Outrageous Love the Podcast: Our Journeys to Responsiveness

We have another first for Outrageous Love the Podcast. Our first double feature - two episodes in one.  We have two fearless CLR leaders. Both from St. Louis. Both original educators (30 years or more). Both elementary school leaders. Both from the same district - The Schools of University City. Up first is Dorlita Adams whose journey will take us from her days as an law enforcement officer to a classroom teacher to a building leader among many other things. Then, we have Dr. Rebecca O'Connell whose journey will take us from Harlem to St. Louis to U City specifically, where she spent a lot of time in central office but landed in her sweet spot as a builder leader. We have been in both of their schools and the common denominator is when you walk in you feel the love - the Outrageous Love! Dr. Hollie's two cents will continue his thoughts around what it means to be a fearless CLR leader and why all of our leaders were women.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

With it being October, we have a treat for you. The journey of Isabelle St. Onge, director of Vista Grande High School in Taos, New Mexico, is like no other. Isabelle takes us on a geographic journey from Minnesota to Montana to Wyoming to New Mexico.  She takes us on a religious journey with a look at Catholicism, sort of.  We experience the down and dirty early years of special education in the US and how Isabelle broke through walls to bring equity, justice and responsiveness to her students in Taos. Finally, we again look at the inequities for women in leadership. Talk about intersectionality. It is all here in this episode. And don't forget Dr. Hollie's "two cents," where he gives his theory for why all the fearless CLR leaders interviewed thus far have been women, not men.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

Meet and love Lisa Sahasrabudhe, current elementary school principal and a true advocate for equity and cultural responsiveness.  We continue our 4 episode focus on fearless leaders of CLR. This time we go to Ithaca NY with stops in India and New York city. In these places we hear about Lisa's incredible and interesting journey, which can be summed up with the adage,  never judge a book by its cover. Saharsrabudhe is the embodiment of culture intersectionality when we look through her rings of culture. There will be a couple of surprises along the way. Here is a tease: Have you ever ran after a student all the way their home? She has! Listen in for the full story. Also, check out Dr. Hollie's two cents, where he reminds us that our biases never really go away. We just do them less....maybe.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

End of summer brings a new series to Outrageous Love the Podcast. "Fearless CLR Leaders" will focus on 5 building leaders who have successfully implemented CLR in their schools. These episodes will not be an how to on successful implementation but an "into" their insightful and eventful journeys to responsiveness. The first fearless leader is Patty Hand, principal of Fridley High School in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Patty is a dynamic principal who leads with courage, a steady hand, and warm heart. Not just a believer of equity and CLR practices but a doer as well, going back to her early days in administration. Her journey takes us up the administrator ladder and what it took for her to succeed as a woman and a mother in a field dominated by men.  Dr. Hollie's two cents defines what it means to be a fearless CLR leader. 

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

For the first time but certainly not for the last time, we are going off script from our usual format. As you know, we usually hear the journey of a great CLR educator for every episode. Unfortunately, our special guest could not make the episode, so we had to come up with an alternative real fast. And we did! Dr. Hollie is going through ten common myths about CLR that can be used as a resource in any CLR professional learning experience. Last year, these myths were discussed as a theme in our monthly blog VABB Perspectives (available at culturallyresponsive.org) to thwart the onslaught of misinformation, disinformation, and ignorance about not only CLR but anti-racist and social justice work in general. Some things don't change, however. Hear Dr. Hollie's usual two cents about the need for all CLR educators to be prepared to get involved in the politics of our times, as we head toward Election Day '22. 

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

Back to Minneapolis-St. Paul we go. This time to hear the journey of "original educator" Nanette Yurecko, affectionately known as Nan. What started off as an observation in her high school while serving as a teacher's assistant in a special education classroom blossomed into a vabbulous mission and service in education spanning 30 years. In other words, Nanette has been a warrior in equity/cultural responsiveness since day one. Known best for her time as an assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in the Brooklyn Center Schools, Yurecko has always been a strong and loud advocate for the underserved. In-depth would be one word to describe her journey as she reflects on the decades of service she has given to countless students and educators. And her work continues today as she mentors future educators going into senior leadership. Also in this episode, Dr. Hollie laments the Buffalo and Uvalde tragedies and how they should remind us of the importance of showing outrageous love to our students, friends, and family every single day.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

In this reflective episode, we honor and celebrate Anthony Jackson as our first "original educator" or OE. An "OE" is an educator who has been in the game for more than 30 years and has retired.  Anthony, formerly an administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, dedicated 40 years and is now newly retired. Hear his incredible journey to responsiveness as he reflects on an amazing career! Soon to be Dr. Jackson humbly describes where it all began at 99th Street Elementary in Watts and how he has bobbed and weaved his way through what we call the matrix, ending his career as a Director of Equitable Services. You will not be disappointed with all that is in between the beginning and the end, not to mention what is coming in his next chapter. Dr. Hollie also reflects on the idea of legacy and longevity, posing the reflective question to us all - what is or will be your legacy? What are you leaving behind?

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

In the opening episode of season 3, meet a student, Pablo Mejia, from Dr. Hollie's very first class in 1992. Pablo is now an up and coming building leader in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), but 30 years ago he was one of Dr. Hollie's 9th graders at Charles Drew Junior High School. Pablo describes "Hollie," as the students used to call him, in his first year and what his best memories are of him as English/Language Arts teacher. Then, we hear about Pablo's incredible journey as he successfully  matriculated through a system that statistically had told him that he was not supposed to succeed as a Latinx student. Like so many of Hollie's former and current students, Pablo defied the odds and is now paying it forward as an culturally and linguistically responsive educator. Dr. Hollie provides an opening commentary on his perspective after 30 years in education. Listen in for his three take-aways. This personal episode is your once a year opportunity to learn a little about Dr. Hollie's personal side.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

OLTP ends the "educrats series" in California with a look inside the belly of the beast of the California Department of Education (CDE). This time, we hear the perspective of educator Ben Kingsbury. Ben serves as a program consultant in the CDE. He offers deep insights, not only on the bureaucracy but also on his journey, which takes us to Saudi Arabia and we land with a dope reference to the GAP Band. Ben's journey reminds us of the old adage you cannot judge a book by its cover...ever. Fascinating and fun! Dr. Hollie's two cents raises the question, why do we to continue to believe in  an educational system that has perpetually not equitably served all students? How many chances does the system get? Listen in for the answer.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

Welcome to the second part of  a three-part special series, The Educrats, a focus on educators who work within state and county departments of education. This episode takes us back to the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) in the Language and Cultural Division.  The educrat is Dr. Kadriye El-Atwani or otherwise known as Dr. Kad, Multicultural Education Specialist, in NMPED. Dr. Kad's journey to responsiveness begins in Turkey, then goes to Indiana (of all places), and lands in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her journey is multicultural and multifaceted, meaning it is fascinating because of the complexity and intersectionality of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. But Dr. El-Atwani's resonating ring of culture is her "immigrant" culture, which takes the listener to an under-spoken space culturally. Dr. Hollie continues his cause for us to validate and affirm our students as they are culturally and linguistically and not buy into how our society and our institutions have defined them as deficits. Our students are fine as they are.

Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm