Podcasts about Austin Independent School District

Tonight, Dr. Phil explores how reverse discrimination and DEI initiatives have affected some Americans. Brooks Warden is a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging students and school administrators in the Austin Independent School District in Texas violated his civil rights. He claims he suffered repeated racial harassment since age 12 when he put on a MAGA hat in a predominantly Hispanic and liberal middle school. Brooks is joined by his father, Monte Warden and their attorney, Mark Trammell, who discuss why they're appealing their case to the Supreme Court. Lois Herrera, an accomplished former executive at the Department of Education in NYC, was at the center of a discrimination lawsuit against the agency. Herrara, who had had a master's degree from Harvard, was abruptly demoted and replaced by person of color with a GED. She later settled with courts for $700,000. Attorney Seth Berenzweig offers advice to those who have suffered backlash from DEI policies. Thank you to our sponsors: Kikoff: Tax season is the perfect time to take control of your financial future. Get your first month FREE at https://getkikoff.com/phil/   FYSI: Visit https://FYSI.com/DRPHIL/  or call 800-877-4000 Preserve Gold: Visit: https://drphilgold.com/   Get a FREE precious metals guide that contains essential information on how to help protect your accounts. Text “DRPHIL” to 50505 to claim this exclusive offer from Preserve Gold today.  

November has come and gone, but we're still voting in Travis County — there's a runoff election in three area races, so don't shirk your civic duty! For this week's Friday News Roundup, KXAN's city hall reporter, Grace Reader, joins host Nikki DaVaughn and executive producer Eva Ruth Moravec in breaking down the races on the ballot: An Austin Independent School District school board seat, Austin City Council's District 7 seat, and Manor's mayor. Plus, we talk about these freezing temperatures we're suddenly having after a record-breaking fall, and our weekend picks. Plus, stick around after the roundup for our Don't Go Gently tip for this weekend.  Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter.  Follow us @citycastaustin You can also text us or leave a voicemail.  Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE Learn more about the sponsor of this December 13th episode: Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa

New York Police have a suspect in custody related to the United Healthcare CEO shooting, the Austin Independent School District is considering selling naming rights to tackle its budget deficit and backlash is growing in response to the acquittal of Daniel Penny.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you ready to revolutionize the way your school thinks about furniture? In our FF&E Procurement Revisionism Series, we'll explore how integrating flexible, student-centered furniture into your classroom designs can enhance engagement and foster better learning outcomes. Plus, learn how to overcome the hurdles of traditional procurement processes to streamline the journey from concept to installation.   Episode 1 of 3: The WHY In our first episode of the series, we explore the transformative impact of considering furniture as an integral part of the learning environment. We have discussions that focus on how movement, student choice, and rapid student-owned solutions drive engagement for both students and teachers.   Takeaways: The role of furniture in promoting movement and flexibility Success stories from educators who have adopted this approach Early inclusion of furniture in design processes Challenges faced and solutions implemented   Dr. Lennie Scott-Webber is a Thought leader in the research and design of learning places and space, with a profound belief in the evidence that the design of space matters for learning outcomes, and passionate about the unanswered solutions that leave students behind in their learning. Eliza Loyola is a former Elementary School Teacher and Principal at Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. She helped lead the rebuild process at the district and was an advocate for change while going through the furniture procurement process during the renovation project.     Follow Dr. Lennie Scott-Webber on Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennie-scott-webber-phd-2594a912/   Follow Eliza Loyola on Social Media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliza-loyola-0702541b0/     The FF&E Procurement Revisionism Series on the Better Learning Podcast   Episode 204 of the Better Learning Podcast Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.   For more information on our partners: Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/ Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/ Second Class Foundation - https://secondclassfoundation.org/ EDmarket - https://www.edmarket.org/ Catapult @ Penn GSE - https://catapult.gse.upenn.edu/   Want to be a Guest Speaker? Request on our website

 Explore the evolving landscape of student transportation with insights from Kris Hafezizadeh, a seasoned expert with over two decades of experience at Austin Independent School District. Kris delves into the unique challenges facing school transportation today—from cost disparities to complex logistical issues—while sharing a forward-looking vision that prioritizes safety and embraces the shift toward electric school buses. Send us a textSupport the show

In honor of Careers in Construction Month, we invited a Construction Technology Instructor and the Director of Career & Technical Education from Austin Independent School District to share how the construction pathway in the eighth-largest school district in Texas prepares students for successful careers in a lucrative industry. They cover how project-based courses through the pathway provide personal and professional growth and leadership opportunities for students, earned certifications position Austin ISD students ahead of their peers, and internships and mentorships convert to interviews and jobs. Careers in Construction Month is an annual campaign by the National Center Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and the Build Your Future organization to increase public awareness of construction careers and inspire the next generation of craft professionals. To l learn more, visit https://www.byf.org/careers-in-construction-month/#. Connect with Austin ISD's Director of Career & Technical Education,Tammy Caesar, on LinkedIn and on Twitter (X) check out @caesar2656. Follow Austin ISD's Career & Technical Education on Twitter (X) at @AISD_CTE.

The largest public education system in Central Texas, the Austin Independent School District, educates 81% of Austin-area students and is the seventh-largest employer in the area. But why is it operating with a $78 million budget deficit, and what can the district do to climb out of their financial hole? Host Nikki DaVaughn is joined by Superintendent Matias Segura — himself a product of AISD schools — to talk all things budget, back to school, and his goals for the district's future.  We'd like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor.  Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter.  Follow us @citycastaustin You can also text us or leave a voicemail.  Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Hello Creative Friends, When you exist inside an artwork, for better or worse, everything that gets added to that work gets compared to the original work as a reference point. If you're happily painting a pink canvas for 30 years, and then suddenly decide it's more in alignment for you to change it to blue, those first strokes of blue will look "wrong." They won't "fit." They might look "disordered." Even if those strokes are heading in the direction you want to go.  In this episode I expound upon this metaphor as a way to reflect on our approach to disorders in society. Specifically in regards to my own diagnosis in 2007 of ADHD. Over the years, I began to revise my relationship with that label, and how knowledge of artistry related to those narratives. While not everyone listening to this episode has ADHD, we are increasingly living on a planet where everyone is experiencing being "disordered." In this episode I explore that story. Is  that the most supportive way of explaining the challenges people feel with living and creating this earth artwork together? Is there possibly a more aligned way?  Love, Becca LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, The crux of this podcast, my art, my business (and heck, my life) is making in tandem with something that is bigger. I first posted about this in 2022, and it was the most listened to episode of that year. I have talked about this on and off since, entirely in a positive way. In this episode I want to talk about the challenges that arise when you begin to prioritize creating in this way. We all are living in a world that still creates using external metrics. When you begin making art with something bigger, rather than making with the market or economy, with what your colleagues, friends, or family think, or with what institutions teach, you will (for better or worse) look "crazy" to them.  In this episode I share a few ways I've navigated this, and continue to try to remain true to something bigger in the face of confusion from others. While I do believe this process is never-ending, I hope this episode helps you keep from doing the most insidious thing of all when making with something bigger: gaslighting and doubting yourself.  Love, Becca LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com Links from episode: https://alyssamalehorn.com https://www.tarotforthewildsoul.com https://drjoedispenza.com     ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This podcast is about the "soup" of our world. The stuff between the stuff. So it's no surprise that episodes like to delve into the vague, mysterious and abstract. However we live on a planet that also has stuff. Sometimes as artists it can feel seductive to condemn that stuff outright. In today's episode I recorded about one of the earthly things i used to outright condemn... My Day Job.  In the episode I reference work from artist Sean McCabe, who has also removed his work entirely from the internet for now. Here's a link to one of his last items: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgn7sr4PNrg. McCabe taught years ago via his YouTube channel about treating the day job as the most powerful ally an artist has. To me, this was almost blasphemous. The day job felt like something one day I wanted to damn. How could it possibly be my friend? I listened to his advice however, and it became one of the strongest roots of my business. In the absence of being able to access his wisdom online right now, I am sharing it with you.  Love, Becca LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This episode is a follow up to last week's Art as a Threshold, however as always it's also a standalone episode. In this episode I talk about one of the fundamental aspects of my work as an artist... My Art Kid. Not my human kid. Not an imaginary friend. The part of me that is a kid. The part that never leaves. The part that caretakes one of the most precious things I have as an artist... the gateway to 'something bigger.' She is the part of me that knows exactly what I'm here to do, and exactly how I want to do it. She is also the part of me that I told buzz off as a teenager, desperately trying to fit into the "responsible adult world." I think most of us dump on our Art Kids a lot as we grow older.  Most of the struggles we have making things are rooted in a fractured relationship with our Kid. In this episode we talk about who an Art Kid is, what it's like to commune with them, what it's like not to commune with them, and why you Kid is one of the most threatening things to the toxic status quo in your life, as well as the world.  Love, Becca LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This episode is, in some ways, piggy backing off "Art Will Save Us" posted a few weeks back. But in other ways, it's a standalone episode. Creating is often a largely solitary act. Even those of us who create in groups, like perhaps a choir or theater, have a very solitary experience that can make us wonder: Does this even matter? Like, does my ability to paint a bowl of apples function in any larger system? Does it do anything outside of making a wall more colorful?  In some ways, a bowl of apples might just be about apples. It might be purchased by a restaurant, and people will regard it simply as a a painting of food. But there are many times where the things we make go out into the world and enter the Secret Sauce. The Soup. And the soup is doing its own thing. And in those moments our work is part of something else. As we enter 2024, can our awareness of the Soup... even if it's amorphous and mysterious... help us feel less alone and more meaningful in the ways we make things.  Love, Becca Referenced in this episode: Creator of Princess Mononoke: Hayao Miyazaki LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This episode was recorded on July 4th, 2023. I LOVE this episode. It's one of my favorite recordings on this podcast. I also included an introduction explaining why I tabled it for 5 months.  I can't speak for everyone listening to this, but I know a fair number of us feel decidedly unfree in many aspects of our lives. We also live in a culture that for better or worse, equates "freedom" with "lack of limits." It can leave many of us, especially artists with profound limitations on their work and lives, wondering why they should even bother taking creative risks, making wild new things, or stepping into artistic arenas at all. In this episode I unpack a new narrative in my own life and work around what it means to be free... even when we're buried under limitations. Obviously the words 'freedom' and 'limitation' will conjure up very different stories and experiences for each person listening. Can our greatest limitations be an inroad to our greatest freedom? Can we consider this idea without bypassing how truly unfair and toxic limitations can be? Can we embrace a new story that helps us create wildly expansive outcomes, without gaslighting ourselves into toxic positivity? If you've pondered these questions: I think the Art Freedom Paradox might have some nuggets just for you. Love, Becca Referenced in this episode: Jan Heaton: http://janheaton.com/ LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This episode is a nod to a holiday episode I did in 2020 around the Christian Christmas Story. That said, this episode has something for EVERYONE. Especially folks who aren't Christian, don't recognize Christmas, or have been wounded by religion. Are there ways the Christmas Story might be expansive enough to include ideas about making and birthing ANYTHING to save us... not just a human baby? This episode was intentionally recorded to piggy back on the last episode: Art Will Save Us. The Christmas Story says a human baby will come save us. That very well may be true. This episode isn't an argument for or against the Christmas Story. Far from it. Instead I'm wondering if there's an expansion to the Christmas Story that includes more than a teenage girl in a stable. What if there's a story that includes you and me? LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends, This episode is a call. The culture has narrowly defined artistry in the past, and has limited the ways we engage with making things. It has become downright brazen to suggest that art can save us. But is it? This idea has certainly has been trumpeted from artists across space and time. But like many beautiful ideas, the practical implications get "lost in the sauce." For example: How does art save? Often it feels like a nice platitude, but in the face of really tough stuff, also a little like frosting. Can art truly heal humanity? If you've found yourself contemplating even a morsel of this idea, this episode is for you.  LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

