When Learning is Trauma: Tracy White-Weeden, Lois Letchford, & Lisa McCarty.mp4

Hello, Tracey. Hello, Lisa. I'm delighted to have you here. Welcome to When Learning Is Trauma. Tracey, you sent me a bio. I'm just going to read a part of it. Is that all right?

Sure.

Dr. Tracey White-Weeden is a seasoned and passionate leader dedicated to advancing literacy and academic literacy— academic excellence for children and adults with an Ed.D. in Education Leadership. Tracy had spent her career creating and building innovative program system and team focused on providing enhanced learning opportunities and exceptional outcomes for students. That's all I need to read about your expertise. And you're obviously a perfect person to have as a guest on our show. Tracey, when you and I first spoke, we talked about a story you told me about your mother.

Yes, yes.

Can we start at that point?

Absolutely. You know, and that is tied for me to what I ask educators all over the country, particularly when things are really hard, and that is what Is your why? What is your reason to stay engaged, to keep pressing on, to keep fighting for kids so that every child has the opportunity to become a skilled reader, writer, and expresser of their unique talents, gifts, and thoughts? And for me, it's tied to my mom, Bessie Mae White, who resides in Michigan at this time. But my mom's journey started in Mississippi, and her first experience in school, she remembers sitting in class struggling with a concept, raising her hand to ask for assistance, and when the teacher came over and she asked a question— I want to add that my mother was one of those rule followers, very compliant, no trouble at all kiddos, right? And the teacher looked at her, slapped her across the face, and as my mother's nose began to bleed over her dress— and my mom came from extreme poverty, so she had probably 2 dresses— she asked the teacher, may I please go clean myself up? And the teacher said, no, you just sit there. Because she asked a question, because she asked for help. And my mother was navigating challenges at home in that her father came back from World War II an alcoholic, lovely man until he was inebriated, and then he became violent. And this teacher was adding trauma upon trauma for my mother. The reason my mother is my why is that she probably went to 10 different schools, but in her mind, instead of being bitter, she decided she would somehow make it better for her children one day.

Wow.

And I'm the oldest of 7, and I can tell you we are all skilled readers. 2 are deceased now, the 7 of us, but our life trajectories were completely different than my mom's. And so on the days where I feel laden and heavy and like I want to just give up and this is too hard, I think about—

My mother.

The little Bessies out there who need a champion, who need an ally, who need an advocate to be sure that they have the opportunity to become a skilled reader. And, you know, beyond that, Lois, we know there are other barriers to learning that have to do with the emotional trauma that Folks experience when they're treated like, I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm lazy, when actually their brain is working 5 times as hard as other people's brains because they're dyslexic. And I want to be a part of that kind of change.

Which is why we're here.

That's why we're here.

You want to be part of the change, but also, you know, the impact of what that teacher does lasts a lifetime.

Yeah. Yes, it does. Children, every child needs at least one adult who's absolutely crazy about them.

Say that again. Repeat that.

Every child needs at least one adult in their school experience who's absolutely crazy about them and who can help them find a new script. Because if they got the script that said, you're dumb, you're not enough, you're lazy, That is not the truth. They need somebody who can give them a script that tells them they're precious, they have special gifts that nobody else has, and they have a purpose. And when, when that aspirational adult steps in, even, you know, years of, of, of the other sort of a script can be overcome just by one adult who's a believer in children.

I love that. Lisa, what have you got to say?

Well, I was just wondering, Dr. Tracey, we were talking a little bit before and you said we get to choose how we respond to the trauma. I'm not sure if I'm quoting that exactly. Um, is that— did you come across that because of what your mom went through and how she handled it?

Yeah, it's that plus watching, um, extended family members navigating similar types of trauma. And I've always been fascinated by the people who somehow take that pain and connect it to their passion. And so I remember asking my mom one day, I said, Mom, what is it? I mean, you went through so much, and I haven't unpacked even the half of what she went through, but you still chose to rise higher and rise above it. I said, why? What is that? She said, it's a decision. It's a choice. We have the opportunity as human beings to choose our path. It's just a decision. And what I realize now is our emotions will catch up with that decision. But how we frame our desire to create something out of this pain, create beauty out of those ashes, if you will, is our choice.

