About two years ago, Kevin and Gerardo’s paths diverged. Facing burnout, Gerardo left the classroom to manage aspiring and new educator programs at the central office level, and Kevin became an assistant principal. The last two years have been challenging for us both. Questions arose as to whether the podcast would last. What would happen now that Too Dope Teachers were no longer in the classroom? Could the fellas ever ever ever coordinate calendars?

It has been a challenge, but this season, we bring to you “OG Episodes” that bring us back to our roots: no guests, nothing flashy, just a couple of educators remixing the conversation on race, power, and education.

This episode was supposed to be out prior to the announcement of school closures, but instead we are bringing it after. Check out our emergency episode, a conversation with two students from one of the closing schools for an in-depth look.

We hope you enjoy this episode, whether to get needed affirmation and levity as you continue your important classroom work, or if you are considering other options, while still wanting to remain in education.

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Citing declining enrollment, demographic shifts, and building under-use as primary factors, Denver Public Schools superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero announced his proposal to close or consolidate a number of schools. On school that is proposed for consolidation is the Denver Center for International Studies at Baker, where we met. It is a school that we feel profound affection for and belief in.

In this emergency episode, we speak with DCIS students Sophia and Camila, who are helping to organize their peers and families to protest the re-structuring of their school.

Very frequently, students are the last to know about decisions and policies that directly impact them. Oftentimes, across American public education, “student voice” is trivialized, downplayed, dismissed, and disrespected. If you go back to our emergency episode with students in the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic, you will see that students were not included in that discussion either. This is, unfortunately, not a problem unique to this district, it is everywhere.

Student voice matters. Yesterday, today, and always.

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