School cafeteria dining has long been associated with bland, institutional food and a lackluster atmosphere. However, there's a growing movement to redefine this experience, offering students not just nourishment but an engaging, diverse, and healthy dining environment. To delve deeper into this transformative approach, I had the pleasure of speaking with Diane Grodek, a visionary in the field of school nutrition and an advocate for redefining the school cafeteria experience.

Today we explore the intriguing world of profound giftedness, shedding light on a subject often shrouded in mystery. Blake Haygood is an educator in gifted and talented programs, and he joins us to help unravel the characteristics that define the mere 0.13% of the population considered profoundly gifted. We talk about his son, Clark, who is among this rare group, and discuss their personal journey, milestones, and aspects of his personality that make Clark so rare and unique. Don't forget to pick up your pod swag! Our t-shirts, mugs, tote bags and more make great gifts for the upcoming holidays, and it's a great way to help support our efforts. Check our merch page to see the full selection. Davidson Institute is a proud sponsor of episode 197. For more information, go to DavidsonGifted.org. Blake Haygood is a Gifted and Talented educator in Austin Independent School District, as well as a passionate advocate for gifted education. He and his wife are also the Program Directors for a member-run nonprofit called PG Retreat, which hosts annual retreats for profoundly gifted kids and their families. Blake volunteers with TAGT, the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, and he and his wife work as homeschool parents to meet the needs of their profoundly/severely gifted 11-year-old child. BACKGROUND READING LinkedIn Email Clark's music we featured: 1 2