That's powerful. Did your mom have any teachers that helped her along the way? Did she have that No, unfortunately not. That's amazing though, that she could come up with that choice.

But she did have somebody else. So that was a really astute question, Lisa. She had an aspirational adult. It was, it was a cousin who was an older member of the family, adult with children of her own. And when my mom moved to Detroit, she took her to the library. And she asked her to read to her orally, and my mother stumbled, and she remembers feeling so embarrassed. But it didn't stop there. That cousin continued to invest in her and love her and support her.

Mm-hmm.

So this cousin is— was actually a teacher. So she took that skill set within her own family, like Lois. She wrapped her arms around my mom. And she walked her through.

And then changed it for generations.

Intergenerational impact, yes. And I tell my mom, you're my butterfly effect. When I go out and get to do good work, your butterfly effect is really going through me.

Yeah, that's an amazing story. And I'm sure there were a lot of other challenges because we're going back a few years, that she could come out of that schooling system with that sense of hope.

Barely graduated by the skin of her teeth.

Wow. But she did it. Then what did she do after high school?

She worked as a waitress. Her mother was very ill. She didn't really have a childhood because my grandmother had chronic illness. And so she started cooking and cleaning for the family when she was 5 years old. So immediately she got a job. And my dad, when she met him, also my dad is part of my why. He contracted polio when he was 5. So he had a withered left leg and he had this limp. And then we, my friends would say, why does your dad walk like that? We said, that's his cool walk. Because he never let that be a barrier. He never complained about it at all, you know. But for him, because he couldn't run in the streets with his friends, streets of Detroit, he almost ended up in juvie. I just found that out like a few months ago from my mom. I hadn't even heard that family story. But he couldn't keep up with his friends because he couldn't run, literally. And so he ended up in the library. He had a teacher who noticed he loved math, and she was that absolutely crazy about you, you can do it. So he ended up becoming a draftsman. And a drafting supervisor. So Mom ended up staying home with us because there were 7. It didn't make sense for her to work, but she worked with us.

Yeah.

And, and Dad went off and made the money, and we had a very modest lifestyle, but boy, was it, was it a blessing to be in that little cocoon of love.

Yeah. Yeah.

So they both came out of generational cycles of poverty and challenge.

Yeah.

But they came together around something bigger than either of them individually. That's excellent.

I know there's a buzzword, the positive growth mindset. What do you think was your mother's positive growth mindset? What do you think it was that kept her in that positive direction?

Oh, I love that question. So what it was, and for those of you who are people of faith, I know it was divine. It was God's divine grace on our family. And I know that because at the brink of when I was 4 and a half, my parents were— my dad didn't know it, but my mom was about to divorce him because she had a vision in her mind. And there were 3 of us at that time that there was a certain kind of family dynamic she wanted. And my father didn't have a father to be an example to him, so he didn't know how to be a father. And about that time, he received Christ as his Savior, and he became a different man. And I remember at 4 and a half how my dad went from this sort of cold, distant stranger to somebody who was really making attempts to live in love towards us. And at that point in my life, I was like, whoever this God is, I'm following him the rest of my life. This is a miracle. And the rest of the story is 4 children later, 7 kids, And my dad passed away 3, almost 4 years ago, but it was the biblical literacy where he wanted us to just have this higher calling of doing God's work on earth.

Wow.

And having the character to keep us in the places that we could go. And then the, the literacy of how do you speak and present your ideas and just be a voracious reader. Building that background knowledge to create a place at the table for you, and my mommy then I have to tell you this on my mom. She bought Emily Post so we could learn about etiquette, and so she would say one day you're going to be at important dinners, and you need to know what to do with your napkin when you get up from the table. She also used that book because I'm tall, quite tall, because I was doing the slumpy thing because I wanted to be middle school invisible, and she made me walk with the book on my head, and she would. A string across the living room and say, cross one foot in front of the other, walk like a model, and put your head up. So she corrected that because she had this bold vision for us that we were going to do great things.

