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Before I.
Go. Hello folks, how is everybody doing?
Welcome to another episode of Your favorite podcast,
the exit interview.
That's right. That's right. Their favorite, everybody.
How are you doing today, Dr. Lyons?
I can't complain. Got a little cold here. I brought back from Mexico City.
I was partying too hard.
All right.
Um, but I'm feeling good.
No complaints whatsoever on this beautiful Sunday evening in October.
Yes, yes, yes. Well,
we are glad to have everybody here with us tonight. Uh, we,
we are blessed with a very special guest that I think we've,
you know, behind the scenes, Asia Herardo.
And I have been really looking forward to, uh,
sitting down with, uh, we, we,
we are fortunate enough this evening to bring you an exit interview with
none other than the legendary Brata Locke. Whoa.
Thank you. Legendary. That's.
legendary. Yes. Yes. Doing big stuff.
Yes, for sure. Trying .
.
Yeah. You famous out in these streets.
We've been trying to track you down for a little bit,
so we're glad that you got a chance to come on and tell your story. Um,
for our audience, uh,
I know like quite a few folks may recognize Bronte's name from B L M
52 80 and her work there,
and maybe some other folks in d p s might recognizer from there and all other
places within community. So, yeah, we're just gonna go ahead and dive in.
First question, Brenda, our favorite. Um,
tell us about your journey into education.
How did you know you wanted to be an educator?
Okay, yeah. This is a complicated question.
I will start by saying that my mom is a teacher, she's a music teacher,
and she's been a teacher my whole life. And she, very early on, she was like,
you're not gonna be a teacher. So we'll start with that. . .
I tell, I tell my daughter the same thing. My kids, I tell both of them,
don't be a teacher. Yeah, you do. Don't be a teacher.
Yeah, don't be a teacher. Now. She's like the, I told you so. Right.
But . Um, but yeah, I think when I was in high school,
I, I went to high school in Miami, Florida, and I was in the IB program there.
And, um, it was a majority black high school. However,
the IB program was not majority black,
and I experienced a lot of anti-black racism,
but it wasn't from white people, it was from people who identified as Latinx.
Right. So like, yes, that was my like, like, okay,
there are differences in education opportunities, um, and how people,
the resources that people are told about mm-hmm. . And, um,
it was a lot of it,
like my best friend and I and other black woman navigating it.
Like luckily we had the help of our parents who were highly educated to help us
through that process and to get into colleges and whatnot. But it,
I really noticed the differences way back in high school. Um, fast forward,
I graduated from Vanderbilt University and I didn't know what I was gonna do.
I ended up getting a major in African-American studies and minored in
European history. Um, and from there I was back home in Miami 22 being like,
okay, so what's next? And my mom's like, you're going to grad school. So, uh,
went to grad school, still not knowing what I wanted to do. So I, um,
studied cross-disciplinary studies as a professor of mine told me from
Vanderbilt, that's a complicated degree.
knows what that means. .
Now what, what does that mean for our audience?
It's like, um, interdisciplinary studies, but they, they say cross-disciplinary.
Cause I think there's, um, I, I guess they wanna be different ,
but a lot, like I, we talked about like conflict resolution.
I learned a lot about like, higher ed management in education. Um,
and yeah, it was kind of all over the place. However, ,
my practicum took me to this nonprofit in Miami. Um, and they, they had a lot.
They provided wraparound services. It was, um, ran by three black women. And,
um, I helped them with their program that helped with, um, young,
young students who had been incarcerated or, um,
arrested for like minor offenses. And so,
like a part of their probation was to complete these, like,
workshops with their parents. And so I,
I gathered from like these youth that again,
I was seeing the differences in, um, resources that,
that were available to them. And at the same time,
I was working at a Jewish school, a private Jewish school in Miami. Right.
So like, it was like in my face. And then on top of it,
I was working as a tutor and a Title one school. And so, like, wow.
Yeah. It's their contradictions. Yep.
Yeah. I'm seeing all of these things and I'm like, well,
obviously like skin color was the biggest difference, right? Like, how,
how are they different from each other? But then like, money,
and then understanding how money can impact how your education looks
in your life path. So at the end of that program,
after talking to that professor who was like,
you have this complicated degree from the school, this complicated name,
she was like, you should look into like, schools of education. So that's,
I was like, all right, let me look.
And I end up going to Brown and studying Urban education policy. Um,
and that was an amazing program. Um, but there I was like, okay,
well if I'm gonna get into policy, I need to get in the classroom, right?
So I don't wanna be.