A plan for state officials to take over special education in the Austin Independent School District is being reconsidered. Becky Fogel of KUT in Austin shares more. Record heat this summer statewide has led to widespread water leaks amid an already pressing need for repairs – but will a fund earmarked for fixes be enough? […] The post Historic heat makes Texas' ailing water infrastructure even harder to fix appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Grab a lunch tray and join us at the cafeteria as we explore Mexican food served in elementary schools. We talk to Austin Independent School District's Executive Chef Diane Grodek about the food served in schools, cafeteria worker Ofelia Diaz and get honest feedback from kids eating tacos and tamales over lunch at McBee Elementary School in Austin. The post Taco Tuesdays in School Cafeterias: Exploring culturally relevant foods in elementary schools appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Hello Creative Friends! This episode is about creative wounding... something we ALL know about. Why is art uniquely lovely and painful at the same time? How has the culture narrowly defined artistry in the past, and how has that limited the ways we engage with medicinal qualities of making things? Have you found yourself so drawn to making certain things, and simultaneously certain you have no business doing those thing? Can this kind of wounding have an artistic purpose in and of itself? This episode is for you.  From the episode: Jan Heaton: http://janheaton.com/ Music at the end: https://open.spotify.com/track/4YeKAwFn69ehnciOfi7Sbf LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends! This episode is especially for ME this month. In fact, almost all of these episodes are for me... and by proxy YOU, because we're all doing this shit in the same sauce. Whether we know it directly or not, what we're contending with in our lives at this very moment is 100% relevant to what every other person on this blue and green planet is contending with... more or less. This episode is about a stage of every creative work, whether it's in life or art. THE UGLY MIDDLE. There's no way to avoid this stage, but our current predatory capitalist structure shouts the opposite at us daily. If what you're making is ugly, you have no business making that thing. The truth is however, the ugly middle happens to literally everyone. Including "master artists" (or whatever that means.) In this episode I unpack the ways this looks for one of my truly skilled painter friends, for myself, my students, and how it shows up in life. Are you making ugly stuff? You my friend, are doing it right.  From the episode: Paula Nelson: http://www.whoanelson.com/ LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Morgan Smith: You're listening to the Raise Your Hand Texas IntersectEd podcast where the stories of public education policy and practice meet. I'm your host, Morgan Smith. And today we're talking about the amount of money Texas pays to educate a student in public schools. This topic is notoriously complicated and can be very dense, but I've tracked down some very knowledgeable people to help guide us through it. We have three guests with us today, Laura Yeager, a public school parent and founder of Just Fund It TX, a nonpartisan group of parents, students, and community members, Bob Popinski, Raise Your Hand's, resident school finance and policy expert, and David Pate, the assistant superintendent of finance for Richardson Independent School District, which operates 55 campuses and serves more than 39,000 students in the suburban Dallas area.So right now, we are in the middle of the legislative session we've been hearing since last summer about this record-breaking budget surplus, lawmakers have to work with a historic $33 billion surplus. Plus there's tens of billions more in estimated growth in revenue over the next two years. Meanwhile, depending on what measure you use, Texas ranks at least in the bottom 10 states in public school funding. So the money is there. It's clear Texas is behind where we should be. So why can't we just give the schools what they need? Well, as I said, this is complicated. Here we go.Bob, so today we're going to be focusing on what's known as the basic allotment or the per-student sum the state uses as the foundational building block to determine how much money it will pay to educate a student. Could you start us off here by explaining how the basic allotment works in conjunction with the rest of school funding.Bob Popinski: Yeah, absolutely. The basic allotment is actually the building block of how we fund our students and our schools, and pay for our teachers and the operations of everything that goes on within a campus and a school district.So back in 2019, when they went through a lot of school funding changes, they set the basic allotment at $6,160. That's the basic building block per student. Now, if you have special characteristics, say you're a special education needs student or you qualify for free reduced lunch or you're in the bilingual program or you're in the gifted and talented program, you get additional dollars attached to that way. And so as you use that basic building block, you create what's known as an entitlement and that entitlement varies from school district to school district. But on average, it's about $10,000 per student. Now, it could be a couple $1,000 more in a school district or a couple $1,000 less in a school district. But on average it's $10,000. So that's kind of where we start. That $6,106 has kind of been set in stone for school districts for the last three years. And so there's really only a few ways to increase revenue for your students. You could either go out for a tax rate election or you could get additional revenue through enrollment increases or attendance. So we're really dependent on the state to do one thing and that's increase the basic allotment. So it flows through the rest of the formulas so that our school districts can actually give teachers pay raises and staff pay raises and operate the schools with our 5.4 million kids and over 375,000 teachers.Morgan: So David, what does the basic allotment mean to you in practical terms as you're working on a school budget? And why don't you also give our listeners a sense for where budget matters stand in Richardson.David Pate: On where budget matters stand for Richardson, our demographers are predicting that we're going to lose about 8000 students over the next 10 years. And we adopted a $26 million deficit for fiscal year, 22-23. And, for us, right now we're trying to figure out how we're going to provide raises to teachers, how we're going to provide for our cost increases. So the basic allotment, it is the major driver. When we're looking at 16% or 17% cost increases, we're having difficulty staffing. We're competing with quite a few districts here in the North Texas area for staff trying to raise our teachers starting salary.For instance, in our case, which we are different from all the other districts on this measure here in Dallas County, about 40% of our students are not economically disadvantaged. And then we've got another 20% of our students are not only economically disadvantaged, but they're living in the highest level of poverty according to the state measures. And so trying to meet the needs of those two groups in a situation where costs are increasing in revenue is declining is very challenging.Morgan: So you use the basic allotment, you pay for teacher salaries, you pay for support staff like classroom aides, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, I mean, the basic allotment really is the biggest part of your budget.David: Yes, it funds the basic needs of the district.Morgan: Laura, I want to bring you in here because you experience the hardships that districts go through when they have budget shortfalls from the parent side. Can you tell us what happened in 2018 when your child was a junior in high school in the Austin Independent School District?Laura: Sure thing. Thank you, Morgan. Yes, my three kids went through Austin ISD and my youngest was a junior at McCallum High School here in Austin. And she came home from school and said, “Mom, kids are crying in the halls and people are up in arms. We're worried they're going to close our Fine Arts Academy,” which is this beloved institution, one of many choices within Austin ISD. And a few of us got together to try to understand what was going on and it ended up being that Austin was facing a $30 million budget deficit and looking at things to cut. And that's when several of us decided to get together and try to help parents and community members understand how school funding works because that $30 million budget deficit was something Austin was facing. But really, it was a result of how our state funds our public schools. And so that's when Just Fund It started. And it was interesting because parents don't always think about funding. There are things that kids and parents think about every day. But funding was really hitting us at home because it was getting to the point where it was threatening just basic programs that we all rely on and parents pay, they see these growing property tax bills and think when they are paying them to the school district that they are either going to their district or a different school district through our recapture Robin Hood, what you want to call it, what people didn't understand is we're paying billions of dollars in that are then being just not given to any school district, they're going to the bottom line or to the surplus in this case. And I believe, Bob may be able to tell you better, but I think it's $8.2 billion of local school property taxes that have been paid in by parents that are going to the surplus. So we thought there was some educating that had to be done to help parents understand, to learn how to advocate, and also to educate legislators on how far behind we really are and that parents and students care that their schools are funded.Morgan: Well, so that brings us back around to the legislature. Bob, Governor Greg Abbott has been very vocal on education issues this session and one thing I've been hearing a lot from him and some other lawmakers as they talk about public schools is this idea that they have more money than they've ever had before. Is that true? And how do we square that with what we're hearing from parents and educators around the state?Bob: I think if you look at what your own household budget has done over the last three years, you can get a good glimpse of what's happening to a school district in terms of just purchasing power being the same as it was in 2019.Since 2019, inflation has gone up double digits, and the Comptroller has estimated inflation has gone up 12.5%. In some cases, it's even more than that. If you look at individual things that you're spending your money on. For some districts, fuel has gone up 40% if not more, insurance for their building and their buses have gone up double digits, food service, 25% in some instances. Even health insurance has gone up drastically and construction has gone up 50%. And so school districts are in a pinch just to keep up with inflation. And so if you look at what's needed to kind of keep up with that basic allotment of $6,160 for the same purchasing power they had back in 2019, it needs to be $1,000 higher.And so that's what we're aiming for, is to make sure that the basic allotment actually keeps pace with inflation and so with that, we're recommending that they invest more into public education. And, Laura is right. It's kind of the basics of school finance – if you don't want to kind of get into the weeds, is that as local property values increase, that means local taxpayers are paying more for the overall school entitlement and the state has to pay less. So the state, because the local value increases, saved roughly $8.2 billion last biennium for last state's budget and we want them to reinvest that back into our 5.4 million students.Morgan: So let's talk about inflation for a second. We've mentioned the last time the state increased the basic allotment in 2019. That's four years ago now. And then depending on what measure you use, there's been between 12% to 16% inflation. David, can you give us some specific examples of how that's affected your budgeting process in Richardson?David: Yes, our utility costs have been increasing substantially and Bob mentioned property insurance. That's one of the things that for us that we just recently did property insurance and it increased $900,000. So that increase of $900,000 is about 13 teachers for us.Morgan: Wow. So Bob, if I'm understanding correctly, there's not a mechanism that adjusts state funding for schools based on inflation. School districts have to come back every so often and ask for more money. And it kind of sounds like you're just asking to be funded at the same levels as you were in 2019, accounting for inflation.Bob: At a minimum, absolutely.Morgan: Yeah, at a minimum.Bob: I think because we're $1,000 below where we needed to be from 2019 because of inflation, that doesn't even consider that Texas is in the bottom 10. We're $4,000 behind the national average. And so what we're recommending is not only to catch up for where we need to be, but actually create an inflation adjustment so that school district don't have to come back every other year during a legislative session and say, “Hey, look, we, we need more funding just to keep pace with what's going on out in the world so that we can cover all of our expenses, so that we can give teachers a pay raise.”If you look at the Charles Butt Foundation poll from earlier in the year, 77% of our teachers are considering leaving the profession, and pay is a big important factor in that. We're $7,500 below the national average and inflation is catching up with our teachers' pockets books as well. Living expenses, being able to afford a home in some of these cities across the state. It's very difficult to keep teachers in the profession and school districts need to be able to compete.Morgan: Laura, I want to come back to you because through your work with Just Fund It and other grassroots education efforts, you have so much experience helping parents and community members develop political literacy around these issues. Can you tell us a little bit about what is at stake here if the legislature doesn't provide an increase to the basic allotment this session?Laura: I mean, it's hard to overstate it. There's just so much at stake. I mean the ability of our public schools to educate 5.4 million kids. We need more funding to keep up with kids around the country. We did increase funding in 2019, but everyone else did too and the national averages moved up and we are really no better than we were then and worse off because of the inflation situation that you just heard about. I mean, our schools need funds to address student needs so they can thrive.And as we mentioned before, funding is a little tricky because it's not felt directly, people feel it and then they blame the district and, there may be issues within a district but really it's so confusing. Administrators work so hard to shield students and teachers as much as possible and do whatever they can with the limited resources they have. And we are ranked better than we are funded in terms of actual output, but it just shows that we have been really squeezing our educators to do what they can with so little resources and it's unsustainable.It's being felt more and more by teachers and students and families from teacher burnout to overcrowded classrooms. We need counselors and mental health resources and more. And so all of this really comes back to increasing the basic allotment to make sure every single kid in the state of Texas has what they need to thrive.I'll mention that well-regarded economist, Dr. Ray Perryman, updated a study on the return on investment of every single dollar in public ed. And it's, it's almost unbelievable.It's the single best investment the state could make. And what they found was every dollar the state invests in Public Ed yields a lifetime economic benefit of almost $57. which includes benefits to the private sector, personal income. I mean, it's literally the highest return on investment of any public or private sector investment. And then just lastly I'll say, when we started Just Fund It we made a very clear point of doing something different.That we were not going to let the legislature do what they're so good at doing, which is dividing to conquer, dividing rich against poor, large, against small urban, against rural.And that we fight for every single kid in the state of Texas to be better than bottom-of-the-barrel funding. The way you do that is by increasing the basic allotment. Morgan: Please, David, why don't you give us a sense for what's at stake in Richardson?David: Well, so as we've been going through our budget meetings with the board, really since January, we've been presenting options for the opportunities we have to increase revenue here in the district. And there's really three options for us. We're one of three districts in Dallas County that still offers a local optional homestead exemption. That is an option our board could exercise and eliminate that. That would give us one-time funding of about $7.8 million.We can open our enrollment to students that are not residents of the district and that's going to generate somewhere between about $7,000 to $10,000 per student depending on the specific educational attributes of those students, whether they're, in generating bilingual funding or CTE funding, etc. And, that really just depends on how many students want to choose to come here who don't live here. We could have called a V A T R E. Our voters approved a tax ratification election back in November of 2018, which was then compressed.So we've got about a little over three cents. We could go back to the voters, which would generate about $3 million net to recapture. And then it's really a matter of, what can we do to reduce expenditures? When we start backing out the things that we have to do. So, I've got to pay the utility bill and I've gotta have property insurance. I've got to pay the Dallas Central Appraisal District. When you start backing out those kinds of activities, you're left really with people. And so, we had a staffing study performed and we're presenting that information to the board and it will be tough making any of these decisions.Everybody is attached to their individual campus and the staff in those campuses, those are their friends and neighbors. And so any time you start talking about making cuts in the school district, it's difficult.Morgan: Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you're doing what good school administrators do and is trying to kind of consider all options before you start kind of hitting things that are really going to affect the people in your district community. So we set up top that there's plenty of money to go around this session. What Bob is the challenge to getting this accomplished? Bob: Texas has a pretty substantial two-year budget. A lot of moving pieces. There's other programs other than public education, but public education is one of the largest expenses our state has. It's a $70 billion per year system when you take into account state and local revenue. Right now we have a house budget that's moving through the process. They're going to hear that pretty soon. We have a Senate budget that's moving through the process and they both have $5 billion in there for public education.Now, you remember what I said, we need at least $1,000 increase in the basic allotment just to keep pace with inflation. The price tag on $1,000 basic allotment increase is about $14 billion for the state budget and both sides right now are putting in $5 billion and it's not just for the basic allotment. There's a lot of other programs that they're funding on top of that. So what actually flows to school districts and to our students is going to be a lot less than that for operating expenses. And so we need to make sure that our members know as they continue these budget discussions that we're woefully short of where we need to be. And, so as they start moving through the process with less than 60 days left here, I think the more school districts and teachers and the general public and community leaders speak up that schools actually need more funding just to keep pace with inflation, is very important. We've got a long way to go in the session. And so I think it's time that our members hear from our communities.Morgan: Well, thank you. We're going to have to end here today.Thanks to Laura Yeager, Bob Popinski, and David Pate for being here and to you our audience for listening. And I also want to let you know that to stay informed on school finance and other critical education issuesToday's episode was written and narrated by me, Morgan Smith. Our Sound Engineer is Brian Diggs and Executive Producer is Anne Lasseigne Tiedt.As the 88th Session progresses, you can sign up online for Raise Your Hand Texas' Across the Lawn weekly newsletter and you can find that at www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/get-involved. 