Wow.

And I can only explain that as divine.

Yes. Yes. That, that's incredible.

So, Dr. Tracey, then what happened with your schooling? And how did you get to where you are now doing what you do?

So I'm a product of Detroit Public Schools. We went through desegregation. So I was in middle school in a very diverse, economically and racially diverse middle school. And I was bused to a 100% African American high poverty school.

Hmm.

And so these are the children navigating the war zone of poverty, angry, disenfranchised, And because of the way I presented myself in class, they could see I had a ticket out and some of them didn't feel like they did. And so I went through hell in middle school. The middle school I was shipped out of, my best friend who happens to be of Mexican heritage and I, we had this vision for ourselves. We were going to get out of the mean streets of Detroit and we knew education was the ticket out. So we were separated until we got back to high school where we were reunited. reunited. We're still dear friends today. She lives in Texas as well. But I would say that friend was my anchor. We were each other's anchor.

Yeah.

When other people were angry about the system failing them and we became the brunt of that anger, we stuck together through thick and thin.

Yeah.

When I graduated, my dad, because there were so many of us, could afford one year of college. And so after that year, I worked full-time as a secretary at a private university in Detroit, and they gave me free tuition so I could go at night. So that was the way I worked my way through until I met this philanthropic gentleman who was fundraising for the university. He heard my story and he found me a scholarship. So I was able to quit the job after 2 years and then finish up and become a certified teacher, certified English teacher, never hearing the word dyslexia once. Can you imagine?

Yes.

Not—

We can imagine. Yes.

Lisa and I were having this conversation that it's not a word we use. We say learning disabled. What's the other word?

I don't hear that one either.

Yeah, or at all. They don't, they don't really discuss this.

Acknowledgement of reading challenges, difficulties, and how to meet the needs of students. So when I got my first job as a high school English teacher, I had kids from kindergarten reading level to, right, college, and no tools, no apprenticing on how to meet their needs, and that's unconscionable to do to educators.

So as you're out of school, out of college, and you're becoming a teacher, were you aware at all about any of this kind of learning disability thing, like at all? Or did you start to see it in your class and wonder, hey, what's going on here? How did that becomes something you're aware of.

Um, I, I, I— it was under the umbrella term of special education. There was a lot of talk about special needs children, but not the specificity that I needed. That's number one. And number two, unfortunately, because of my ignorance, I would tell kids, try harder, who I know now were dyslexic. Wow.

Yes.

You know, and, and I did not have the information that I needed to meet their social-emotional needs. They found me very nurturing, I'm sure, because that's my nature. But to give them the script that it's not that you're not trying hard, it's that I need the tools to meet your needs.

Right.

And for the leaders in my school to be equipped to know how to scale the work responsibly so there's a literacy safety net in every school Elementary, middle, high school, that no child falls through the cracks.

Wow. Yeah.

Yeah. And that's, that's my, that's my passion. That's my purpose. Maybe there are other seasons that I'll be trusted with, but for right now, that's the season. It's how do you create a literacy safety net? It's not just early literacy. It needs to be across all content areas. And it needs to be until that student is equipped to navigate college, workforce readiness, and life.

Yeah, so take us into your classroom. So now you're starting to see some of these kids struggling, and you're thinking at first, well, they just have to try hard enough. And you seem like a very nurturing person, as you said. What happens after that?

So then I become a district leader. I become a middle school dean of instruction, and I create, based on data from the state test, right, Right. This, it was TACS at that time, disaggregating the data. Who are the bubble kids who are almost proficient? And how, who are the kids who are below proficient? And so let's pull those non-proficient kids and let's, let's say louder what we already said, or let's focus on some isolated skills, right? Didn't, didn't know. And then wondering why they didn't want to come to intervention, you know, how do I make it where they want to come and they feel safe? Well, who would want to come to that? Who would want to come to that?

Yeah.

And how many of those children were— had learning differences that I should have been taught about?

Right.