Yeah.
Like, making decisions without understanding how school works.
And that brought me to Denver , where I,
my first teaching job was at a charter school in Denver. Um,
and it was horrific, but.
. Yeah. Horrific.
Horrific. By October of my first year teaching,
I knew that I didn't wanna teach anymore. .
Yep.
But I stuck it out. I stuck it out a bit longer. Um, but yeah, that's,
that's how I got into teaching.
It wasn't like something that I dreamed of as a little girl at all.
It wasn't something that I was encouraged to do. It was just something that,
just like the steps just kept making sense that I eventually ended up in the
classroom.
Talk, talk about that experience. Uh, you know, because I think right now,
you know, in terms of educational policy, like why,
what was your experience and, and, and charter versus public, right?
Because I think this is important cuz some people think, well, you know,
public schools have all the answers and charter schools have all the answers.
Or, but like, I think there's a complexity between it all.
So tell us about that experience that you had at that charter school that made
you realize by October, yo, this is not for me.
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what they did to me. . So they had, um,
they had that no excuses model. And, um,
I was the only black teacher on my campus at that time. And, um,
I was seeing the impact of their behavior management system and the impact it
was having on students of color, particularly my black students.
And so I was like, I'm not doing all these things. I'm not giving kids checks.
I'm not like making them sit in star. I'm not gonna, oh,
your shoes untied till you have a check. You have these mini checks now.
You can't go.
Hold on, will you, hold on. And what,
tell the people what star is because I think people like,
cause like when we talk about like,
controlling black bodies explains what star is.
Yes. Sit up straight. Um,
you have to cross your hands on your desk, like pay attention. And, um,
yeah. And they also taught the kids how to walk in the hallways.
They used to walk on lines in the hallways of the school.
And I remember going home winter break, watching lockup.
I used to love watching.
Lockup. Yep, yep, yep.
Yes. You know, the Tension Center.
And I saw these kids walking on the line and I was like, oh my goodness,
this is a gel. Like this school model is based on what they're doing in gels.
And I was teaching kindergarten, so like, just, I was just like,
I am not doing this to these babies. I was like, I went to school.
I didn't have to sit this way.
I didn't have to be told when to speak and not to speak how to walk in the hand,
the hallway with my hands by my side. And I turned out just fine. Right?
They were like, they were like, oh, really? Well, here's a growth plan.
You have three weeks.
Three.
Weeks. Get on board or we will let you go.
Okay. So we wanna know what happened.
I, it was my, like, my first real job, so mm-hmm. ,
I kept my mouth shut and I, I did what they told me to do.
Um, it's, you know, still not as to,
not as to the fidelity that they wanted me to, but I was like, okay,
let me just, let me do this so I can keep a job. I was new to Denver,
my first apartment, all these things. So I was like, I, yeah.
I couldn't afford to, to be let go or so I thought at that time, , right.
Cause Branson now would never .
Yeah. Listen. Oh my. And you know what's so interesting about that? You know,
there's, there's so many pieces to what you just said, right?
Being able to afford to leave. This is my first job. Like navigating that.
Um, we've had this conversation so many times, right Kevin? About like,
how people negotiate that conversation and it's a first year. Yeah, for sure.
Right. Even at the 30th year, right. We a lot of times hear people saying like,
you know what, I've gotta think about other things like taking care of, um,
older parents or para or I got a kid, you know,
and who needs like, special things from, you know,
like hospital care or whatever. And like all these things are the ways that,
um, systems are able to silence us. And I, but I love that you said,
but the branch of today, like, hell no. Yes. .
Yeah. No, I not doing it.
Right. I was like, yeah, they, I, I wish like going back I was like, yeah,
I should have just kept doing what I was doing. Let them fire me,
collect the unemployment checks and , buy the next job.
, move on to the next, onto the next one. Yeah. Sota. Yeah. I, you,
you mentioned this thing and I, I did,
I'm curious cuz I know there's a lot of black educators in Denver who have the
same story who moved from someplace else to Denver.
Can you talk about how you ended up in Denver as a, as a black educator?
It was super random. I came here during spring break, um,
when I was at Brown and to visit some friends, and I was like, oh, this is nice.
Like, the weather was nice, it was clean. I was obvi,
I was comparing it it to Rhode Island. Yeah. Not to Miami, but yes,
this is nice. So when I applied for jobs, I applied for a job in Florida,
a job in Nashville, and a job in Denver.
And I got all three offers and I chose Denver. I was like,
let me do something different. And so that's how I ended up here. Ah.
