

1374
00:49:41,099 --> 00:49:42,079
little bit about

1375
00:49:42,460 --> 00:49:43,200
your work,

1376
00:49:44,619 --> 00:49:47,280
in the direction of equity focused schools

1377
00:49:47,980 --> 00:49:49,820
and how they connect to some of the

1378
00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:51,445
broader trends in education.

1379
00:49:52,144 --> 00:49:54,625
Yeah. Absolutely. And I'll if it's alright, I'll

1380
00:49:54,625 --> 00:49:56,644
sort of talk about it in two different

1381
00:49:56,704 --> 00:49:59,505
ways. One, using the more some more technical

1382
00:49:59,505 --> 00:50:01,265
language a little bit, but then,

1383
00:50:01,664 --> 00:50:02,065
Yep.

1384
00:50:02,465 --> 00:50:03,699
Try to escape that.

1385
00:50:04,340 --> 00:50:06,260
Because, you know, in this sector, we love

1386
00:50:06,260 --> 00:50:07,860
our terms. And, actually, there's a lot of

1387
00:50:07,860 --> 00:50:09,140
data and there's, you know, a lot of

1388
00:50:09,140 --> 00:50:11,140
specific terms where and we're used to a

1389
00:50:11,140 --> 00:50:12,599
lot of sort of shortcuts.

1390
00:50:12,900 --> 00:50:14,579
I mean, meaningful ones. Like, you know, we

1391
00:50:14,579 --> 00:50:16,114
are used to thinking

1392
00:50:16,494 --> 00:50:18,335
about whether kids are eligible for free and

1393
00:50:18,335 --> 00:50:20,574
reduced lunch and how that's a proxy for

1394
00:50:20,574 --> 00:50:22,735
income because you know? And so we are

1395
00:50:22,735 --> 00:50:24,655
are used to data that's kind of framed

1396
00:50:24,655 --> 00:50:26,514
in in in these specific ways.

1397
00:50:27,215 --> 00:50:28,735
And so the first way of talking about

1398
00:50:28,735 --> 00:50:30,679
it is, that at DonorsChoose,

1399
00:50:30,980 --> 00:50:32,359
we take advantage

1400
00:50:32,739 --> 00:50:33,239
of

1401
00:50:33,699 --> 00:50:36,659
the various forms of data and information that

1402
00:50:36,659 --> 00:50:38,760
are available about students,

1403
00:50:39,139 --> 00:50:40,119
including historically,

1404
00:50:40,980 --> 00:50:41,480
to

1405
00:50:41,780 --> 00:50:44,839
understand where is the need the greatest? Where

1406
00:50:45,184 --> 00:50:45,925
have we

1407
00:50:46,304 --> 00:50:46,965
seen systemically

1408
00:50:47,664 --> 00:50:50,224
the opportunity for more resources to be put

1409
00:50:50,224 --> 00:50:52,945
in, and we're guided by that explicitly. And

1410
00:50:52,945 --> 00:50:55,264
that's you know, we're a nonprofit organization. We're

1411
00:50:55,264 --> 00:50:56,085
mission driven,

1412
00:50:56,385 --> 00:50:57,525
and our board

1413
00:50:57,984 --> 00:50:58,965
has elevated

1414
00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:03,039
this equity lens to be our top I'll

1415
00:51:03,039 --> 00:51:03,780
use another

1416
00:51:04,079 --> 00:51:07,039
acronym, you know, KPI, key performance indicator. It's

1417
00:51:07,039 --> 00:51:09,440
what we measure ourselves on. So so we

1418
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:11,519
do that pretty rigorously, and and we have,

1419
00:51:11,519 --> 00:51:13,280
you know, some descriptions of it on on

1420
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:15,055
our site. And so that's why we describe

1421
00:51:15,055 --> 00:51:17,934
ourselves as a as an education equity organization.