And even though they were not identified in elementary, to be given the tools to screen and identify those students, to strategically, diagnostically, and prescriptively meet their needs. And something I love about Lois as well, book, it is in a culturally responsive way, really understanding those 2 young men. I forget the district, it's in Texas though.

Twain and Pedro.

Yes.

In Lubbock.

Yes. Where you— they were telling you what kind of text they wanted to engage with and what was relevant for them. And it was so respectful of them as learners. And I just I love that part of the book, that we need to be culturally responsive and be— and instead of having a deficit mindset about children who come with language varieties that might be from Appalachia, it might be from the Valley, you know, because they're English language learners and they speak Spanish at home, how do we honor the language the scholars loved in or the dialect they're loved in? Because that's relational, that's community, that creates a place for them. And it's not a deficit. They don't speak bad English. Those dialects are just as rule-bound as academic English, right? And so how do we build upon that with an asset-based approach, not a deficit approach? And so the child feels honored as a scholar and that the teacher is a learner too, as Lois was.

I love how you say the language that you're loved in. I heard you speak on some— a podcast of some sort, And I've heard that, and I think that's a great way to put that. Do you think that teachers— or I'm sure teachers are a little confused themselves as to what to do with that, you know, are they supposed to teach the kids with the what they would call school English? Now, I would argue, and I don't mean to be inflammatory, but I would argue that that's white culture.

Mm-hmm.

That's where it's come from. Um, look at Lois's face. She said, you went there? Yeah, we have to. Um, we have to talk about that. So I would argue that that's been a white system, and now teachers aren't sure, well, am I supposed to be teaching in this? They're changing the, the language of saying a white system now to school language.

Right.

But it's still, it is still a white, it's come from white society mostly, or I would say all, all the way. So what did— what are teachers supposed to do? I think they're a little confused. Are we supposed to teach in the language that they're loved in, or are we supposed to teach this school language and everybody should be fine with that? I think there's a lot of confusion with that.

That's a powerful question you just asked, Lisa. First of all, I would ask each of those teachers to ask themselves, is there a language variety I'm loved in Which includes dialect. So it's really not about race, it's about relationship. So for example, we have a big project in East Texas, and there's a very strong language variety that is East Texas English, and it is rule-bound. So it's really about understanding, just like each of us have a language variety right in this space, Mm-hmm. But we get to honor and love that because that's what allows us to interact with our community. And we can code-switch at times. I don't know about you, Lisa, but I've spoken to other colleagues who happen to come here in a white suit and not a brown suit, right? But they can relate to that and they say, I code-switch. Well, so do I.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, and I think I do that, absolutely.

Right?

But I think the teachers aren't sure, should they be doing that? I think they're not sure.

It's, it's the mindset. It's the, it's the way we frame the opportunity to give children what I consider a form of currency. So there's the currency that they are loved in, and they need that to navigate the landscape of the community, right? And it's a language of power. It's a dialect of power. It's a language of variety of power. If I went back to inner-city Detroit in certain parts of our city, and I used the language variety I'm using now, I would not have the form of currency. I mean, I'll give you this example.

Yeah.

I went to Jordan with a group, and we were visiting downtown in Jordan, and I got separated from the group, and I had no idea where they were, and I did not speak speak that language of power.

Yeah.

And I cannot begin to tell you how terrified I felt because I had no idea what I was going to do. Thankfully, there were people who were able to be that cultural translator for me to reconnect.

Yeah.

It's the same principle with our children. Can we honor that they have a different form of currency, if you will, that is just as important as the currency of the structure of the English language. And so in a knowledge economy, the big idea is they deserve to have both forms of currency that they can use strategically as they wish.

Yeah.

So that I have a place at the table if it's a boardroom or a place at the table at the family picnic. So it's acknowledging that this is just as important and valuable as far as what you're loved in, as what is school-based language, if you will. And, and, you know, is it white? Well, you know, if we look at different countries, it's the driver in even international business. It's English. It's the structure of the English language. So it's currency. It's a ticket. So I think in our teacher preparation and leader preparation programs, it's about helping teachers understand what is Culturally responsive teaching. What are those best practices? What are those proven practices? And giving the teachers the tools that they deserve.