Did the district, uh, did, um, did,
did Denver schools that, like I know you're part of a charter,
did they have any sort of like,
incentives for you as a black educator willing to relocate?
No, but I will say the charter did, um,
pay for my moving expenses and they gave me a signing bonus. And again,
first real job, I was like, Ooh, this is, this is nice money. It, it wasn't.
. Yep. Yeah.
But yeah, it, it, it seemed like a, a great idea and I, I was like, oh,
they're gonna, they value me here. This is nice.
Yeah. No, I asked because, you know, I'm,
I'm part of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and uh,
and like, one of the things that like we constantly think about is, uh,
a bipo educator member of the,
the union is how, and we're gonna get into a question related to this,
is how do we attract and retain black teachers? But one of the, like,
big solutions that the district has is, you know, we, we go to other places,
we go to Atlanta, we go to Miami, we go to New Orleans, and we,
and we try to get these black educators to move to Denver. And so,
like I always am curious about the experience of black educators who move from
places like that, you know, cities with, uh,
much larger black populations and,
and what their experiences is and how that plays out in their experiences.
Educators in Denver.
Oh, yeah. I wasn't expecting the,
the schools to be filled with so many white adults. , like.
.
It's not like that in Miami at all. Like in Miami, I have black principals,
I have black teachers, and I have other of color.
I mean teaching like the AP classes. IB classes,
like from elementary through high school. Right.
I was exposed to leaders of color. Teachers of color. So when I came to Denver,
I was like, oh, this is what we've been reading about.
. I was, yes, yes, yes.
, this is what they're talking about. Because it was definitely, like,
I got, I was like, where are the black teachers? Oh, oh,
I'm the only one in this building.
Oh, yes, yes.
Yes. So you,
you didn't obviously stay in that position and you've been like,
you've bopped around and had many different positions.
So tell us more about that, that piece of it too.
Yeah. So then after that I went to Ashley Elementary.
They actually like reached out to me on LinkedIn and it was two blocks where I,
from where I lived. And I didn't have a car at the time. So I was like,
when they offered me the job, I was like, yeah.
So then that got me into d p s For real. Yeah.
Even though it was innovation school. Yeah.
And the first two years I loved it there.
The first few years I taught third grade and I loved the students.
I love the community. Like, again, I like walked to school,
which means that I saw my students a lot. , just.
Like, yeah.
Um, and so yeah, that was, it was good. However, my third year there,
one, I went to teach fifth grade, so I was like, oh,
I teach a third graders that I had before. I'm a teaching again in fifth grade.
Um, which I think would've been okay,
had like the leadership at the school been stronger, Uhhuh, ,
but that we had a new principal and a new assistant principal.
And it was a hot mess.
Like when I tell you that I was like struggling,
like I felt like a first year teacher. Um, yeah.
Cause I had like so many like students who just had like,
so many different needs. And I would reach out to administration who I thought,
you know, was there to support, would have answers, would have solutions,
and they'd be like, yeah, we don't, we don't know what to tell you about that.
Or, it was crazy stuff happening in my classroom, um,
mostly from black boys. And their thing was, look,
we don't want to over discipline them. You know,
we don't want to. And so they end up being like, no discipline, right? Mm-hmm.
And, and then like having like those low expectations of 'em and mm-hmm.
like, no, this is okay. Like, can we, can we do more?
We need to do more.
And so it was a lot of me like making connections with families. Um,
but it was a tough year. And that was actually 2019. 2020.
And when I tell you that, like, I, like, yes,
the pandemic devastating,
but I was grateful to not have to go back to that classroom in
March, 2020. Right. And it was like, to the point, um,
I talked to my therapist about it,
it was like October and like every week I had a day planned where I wasn't
gonna be at school. Whether it was like union days, district days, um,
personal days, sick days. Like I was like,
I wasn't spending a full week in that, in that school because it was just,
we just had no support and it was hard. It was tough.
Yeah. And you are not the only one.
This is a theme we heard from folks who taught during the pandemic.
They were so grateful to be at home for lots of different reasons. Um,
sometimes it was because administration was on their back.
Sometimes it was because of like lots of different things,
but it was just being able to be in the safety of their homes that was just
like, so healing for people. Um,
and it's interesting that you say that,
that this idea of like not having to be at school.
I remember I was walking home or walking from class one day with one of my good
friends and Krista, Dr. Christero,
shout out to her when we were in our doc doc program.
And I remember her saying like, okay,
well MLK's coming up and then after that we have this,
so I'll have a day off of that and then I'll have a Monday. And I said,
you know, this is after I had, um, left teaching. I said, we,
you can't live your life like that.
That's right.
You can't live your life from like, like vacation day to vacation day,
cuz it's a lot of days Yeah.
Between those vacation days and weekends. Right.
And she no longer is in the classroom, is doing something that she really,
truly loves. Shout out to her. But that's the thing that little, like,
if I could just make it a Tuesday and Thursday's a half day and, and you,
how can we, our life is not full of half days like that. Mm-hmm.
. Mm-hmm. . No. And it shows like,
I was miserable at my job. . Yeah. So how can I, you know,
I can't be that effective of a teacher if I'm like miserable showing up.
So it was, it was tough. And a lot of, again, like it wasn't the students Right.
It was the adults who made it at heart. Yep.
And I just like got tired of like having to just advocate
so much. Like, it was like more than normal, more than usual.
I felt like people weren't listening to me, they weren't listening to families.
I was like, did you ask the family? What did the mom say? Oh,
the mom said that she recommends this, but y'all gonna do the opposite .
Yep. Yeah. So it was, it was tough. A lot of times it was like, okay,
just go in your room, close your door, do what you do,
whatever you need to do , to, to get through the day Yep.
That kids are learning. But, um, yeah. And talking about yeah.
Admin on your back, I was like getting like evaluations, like low scores,
like never had scores low like this before. And I'll just be like,
what is going on? So I was also grateful that d p s was like, you don't have to,
um, we didn't have to keep those scores that year.
Yep. Yeah. You were in one of the pilot schools.
Yeah. . Yes. Yeah.
Yes. Thank goodness.
Yeah. Yeah.
. But it doesn't add to it, it's not the type of thing that you're like,
I am, I'm doing what's right for these kids. Right. And, and,
and, and, you know, working for d p s I could say that, you know,
there's this, uh, philosophy that students are first and, and a core value.
And, you know,
that at times is challenged or contradicted by
the practices of how we evaluate teachers. And I think, uh,
as we have experienced, uh,
is in particularly harmful to educators of color by black
educators in particular.
Yes, I agree.
Yeah. All right. So I guess the next question, you know,
you're not in that classroom anymore. You're not in that school anymore.
So the next is like, what was that theme? That straw,
what was that decision that you said, okay, it's time to do something else?
How did you come about that decision?
Yeah. Is when I was counting down , so the next day I had off,
I was like, I can't continue to do this. And so I knew pretty early,
like by January of that year that I wasn't returning to that school.
I thought maybe I would teach at another school and actually did get hired at
another school. And I was with them during summer 2020, um,
as a team lead and a kindergarten intervention teacher.
But I actually ended up accepting another job in central office prior
to that school year starting. Um, but yeah, I,
I was just that lack of support and I was just like, I, I was like,
I don't like the leadership at this school.
We are clashing and this is not gonna end well for me if I,
if I stayed there so that I left. Mm-hmm.
was central office better.
It was at first. Yeah. It was like the, I was, I really,
I had a really cool position. I, um, well, I don't,
I can't remember the official name. Oh. Leadership pipeline development. And,
um, my,
my biggest role was I facilitated the aspiring teacher leader of color cohort.
And so I got to meet with, um,
teachers all through the district who wanted to get into senior team lead
positions and,
and d p s senior team lead positions are the least diverse of all leadership
positions at schools. Right. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean,
it doesn't surprise me, but I did not know that. Right.
Cuz principals are the one who hired for those roles, right? Yep, yep, yep.
They tend to hire people who look like them. , um mm-hmm. .
Yeah. And so I love that work and I love, like, on the backend, um,
figuring out ways that we can dismantle that system that is allowing the
principals to hire white women in those roles. Um, because I mean,
like so many,
we have so many talented teachers who I think would stay longer if they had the
opportunity to be in the classroom part of the time and to the coach part of the
time. Right. But, uh, this wasn't offered to a lot of our, um,
teachers of color. So I loved that work. And it was virtual most of the first,
my whole first year I was doing that from home. Um, but it was the second year,
uh, of that job.
What ended up happening first I got an another offer to do what I'm currently
doing now. Um,
but I knew it was time to go because what I saw d p sent out this survey
to central office staff about like,
do we wanna continue with this flexible work schedule so we can work from home
some days, work in office some days. And like majority of staff was like, yeah,
we wanna continue with this flex schedule and . And so, so the,
the like executive leadership was like, yeah,
so we're gonna return to office five days a week, but.
Oh, wow.