1422
00:51:17,934 --> 00:51:19,614
It's because we we work on this. So

1423
00:51:19,614 --> 00:51:20,815
that's one way of of talking about it,

1424
00:51:20,815 --> 00:51:22,335
and that's what we do. You know, another

1425
00:51:22,335 --> 00:51:24,094
way of thinking about it, I would just

1426
00:51:24,094 --> 00:51:26,114
harken back to these individual

1427
00:51:26,494 --> 00:51:29,300
stories and anecdotes of what it looks like

1428
00:51:29,300 --> 00:51:30,760
and what it can look like

1429
00:51:31,059 --> 00:51:31,559
when

1430
00:51:31,860 --> 00:51:33,320
you're in a learning environment

1431
00:51:33,619 --> 00:51:35,079
and you have an educator

1432
00:51:35,380 --> 00:51:38,760
who identifies an opportunity to create a magical

1433
00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:41,699
learning experience in so many different dimensions for

1434
00:51:41,699 --> 00:51:43,585
their kids and then actually

1435
00:51:43,885 --> 00:51:46,545
has the resources to do it. That's

1436
00:51:47,164 --> 00:51:50,144
that's the part. And actually has the resources

1437
00:51:50,204 --> 00:51:51,344
to do it. I mean, sometimes,

1438
00:51:51,644 --> 00:51:53,505
you know, when I'm talking about our work,

1439
00:51:53,724 --> 00:51:55,984
I I describe that as

1440
00:51:56,444 --> 00:51:59,690
a sort of bold and provocative question.

1441
00:52:00,150 --> 00:52:01,849
What would happen if we

1442
00:52:02,469 --> 00:52:06,390
allowed teachers to actually have everything that they

1443
00:52:06,390 --> 00:52:09,750
needed to create the best, and let's be

1444
00:52:09,750 --> 00:52:12,065
ambitious here, not just an okay, but the

1445
00:52:12,065 --> 00:52:12,565
best

1446
00:52:12,865 --> 00:52:13,925
learning experiences

1447
00:52:15,265 --> 00:52:18,144
for their kids. It's provocative because we have

1448
00:52:18,144 --> 00:52:20,224
a long way to go from where we

1449
00:52:20,224 --> 00:52:22,644
are. I was just thinking to myself

1450
00:52:23,265 --> 00:52:24,164
that if somebody

1451
00:52:24,704 --> 00:52:26,519
came to me when I was a classroom

1452
00:52:26,519 --> 00:52:27,420
teacher and

1453
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:29,160
said, what would you need in order to

1454
00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:30,380
have Yeah. The best

1455
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,640
form of the of instruction that you wanted

1456
00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:35,320
to have? I don't think I would know

1457
00:52:35,320 --> 00:52:37,420
how to answer that question Yeah. Because

1458
00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:40,244
we've been operating out of a scarcity mindset.

1459
00:52:40,244 --> 00:52:41,625
Yes. Exactly. That

1460
00:52:42,005 --> 00:52:43,864
that we think Exactly. That

1461
00:52:44,324 --> 00:52:46,565
we think that the floor is also the

1462
00:52:46,565 --> 00:52:47,065
ceiling.

1463
00:52:47,684 --> 00:52:50,484
Yeah. Yeah. No. That's exactly right. It's a

1464
00:52:50,484 --> 00:52:52,539
it's a change. I mean, in fact, there's

1465
00:52:52,779 --> 00:52:54,940
and and this isn't even exactly it's not

1466
00:52:54,980 --> 00:52:56,380
I don't mean this as a criticism, but

1467
00:52:56,380 --> 00:52:58,779
just more a description. Often, people will go

1468
00:52:58,779 --> 00:52:59,279
in,

1469
00:53:00,219 --> 00:53:02,699
and almost celebrate that kind of scrappiness. You

1470
00:53:02,699 --> 00:53:04,940
know? And Right. It's it's it's part of

1471
00:53:04,940 --> 00:53:06,079
what we take for granted,

1472
00:53:06,405 --> 00:53:08,405
that we're not gonna have what we need,

1473
00:53:08,405 --> 00:53:10,005
that we're gonna have to be scrappy. You

1474
00:53:10,005 --> 00:53:12,965
know, it's good to to recognize and and

1475
00:53:12,965 --> 00:53:14,905
celebrate kind of, you know, hustle.

1476
00:53:15,684 --> 00:53:17,545
But it's different to

1477
00:53:18,324 --> 00:53:19,605
demand it just for

1478
00:53:20,679 --> 00:53:22,280
just to meet the needs of kids. Right?

1479
00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:23,579
That's that that that's,

1480
00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:25,340
the difference. And so

1481
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:29,000
so if that provocative question and I I

1482
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:30,440
think it's provocative because of the big gap.

1483
00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:32,679
It's also provocative because it's also once you

1484
00:53:32,679 --> 00:53:34,440
describe it and you just really start thinking

1485
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:35,179
about it,

1486
00:53:35,765 --> 00:53:37,684
it at least leads me to think, well,

1487
00:53:37,684 --> 00:53:39,525
we should definitely be doing that. I mean,

1488
00:53:39,525 --> 00:53:40,985
who wouldn't be in favor

1489
00:53:41,844 --> 00:53:43,684
of making sure that all our kids, this

1490
00:53:43,684 --> 00:53:45,525
is back to the original idea, actually have

1491
00:53:45,525 --> 00:53:48,344
the chance to reach their full potential? Yeah.

1492
00:53:48,590 --> 00:53:50,510
Every time that happens, the world is made

1493
00:53:50,510 --> 00:53:53,309
better. And so if that's an if that's

1494
00:53:53,309 --> 00:53:55,150
an idea that makes sense, that's actually what

1495
00:53:55,150 --> 00:53:56,750
we're working on. And that's another way to

1496
00:53:56,750 --> 00:53:58,989
think about this sort of equity focus. Right?

1497
00:53:58,989 --> 00:54:00,829
I mean, yes. We're governed, and and and

1498
00:54:00,829 --> 00:54:02,269
we use the data that are available. So

1499
00:54:02,269 --> 00:54:04,050
we use this sort of technical measurement.

1500
00:54:04,644 --> 00:54:06,085
But at the heart of it is exactly

1501
00:54:06,085 --> 00:54:06,985
just this idea

1502
00:54:07,285 --> 00:54:09,144
of getting closer to that vision.

1503
00:54:09,684 --> 00:54:11,925
It's not just an academic sort of talking

1504
00:54:11,925 --> 00:54:13,445
point for you all that when you talk

1505
00:54:13,445 --> 00:54:14,825
about your your KPI,

1506
00:54:15,204 --> 00:54:17,305
when you talk about being an equity driven

1507
00:54:17,364 --> 00:54:17,864
organization,

1508
00:54:18,429 --> 00:54:20,690
about a third of schools fit into

1509
00:54:21,070 --> 00:54:23,230
that proxy category, that free and reduced lunch

1510
00:54:23,230 --> 00:54:23,730
category.

1511
00:54:24,030 --> 00:54:26,909
But close to double that donors choose actually

1512
00:54:26,909 --> 00:54:28,610
goes to those schools, and I think

1513
00:54:29,469 --> 00:54:31,309
that can only happen as a result of

1514
00:54:31,309 --> 00:54:31,809
intentionality.

1515
00:54:32,670 --> 00:54:35,534
Yeah. Yeah. That no. That that that's right.

1516
00:54:35,534 --> 00:54:36,355
That's right.

1517
00:54:36,655 --> 00:54:37,155
Yeah.

1518
00:54:37,855 --> 00:54:39,454
Yeah. We're we're on a big journey over

1519
00:54:39,454 --> 00:54:41,554
here. Alright. Final segment, everybody.