Right. What do you feel with some of the students, though, then would, would have some resentment towards having to code-switch into this, you know, different dialect all the time? And I think some of the some of the African American students— I live in a very white area, and I'm not as used to this area as being very white. I grew up closer to Philadelphia, and it was more diverse. My high school at the time was still majority white, but it was more diverse than where I am now. And, you know, it's the teachers and everything around here, it's a very white society. Some of the students and some of the parents You know, they have a little— they're not angry people. They just have some resentment towards, well, this is, you know, maybe that's where I formed my view of school English as being based off of white society. And I think historically the education system has been predominantly white, you know, historically.

Mm-hmm.

And so how do you handle that with students or families that are feeling some resentment towards that? Like, why do we have to do it your way? Why can't we have things a different way? Or I don't know how else to express that because I grew up, you know, I was born in the '60s. So I've, I've come through a lot of— I only know what I know, you know, I've come through, again, majority white high school. And interestingly, that high school now is way more diverse than even when I was there. And it is causing some trouble with how do we relate to the families who maybe do see a little resentment, why we have to do it, you know, this, this way. Did that— I'm not sure if I'm expressing that right.

You are. I mean, I understand you're being authentic, and I appreciate your authenticity. What I would say is important to note that there are proven research-based practices for family engagement. The challenge is that sometimes we do things to people and not with people.

That's a good point.

Sometimes we don't ask the families, what is it that you want for your scholar? What are your aspirational desires for your scholar? I'll give you an example that's hot off the press right now. And that is with evidence-based practices being a focus nationally, there are people who are deeply concerned because they don't have a place at the table to shape this change.

Mm-hmm.

And they haven't been invited. So things have been planned out and then sort of like an afterthought, oh, what do you think about this? No, we need to engage our families. And the work of Dr. Karen Mapp, M-A-P-P, out of Harvard University, one of the best summer trainings I've ever been through, focuses on those proven practices for family engagement. And it's not just about Black families. Back to the families in Appalachia.

Yeah, right.

Where poverty is white.

Yeah.

Once again, those parents deserve to be invited to the table to be asked, what's important to you?

Yeah.

Do you know how your scholar compares in their growth to other scholars? of the same ilk, how are they faring? How can you as a parent support their growth academically from home?

Yeah.

What do we need to be hearing from you about the barriers to your scholar's experience? Is our school invitational? Do you feel like you have— you can come in the door and that we want you here? Do you feel like we're like, get out, we don't need you here? So Dr. Mapp's work is called the Dual Capacity Framework, and it helps Educators have the tools to understand how to engage parents effectively.

Yeah.

How to have parent conferences or how to have an open house where we don't just talk about the rules. I mean, if we're just talking about the rules, that's not engaging.

Yeah.

And I got to do work like this in the Tampa area with Dr. Knapp. It changed my life. Wow.

Yeah. So that's incredible.

There's structures, there are tools, there are experts, and they're doing great work. It needs to be something we provide upfront for teachers and leaders so they lead, because that's, that's in terms of sustainable change. If we don't have family engagement in place, it will not stick.

Right.

That's what the research shows.

And you might— you made a point that it's not a color barrier, it's a whole range. It's a whole range of cultures.

And class.

And class, yes, yes, that we need to include.

Yes, exactly. You know, think you've heard this phrase, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, bootstrapping. You know, in England, that's an insult.

Yeah, it should be.

He thinks he can pull himself up by his own bootstraps. It's a joke because we can't.

That's right.

It was what you said earlier, Lisa. Who was it that helped your mom? You instinctively knew. My mom wasn't bootstrapping. Sometimes you can't even afford the bootstraps. There was an aspirational adult who was her navigator.

Yeah.

And so similarly, we get to say to parents, we're not expecting you to bootstrap here. And this is another big point in education. Beyond strong first instruction and intervention services, there are other barriers to learning for students we can't ignore in systems, particularly for children navigating the war zone of poverty.

