Lead. Learn. Change.

• 3:15 – highlights of Anjelika’s journey from Ukraine to the United States; a story of resilience and transformation through education
• 4:00 – Hamilton County Schools, helping newcomers – Anjelia knows what it is like to be a newcomer
• 4:45 – students from Guatemala, embroiled in civil war for decades – students speak dialect, making Spanish their second language, and English is their third
• 5:45 – developing the newcomer center is hard work but “I am very happy to go to work”
• 7:30 – we can teach a language but what is most important is to attend to the students’ needs, and they need a vision about their own education
• 8:15 – students want to learn – so the work of an educator never ends
• 9:00 – “We were poor, my daughter and I, we were hungry . . . sometimes we had no shoes”
• 9:45 – you must provide vision, hope, wraparound services, and then academics
• 11:45 – born in the USSR (Soviet Union) – mother’s family actually benefited from Socialism – father’s side were Christians and fled the Soviet Union (prison camps, executions, etc.)
• 13:30 – mother’s faith shifts and she was ostracized then persecution start (Anjelika about three years old at this time)
• 14:30 – Anjelika was to be taken from family by an agency because Protestant Christians are enemies of the state
• 15:15 – refugee status immersed Anjelika in multiple languages (Yiddish, Ukranian, Russian, Romanian) – but then kindergarten and first grade teachers wondered if Anjelika could even speak and had questions about her written expression
• 18:00 – return to Odessa, Ukraine – had to live in the outskirts (not a good area) – Anjelika in second grade
• 19:00 – Fidel Castro visits Odessa – working on economic and education partnership between Cuba and Ukraine
• 20:15 – Refusal to say, “We believe in ourselves. There is no God.”
• 21:00 – Girls married young then – Anjelika was 18 or 19 when she married – husband ended up in the Mob
• 22:55 – Anjelika and her young daughter were kidnapped on the street by undercover police 
• 23:55 - $100 in her pocket, seven year-old child in two, walking across borders
• 24:00 – seemingly Anjelika had nothing but she had “a huge hope”
• 25:45 – Anjelika was an ESL student, mother of an ESL student, then ESL teacher, and so on, to the role I serve in now
• 26:50 – lived in a basement of a home (cleaned the 6,000 square foot home in order to stay there) – no stove, sometimes very little to eat all day
• 28:30 – “God, if you get me out of this situation, I will do everything possible to help new immigrants”
• 29:00 – doors started opening up
• 29:45 – listen to the rest of Anjelika’s story in Episode 3

Music for Lead. Learn. Change. is Sweet Adrenaline by Delicate Beats

Podcast cover art is a view from Brunnkogel (mountaintop) over the mountains of the Salzkammergut in Austria, courtesy of photographer Simon Berger, published on www.unsplash.com.

Professional Association of Georgia Educators

David’s LinkedIn page

Lead. Learn. Change. the book

Instagram - lead.learn.change

1:35 –Family’s influence—connections between church, home, and school. • 

1:50 – Education as legacy – father’s grit, mother’s service – inspired her to teach • 

2:45 – Fell in love with teaching while working with ESL adults in college • 

3:30 – Parenting as life’s ultimate classroom • 

4:10 – Parenthood reshaped her empathy; every child’s story matters • 

5:00 – Calmness sets classroom tone; composure equals caring • 

6:00 – Intelligence is not synonymous with impact – empathy drives learning • 

6:40 – Specific and kind feedback supports growth • 

7:05 – Clear expectations free creativity; freedom within structure builds trust • 

8:15 – Open communication forms psychological safety for students • 

9:00 – “Teaching is leading and learning at once.” Reflection as renewal • 

9:55 – Calm, kindness, and connection define leadership • 

10:50 – On professionalism – how mentors modeled integrity and joy • 

11:35 – Gretchen Abernathy’s mentorship: setting tone for a lifetime of teaching • 

17:35 – Lessons from City Park leaders, and her son’s influence • 

18:20 – Gratitude for reflection and renewal through conversation

Music for Lead. Learn. Change. is Sweet Adrenaline by Delicate Beats

Podcast cover art is a view from Brunnkogel (mountaintop) over the mountains of the Salzkammergut in Austria, courtesy of photographer Simon Berger, published on www.unsplash.com.

Professional Association of Georgia Educators

David’s LinkedIn page

Lead. Learn. Change. the book

Instagram - lead.learn.change