Outrageous Love the Podcast: Our Journeys to Responsiveness

Episode 12 is the final entry for season 1 and it end on a very high note. Meet Bianca Suglia, 5th grade French Immersion teacher,  for one of the most diverse and interesting journeys to responsiveness thus far. In addition to her teachers teach testimony, Bianca fascinates us with her journey, which starts in Romania and lands in, of all places, Edina, Minnesota. Incredible!  Bianca's diversity brings intrigue on multiple levels - language, nationality, and ethnicity. Find out the cultural connections between Isaac Newton, Columbia, and Maya Angelou.  As always, hear Dr. Hollie's commentary. This time he riffs on the mix of emotions in the air right now as more students return to in-person schooling, as COVID appears to be in 4th quarter, as vaccinations steadily increase and as the watchful eye of justice hovers over the George Floyd trial.  Siempre Adelante!!!

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

The deserved spotlight on the frontline workers in education continues. Episode 11 features high school teacher Felicia Homberger from the Hopkins Schools in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Felicia's journey to responsiveness starts in Milwaukee and works its way through Boston to New York, landing in the Twin Cities. Key to her journey is the celebration and resonation of her Jewish heritage, which she is very proud of. Felicia provides insight and perspective about cultural responsiveness through the lens of Jewish culture. You will be moved by " tikkun olam," Felicia's inspiration to stay steadfast in ongoing fight for social justice. And, let's not forget, it is Black History Month! Hear Dr. Hollie's take on BHM and his call for celebrating culture all year long - everyday and in anyway.   

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

Welcome to the new year, a new president, the new normal, and a new episode of Outrageous Love the Podcast. 2021 and episode 10 kick off a new 3-part series, Teachers Teach, which puts the focus on the outstanding, noble, and sacrificial work educators have been doing for our students for almost one year. Whether it be in-person with students, in a so-called hybrid model, or totally virtual, our educators have stepped up to the plate and made a significance difference for countless students. This new series is meant to celebrate and honor their work and to give a few of them a platform to express themselves. Part 1 starts with Dr. Genita Williams, educator extraordinaire, from the ATL by way of the STL. Dr. Williams has been an university professor,  district administrator, school leader, and now back to where it all started, a middle school teacher. Yes! A school leader who made the choice to go "front" to the classroom. Hear Genita's journey from classroom teacher to celebrated school leader to classroom teacher again. Hear Dr. Hollie's "two cents" on his takeaways from working with thousands of teachers (virtually) during the pandemic. 

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

The final episode of 2020! Episode 9 celebrates the end of a helluva year and the optimism of a new year, 2021. This edition also celebrates Claudia Salinas, Vice President of English Learning for Curriculum Associates and her fascinating journey to responsiveness from Nicaragua to the United States. Claudia speaks about validation and affirmation from various perspectives - the corporate world, the education world, and as a parent and community member in Dallas, Texas. Not to mention her bilingualism and biculturalism.  Another celebration in episode 9 is Dr. Hollie's All I Want for Christmas Is You list. Listen in to hear what Dr. Hollie wants for the giving season. A last celebration is you the listener. Thank you for being part of Outrageous Love the Podcast.

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

In the final edition of the special series, Superintendents Who Love Outrageously, Dr. Hollie culminates the focus on leadership with an outstanding superintendent, Dr.  Judy Baseman of Appleton Schools in Wisconsin. Dr. Baseman shares her journey to responsiveness from music teacher with indigenous students in Montana and with urban students in Chicago to principal and assistant superintendent in Appleton and now  the current superintendent. Judy makes key connections between the importance of effective leadership and being "responsive." She also opens the window into a look at Hmong culture, which is one of the underserved student populations not discussed nearly enough. As always, hear Dr. Hollie's two cents (commentary) on additional attributes of culturally and linguistically responsive leaders as this special series on leadership comes to a close. 