Mm-hmm.

And so for working smarter, we're pulling in strategic partners to map resources, time, talent, and funding to address any barrier to learning. Let me give you this quick example. My first high school I taught in, in inner-city Detroit, McKenzie High School, I was also the theater arts teacher, and we had to play El-Hajj Malik: The Life of Malcolm X, a musical we put on. A friend of mine identified Malcolm X's brother, invited him in. He met with my students. He told stories about his brother, like Aaron Grewal in the movie, right? It was like an Aaron Grewal moment before Aaron Grewal. Never forget it.

Yeah.

We had our dress rehearsal. We were prepared to have our dress rehearsal. And a bunch of my students came rushing in the door after school, just before dress rehearsal started, and they said, Miss, Terrence has been shot. Terrence was one of my dancers in the play. We had a Dairy Queen on the corner next to the school. He had been sitting on a bench eating. And in a case of mistaken identity, someone came behind him and shot him in the back. So Terrence gets up, he starts to run across the street, he collapses. My students came running in and they said, Miss White, Terrence has been shot and we don't think he's going to make it. That tore my heart out because my kids had seen so much violence. That they could recognize when someone was at death's door.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I didn't have a team of counselors rushing in to help me manage. I had nobody but me. That was a barrier, friends.

Yeah.

That trauma.

Yeah.

And so I had to go to my spiritual roots. Thank God for my mother and father that gave me That anchor, because that's what I pulled out for them.

Yeah.

And we cried, we prayed, we talked, we processed, and we purposed we would do this in memory of Terrence, and we would not stop. That's real.

Yeah.

There's all kinds of trauma our kids are navigating, and we know COVID exacerbated that.

Right.

So we can't pretend like even if we get school right and reading right, that that's enough.

It's time.

We have systemic racism and classism baked into our system that we've got to unpack that. I was on a call today and somebody I have such respect for talked about very, you know, had a really emotional moment about how she was paddled for speaking Spanish on the playground as a 2nd grader. We have some skeletons in our closet and they're foul. And we got to get— we got to air those closets out. It's not about shame and blame. It's about acknowledging the pain to move on to our purpose.

Right.

And to get away from this divisiveness. We got to come together.

Can I dare ask what year that was?

What year for what?

The child's paddle for speaking Spanish on the playground.

I couldn't tell you the year.

Right.

Because I don't know how old she is.

Right. But not in the last 20 years, one would hope.

No.

Yeah, before that. Yes.

Still a part of her experience.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

Right. But, you know, she, she is refusing to be pitiful. She's choosing to be powerful.

Yes. Yes.

And in this, we, we— the context though really helped other people understand viscerally because they respect this person. Good gracious, we can't just go business as normal and say we're just going to change some We have to— it's like that refrigerator. You ever have broccoli that's gotten old in your refrigerator and it smells so bad? You're like, what is that smell? Right? Sometimes it's like, what is that smell?

Yes.

And so you go and you open it up and you air it out and you put it down the garbage disposal and you say, we don't want this anymore. And then we can put new things into the spaces that we want to move into to do what's right for children. That will serve them well. Yeah, yeah.

I, I just had a conversation with a gentleman yesterday who's almost 50 years old. Lois and I were talking about this, and this man has been through a lot. Um, he had an unfortunate childhood for many different reasons, um, poverty and, you know, all kinds of things. And this man, um, he told me that he, he's dyslexic, and he said to me, he said, if I could ask God to take away one thing from my life, he said, out of all the things I've been through, and there was a lot, he said, I would ask God to take this dyslexia from me. Because it limited his opportunity, and still to this day. And here's a man who knows what the term is. A lot of people don't even know what the term is. They don't know the reasoning for their struggles, and he knows the, the term. But he still doesn't have a positive growth mindset about what, what can I do with this dyslexia? And, you know, I thought that was so powerful, and he proceeded to— he was just reduced to tears over this. And this isn't an unusual story. This is why we do what we do.