1520
00:54:41,934 --> 00:54:44,034
And, Alex, just thank you so much for

1521
00:54:44,414 --> 00:54:44,815
just

1522
00:54:45,215 --> 00:54:46,755
dude, like, you're bringing this

1523
00:54:47,409 --> 00:54:48,710
energy and this

1524
00:54:49,010 --> 00:54:49,989
joy that

1525
00:54:50,449 --> 00:54:53,269
is only sweetened by the fact that

1526
00:54:53,570 --> 00:54:56,369
we can see the impact that DonorsChoose and

1527
00:54:56,369 --> 00:54:57,889
that you and others like you in this

1528
00:54:57,889 --> 00:54:59,110
organization are making,

1529
00:54:59,650 --> 00:55:01,110
in order to uplift

1530
00:55:01,734 --> 00:55:03,974
teachers and by extension students, which is the

1531
00:55:03,974 --> 00:55:05,255
whole point. So,

1532
00:55:06,454 --> 00:55:09,675
so you you said earlier that 90%,

1533
00:55:09,734 --> 00:55:12,234
90 Yeah. Ninety Nine zero.

1534
00:55:13,014 --> 00:55:14,695
Nine zero. I just wanna make sure that

1535
00:55:14,695 --> 00:55:15,835
nobody gets it twisted,

1536
00:55:16,574 --> 00:55:18,130
of US public schools schools have had a

1537
00:55:18,130 --> 00:55:19,510
funded project through

1538
00:55:19,969 --> 00:55:20,469
DonorsChoose.

1539
00:55:22,050 --> 00:55:23,909
What does that tell you about

1540
00:55:24,690 --> 00:55:27,429
where you are right now as an organization

1541
00:55:28,130 --> 00:55:29,269
and what the next,

1542
00:55:30,050 --> 00:55:33,005
twenty five years may look like. Oh, yeah.

1543
00:55:33,005 --> 00:55:34,845
That's a great question, actually. And I think

1544
00:55:34,845 --> 00:55:36,925
you're you're teeing it up in almost the

1545
00:55:36,925 --> 00:55:38,625
way that I would do it because

1546
00:55:39,244 --> 00:55:41,345
we've reached a kind of scale

1547
00:55:41,805 --> 00:55:44,305
where some really interesting possibilities

1548
00:55:44,684 --> 00:55:46,385
start to be open.

1549
00:55:47,130 --> 00:55:49,289
One way of thinking about what happens on

1550
00:55:49,289 --> 00:55:49,789
DonorsChoose,

1551
00:55:50,250 --> 00:55:52,409
we serve every ZIP code, every school district.

1552
00:55:52,409 --> 00:55:53,069
You know?

1553
00:55:53,449 --> 00:55:54,969
We're open twenty four hours a day, you

1554
00:55:54,969 --> 00:55:56,730
know, on on the line. Twenty four seven.

1555
00:55:56,730 --> 00:55:57,230
So

1556
00:55:57,609 --> 00:56:00,190
so what that means is every single day,

1557
00:56:00,864 --> 00:56:03,105
teachers start coming on to our site from

1558
00:56:03,105 --> 00:56:04,164
all over the country

1559
00:56:05,025 --> 00:56:05,684
and describing

1560
00:56:06,864 --> 00:56:08,545
something that's going on in their classroom and

1561
00:56:08,545 --> 00:56:10,144
telling us a story about it and and

1562
00:56:10,144 --> 00:56:12,965
typing it in and some specific little window

1563
00:56:13,519 --> 00:56:16,019
into one classroom, you know, one priority

1564
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:18,019
that one educator has.

1565
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:19,940
But you multiply that

1566
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:22,179
times, you know, all these schools.

1567
00:56:23,199 --> 00:56:26,159
So now we're at the point where, actually,

1568
00:56:26,159 --> 00:56:27,619
there's the ability to

1569
00:56:28,275 --> 00:56:29,815
use those insights.