Sent the survey results out to us showing that we asked
for the other for the other thing. And I was like, Ooh, ooh,
time to go .
Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. That would do it. And yeah, you know,
there's so much there with the survey piece. Let's hear what you think,
let's go. And it's, and you saying,
this makes me think about all the times that I've heard as a parent, um,
say, Hey, here's a survey about your kids' school, or we're doing this. And,
and for, for my daughter was in APS for a while, we're changing the logo,
vote on this, vote on that.
And to think that there's a possibility that folks just did what they wanted to
do anyway. Yep. Like, how many folks just know that I'm like, I'm not voting.
They're gonna do what they wanna do.
And then here it is that you're sitting here. And like you said, they,
they were, they had enough gumption, I'll say ,
to show you the results and still go what they wanted.
Yes. Yeah. And I will say there was a new leader in D p s at the time,
and, um, that wasn't in line with, uh,
a lot of decisions that were happening from that leader. So I, I wasn't shocked.
Um, and I, as we see like things in dps s especially central office,
are still in flux. And, um, as I talk,
I talked to a former colleague recently, she said, yeah, there's the, the black,
right? She was like,
there are a lot of black Central office employees that were let go,
they're positions were eliminated. .
Yeah. Pause for a second. Say that word again.
Bla cdu.
bla. Cdu.
Yeah. , ladu. Exodus.
. Oh, I get it. Oh, I get it. Kevin, you have anything to say about that?
? I mean, I've, uh, I have, I've not heard. I've,
I think Grant said, so I've,
I I don't know if you coined this or if we get to you get to trademark it,
but I have, I I have witnessed it.
I seen it as we say . I sent it .
Yeah. I remember when I was in C C S D, we had,
I guess now we're call it Blas, where we,
there were tons of doctor doctors in since what we,
we didn't call central office, but central office, um, who Dr.
Cobb and lots of other folks who were up there, Dr.
Kennedy and everyone left together.
Like within one year, all of them left.
And I think there's only a few folks left, like maybe Mike Giles,
I know he's still there. There's a couple more people,
but so many folks left and they were just over it. Mm-hmm. .
So I love that. Blas.
Yeah. I mean, that's, that, that's like, there we go. All right.
My might be, might be the title of the episode. .
Yes, please. It's, so I guess our next question and,
and after this question, we'll go on a break, but our next question is,
what do you think that schools, districts,
principals central office can do to keep black folks in all
the positions of education? Right? Um, coming back to schools, what do you,
if there is a solution that you think exists,
what do you think that solution is?
Asia, you'll probably appreciate this.
I just submitted a paper about this yesterday for my grad school program.
Um, so one of the classes I'm taking is called Human Capital,
strategic Human Capital. And so, Hmm. Um, I,
I did a lot of thinking and research around it recently.
I think one of the,
the first things is having networks
of bipo teachers. Right. So like,
you cannot have just one in your building and think that that one
is gonna keep coming back. Right. Like, I know personally for me,
that was such a struggle when I was the only one. Yeah. And then school,
actually they wanted to, they wanted me to come back that charter school.
They were like, they were shocked. And I was like, no, I'm leaving.
And they're like, oh, we're gonna hire another black teacher.
. Wow. They knew.
Yeah.
Left. No, no, no. We promise. Yeah.
And then I left and they had hired the other black teacher who I'm friends with.
So , she was like, bran said they did the same thing to you.
You left, you left me. Yeah. I'm here.
I'm the only black teacher. Right. So, like, you know, not having one or two,
like you need a,
a genuine number of teachers, um,
with similar identities and especially that share the identities of the
students. So I think that's one layered on top of that,
that also includes leadership, right? Like,
people need to see themselves in leadership positions and know that their
leaders are supporting them. Um, I think around like,
making sure that staff feel heard and valued, like I was just,
and like respect their professionalism. Cause I was just like, for me, I was,
I was young, but I was like, listen, I got these degrees from these.
That's right. Like, I have experiences, like, I'm not stupid,
I'm not any of these things, but like, y'all are treating me like,
I don't know what I'm talking about. Right.
Like that I can't make decisions for myself, for my classrooms, for my students.
So that's something that I think that's like a, a mind shift that has to happen.
Mm-hmm. schooling and districts, um,
obviously compensate teachers, , right? Yes.
Pay them what they're worth. Um, as far as the union side,
I can talk about this now, , I'm not in the union, right? Yep. But like,
I experienced a lot of anti-black racism in when I was a member of D C T
A, right? Yep.
Mm-hmm. .