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

What is the connection among Meg Thee Stallion, showing outrageous love virtually versus in person, born and raised in Virginia but living in Ithaca (of all places),  the struggles of leading a district courageously and unapologetically Black, being a lifelong reader and lover of comic books, and an unsolved murder mystery? Find out in this suspense-filled, action-packed episode. We are continuing the special series on featuring superintendent's who love outrageously. This month,  Dr. Luvelle Brown, Superintendent of Ithaca Schools, shares his incredible journey to cultural responsiveness - culturally rich, thought-provoking, and a bit of bromance with Dr. Brown and Dr. Hollie.  Luvelle is an internationally recognized leader in equity and leadership, specializing in working with superintendents and school boards. He is an author/speaker as well. HIs book, Culture of Love: Cultivating a Positive and Transformational Organizational Culture, is a best seller. Check out LuvelleBrown.com.  As with every episode, Dr. Hollie will provide an opportunity  for us to affirm ourselves and give us his two cents on all matters related to cultural responsiveness. 

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

The special series continues with Dr. Laurie Heinz, fearless and courageous leader of the Palatine/D15 Schools, located near Chicago. Dr. Heinz's journey to responsiveness treks from her childhood in Chicago to being named one of the top 100 superintendents in the nation. She brings a diverse perspective to cultural and linguistic responsiveness (CLR) as a female leader with an Irish/Italian cultural background. Laurie checks all the boxes for loving and leading outrageously, leveraging her varied experiences over the years to what has quickly become an inspiring success story in Palatine. Episode 6 also provides another opportunity to hear a commentary from Dr. Hollie. This time he focuses on negative energy/resistance and how, during the racial justice reckoning, is not the time to be silent.  He shares some challenges with CLR in a few states (no names mentioned) urging all of us to cause "good trouble."

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

Of the many variables the twindemic - Covid-19 and Racial Justice Reckoning - has revealed, lack of strong leadership at the national and, in some cases, at the local level is most telling because of the life and death consequences. This fifth episode begins a special series focusing on leadership at the superintendent level. The focus will be supts who get cultural and linguistic responsiveness (CLR) and have been able to implement it successfully. We call these leaders superintendents who love outrageously and we are starting with Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley of University City in St. Louis. Dr. Hardin shares her inspirational journey to responsiveness not only as a leader of an urban district but as an African American woman in a position dominated by white males primarily and historically. She speaks passionately and powerfully about her own education and how that led to her vision of the "heart" work that must come first. Episode 5 also includes Dr. Hollie's two cents on leadership and what he considers are the essentials for any leader to lead CLR successfully.

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

Straight from the epicenter of the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing global uprisings, in this episode, we hear from school leader and equity warrior, Dr. George Nolan. As an educator in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the surrounding areas, Dr. Nolan witnessed first hand the aftermath of Floyd's murder that has gripped not only the Twin Cities but the world in what has become the spark for racial justice reformation. His perspective is multi-faceted and fascinating. Over the past 15 years, George has been a dean, assistant principal, principal and central office director. He has viewed the fight for equity, justice, and cultural responsiveness from many vantage points that we can learn from. Coupled with his experience as an educator, though, is his reality of living in central Minnesota as an African American man, which adds an additional, complex layer to his journey to responsiveness, as he, like many African American men, realized that George Floyd could have been him.

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

This episode features the compelling journey of Dr. Berlinda Begay, first and foremost, a citizen of Navajo Nation and also an educator and advocate. Hear her "tell it like it is" as it applies to US education and the struggle for Navajo students, including her personal story of being able to reach the highest levels of academia. For those wanting to hear from an authentic Navajo educator, Dr. Begay's narrative will shift your mindset. The depth of her truth is in the nuance. Listen carefully. And given the now urgent call for an end to police brutality and the elimination of systemic racism, Dr. Hollie opens with an initial, reactionary commentary to the murder of George Floyd (note that the recording of this episode occurred during the week of the initial worldwide protests/uprisings) and the espisode ends with an honoring of some of the African American men and women murdered by law enforcement on camera over the past 30 years. The reference for these names and the circumstances comes from NPR's A Decade Of Watching Black People Die.     

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