Hello Creative Friends! This episode is for everyone who feels like an imposter making things... So Everyone. Myself included. Especially myself.  As we navigate a time of massive collective change, the stories we tell around artistry are changing too. One of those stories is about "who is an artist, and who isn't. Who should be making art, and who shouldn't." As old stories around these topics shift, so is the ground under our creative feet. How are new stories around artistry better prepared for helping us live better lives? How are we going to incorporate those better narratives into our creative practices?  LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Hello Creative Friends! It's been over two months since the last episode. I've been in a period of great transition artistically, and as I navigate what that looks like, I've been asking myself a lot of questions about what being an artist means to me. For most of recorded post-Renaissance history, the Arts have been relegated to the entertainment section of society. When a Broadway actress steps out onto the stage, she's thinking about entertaining the audience... less commonly is she thinking about healing them.  We know Art does so much more than entertain, and yet since we live in a culture that is deeply suspicious of things we can't quantify, the ways our Arts create healing is acknowledged sure, but rarely honored.  In this episode I unpack the ways Art has created healing in my life, how making it can create healing for others, and how that collides with capitalist art structures. What does it mean for you as a maker to negotiate your art practice with healing and making money?  LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

It's 2023, Art Friends! We are opening the new year with a sweet episode about January, the year ahead, and making change. I believe artists are being called to expand into new ways of thinking about creative change. Rather than big sweeping swing for the fence that leave us exhausted and poised to fail, how can we lean into the power of change that "simply happens on it's own" in small bits over time? This is a big deal for artists in 2023. We've been taught a lot of unsustainable things about creative change that leave us burnt out and dis-regulated. In this episode we dive into the ways Pop Artist Andy Warhol's screen prints can provide us with a helpful framework for embracing new modalities of creative change in 2023. LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/ Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com   ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose. 

Getting everyone on board with procurement is easier said than done.All procurement pros face the stigma of “red tape” at one point or another even though we all know how vital the purchasing process is.What's the key here? This panel says: education, breaking silos, and good customer service.Collaboration and education were hot topics at Bonfire's User Meetup in Austin, TX. On this episode of Inside Public Procurement, listen in on a conversation between:Melissa McCord, Senior Contract Administrator and Supervisor, Harris CountyEdward Romero, Executive Director of Operations and Business Services, San Antonio Independent School DistrictAnnie Collier, Executive Director of Contract and Procurement Services, Austin Independent School District.Hear their take on improving relationships and educating internal clients, collaborating with other departments to create efficiencies, leveraging the knowledge and experience of other agencies, getting the best outcomes from cooperative purchasing, and so much more.You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast.Listening on a desktop and can't see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.

Getting everyone on board with procurement is easier said than done. All procurement pros face the stigma of “red tape” at one point or another even though we all know how vital the purchasing process is. What's the key here? This panel says: education, breaking silos, and good customer service. Collaboration and education were hot topics at Bonfire's User Meetup in Austin, TX. On this episode of Inside Public Procurement, listen in on a conversation between: Melissa McCord, Senior Contract Administrator and Supervisor, Harris County Edward Romero, Executive Director of Operations and Business Services, San Antonio Independent School District Annie Collier, Executive Director of Contract and Procurement Services, Austin Independent School District. Hear their take on improving relationships and educating internal clients, collaborating with other departments to create efficiencies, leveraging the knowledge and experience of other agencies, getting the best outcomes from cooperative purchasing, and so much more. You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast. Listening on a desktop and can't see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.

Hello Creative Friends, Is Art Making and Life Making always active? When we think of an artist, we think of someone painting, composing or dancing. When we think of someone living we think of them out and about, working, running errands, and traveling. The truth however, is that massive creative aspects of our art and lives are not active. They are quiet, internal... pregnant with something. The culture does a poor job of educating us on this aspect of making life and art. Whole societies of people completely skim over the quiet, internal creative work that is so important to making new things. This sounds inconsequential, until you consider it in other terms. Imagine going into active labor with a human child and then once it was over, going into labor again. And again.  It sounds silly, and yet look around at the planet. There is evidence of human, social and systemic breakdown that absolutely results from unsustainable creative cycles such as perpetual labor without pause. How would our lives change irrevocably for the better as we learned to honor and tend to pregnancy periods in our lives and art?  ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.    ABOUT BECCA   Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose.    Website: beccajborrelli.com

It's election season! In this episode I take on the beastly challenge of using Art to expand our perspective on voting, considering candidates, issues, and politics in general. Disclaimer, this episode offers far more questions than answers, however they are questions that are largely absent from our shared political discourse. They are also questions that (if we can hold them) might serve us tremendously as we make decisions about how we vote. Art can be a fantastic anchor for reframing how we live our lives, and that includes voting.  ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.    ABOUT BECCA   Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose.    Website: beccajborrelli.com

Hello Creative Friends, We are living through some doozie of times. I suppose every generation has said this, but WOO what a few years we've navigated. Art can be fantastically supportive at how we look at things. In this episode I deep dive into Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his art as an anchor for how we can look at our own art, our lives, and the world.  Full disclosure, I'm a trained artist, art educator, and business owner. I am not the beefiest when it comes to art history. This episode does it's best to unpack certain aspects of Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism and the portions of the 19th and 20th centuries they spanned, but for those of you history geeks, I might have messed on some details. Let me know! Lastly, this episode contains triggering topics. The content references: politics, religion, sexuality and discrimination. Please consider your needs and listen if it is right for you.  ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.    ABOUT BECCA   Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose.    Website: beccajborrelli.com

Hello Creative Friends, In 2016 when I launched my illustration business I posted  a light comparison to "what I imagined" was a similarity between birthing a business and birthing a baby on social media. Woo! Was that a touchy subject! A lot of parent friends had an opinion on that one... and they were spicy. Interestingly however, parents who also worked for themselves all agreed: Business and Babies were similar.  This episode is about one of the similarities I've noticed now that I have firsthand experience with and Babies: They are catalysts for healing. The culture doesn't talk about this very often. In this episode I want to unpack the way that the crunchiness, discomfort, and downright pain of creating with our children/ creating with our art is in fact an entrance point into re-creating fresh new versions of ourselves. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.    ABOUT BECCA   Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose.    Website: beccajborrelli.com

Angela Valenzuela: Look to Academia Cuauhtli - Providing educational support with identifiable teachers are important to the academic success of all students. In today's episode Dr. Angela Valenzuela shares her work with Academia Cuauhtli (Nahuatl for "Eagle Academy”), a partnership model with the Austin Independent School District and the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center that supports the educational development of students and creates pathways into the teaching profession for bilingual and dual language educators. Listen and learn how the Academy incorporates culturally relevant teaching methods and uses bilingual educators to elevate academic achievement among Latino students. Dr. Valenzuela is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin in both the Cultural Studies in Education Program within the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and the Educational Policy and Planning Program within the Department of Education Leadership and Policy, where she also serves as the director of the Texas Center for Education Policy. Dr. Valenzuela also founded and operates an education blog entitled, "Educational Equity, Politics, and Policy in Texas.” Originally from San Angelo, Texas, Dr. Valenzuela now makes Austin her home. To learn more about Dr. Angela Valenzuela, her blog, and Academia Cuauhtli, visit https://education.utexas.edu/faculty/angela_valenzuela http://texasedequity.blogspot.com https://academiacuauhtli.com/

Hello Creative Friends, I'm excited to back for this episode. It's been a minute. In this episode I talk about a topic that's near and dear to my heart: Using art making as a model for making tough decisions. In April of this year I shuttered most of my art business, even at the height of its success, to focus on my new son. No one was more surprised than me, to make that decision.  Big decisions often bring up a lot of turmoil. There have been large decisions in my life that have absolutely wrecked my quality of life. Over the years I've learned a lot about navigating those decisions in ways that preserves my well-being. Over time I realized those ways had a lot in common with being an artist.  Artists have so much in their arsenal that they don't realize. We're all taught to focus on the things we lack and improve upon them. In this episode I made the case that certain parts of the artistic mindset can be a tremendous ally to us as we make large life choices. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.    ABOUT BECCA   Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children's Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.    Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose.    Website: beccajborrelli.com

Candace, Emily & Cuitlahuac are joined by special education services advocate Lisa Flores to discuss the Austin ISD discipline data presented to the trustees as part of the superintendent scorecard during the first board meeting of September. What can Austin ISD do to stop disproportionately discipling Black students? Did the district meet its goal when it comes to disciplining students with disabilities, or are campuses using "shadow discipline" to improve their data? What purpose do police on campus serve and what impact are they having? While this conversation about discipline in schools starts by focusing on the the Austin Independent School District, its goes over issues of students safety in schools that are important to everyone. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aisdxp/message

