About 14 months ago, COVID-19 brought school as we knew it to a grinding halt. In the weeks and months that followed, the US education system scrambled to adapt, modernize, move all school operations online and generally attempt to continue business as usual over video calls and virtual learning platforms. We struggled with this. If you caught our episode “Pump the Brakes” in the spring, we expressed concern about this rush to continue schooling in the manner.

In July, the Education for Liberation Network broadcast a webinar titled “Repurposing Our Pedagogies” and among the brilliant voices sharing wisdom was the brilliant and loving Marylin Zúñiga, who declared that she “would not participate in business as usual.” She declared, along with other voices in the space that it was time to “decolonize time” and to maintain home as “a sacred place for healing.”

Marylin has moved with authenticity, spirituality, and swiftness since being a little girl who frankly, did not like school, to being a transformative and spiritual abolitionist voice in a wilderness that seeks only economic recovery and capitalist salvation at all costs. This conversation will move you, because it isn’t just about school, and it isn’t just about struggle and abolition and justice. It is about a humanizing “place of love” that transcends our fleeting institutions and dares to imagine a life worth living, with healing, in community.

You can check out the work of Marylin, Dani, and Anna at Quetzal Education Consulting, and you can follow Marylin and Quetzal on Instagram for regular inspiration. And you can support their organization by spreading the word about this great work.

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It was a beautiful, inspiring, tear-jerking moment. First Lady of the United States Jill Biden walked into Juliana Urtubey’s Nevada classroom, and presented the 2021 Nevada State Teacher of the Year, the first Latina to be recognized as such, with the 2021 National Teacher of the Year award. Juliana’s reaction was what those of us who are blessed enough to know her knew it would be. Surprise, amazement, humility, and tears at this culminating moment in her illustrious career.

We interviewed Juliana in March of this year, and found her to be one of the most genuine and loving humans we have come across in our career. This encore presentation of episode 90 is a tribute and a celebration of a Latina educator who leads with her heart and solves challenges with her mind, and who is just getting started. Ms. Earth, presente!!

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It has been a long time coming, mostly because scheduling has been a steep learning curve for Gerardo. In this interview, we compare notes on being state teacher of the year, leading authentically, and tying the mental health needs of our students directly to the work we do in our classrooms.

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This week, we bring you the amazing story of Somali-Muslim-Canadian educator and children’s book author Hodo Hussein. She joins us from a lockdown in Canada, where she describes the situation as ‘uncertain’ and ‘indecisive.’

During the course of a wonderfully insightful interview, we discuss representation of Muslim educators and communities, creativity, and following one’s dreams in hard times. It should be noted that Hodo did not set out to become a writer, but when she was separated from her students at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to take a creative approach to keeping a connection, affirming their sadness at no longer having school, and even improving their math skills. Her wonderful debut book, Manal Mahal and the Double Cookie Party is an affirmation of children’s feelings and willingness to go on in hard times.

Plus good laughs and a fire top five!

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This is a real special episode of the Exit Interview! Asia and Kevin talk with Dr. William A. Smith, professor of Education and Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. Dr. Smith, who developed some of the most profound research around the concept of Racial Battle Fatigue, shares his research, insights and experiences tracking this phenomenon.

In this profound and wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Smith discusses a veritable library of topics, so many that we decided to expand this conversation to two parts (Part II will be out this summer–stay tuned!). He shares his perspectives on the positioning of school leaders and teachers in regard to revolutionary action. He shares his thoughts on Black representation in film as a pacifying force. He names the genocidal actions taken against Black people both past and present.

Throughout this conversation with this next level scholar, the learning is strong, the struggle In contextualized, and the inspiration is total. Tune in!