1570
00:56:30,275 --> 00:56:31,875
And, yes Yeah. I'm not you know, we

1571
00:56:31,875 --> 00:56:34,034
actually are using large language models to help,

1572
00:56:34,034 --> 00:56:35,954
you know, parse that. Of course. You know,

1573
00:56:35,954 --> 00:56:38,434
everybody uses that, which is actually cool because

1574
00:56:38,434 --> 00:56:40,755
it it it opens up some new ways

1575
00:56:40,755 --> 00:56:42,820
of of driving insights. But we start to

1576
00:56:42,820 --> 00:56:43,559
realize we

1577
00:56:44,019 --> 00:56:44,840
could query

1578
00:56:45,780 --> 00:56:46,260
these,

1579
00:56:46,820 --> 00:56:47,639
this data

1580
00:56:48,340 --> 00:56:49,480
and look for trends

1581
00:56:49,780 --> 00:56:52,340
and then feed those trends back into, well,

1582
00:56:52,340 --> 00:56:54,739
our own, you know, our own practice, and

1583
00:56:54,739 --> 00:56:57,034
and it points us to where there's growing

1584
00:56:57,094 --> 00:56:59,414
needs because we see, like, you know, just

1585
00:56:59,414 --> 00:57:01,275
as an example, just to make it concrete,

1586
00:57:01,894 --> 00:57:03,835
I'm sure that this will be no surprise

1587
00:57:04,054 --> 00:57:06,635
to your listeners once I say it, but

1588
00:57:06,775 --> 00:57:07,594
an increasing

1589
00:57:07,974 --> 00:57:09,434
number of projects

1590
00:57:09,815 --> 00:57:10,795
on our site

1591
00:57:11,799 --> 00:57:13,179
are teachers reflecting

1592
00:57:13,480 --> 00:57:15,639
a need to support the mental health of

1593
00:57:15,639 --> 00:57:17,880
their kids and create different kinds of spaces,

1594
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:19,739
for example. And so they're actually requiring,

1595
00:57:20,119 --> 00:57:22,920
requesting furniture and books and other things. And

1596
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:26,195
this has been steadily increasing every year so

1597
00:57:26,195 --> 00:57:28,275
far. You know, we sort of first noted

1598
00:57:28,275 --> 00:57:30,135
this in the COVID years, but,

1599
00:57:30,835 --> 00:57:33,075
it's growing. And my point in in that

1600
00:57:33,075 --> 00:57:35,175
is that's a kind of

1601
00:57:35,474 --> 00:57:35,974
insight

1602
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:37,739
that is telling

1603
00:57:38,039 --> 00:57:40,119
about what's going on in classrooms. We can

1604
00:57:40,119 --> 00:57:42,519
use it ourselves to, let's say, make some

1605
00:57:42,519 --> 00:57:45,099
more different kinds of resources available. We've seen,

1606
00:57:45,640 --> 00:57:47,480
you know, early indications of something that's sort

1607
00:57:47,480 --> 00:57:49,820
of about to go viral in schools. Yeah.

1608
00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:50,380
And

1609
00:57:50,704 --> 00:57:52,304
we work with the public sector and we

1610
00:57:52,304 --> 00:57:54,304
work with district leaders and we make those

1611
00:57:54,304 --> 00:57:56,945
data also available for system leaders. And so

1612
00:57:56,945 --> 00:57:58,644
that's one way that we're

1613
00:57:59,184 --> 00:58:01,505
looking to really grow over the next, you

1614
00:58:01,505 --> 00:58:03,184
know, I mean, over the next twenty five

1615
00:58:03,184 --> 00:58:04,864
years. Yes. But even over the next few

1616
00:58:04,864 --> 00:58:07,139
years, we're we're we're looking to really invest

1617
00:58:07,139 --> 00:58:08,980
in that. And it's great because I think

1618
00:58:08,980 --> 00:58:10,340
what the first time we talked, one of

1619
00:58:10,340 --> 00:58:11,559
the questions was

1620
00:58:12,099 --> 00:58:13,960
how do how do we move from crowdfunding

1621
00:58:14,099 --> 00:58:15,559
as a stopgap solution

1622
00:58:16,019 --> 00:58:17,960
to a space where crowdfunding becomes

1623
00:58:18,444 --> 00:58:20,545
the conduit into larger Yes.

1624
00:58:21,484 --> 00:58:24,444
Institutional and structural change, which I think you're

1625
00:58:24,444 --> 00:58:27,484
talking about. That's beautiful. I think it's really

1626
00:58:27,484 --> 00:58:29,264
hard in these times audience

1627
00:58:29,964 --> 00:58:31,744
to think in terms of abundance,

1628
00:58:32,045 --> 00:58:32,545
right?

1629
00:58:32,849 --> 00:58:33,349
Then

1630
00:58:33,650 --> 00:58:36,869
everything feels scarce because we're in this world

1631
00:58:37,170 --> 00:58:39,750
where we're pitted against each other rhetorically.

1632
00:58:40,530 --> 00:58:41,030
And

1633
00:58:41,329 --> 00:58:42,869
if competing for

1634
00:58:43,250 --> 00:58:43,750
resources

1635
00:58:44,050 --> 00:58:46,450
that there aren't enough of. What Alex is

1636
00:58:46,450 --> 00:58:47,510
here telling us

1637
00:58:47,890 --> 00:58:48,585
is that

1638
00:58:49,144 --> 00:58:51,464
we actually have access to abundance, and it's

1639
00:58:51,464 --> 00:58:53,085
a matter of take making Absolutely.

1640
00:58:53,784 --> 00:58:55,324
I mean and look.

1641
00:58:55,625 --> 00:58:57,304
We can say the same message in a

1642
00:58:57,304 --> 00:58:59,625
couple of different frames. We can stick to

1643
00:58:59,625 --> 00:59:02,184
an economic frame, and I will prove to

1644
00:59:02,184 --> 00:59:03,644
you that the ROI,

1645
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:07,360
the return on investment That's right. From investing

1646
00:59:07,360 --> 00:59:08,180
in a student

1647
00:59:08,559 --> 00:59:11,760
is so overwhelmingly positive. That's like the real

1648
00:59:11,760 --> 00:59:12,260
ROI.

1649
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:13,619
Yeah. Yeah.

1650
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:14,980
Financially,

1651
00:59:15,280 --> 00:59:16,880
in in any way do you wanna men

1652
00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:18,014
measure it,

1653
00:59:18,654 --> 00:59:21,375
that it becomes a physical malpractice not to

1654
00:59:21,375 --> 00:59:22,514
do it. That's what I

1655
00:59:22,815 --> 00:59:24,815
like, that can be proven, by the way.

1656
00:59:24,815 --> 00:59:25,315
Or

1657
00:59:25,694 --> 00:59:28,174
we can do it from an ethical and

1658
00:59:28,174 --> 00:59:30,434
emotional frame and say,

1659
00:59:30,734 --> 00:59:31,474
think about

1660
00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:33,760
any of the kids that you'd know and

1661
00:59:33,760 --> 00:59:36,400
that you don't know. And imagine, do a

1662
00:59:36,400 --> 00:59:39,460
thought experiment of what the world looks like

1663
00:59:39,599 --> 00:59:40,659
if those kids

1664
00:59:41,039 --> 00:59:42,900
have desires and creativity,

1665
00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:45,839
and that that creativity is nurtured and the

1666
00:59:45,839 --> 00:59:46,819
learning is nurtured

1667
00:59:47,585 --> 00:59:48,085
versus

1668
00:59:48,864 --> 00:59:50,085
if it's not fed

1669
00:59:50,464 --> 00:59:52,144
and it exists, but then it's allowed to

1670
00:59:52,144 --> 00:59:54,144
die. I mean, which world do we wanna

1671
00:59:54,144 --> 00:59:54,644
choose?

1672
00:59:55,264 --> 00:59:57,264
Yeah. It's pretty I think it's a great

1673
00:59:57,264 --> 00:59:59,105
place. Be clear. Right? I think I think

1674
00:59:59,184 --> 01:00:00,809
yeah. I don't think that's a hard,

1675
01:00:01,849 --> 01:00:03,949
thing for for many people.

1676
01:00:04,969 --> 01:00:07,390
Yeah. Gosh. What the you know,

1677
01:00:08,329 --> 01:00:10,489
this conversation is so incredible, and I and

1678
01:00:10,489 --> 01:00:12,329
I'm just so excited for our audience to

1679
01:00:12,329 --> 01:00:14,105
get a chance to hear from you. We

1680
01:00:14,105 --> 01:00:16,905
have these organizations like DonorsChoose that are doing

1681
01:00:16,905 --> 01:00:17,885
really great work.