In this episode of Take Back our Schools, Beth and Andrew welcome social-emotional learning expert, Jason Littlefield. Jason is the founder of EmpowerED Pathways and co-designer of the Empowered Humanity Theory, a framework for life, leadership, and learning. He served as a public educator for twenty-one years and from 2014 to 2021 he was a Social and Emotional Learning Specialist for the Austin Independent School District. Jason is also affiliated with  Free Black Thought and The Institute for Liberal Values.   Jason begins by explaining what exactly is social-emotional learning (SEL) and how good SEL got transformed into the very bad “Transformative SEL.” Jason talks about the relationship between SEL, critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We discuss what is the driving force for this ideology, and why it is so damaging to children and to our country. Jason describes his value-based alternative form of SEL, which he calls Empowered Humanity Theory, and explains why he is one of the exceedingly few practitioners of SEL swimming against today's zeitgeist. Jason is raising money for his efforts through a Go Fund Me campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In order to learn something new, looking at something from a different perspective can shed some light. Today we are going to “See the world through a different lens” specifically with a new look at “Transformative SEL.”[i] Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/dY28tux0tq8   On this episode you will learn: ✔ How Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith of EmpowerED created a Framework for SEL when they noticed something was missing with Transformative SEL. ✔ How they envision empowering educators, youth and communities by strengthening the neural pathways to peace and resilience through mindfulness and social and emotional learning. ✔How you can work with Jason and Erec with their mission. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today's EPISODE #222 we are going to look at SEL through a different lens with the work of Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith from EmpowerED Humanity[ii] whose work established in 2017 to provide educators, students, and communities a framework for life, leadership, and learning, focuses on fortifying the individual and increasing societal cooperation with a value-centered identity, human dignity, disrupting mindsets of fear/judgment with inquiry and compassion.  Their Work Has 3 Pathways of Practice That: Build awareness and equanimity (mental calmness) Kindness and compassion towards self and others and Celebrate common humanity, breaking the walls of indignity (or that treatment that causes one to feel shameful). I spoke with Jason prior to our interview, as I know that the podcast guests I have chosen over the past 3 years have been addressing SEL as it relates to our brain and learning, but there was something missing that became apparent to me as we have not yet discussed diversity, equity and inclusion that are all important components of social and emotional learning. THEIR MISSION[iii] Empowering educators, youth and communities by strengthening the neural pathways to peace and resilience through mindfulness and social and emotional learning. Their framework, Empowered Humanity Theory focuses on fortifying the individual and increasing societal cooperation by centering a value-centered identity, human dignity, disrupting mindsets of fear/judgment with inquiry and compassion, and intentionally engaging in 3 Pathways of Practice: Practices that build awareness and equanimity Practices that build kindness and compassion towards self and others Practices that celebrate common humanity, and break the walls of indignity That also includes 3 Attitudes: 1) Establishing a value-centered identity 2) Cultivating mindsets of inquiry/compassion over fear & judgment 3) Navigating self and others with a dignity lens. They believe this framework fills a gap that we need at this moment to inspire us to empower humanity and affect the wellbeing of future generations in profound ways. It's up to us to make the shift. Let's meet Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith, and dive into their Framework to view SEL through the lens of human dignity and our shared humanity, to see where we could expand our awareness and close any existing gaps. INTRO: Welcome Jason and Erec, thank you for coming on the podcast today. Jason, when I saw your email and noticed how long you worked as an SEL Specialist, I thought that there must be something that you noticed was missing with the way that SEL was being implemented into our schools, and like we said in our email correspondence, your vision to empower humanity and affect the wellbeing of future generations in profound ways is important and timely. Before we begin with our questions to dive into this topic, I've got to say first that I was a bit nervous to do this interview, mostly because this is a topic that I've not yet covered on the podcast. I know this is important, and before this interview, I was listening to one of my mentors, Dr. Jeff Rose, a former Superintendent from Atlanta, GA cover the topic of Equity Based Leadership on his most recent podcast and his guest, Joshua Starr, author of the book Equity-Based Leadership: Leveraging Complexity to Transform School Systems mentioned that “equity and social justice are an integral part of any school system's agenda” (Joshua Starr). Can we begin here, and have both of you share what drew you to create a NEW Framework to look at SEL through the lens of human dignity and our shared humanity? How does this relate to an equity-based transformation strategy? What did you notice? Can we look at your solution or the EmpowerED Pathways Approach to SEL? How did you come up with your framework?  3 Pathways of Practice: Practices that build awareness and equanimity Practices that build kindness and compassion towards self and others Practices that celebrate common humanity, and break the walls of indignity That also includes 3 Attitudes: 1) Establishing a value-centered identity 2) Cultivating mindsets of inquiry/compassion over fear & judgment 3) Navigating self and others with a dignity lens. Q1: What would be some examples of the OLD WAY vs THE NEW WAY that prevents flawed thinking? Q2: Who have you shared your model with and what do they say? Have you had any pushback with your “humanity centered framework?”  What are people saying? Q3: What would be some entry points for schools to begin implementing your framework? For people to learn more about your work, is the best place your website www.empoweredpathways.org? UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.empoweredpathways.org/fourthwave-antiracism/progress-4ward-advancing-21st-century-antiracism-with-fourth-wave-antiracism-development-fward Jason Littlefield, M.Ed Jason Littlefield is an educator passionate about personal well-being establishing a society of individuals at peace within themselves and others. He established EmpowerED Pathways in 2017 and co-designed the Empowered Humanity Theory; a framework for life, leadership, and learning. He served as a public educator for twenty-one years in multiple capacities.  From 2014 to 2021 he was a Social and Emotional Learning Specialist for the Austin Independent School District. Jason has also served students and families from around the world, including Taiwan, China, and Benin, Africa. He is an advocate for decreasing our current human division and increasing personal well-being by bringing awareness to the impact and intent of the emerging ideology dominating our institutions and permeating the zeitgeist. He does so through EmpowerED Pathways, Free Black Thought, and The Institute for Liberal Values. Erec Smith, Ph.D. Erec Smith is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania. Although he has eclectic scholarly interests, Smith's primary focuses on the rhetorics of anti-racist activism, theory, and pedagogy. He is a co-founder of Free Black Thought, an organization dedicated to highlighting viewpoint diversity within the black intelligentsia. Smith is a member and moderator for Heterodox Academy and sits on the Board of Advisors for both the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism and Counterweight, an organization that advocates for liberal concepts of social justice. In his latest book, A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment, Smith addresses the detriments of anti-racist rhetoric and writing pedagogy based on identity and prefigurative politics and suggests that a more empowering form of anti-racism be considered. Access Erec Smith's book A Critique of Anti-Racism in Rhetoric and Composition  https://www.amazon.com/Critique-Anti-racism-Rhetoric-Composition-Empowerment/dp/1498590403 REFERENCES: [i] Transformative SEL https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/how-does-sel-support-educational-equity-and-excellence/transformative-sel/ [ii] EmpowerED Pathways https://www.empoweredpathways.org/empoweredhumanitytheory [iii] https://www.empoweredpathways.org/about  

Austin transplant Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter for $46.5 billion has led to serious consideration by its board that lasted into the wee hours of Monday. Meanwhile Musk's The Boring Company has just landed the biggest investment deal in Austin history, a $675 million series C investment that brings the tunneling company's valuation to $5.7 billion. Bigger than expected property tax appraisals have led to a bigger than usual state recapture payment for the Austin Independent School District, which will now be expected to fork over $855 million to be redistributed to lower income districts across Texas - or, at least some of it will be. Early voting for the May 7 election, the first of two elections in May, begins today - the ballot features Prop A, in which voters have the chance to codify into local ordinance the current policy of not making arrests for personal marijuana possession, and also to formally ban the execution of no-knock warrants by Austin police. Some voters may find the language in Prop 1, which relates to property tax breaks for disabled and senior Texans, too wordy to easily understand. Families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, in a defamation brawl with Alex Jones, say he has filed bankruptcy for his Infowars and other media platforms in an effort to force the families to settle, and to preserve his ability to sell branded merchandise. The American Lung Association says Travis County's ozone quality rating has improved since its last evaluation, but that we still only get a D. Austin FC are ranked at the top of the MLS Western Conference and remain undefeated at home after topping the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-nil on Saturday - the club held a signing day and practice for its Special Olympics "Unified" team at St. David's Performance Center on Sunday. The #10 ranked Texas Longhorns Baseball pulled a sweep of Baylor over the weekend during which they outscored the Bears by a whopping 37 runs, third and final 13-4 win featured two homers by first baseman Ivan Melendez. A 100% chance of rain today - it's not likely to completely solve our current drought issues, but every little bit helps. Strongest chances are between 8am Monday and 4am Tuesday.

The Austin music community mourns Daniel Sahad, lead singer of the popular band Nane, who has died at the age of 29. Austin's EMS union and City officials are at odds over contract renegotiations - 26 medics have quit since the beginning of the year over forced overtime and low pay, especially for EMS workers early in their careers. The Austin Independent School District is set to grant pay raises to teachers and classified staff, but is also planning to cut hundreds of other jobs, including support staff for special education and libraries, while facing a record setting state recapture payment of almost 800 million dollars - the Austin American-Statesman has an explanation for that great big bill. Feral hogs, once thought to be a strictly rural problem, have begun encroaching into North Austin. Meanwhile, vampire bats have begun threatening to cross into Texas from Mexico. A downtown redevelopment that threatened to demolish several bars in the traditionally LGTBQ-friendly district on 4th Street may include plans for some of those establishments to be preserved. The nightclub space at South Congress and East Riverside, home only to interesting wall murals for several years, is soon to house a new establishment from the management of Hotel Vegas and Rainey Street's Reina. Robert Plant and Allison Krauss set a date for this fall at the new Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park - tickets go on sale this Friday. A survey of America's most dynamic cities, based on recent employment growth, density of startup activity, average income among other factors has found Austin #7, the only Texas city in the top 25.. And a chance of severe weather on Tuesday is followed by high fire danger on Wednesday.

Born Laura Lane Welch in 1946, the Midland, Texas native grew up as an only child. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a degree in education and taught second grade for two years. Then she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a master's degree in Library Science in 1973.  Her work as a librarian continued, first in the Houston Public Library system and then in the Austin Independent School District, where she stayed until 1977.  That same year she met George W. Bush at a backyard barbecue of their mutual friends.  They were married in November of 1977.  In 1981, the two welcomed fraternal twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara. 