Or I was like, I had friends who experienced it and me just being like,
what we're paying money for this .
So like, unions have to get it together too. Like,
just like really supporting teachers of color.
And particularly in this case, from my experience around black teachers,
I was a part of the Black Educators Caucus.
Yep. Shout out. That's how we know. I, in all transparency,
that's how me and Brad to know each other. It's the Black Educators Caucus.
Yeah. And that was, that was hard work, right? Like we were like,
it was fighting the union Yep. To fight the district. Right.
It was like.
. Yep.
It was too many battles happening at once. And it's like, all,
all we wanna do is educate the children. And so, um,
I think definitely like unions can step up how they're,
they're supporting their staff. I think having like,
really clear hiring practices, right?
So like this whole backdoor hiring, I'm gonna hire my friend. Uh,
no. Like the,
we need to be very transparent on how we hire for certain positions,
for all positions so that people can know the pathways and what they need to
do in order to prepare,
prepare themselves for positions that they wanna go into, into later.
Hmm.
I mean, I love that. I, I, uh, you know,
from our experiences in the b e c, you know, I think the union part of it,
I, I can just relate to as someone who's still there still and, and, and we,
on our work, I think Brenta like yielded a lot of, uh,
it was still not where we want to be, but I think it's,
it's yielded some things that we, we heard that, you know,
that we talked about that we know needed to be addressed in our union
inequities. Um, and then the aspects, you know,
I feel like Asia of, of what we need to see in schools are,
are what we always hear. It's more, more, more people that are like us,
more understanding of our perspectives, the expertise that we bring,
you know, like, and, and that's what I love. I've always loved about you,
Bronte is, uh, you know, you are a scholar. You, you, you,
you don't mess around with it. You got the credentials to Yeah.
To support it all. Like, we should be listening to folks like you and like, I'm,
you know, I,
it just figures that there'd be building leaders that weren't willing to do
that. And district leaders building and district leaders.
Right. Or like, do I need to tape my resume on my shirt? Like it was.
. I don't wanna,
I don't wanna I don't wanna check you with my college degrees, but ,
if I have to, I mean, I can, we can do that.
.
Yeah. Dang. Thank you for that. You know, and that's a, that's a good list. I,
I really appreciate this part about the union too,
because I know that a lot of times when we ask that question,
people really focus in on the cl like the school maybe,
or like the admin, the admin side of it,
and not necessarily talk to Union specifically. Um,
and a whole different show for a whole different time.
Like stories about the ways that you experience racism by the hands of the
union. Listen, you and I can do another episode just on that, right? Um,
yep. But we won't, we won't go there today. Um, alright.
So we're gonna go to break and we come back. We're gonna sir,
or ask our favorite two questions. Um, stick around folks when we right back.
All right. We're back. We're back folks with our, uh,
our final two questions. These are my favorite.
Cause you know,
Kevin's in the school space and we know that even though I'm trying to get him
out of the school space, he's in the school space.
Black Moses of e Black, Moses of Education, , Dr. Asian Lions,
ladies and gentlemen.
, Dr. Asian Lions. So these are my questions. So, um, tell us,
you've, um, no longer in that traditional educator space,
traditional teaching space. What are you doing now?
Tell us all the things we'd love to know.
Mm-hmm. . Well, one,
I'm back in school and I'm actually in the same program that Asia, uh,
recently graduated from. So, super excited to, yeah.
So like all, all my heroes are, are going through that program.
I feel like I'm being led in a path in life.
Listen, come on Kevin.
Be great. Yeah. . Yeah.
I was like, maybe people will stop saying no to Dr. Lockett. I don't know.
Maybe That's right. That's right. Enough enough.
Right? . So I'm, I'm enjoying being a student again.
And at the same time,
I also made the wild decision to also open the school. So let's go.
I'm executive Yeah. The executive leader of 52 80 Freedom School.
We recently had our charter approved Woo i s and so
we're opening in fall 23, 20 23 to, um,
kindergarten, first grade students. And, um, yeah,
we're gonna start enrollment January 13th,
and then the first round of enrollment will end on January, uh, February 14th.
So we are like, if you are interested, reach out,
come to our events and definitely enroll your student because the spots are
gonna fill up, fill up fast.
And actually one of our pre-opening conditions that we have to fill off 52 spots
during the first round of, um, school choice and D ps. So, um.
All right. Kindergartners, first graders. Yeah. And, and tell us,
tell the people about 52 80 Freedom School, the mission and vision,
those important parts. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. And I'll start with a little history cuz Yes.
Yes.