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Zaira Najera is a graduating senior at Eagle Valley High School in Gypsum, Colorado. Her family comes from Mexico and she is a first generation American, as well as a first generation college student. She co-founded and currently serve as co-chair for a club called SPICE (Students Promoting Inclusion and Civic Engagement) at EVHS, as well as a member of Youth Celebrate Diversity’s Student Virtual Board and YouthPower365 with their Leadership Team at Eagle Valley High School.

Zaira was recently awarded the prestigious Princeton Prize for Race Relations, which honors a handful of high school students across the country for their efforts to improve race relations in the communities. In 2021, only 29 high school students across the country won the award.

Zaira speaks with Gerardo about her commitment to social justice, her own experiences with racism and discrimination, and her desire to continue to work in community with others, as well as an excellent top five.

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Marianna Lucero really didn’t have any interest in the arts, or in drama class. But she had a teacher who insisted. As Marianna continued through her education and adult life, she found that she could not cut the arts out of her life.

She became a teacher, responsible for teaching ALL the arts at her Southwest Denver elementary school. And as she connected with students, their families, and their communities, something special started to happen. Students who had gone on to middle school visited, telling her how much they missed her class, how much they missed her, and playfully suggesting, “Miss, why don’t you just keep teaching us?” In fact their enthusiasm was so real that it inspired her to pursue a Moonshot fellowship and establish In Lak’ech Denver Arts.

In this dynamic and inspiring episode, Marianna talks to Gerardo about her path to the arts, and her eventual arrival to a place where she was poised to make a real difference in the lives of kids and her community. Plus a FIRE top five. Follow them on IG at https://www.instagram.com/in_lakech_denver_arts/ and support at https://inlakechdenverarts.wedid.it/

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After months and months of discussion, community listening, planning, and research, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education stands poised to make a decision that could improve the future prospects of countless young people of color in our city. With the support of Ednium, the non-profit alumni collective organized by TeRay Esquibel, Denver could have graduation requirements in Ethnic Studies and Financial Literacy as early as 2023. All that remains is an important Board vote in June, and it could happen.

Ednium threw up the TooDope Bat Signal, and we are here to amplify this work. Listen to this episode, and then tweet or post using the hashtag #ifihadknown, followed by your story of how you would have benefitted from Ethnic Studies, Financial Literacy, or both. Be sure to tag @tayandersonco, @drolson4dps, @anhelacob, @revbrad, @bacon4co, @obrien4co, @scott4schools. Be sure to include @edniumalumni, @teray_esq and of course, @toodopeteachers when you do!

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Do you find yourself weary of the “self-care” pronouncements made in education? How many Starbucks gift cards before I feel relaxed, positive and enthusiastic? How many baths before the grinding sense of defeat fades away and I can show up like a Hollywood movie teacher? If I practice mindful breathing until I hyperventilate, am I doing it wrong? And why do I feel uncontrollable hostility to people who work out every morning, and proceed to tell, like EVERYONE about it?

The fact is that self-care is only a small part of the issue of social and emotional wellness in education. We have attended professional development sessions, taken steps to address our students’ social and emotional needs, and some schools and districts have even stated that they will adopt SEL curriculum for the foreseeable future.

So why don’t educators feel any better?

In an illuminating roundtable discussion with the Center for Cognitive Diversity’s Emily Santiago, school leader Dr. David Gutierrez and doctoral student Paulina Whitehat, Gerardo seeks a deeper understanding of the social and emotional needs of teachers, and how school leaders may better create the conditions for true social and emotional wellness and support. By sharing their own research-based insights, experiences, and specific programs and practices, the panel delves deeply into a neglected and understated issue. With over 40% of teachers stating that they will depart the profession in 2021, this episode is a must-listen.

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Heavy day yesterday. We reluctantly and ambivalently process the day after former police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on all counts in the murder of George Floyd in 2020. We listen to each other, share honest reflections and come to you in all our uncertainty and emotion. We hope you are processing in a healthy way, in a good way, and we understand if you feel you must skip this episode.

Much love to you all. We have so long to go, and we have to keep going.

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