Three more protesters have filed suit against the City, claiming brain injuries resulting from police crowd control measures during the George Floyd protests. Drought conditions in the Austin area are worsening - Central Texas is "starving for rain". After a second straight overcrowded Monday at Austin Bergstrom International Airport yesterday, ABIA officials and TSA spokespersons are at odds on the causes of the congestion. Public school advocates are sounding the alarm on the enormous amount of money the chronically-underfunded Austin Independent School District pays into the Texas "Robin Hood" recapture program - an amount now higher than that raised annually via property taxes by the City of Austin. Del Valle ISD schools will close early on Thursday in anticipation of traffic caused by the Tesla Gigafactory grand opening event. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has bought a 9% stake in Twitter, becoming that platform's largest shareholder. Former President Donald Trump has announced a for-profit rally in Austin on May 14 - the exact location has yet to be announced. H-E-B has broken ground on its new store on the property formerly occupied by Nutty Brown Amphitheater. Round Rock Express baseball celebrates Opening Day tonight at the Dell Diamond with a visit from the El Paso Chihuahuas. A new study has found Austin to be the second-most-overpriced real estate market in the country, behind only Boise City, Idaho. San Marcos, home of Texas State University, ranks among the top 30 college towns in America - College Station made the list as well...Austin may have outgrown its college "town" status. Old-school Austin music fans will feel right at home at Saturday's "I Still Miss Liberty Lunch" reunion show at the Far Out Lounge.

Hour 1 * Guest: Chris Carlson – Without God, we can never win, With God, we can never lose, The Battle for Freedom is the Lord's, but we need to be engaged in the fight! * Joe unveiled his budget proposal for 2023, totaling more than $5.7T in spending, including a new tax on billionaires. * Biden Unveils Record Defense Budget – TheNewAmerican.com – Joe has proposed the largest-ever military budget, asking Congress for $813.3B in the coming year, which is $31B more than the budget for 2022. * Chris' comments: One of the dangers of central banks and fiat currency is that they allow governments to borrow money without having to tax the people directly. The form of taxation then becomes inflation. * zelensky becoming a dictator bans 11 political parties consolidates all national media – Ben Swann, sovren.media * See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass – Matthew 24 * One Innocent-looking Pillow Tells the Story. * Are you prepared to give your life for the sacred cause of freedom? * America is supposed to be a 75% Christian nation. Now we fear offending man more than offending our God. We call upon America to repent of its idolatry. * By testifying of America's sins and calling them out, we “bind up the testimony” and “seal the Law.” * A Word about Sovereign citizenry: we live in the real while teaching the ideal. Hour 2 * Guest: Dr. Scott Bradley – To Preserve The Nation – FreedomsRisingSun.com * Judge Jackson has made herself unqualified to serve. She was asked during the hearings “can you define a woman?”, she said NO. She told the Senate she was unqualified to assess the definition because she's not a biologist. * Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is an American attorney and conservative activist – Her conservative commentary and activism have made her a controversial figure. * Clinton Honored As ‘First Black President' at Black Caucus – CNSNews.com * Nearly two dozen states are suing the Biden administration over its mask mandate on public transportation, including on flights. * Austin Independent School District's Blackshear Elementary School hosted a Pride parade for elementary schoolers, which the school's principal dubbed a “Wellness Walk,” according to internal messages. * A Texas teacher claimed that 20 of her 32 fourth grade students came out to her as LGBTQ. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support

* Guest: Dr. Scott Bradley – To Preserve The Nation – FreedomsRisingSun.com * Judge Jackson has made herself unqualified to serve. She was asked during the hearings "can you define a woman?", she said NO. She told the Senate she was unqualified to assess the definition because she's not a biologist. * Virginia "Ginni" Thomas is an American attorney and conservative activist - Her conservative commentary and activism have made her a controversial figure. * Clinton Honored As 'First Black President' at Black Caucus - CNSNews.com * Nearly two dozen states are suing the Biden administration over its mask mandate on public transportation, including on flights. * Austin Independent School District's Blackshear Elementary School hosted a Pride parade for elementary schoolers, which the school's principal dubbed a "Wellness Walk," according to internal messages. * A Texas teacher claimed that 20 of her 32 fourth grade students came out to her as LGBTQ.

The Austin Independent School District has become Ground Zero in the effort to groom children for the LGBT movement. Todd Starnes discusses the issues of the day with Liz Peek, Starnes Media Group CEO Dalton Glasscock, Josh and Christian Skyler Hogg, and Georgia Senate candidate Kelvin King! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Austin Independent School District has a mandatory Pride Parade for Elementary students. And they have special sessions that are confidential. "Don't tell the parents!"Disney continues to alienate traditional families with a radical LGBTQ agenda.Democrats in Florida make Gay Billboards.And a Christian Reformed University in Michigan can't decide what marriage is.“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4:2-5‬ Thanks for watching.At Church Public we create compelling content to equip you to follow Jesus and engage in the public square.Find Me:Website: churchpublic.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchPublic/Twitter: https://twitter.com/churchpublicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/churchpublic/Today is a great day to start your own podcast. Whether you're looking for a new marketing channel, have a message you want to share with the world, or just think it would be fun to have your own talk show...podcasting is an easy, inexpensive, and fun way to expand your reach online.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1132064

As local COVID numbers hit new lows, health officials in Austin have lifted all pandemic related restrictions. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has spoken out in opposition to the Austin Independent School District's Pride Week celebrations, saying they break state law in Texas. Meanwhile administrators of Doss Elementary School have received death threats over Pride Week events that the school is hosting. Developing info from Monday's tornado outbreak as research shows that winds of up to 135 mph occurred, a single Round Rock neighborhood sustained 2 million dollars in damage, and a fundraiser has been launched for a cancer patient whose home was badly damaged in the storm. HEB has announced one million dollars in donations for aid to the people of Ukraine. A former Trump COVID advisor, speaking at the University of Texas on Monday, presented previously debunked information about vaccine safety concerns. Alex Jones has defied a court order and skipped a deposition in the settlement of the Sandy Hook case, in which he has been sued for spreading false information. The soon-to-open Moody Center at UT announces even more big concerts from James Taylor, Roger Waters and Machine Gun Kelly. Veterans of beloved bars Half Step and Nickel City are opening a new craft brewery in the former G'Raj Majal space on Rainey Street. And, a San Antonio editorial has called out SXSW as a symbol of systemic problems in Austin.

Today I welcome my stepmother Harriet Knowles and my mother in law Susan Meurling to talk about their lives during the pandemic. Harriet Knowles is a native Texan, having been born and raised out in West Texas in the town of Midland. She had an unique experience in her high school education in that her father was her school principal. Harriet attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and continued her education at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas to obtain her Physical Therapy degree. She also earned a Master's in Behavior Science from University of Texas Permian when she worked as a pediatric physical therapist  back in Midland. Harriet was in the workforce in Physical Therapy pediatric-related jobs and worked for the Austin Independent School District as a Physical Therapist for her last 19 years before retirement. Harriet lives in Georgetown in the Sun City community with Steve and enjoys her  time by loving on her grandchildren (7 so far!), traveling, and reading.  She is also taking care of her mother who lives with them there. Susan Meurling is a retired technology educator. She graduated from Tufts University (English major), grad Manhattanville (Ed psych) and Teachers College Columbia (communications, computing, and technology). Taught in Ovid, NY, Scarsdale NY, and Houston (Spring Branch) TX. After tech moved into education, she taught the basics of computer literacy and emerging technologies to kids in elementary and middle school. Supported teachers and administrators in integrating tech into their lives and careers. After retirement, babysat for first grandchild, then helped a Section 8 housing unit set up and use their computer room. Also volunteered at a senior day center in Boston before the pandemic. Since 2013, volunteered on the board and executive committee of a Cambridge non-profit choral organization. Proud parent of two successful professional women, and grateful grandparent of four amazing grandchildren ages 8 to 13.

Dr. Christian Bell Onyemali is the director of evaluation and learning at 4.0 schools an organization that connnects, coaches, and invests in people; to test new learning spaces and tools within their community. Prior to 4.0 schools, Christian worked at Austin Independent School District, Teach for America, and Kipp in Texas. Providing Data and Evaluative Support to increase student achievement. She is a firm believer in the power of education and achieving educational equity.

Jen and Stephanie get a chance to talk with a new and very welcome addition to the UT Austin campus, James Butler, who brings nearly two decades of expertise in mindfulness training to the Forty Acres. Thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus! ABOUT THE GUEST https://healthyhorns.utexas.edu/images/staff/OHP/butler.jpg James Butler (he/him/his) will be sharing mindfulness on campus through a healing and equity-centered lens with a focus on supporting students. James came to mindfulness to support his own mental health struggles and is excited to share the many benefits and ways that mindfulness can be practiced. He is passionate about mindfulness being accessible to all identities and will keep that in the forefront of his work as he works with student organizations, small groups of students, and faculty to bring mindfulness into class. He will collaborate with his colleagues in the Longhorn Wellness Center, as well as with the Integrated Health Program. James comes to UT after spending 18 years as an educator in the Austin Independent School District with the last 5 years as the district's Mindfulness Specialist in the Social Emotional Learning department. He completed his undergraduate degree from Manchester University before going on to earn a Master of Education from Grand Canyon University. In his spare time, James loves cheering for Cleveland sports teams, playing basketball and baseball, being outdoors, practicing mindfulness to support his mental health, and listening to music. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on September 29th, 2021 via Zoom. CREDITS Assistant Producers/Hosts: Stephanie Seidel Holmsten, Jen Moon (Intro theme features the following faculty in order: Jen Moon, Daron Shaw, Rich Reddick, Diane McDaniel Rhodes, Siobhan McCusker, Moriba Jah, and Stephanie Seidel Holmsten) Music by Charlie Harper (www.charlieharpermusic.com) Additional Background music by Charlie Harper, Scott Holmes, Ketsa, and Blue Dot Sessions Produced by Michelle S. Daniel Creator & Executive Producer: Mary C. Neuburger Connect with us! Facebook: /texasptf Twitter: @TexasPTF Website: https://texasptf.org DISCLAIMER: The Other Side of Campus is a member of the Texas Podcast Network, brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin. https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/1/1ed1b736-a1fa-4ae4-b346-90d58dfbc8a4/4GSxOOOU.png Special Guest: James Butler.