1682
01:00:18,664 --> 01:00:20,505
But to be able to humanize that work

1683
01:00:20,505 --> 01:00:22,744
and really see the level of intention behind

1684
01:00:22,744 --> 01:00:26,184
what you're doing, I came for the ways

1685
01:00:26,184 --> 01:00:27,724
that DonorsChoose allows,

1686
01:00:28,820 --> 01:00:30,519
teachers to resource their students

1687
01:00:30,820 --> 01:00:31,640
to grow.

1688
01:00:32,099 --> 01:00:34,199
And what I got was that

1689
01:00:34,500 --> 01:00:35,000
plus

1690
01:00:35,699 --> 01:00:38,260
a really, really big world of possibility on

1691
01:00:38,260 --> 01:00:40,385
how we can do better. Alright. So we're

1692
01:00:40,385 --> 01:00:41,984
gonna we're gonna let you go on this

1693
01:00:41,984 --> 01:00:42,464
one.

1694
01:00:42,864 --> 01:00:44,625
Before we let you go, there's a little

1695
01:00:44,625 --> 01:00:45,844
two Dope Teachers tradition,

1696
01:00:46,224 --> 01:00:47,284
top five tracks

1697
01:00:47,744 --> 01:00:50,005
or artists that keep you inspired, motivated,

1698
01:00:50,464 --> 01:00:53,585
or just vibing. So it typically is top

1699
01:00:53,585 --> 01:00:56,369
five rappers Yeah. But it could really be

1700
01:00:56,369 --> 01:00:57,349
anything. So

1701
01:00:57,650 --> 01:00:59,170
do you have a mixtape for us? I

1702
01:00:59,170 --> 01:01:01,510
mean, I got a is there anybody

1703
01:01:01,969 --> 01:01:02,469
who

1704
01:01:02,929 --> 01:01:05,089
would be asked this question and not come

1705
01:01:05,089 --> 01:01:07,170
back with k pop demon hunters as at

1706
01:01:07,170 --> 01:01:09,409
least a part of their answer right now?

1707
01:01:09,409 --> 01:01:10,925
I mean, I will say

1708
01:01:11,945 --> 01:01:13,405
that. Yes. Go ahead.

1709
01:01:14,985 --> 01:01:16,585
I'm just repeating what you've heard over and

1710
01:01:16,585 --> 01:01:19,224
over again. Is that right? Well, my so

1711
01:01:19,224 --> 01:01:21,805
I have a 20 year old who is

1712
01:01:21,864 --> 01:01:25,065
very cagey about their relationship with k pop

1713
01:01:25,065 --> 01:01:28,549
demon hunters. Oh, really? But they're very familiar.

1714
01:01:28,609 --> 01:01:30,690
So I'm still trying to nail down where

1715
01:01:30,690 --> 01:01:31,989
that lands generationally.

1716
01:01:32,929 --> 01:01:34,690
Okay. I mean, I I was brought in

1717
01:01:34,769 --> 01:01:36,609
It's great. I love it. 15 year old.

1718
01:01:36,609 --> 01:01:38,130
You know, we we watched it as a

1719
01:01:38,130 --> 01:01:38,630
family.

1720
01:01:39,625 --> 01:01:40,204
Oh, nice.

1721
01:01:40,505 --> 01:01:41,965
Week before last. So

1722
01:01:42,344 --> 01:01:44,505
in in this mix, not necessarily first. So

1723
01:01:44,505 --> 01:01:46,125
guess golden and also takedown

1724
01:01:46,905 --> 01:01:50,285
from that soundtrack. Okay. And then I mean,

1725
01:01:50,344 --> 01:01:52,265
I don't know. I we were from almost

1726
01:01:52,265 --> 01:01:53,864
exactly the same era. Yeah. So I think

1727
01:01:53,864 --> 01:01:56,259
we're, like, exactly the same age. Age. Yeah,

1728
01:01:56,259 --> 01:01:59,480
exactly. So there's like a trio of albums

1729
01:01:59,940 --> 01:02:01,859
that I would just pick one track from

1730
01:02:01,859 --> 01:02:02,359
each,

1731
01:02:02,819 --> 01:02:05,559
you know, and that is The Score, Fugees,

1732
01:02:06,339 --> 01:02:07,480
Wycliffe, Carnival

1733
01:02:08,075 --> 01:02:09,835
and Miseducation. Shout out to the Haitian and