History. Yeah. So Freedom School actually started back with,
Asia was still a member of B LM 52 80. And we were all in, in the end squad.
And one meeting we were like, yeah, let's just do the summer camp this summer.
And we did that , it was summer 2018 , I call it the,
the one room school.
Yes. It was hot as hell. Hey there, girl. We was doing it.
We didn't have wifi. We didn't have outdoor play space. We didn't,
we were newbies in that . But yes, the next summer we,
we got it together. Asia was, supported us that next summer too. Um,
and we've grown every summer.
We've doubled in enrollment this past summer. We had to have a,
we had a wait list for kids who wanted to join the program. And then yeah.
From that, that summer camp families were like,
we need more opportunities like this. And students were like,
I would love a school that was like this. Right.
Like a school with black teachers and Yes. Who love me.
And I mean, the kids didn't say that, but I always think about like, you know,
we had teachers who held the kids accountable Right.
And had high expectations of the kids,
but it was delivered in a very loving way.
So it was real well received by the children. Right. So, yeah. Like, you know,
I, it was,
it's amazing to me to see the interactions that our students have with our
teachers Right. In such a short amount of time. Like,
these relationships that are built are like genuine Right. And authentic.
And there's no like, playbook on how to, how to do this, right? Like,
this is just something where you have to have the passion for it and you have to
like, believe in black kids and Yeah. And show up that way, right?
And so that's, our school is all about, like, we center black values,
principals and knowledge, um, and we're open to,
so anyone can join us. Um, but it's center around the black experience.
And really just like affirming our students for who they are and letting them
know that like, yes,
you can show up how you wanna show up and you will be loved in this
space. You're being loved just for who you are.
And another thing that I love about our school is, um,
we are gonna offer universal, gifted and talented and.
Such Yes.
Yes. Students, right? Cause I'm like,
all of these babies are brilliant and it's in the schools where these,
the b brilliance is just squashed, right? Yeah. So we're gonna, you know,
we're gonna uplift their brilliance and help them explore their brilliance in
different ways. And, um, u utilize GT strategies in our practices,
but also having like a talent block for them too,
to actually like experience GT learning, right? Yes.
Super excited about that.
I love that. I love that idea. I've, um, you know,
uh, my, started my career at Morry Middle School and, uh,
somehow ended up teaching in the gifted and talented program at Morri. Um,
and, uh, was open to a whole, uh,
new world of like educational processes. And that was my first year, you know,
like hadn't really studied it, but, but the biggest realization was that,
you know, black and brown kids were completely underrepresented. And, uh,
you know, the idea and also the other contradiction or kind of contrast that it
was what our traditional kids were going through our neighborhood kids at the
time at Morrie, the education they were receiving. And I love this idea of,
of giving chance, the chance to explore their curiosities.
Because that's what happens at private schools.
This is like the root of every great story of individuals
like the, the, the people, whatever it is, the field that they're in.
They have the opportunity and ability to access expertise and
practice these skills at a young age. And so I love that the idea of, uh,
you know, all of your kids univer, that's big. Yeah. Right?
Universal. Yeah. GT education for all. Because like, I believe,
I believe we're all gifted in some way. . We all got the gift. Yeah.
We just,
sometimes we never even realize it or never give the opportunity to show it.
Or even like when we do show up, we don't realize it because of how it's used.
Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I think yeah. Having that space to explore,
take risk, fail, learn from the failures, not be punished for the failures.
Um, and this goes back to like my growing up in Miami.
So I was in GT and in elementary through high school,
and the students in the GT program looked like me. , right?
. So yeah, it was, again, it was like coming to Colorado, I was like,
what is going on? It was like, so through my personal experience, I was like,
no, no, no, no. I know that there are brilliant black people out there. Right.
It's like, we're not Yeah. Just like one out of 30. Like, no. Like, we had,
I think it was about like 20 of us that were in our,
our GT program when I was in, um, elementary school and then middle school.
Like, we actually had, like, they would track the students.
And so like our cohort was a whole GT cohort.
Yep. All together. All together of, of black kids.
Black kids, like 30 black kids. Right. And.
And you know what, to this point, you know what the, uh,
identified GT kids that more used to say when they get identified from the other
programs, we don't want to go in there.
Why we don't wanna be with all those white kids.
. Right. .
That that's that they, they're weird. They not like us.
Right. Right. And it shouldn't be that way.
And, and, and in fact, like the longer they, like as they grew, they realized,
oh, I actually might be like,
I might be into the same conversations that they're having that that's,
that's who I am. You know, so,
but I think it's beautiful what the kids have to see themselves. Mm-hmm.
like, it, it's a group of us. We, we all like this. We,
we all bright kids. Right.
and we can all challenge each other's other to grow Yes.
And push each other's thinking.
Yes. No, I agree. Yep. So yeah. Super excited.
Our program is also, um,
culturally responsive and sustaining and based on the work of culturally
responsive teaching and the Brain Vice Sarata Hammond. Yeah.
As cultivating genius.
Yes.
Goldie, Mohamed. So, you know, just really,
we're developing a program that will center
the most marginalized students. Right.
And we know that when the most marginalized students get their needs met,
everyone gets their needs met. Um, so yeah, if you're interested again,
we'll, we're opening fall 23 and we'll be located in wel on Wilton Street.
So if I.
All.
Right. Yeah. We're.
Gonna be in in the points Historic.
Yes. Historic, yes. In a historic building, um, was where we're starting out.
So it's, it's, it's exciting. We're, I'm excited for this work.
I enjoy doing this work every day, , even in late evening, like, I'm,
I'm not having that feeling like I did my last year teaching where I was like
down the days.
Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. This is so good.
It's so good. And, um, I will say, oh, I do have a question.
So you talked about your summer, your summer program,
the Freedom School summer camp.
When you all are preparing to start the school in the fall, this summer,
2023, will you have camp too,
or will you be kind of holding off because school's gonna be starting?
I think we would have a angry mob of children if we didn't have summer camps.
. All right.
Facts.
. So we'll definitely still have summer camp families.
Don't worry. . We'll, we'll offer summer camps still. Yes. .
Okay. Perfect. And so our last question.
Let's go. Um.
Last question. Favorite question, best question.
What's bringing you joy these days?
I think definitely just working on this school with community and
just like, like having a hopeful future, right?
Like being hopeful about the future.
That there is gonna be a place where kids are loved and treated
as humans. And, um, yeah. I'm excited about that.
And that brings me so much joy. I also have a golden doodle puppy
too, but oh my gosh.
He is just the cutest little thing and yeah,
he brings me so much joy too. .
I love that. I.
Love that. We love we love the pets on this podcast. You know.
, he was like one of my gifts to myself when I, um,
I moved,
I had purchased a home and I was like going through like a crazy breakup and I
was like, I'm gonna get myself a Golden Doodle . And that's what I did.
So.
What's his name?
Jay Winter. He has, has two names. Jay win. Jay.
Winter.
.
Love it. Shout Jay.
Winter.
Yes. Yes.
Sounds like a new,
like a new up and coming r and b star Kids will be talking about him.
You heard Jay Winter.
Oh, man. Any follow remarks, Kevin, before you wrap it up for the evening?
Just Broza, thank you so much for being here with us. It's, um,
you know,
I think this is one of my favorite exit interviews because I think ultimately
the inspiration of what you're doing with the 52 80 school,
with the camp, but moving to the school, I think is,
is I think the ultimate goal, you know, is how can we,
we build systems for us, by us, um,
to meet the needs of our kids. And, um,
I'm just so impressed and proud to have worked and collaborated
with you and,
and I'd look to support you and can't wait till you got secondary positions open
at the school. .
We'll get you at the classroom though. Will you.
? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll see. We'll see. I mean,
that's a whole new world. Oh man. Shoot. Shoot.
Might not wanna leave. Might have to pull me out there. Yeah.
Max.
Right.
Max Right. Don't have me in there visiting.
. We get Asia back in there.
That's why turn Asia back to the old her .
I know, right? I know, right. New approved though also.
That's right. That's right. That's.
Right. All right, well, it's been another great episode.
We appreciate you all listening. Um, again,
support the 52 80 Freedom School, enroll your students,
tell your friends and family. Um, we'd love to have you and Brenton l uh,
last question, can they email you? How do they find out how to enroll?
What's the process of that looks like?
Yeah, so if they visit our website, 52 80 freedom school.com.
If they fill out the intention enroll form, it's non-binding.
But that gets you on our email list. If you want to just email us separately,
we're you,
you can email us at BLM 52 80 freedom school gmail.com.
And then we're also on social media, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram at 52 80 Freedom School.
All right. All right. Well, you heard it from her.
I hope that you all have the opportunity to get down there and enroll,
get on the website. It's been another great, uh,
episode of The Freedom or Freedom School. Look at me, uh, the egg. Yeah,
it is a Freedom School. Actually. The exit interview. We'll talk to you all, uh,
later on. See you later. Bye.