In this episode, we dive into why teaching the science behind brain breaks, calm corners, etc. matters with Ignacio Rodriguez Jr. He shares his own personal journey and how that impacts the work he does today and inspires him to create a strong sense of community within his classroom, school, and community. Ignacio also highlights the importance of paying attention to words we use to describe students and behaviors. Ignacio Rodriguez Jr. is an Austin, Texas native who has devoted the past five years to a career in education within the Austin Independent School District. He is the lead educator in the Social Behavioral Skills classroom at Walnut Creek Elementary. Intro song: Poet's Row, Young Bones

Ep.6 Restorative Justice Pt.1Ellen Willoughby:So welcome to this episode of Drinking From the Firehose, a podcast for school leaders. I am your host, Ellen Willoughby. On today's podcast, our topic is restorative justice. Over the last few years, restorative justice or restorative practices has been buzzing in the education world and we wanted to bring in an expert on the subject to share not only what it is but to learn about the practices and the impact restorative justice has on students, schools, and the community, and I am beyond excited to introduce my guest Dr. Angela Ward.Angela Ward:Thank you.Ellen Willoughby:So Dr. Ward, you were the founder and CEO of Toward Equity Consulting and you serve on national, regional and local equity groups.Angela Ward:Yes.Ellen Willoughby:You also led this work with AISD. So we are excited to have you and let's just kick it off and have you share what is restorative justice?Angela Ward:So in my role with Austin Independent School District, what we did was frame restorative practices as a culturally responsive approach to the work that we do with students and families and so we looked at ... It was very important to me to understand the history behind something called restorative and what is that and with my background I have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice so that word justice really piqued my curiosity and knowing how school systems typically operate as an on-ramp to the criminal justice system, we didn't want to reinvent ... I guess not the word reinvent, we didn't want to further solidify that reality in our schools, and so I really wanted to understand what is this thing they're calling restorative justice. What does it mean, what does it look like, what does it sound like in our schools.Angela Ward:So what I uncovered was no it didn't start in the criminal justice system, it's from practices that are thousands of years old. And restorative practices originate in indigenous communities and indigenous history and they are practices that have been practiced for thousands of years and they continue to be practiced by indigenous people who live amongst us. And so I wanted to make sure that bringing this work to Austin Independent School District that we were really focused on as educators telling the truth about the work.Ellen Willoughby:Right, absolutely.Angela Ward:We framed it as culturally responsive because it's important that we make people stop and think about the fact that this is something that has been co-opted by the criminal justice system and the social work fields very well. It's been popularized in both and often you hear that it started in the criminal justice system -Ellen Willoughby:Yeah, that's exactly what -Angela Ward:Which is not true.Ellen Willoughby:Oh interesting.Angela Ward:So as educators, we felt duty-bound to teach the true history of restorative practices. So we look at them as practices that the indigenous communities used to maintain harmony in their communities. And they also used those practices to solve conflict and repair harm. But what's popularized is, "Oh, this is an alternative to discipline."Ellen Willoughby:Right.Angela Ward:No, it's not an alternative to discipline. It is a way of being, it is a way of recognizing how each of us shows up in the world. It's recognizing that each of us has unique ... Oh my headphones are falling off.Ellen Willoughby:That's okay.Angela Ward:There you go. Recognizing that each of us has particular ways that we operate in the world, we bring our own lived experiences into schools and framing it as culturally responsive restorative practices opens the space for adults in our schools to see children as unique, living human beings, who each come with their own gifts, their own ways of experiencing the world, their own unique needs, and really helping us understand that we have to create those identity affirming school spaces so that our students feel safe, welcome and included.Ellen Willoughby:Great, and so when I heard you ... So first of all, I am completely shocked that it didn't start in the criminal justice system. Even with research that I've done on it, so I think that that's something ... I just want to stamp so people understand that. Because we do, we talk about the school to prison pipeline and I also want to stamp that you talked about like ... This isn't a program, this is truly like you said, a way of being. So when we ... I want to make sure I'm using the right terminology. So is there a difference between the restorative justice and restorative practices. Like just to frame that appropriately.Angela Ward:Mm-hmm (affirmative). So when you think about restorative practices, restorative justice fits within it. So often we talk about it from a multi-tiered system of support. So in my former role in Austin ISD we approached it from that multi-tiered system of support where social-emotional learning was that strong tier one. So there's three tiers in that multi-tiered system of support. At tier one you have community building, you have morning meetings at elementary school, you have advisory at secondary. You have all of these ways of building relationships, building trusting relationships with students, with adults, with families, with community members. Tier two is when there may be a conflict that occurs. There may be something that removes a child from the regular learning environment that maybe they're not able to grasp a concept in class and so they need an intervention, they need a little bit of tutoring, they need a support. Those things happen at tier two.Angela Ward:Justice comes in often when we're talking about discipline, when we're talking about conflict that has caused harm to someone and it often occurs at tier three when we have exhausted all of the typical ways of intervening for children where we intervene for them academically, we intervene for them ... Often we don't look at the academic when we're talking about restorative practices.Ellen Willoughby:Yeah, most definitely. Like again, I hear it, every example or any time that I've seen it, it's all about the discipline, and it's yes ... So I'll let you continue that.Angela Ward:That's how our state frames it as restorative discipline practices. We kind of push back on that a little bit because we need our teachers to see all schooling as important in regards to restorative practices. So at tier two we're looking at academic, we're looking at social, we're looking at emotional, we're looking at are they able to be in a school space and feel that their identity is affirmed. That's at tiers one and two. At tier three, often their identity is not being affirmed, they're not making connections with each other, with their peers. They're not making connections with one adult at least on a campus who they feel like has their back, they feel like sees them as a unique person with gifts and often they reach that tier three level of that multi-tiered system of support because we have not put the processes, the structures, and the engagements in place along the way for them to feel like a viable member of the school community. So at tier three, that's when justice may occur because a harm has happened. Some behavior has occurred that has removed them from a strong tier one, social-emotional learning where everyone's getting along. We're all in harmony and we have some things here and there, but ultimately we're able to function together.Angela Ward:Tier three is where we will bring in community members. We will bring in people who the student feels like contributes to their social-emotional well-being. Some people who have their back, people who may be able to support them in ways that the school typically cannot. You may bring in a pastor, you may bring in a social worker. A social worker will come in at tier one also. Tier two, I'm sorry. But it's really looking at those wrap-around services and approaching that justice from a true justice standpoint and not throwing the book at the child.Angela Ward:Usually when you hear justice and discipline in our schools, you hear problem child, and we try to reframe that as, "No, they're not problem children. There's a problem with the process. There's a problem with the environment. There's a problem where the student is not being able to access their full potential because the environment that has been set up for them is not optimal for them." So what do we do as adults, what can we do as their peers when we notice that there's something happening where our peer and our student is not able to access the learning environment in the way that we need them to to be successful. That is a culturally responsive approach to restorative practices.Ellen Willoughby:So take me back to ... So if I am a school leader and I am really wanting to do this right, what do those practices look like at tier one and tier two and tier three?Angela Ward:Tier one is ... So restorative practices happens on a continuum, and I think it's Ted Wachtel, and I can't think of the other author, but he wrote about the social discipline window and he also ... There's more research out there on the continuum of restorative responses. So the continuum looks at tier one we're having affective statements, affective questions. So those statements and questions that make a student feel seen and heard and we're attending to things that will help our emotions be more in alignment with community and harmony. And so you ask questions that engage a student in reflecting on how they are feeling, how they are doing, what things they like, what things they dislike, and being very clear in gaining an understanding of those dislikes because those are going to be your cues as an adult. If I do this, this may occur. So really being in tune to getting to know your students.Angela Ward:We typically do these things anyway as educators. We get to know our students, we get to know each other as adults, and you set up those opportunities to do those things on a regular basis. We don't just do it to open the school year. We do it to open every week. We do it to close out the week. So you do those small impromptu conferences also with students when there seems to be something that's gotten their just equilibrium off. We want to get them back to community. It's something we often would say. How do we give them back to community which is tier one. Where are we able to engage in those questions and statements.Angela Ward:Also looking at a simple way of engaging in tier one, restorative practices, is to implement what people call check-in, check-up, check-out circles. They don't have to be circles. They can literally be, "Hey, what's up. What's going on with you?" You have checked in with them.Ellen Willoughby:Exactly.Angela Ward:"All right, what are you going to do this weekend?" Or, "What are you looking forward to when you go home today?" You may get a clue that everyone doesn't want to have that conversation with you if you're not getting eye contact from all of the students. That's a clue. And so paying attention to the clues that children give you, recognizing when something is off kilter, those are restorative practices. You don't need a book, you don't need someone to come teach you that. Those are things you do regularly because you care about children and you care about being in community with people.Angela Ward:Then those small impromptu conferences, that's on pretty much the middle of that continuum. It's where you're creating those spaces to have trust building relationships with children. You're creating opportunities to walk and talk with them or you're creating opportunities to just sit and chat with them. Or you're making sure that there's one adult on the campus whose responsibility it is to know how that child is doing weekly, daily, whatever you can get into your regular stream of ways of being with the children. Then you get into informal and formal conferences with students and families. So it goes from affective statements and questions, check-in, check-up, check-out, informal conferences, formal