People lose their lives. They give up. Yeah, I mean, it's that— and I want whoever this individual is, send them my way, because We have adult literacy courses, 18 to 85-year-olds learning to read for the first time through dyslexia therapists. It's never too late.

Yeah, we'll have to connect. I'll send him your way. Yeah, yeah, because he was looking for some supports and resources. And I'm in with a lot of different groups, but I'm really looking for more supports. Where do we send these people that have had this go on? And here's a guy that's come through poverty, and he's come through— He was in the— what is it called— system. Why can't I think of the name of it?

Criminal justice?

Well, criminal— he was in the criminal justice system and he was in the foster care system. Just a lot. He had a lot going on. And he said, if I could ask one thing to be removed, this would be it. So I'm always interested. Like, that's why your mother's story That story is so powerful. How did she come with that, come out of that experience with such a positive attitude? You know, and again, you talked, well, she had some help. I don't know if this guy had help. It sounds like not. You know, I can't leave that to chance.

You can't leave it to chance, Lisa. That's right. You know, it's so funny because I think about my mom. She taught us every nursery rhyme known to man. I don't even know how she learned them herself. Because she had a sense of, if I can build their oral language skills, maybe that'll help them read. I just have to call it a God thing. I mean, I can't explain that.

Yes.

But I will say this, back to incarceration. It is disingenuous for us to call ourselves a country that's the home of the free when we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. And when 85% of children who end up in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, when 48 to 50% of inmates could be screened and found to be dyslexic, there's a clear through line in a knowledge economy, in an information age, that our moonshot as a nation needs to be literacy. And it is a moral imperative.

Yes.

It is immoral not to do it.

Agreed.

Agreed. So, you know, I'm standing on that bully pulpit. I'm saying it loud as I can. Um, if I, if I were a politician, I would make it my platform.

Yes.

I have no desire to be a politician, but if I were, I would make that the platform because you could actually show measurably how you made a difference in society with just that imperative.

Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, a lot of things are tied up into money. and power. And so there's huge barriers with trying to get some of that moved in the right direction. I remember talking to a politician a couple years ago, and we were talking about dyslexia and the troubles some of our students have in the school. And he tried to shove that under the rug and said, well, you know, we've got to fix poverty first. I'm thinking, well, good luck with that, because that ain't gonna ever happen. So in the meantime, right?

Yeah, they're intrinsically tied to one another.

They are.

We fix literacy.

That's exactly, exactly. And right.

I've got another, another angle on this. Have you watched the story of Dr. Paul Farmer? He's a medical man. He just died now last month, age 62. And his idea was to bring practices to Haiti. It started in Haiti. Care for people. And what do the politicians say? What do the academics say? We can't do it. It's too expensive. It's too this. It's too that and the other. And he did it.

Wow.

But it's worth it.

We can afford to arm ourselves and have them put all this money in this. Look at, look, All the money going into killing people through the military.

Or the prison system.

How about that? Yeah, there's no excuse for that. There's not. It's just, you know, one of the parables my dad taught me, not parable, proverbs my dad taught me is, for lack of vision, the people perish. And he went back to the original Hebrew, and that word perish means to cast off restraint.

Yeah.

So when we have a vision, then we will self-regulate in ways because we want to reach that vision.

Yeah.

And so how do we articulate a vision that's so bold and compelling that regardless of zip code or the people group we're from or the language variety we speak, or dialect, right? We see this big, bold vision to, as a country, be that light on the hill. And I believe literacy is central to that for us as a nation. And COVID has been our opportunity to exploit the pandemic, learn from it, and reinvent how we do school and why.

I agree.

Yes, I love that. I absolutely love that. How are we going to do it? We've got to do I don't know how to do that, but I love the vision. I love it.

It starts with words. Words are containers of power.

Yeah. We've got a question here and it's a powerful question. If I can read it, what would you say is the most important thing for teachers and educationists and professionals, educational professionals to learn from working with students with learning disabilities or dyslexia?