1734
01:02:09,835 --> 01:02:10,655
the Brazilian. Yes.

1735
01:02:10,954 --> 01:02:13,355
Of course. Yes. Exactly. You know? So we

1736
01:02:13,355 --> 01:02:15,275
had we had to go there. So yeah.

1737
01:02:15,275 --> 01:02:17,055
So, you know, Ready or Not,

1738
01:02:17,355 --> 01:02:19,055
you know, yeah. Carnival,

1739
01:02:19,515 --> 01:02:21,675
Zion maybe from I mean, you can't look.

1740
01:02:21,675 --> 01:02:22,815
You can't go wrong.

1741
01:02:23,210 --> 01:02:24,650
No. You really can't. Mix and match from

1742
01:02:24,650 --> 01:02:26,509
these, you know, from from from miseducation.

1743
01:02:26,809 --> 01:02:28,670
I mean, Lauren, you know, Lauren Hill is,

1744
01:02:29,449 --> 01:02:29,849
just

1745
01:02:30,250 --> 01:02:33,289
Queen. Just just The greatest...dot.

1746
01:02:33,289 --> 01:02:35,609
Just just I love it. Well, this is

1747
01:02:35,609 --> 01:02:37,275
right. Well, we're gonna let you go. How

1748
01:02:37,275 --> 01:02:39,914
do people follow you and connect with your

1749
01:02:39,914 --> 01:02:41,135
work and ideas?

1750
01:02:41,835 --> 01:02:42,335
Wonderful.

1751
01:02:43,195 --> 01:02:44,795
Donorschoose.org.

1752
01:02:44,795 --> 01:02:46,494
That is the most important

1753
01:02:47,114 --> 01:02:48,795
stuff I give. Is there anything that you

1754
01:02:48,795 --> 01:02:51,660
heard today that sparked some curiosity? Come on.

1755
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:52,460
Join.

1756
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:55,320
You can get involved. This is this is

1757
01:02:55,320 --> 01:02:56,140
a participatory

1758
01:02:56,599 --> 01:02:57,099
podcast.

1759
01:02:57,559 --> 01:02:59,640
So, donorschoose.org,

1760
01:02:59,640 --> 01:03:01,719
and you can find us on Instagram and

1761
01:03:01,719 --> 01:03:03,800
the socials and and LinkedIn and on other

1762
01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:05,824
things, but just come to our site first.

1763
01:03:05,885 --> 01:03:07,744
Beautiful. All right. Well, Alex Garrier,

1764
01:03:08,125 --> 01:03:09,965
gonna do this thing. I ramble just a

1765
01:03:09,965 --> 01:03:11,724
little bit and on my cue, we're gonna

1766
01:03:11,724 --> 01:03:13,425
say stay dope together.

1767
01:03:13,724 --> 01:03:16,545
So for my guests, Alex Garrier of DonorsChoose,

1768
01:03:17,150 --> 01:03:19,469
I am inviting you all to stay grounded

1769
01:03:19,469 --> 01:03:20,130
in community,

1770
01:03:20,430 --> 01:03:23,309
stay creative in this struggle, stay disruptive in

1771
01:03:23,309 --> 01:03:26,349
this system, stay inspired by the youth, stay

1772
01:03:26,349 --> 01:03:28,190
hopeful for the future. And if you do

1773
01:03:28,190 --> 01:03:30,349
all that, then you know that you're always

1774
01:03:30,349 --> 01:03:31,090
going to

1775
01:03:34,811 --> 01:03:35,311
stay