conferences, and then formal. So that's how it operates on a continuum.Angela Ward:Like you said, these are things that people are already doing. There's just like more of an intentionality behind it is what I'm hearing. Being real intentional with your structures and your processes, and so what we did with principles, we really looked at on your campus, who are the people who are "responsible" for discipline. Who are the people that are responsible for community building? Who are the people who are responsible for checking in with students and families? So in Austin Independent School District, that can be the counselor, that can be the system principal, that could be your parents support specialist, that could be on some campuses they have restorative practices associates and then on other campuses they have social workers or social-emotional learning coaches or instructional coaches and so you take stock of who are the people on the campus that I can pull together on a regular basis to establish an implementation team. It's that implementation team's job to look at what are the structures we have in place, what are the processes that we have in place, so we don't lose a child.Ellen Willoughby:Wow. Yeah. I mean -Angela Ward:Period.Ellen Willoughby:That's period. So we don't lose a child.Angela Ward:Yep.Ellen Willoughby:Wow, that's powerful.Angela Ward:Because that's someone's loved one, that is someone's important person, and we spend so much time with them, when they're dropping their kids off at our schools, like they become our children and so that is our responsibility.Angela Ward:Yeah, and it's important also to see it not as a practice that's only reserved for students of color because of that word justice. It's one reason why we fought that word justice in our title is because schools that have a majority white clientele, they don't want to talk about restorative justice. We don't need that, we don't have bad kids. That's the language.Ellen Willoughby:Yeah. Definitely.Angela Ward:That's how it's talked about, and every school has students who are operating on the margins. In some way, shape or form, they are ostracized in some way or they're not necessarily accessing the best possible education for them. So we frame it as culturally responsive restorative practices because we want all schools across the city, across the system, to see these practices as relevant for them, relevant for their students, relevant for the families.Ellen Willoughby:Again, the verbiage, using that correct language. I mean that's so important because like you said, and I didn't make that connection before but I definitely see that where the use of the word justice, and again, because so many people also believe it started in the criminal justice system that it perpetuates that school to prison pipeline mentality.Angela Ward:Yeah, and we're trying to bust that pipeline.Ellen Willoughby:Yeah, we need to ... That is the one pipeline we definitely need to get rid of. Absolutely, absolutely. Wow, so much great information. So looking at when we move into tier two, tell me a little bit about those supports for kids.Angela Ward:Well they are typical supports. So when I was on a campus as an administrator, tier two was that level in the multi-tiered system of support where you caught most of the children for behavior, for academics, for social skills, and that was the place where we had those so that implementation team, that may just be your ARD committee. It may be your successful interventions team. Whatever that team is that already exists on your campus that meets to talk about how to support children, that's where tier two happens and you have to have fail-safes in place so that someone is always understanding the ways in which every child is accessing their free and accessible public education. Their free and appropriate education. So that tier two is where the important piece is that the school has processes in place to make sure no child is left out of the learning process. That's where adults have conversations about, "Hey, I noticed this. I noticed that this child in particular is having a difficult time at this time of day. Has anyone checked in with them? Has anyone checked in with the family? What's happening?" Those types of questions have to happen and they're not ... I'm trying to say not a double negative, but they're not not restorative practices. Those are restorative practices. Making sure that someone is paying attention when a child is not engaged in the learning community in whatever way that is.Ellen Willoughby:Welcome back to part two of Drinking From the Firehose with Dr. Angela Ward, who is talking to us about restorative practices.Ellen Willoughby:A lot of times, I have seen it, I have done it, especially when I was beginning my teaching career, of the separation of the academics and the behavior. But [inaudible 00:20:08] exactly and then also seeing that, "Oh. So the challenges of the academics, or the lack of challenge from the academics, are showing up and manifesting in a behavior that we can correct by how we serve the student academically," as opposed to taking kind of the back way around and just thinking that it's a discipline issue.Angela Ward:So many children have "difficulty with adults" because the adult just didn't understand and they haven't taken the time to understand. Often we send children down a spiral of behavior that is not conducive to engaging in the school community because they're bored or they are seeking attention. Or the adult is just tired of them and that's human. It's human to get tired -Ellen Willoughby:Absolutely.Angela Ward:Of children that you're with seven hours a day.Ellen Willoughby:Definitely.Angela Ward:We've had a bit of a reprieve with our current reality of online schooling and whatnot, yet we're about to go back into face to face with all of our babies and many of them have not been with ... In structured systems for an entire year. So what does that mean for our level of patience as adults coming into this new school year? It's going to require us to give each other space and create opportunities for the adults to be okay. Restorative practices starts with the adult and the adult has to be in an emotional space to give to the students, to receive the student's gifts. If the adult isn't in an emotional space to receive that, they're not going to be able to implement any tiers that are going to be supportive for the students. So we really have to think about what are the structures that we have in place as adults to welcome each other as colleagues into this new school year and then what are the supports we have in place when it gets tough?Ellen Willoughby:Because it's going to get tough.Angela Ward:It's going to get tougher than it's ever been.Ellen Willoughby:Yeah, because there's collective trauma. And I've had discussions with colleagues around this of that and especially like some teachers ... I had a job and I ... I'm one of the lucky ones in that way, but it was still a very ... It was a collective, traumatic event. So thinking about when ... Like you shared the teachers need to ensure, and the school needs to ensure that there is a system of support around teachers and staff so that they can build that level of support around students and families.Angela Ward:Absolutely.Ellen Willoughby:So thinking about that, what is your thought and what would you recommend?Angela Ward:I mean I can only think about what I did with my staff when we were told in a matter of days, "Okay, we're taking work online. We're taking school online." I'm like, "Okay, what does that look like and sound like?" We created opportunities, we had already done so. We met biweekly to check in with each other to have conversations about what's working and what we could improve upon to support students and families on the campus level and staff and we found ways to bring that into our online space. We scheduled check-in meetings, one-on-one with supervisors and campus level people. We set up silly time to do silly things together. The typical things you do to build community, you have to notice when it's time to do that, and you have to notice if you are feeling stressed as the campus leader, imagine how stressed the teachers may be. I mean the campus leader stress is humongous. Humongous. And everyone's going to be feeling this so intensely like we've never experienced it before. So how are we creating those check-in spaces? How are we creating those downtime? Are we giving people the gift of time? Are we meeting for the sake of meeting? We should never be meeting for the sake of meeting. Teacher's jobs are too hard to fill them with meaningless meetings.Ellen Willoughby:Absolutely.Angela Ward:One thing that I always encourage teachers to do when we're talking about tiers two or three of the restorative process is that when you get to a place where you're just sick of a child because you've dealt with them and you're the only one, because you're human, when you get to the end of that journey and you're like, "I need a break," ask for it. I also invite them to partner with someone. Who's your partner who gives you that space? Who can be there at a moment's notice if need be? Who can be there within 30 minutes?Angela Ward:What's the plan in place and one thing that we did when I was on a campus as a leader, we looked at the entire grade level, and we took that grade level as we were planning out where students would be the next year and we looked at if this class made, what would be the daily interaction that this teacher would have to do with all the students on this roster to be successful with each student, and then we would notice where there may be a cluster of students that would require an enormous amount of emotional labor and academic prep and things of that nature. Then we would try to level out those classrooms so that that teacher wouldn't have to have as heavy a load and then we looked at across the grade level are these class lists structured in a way that you would want to teach at principal, you would want to teach at assistant principal, so why are you giving this teacher a class that you don't want to teach because of the emotional labor that's required or the enormous amount of prep time that it's going to take to be successful with this group of students.Angela Ward:So that's a practice we put in place to help us make educated decisions about class lists. You can do it at the elementary and the secondary level. Look at that list. You know the children. You know who's showing up in that classroom and if you don't, somebody on the campus knows and you should be asking them, would you want to teach this class, why, why not.Ellen Willoughby:Right. What a great lens. I love that.Angela Ward:And it really helped teachers to be able to meet the needs of students, and if we couldn't level the class out, we knew, "Okay, we need to ask for support here," before the school year even started. We're trying to get more support for this particular classroom and if we can't, hey, we put our tennis shoes on and we got to that classroom multiple times a day to make sure the teachers got what they needed. So it's looking at the totality of how you set up the school space to make sure that teachers are successful, that students are successful, that when you're setting up the receiving of students at the beginning of the day, sending them off at the end of the day, all of those things go into making restorative practices, a culturally responsive restorative practices process that's going to support the everyday social-emotional well-being of the students and staff and make everyone feel safe, welcome and included.Ellen Willoughby:I think of it from the perspective of a teacher of how supported they feel with first of all that the leaders really understand who is in my classroom and that there was such intentionality about it. And again, that idea of like, "Okay, so if your class is a little bit heavier balanced with some students who may have some greater needs, then we're going to find that support for you. So I think that that return on the investment of spending that time is critical to the support of the adults and of course the children and the building.Angela Ward:Absolutely. It is and teachers, we would have the conversation with teachers, which class do you not want to teach. We had all the children's names on Post-its or cards or something and coded them for special needs and things of that nature and ways we would have to attend to them and the teachers would say, "I won't teach that class," and we talked through why and make good decisions about how to split them up so that it's more manageable and teachers could actually have a good work-life balance.