The most important thing for educators to learn from these students is that one size does not fit all, and that just as a surgeon becomes diagnostically prescriptive, they want to understand the patient holistically, and then we can serve them, and that we need bedside manner. We need to have a growth mindset about children. We need to see them as capable. We need to not have the low classism and racism of low expectations for children. So there are 2 sides to educators. It is compassion and empathy, but it's also high expectations. And that, my friends, is love. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, and love is an action word. Love is outgoing concern for children, and that we focus on things that will serve them well.

Yeah.

It also means we're willing to strategically abandon what's not working for kids.

Yes.

So as we grow, because nobody has all the answers, right? The implementation science is growing. We're building that body of knowledge, but there are proven practices. And so if I'm a teacher who really cares about kids, or a leader, I'm gonna find out what the proven practices are. I'm gonna make darn certain I do those things. And then the other things that we're learning about, I'm going to be growth mindset myself and say, I'm a learner for life. So how do I continue to get better at my craft and the art of being diagnostic and prescriptive about the child in front of me?

I absolutely love it. And you and I are partners.

Yes.

Can I add on to that question?

Yes.

What would you say to the teachers who want to do those things and they find themselves restrained by the system of education? What would you say to them?

Oh yes, prepare like there are no barriers.

Okay.

Prepare like there are no barriers, because when preparation meets opportunity, you'll take off.

Oh, I like that. Preparation meets opportunity.

Don't use that as an excuse, right?

Yeah.

Build your— build deep pockets of knowledge. about proven practices, science-based practices, nobody can stop you from implementing those under the radar. If you're in a culture that is not in a state to support you, that learning sort of ecosystem that's supportive, look for one that does.

Okay.

Don't give up on the profession. Go find people like you, but don't let that excuse not bloom where you're planted. Bloom where you're planted. And you could be that change agent. When people say, what is Ms. Smith doing over there? Oh my gosh, her kids are 95% kindergarten ready and everybody's at 33% in the school. They're going to come looking for you and want to know what you're doing. So be that butterfly effect wherever you are.

Oh, I like that.

Yeah. That's brilliant. Yeah. Our time is up, Dr. Tracy. I we've got to have you back.

I'd love to come back. You have just the world you know that, and and Lisa, such a pleasure to meet you.

Very nice to meet you. I'm so happy that we met, and I and I will connect with you about some of those other things that we talked about for sure if you're okay with that.

I look forward to it.

I will.

Yeah.

And and and as I think and next week we have another. Brilliant contribution from Dr. Mine Conk Bayar from the UK. She does a lot of work on LinkedIn with a whole range of students. But tell us where we can find you, Tracy.

Absolutely. So you can reach out to neuhaus.org. That's neuhaus.org. We have a family support office. We have adult literacy that we actually are delivering Virtually now because we had to reinvent ourselves in our COVID chrysalis, as I call it. We couldn't stop the mission because of a pandemic, and we have professional development for teachers and leaders. We are nationally accredited for dyslexia therapists to gain the skills they need to provide services to students. Do not hesitate, reach out to us. We're eager to be here. We're, we're here to serve.

And you're based in?

Based in Houston, and we're all over the country and launched our first international cohort from Hong Kong during the pandemic.

Congratulations!

Thank you.

I'm so proud of my team. This team is on fire.

They're—

I want to play Alicia Keys all day long. They are amazing, committed, loving, beautiful people, and I'm so blessed to be able to work shoulder to shoulder with them.

Oh, that is fantastic. Lisa, where can we find you?

Still just on Facebook and here on Monday Afternoon with Lois. I'll get on LinkedIn eventually. I'm on it, but I never visit it.

There's a limit to how much we can do. And you'll find me on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram and here at YouTube. Thank you for joining us, and I have to thank my son Isaac and Chris for all the work they do to help us put this Program together for their technical expertise, and hit the like and subscribe button because it helps our channel grow. So thank you. We look forward to seeing you again next Monday evening at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Thank you so much. Oh, it's just wonderful. Thank you.

God bless you.

Bye.

Bye-bye. How do I end all? Thank you so much.

So honored to participate.

Oh, it's it's okay.

It was well received. We'll see. We shall see.