they walk in that room they become yours and you got this this energy inside your soul that says I am the number one deter permanent of the success or failure of my students hey y'all when you get back kick some butt I'll see you in the winner circle celebrating your Victory let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go go let's go let's do this let's do this let's go let's go thank you [Applause] everybody and we are live good morning good morning good morning good morning welcome to week 231 of the AP and new principles Academy let me see who we got checking in this morning we got at the top of the list we got Mona OB molac out in Orlando Florida she said good morning to myself and the queen we got Val Val Foster um uh Solomon bazou Jr Michael Benton out in Cincinnati Ohio we got constant sherro and Pearl Mississippi Grace ctin in uh Houston this morning Houston Texas um Mia langi is in Ulus Texas Teisha high is in Virginia Rodney Richardson's in Hampton Virginia Ronald Pew is in Cedar Hill Texas lenya Robin is in the building Lisa deos Walker Waco Texas tashika trusdale is in Atlanta landre brains and tashika make sure you register for the um napsi conference National Alliance of black school Educators it'll be in Atlanta this year I'm all set for November 21st so make sure that you are register it's going to be Dynamite go to NAB .org NBS e.org LeAndre brains is in North Carolina Wanda Harris is in South Carolina I met her she's F but I met her in person for the first time when I was in Orangeburg this week she's even an author gave me a copy of the book I gotta post it too good to see you Wanda we got tashika trale is in the building I said that when Yolanda McKinny is in the building down in Texas if you didn't see the interview about maybe two three weeks ago now with myself and Yolanda and others uh make sure you check that out great great great session we had uh where we at where we at Teisha hi she said happy birthday is is that mean me or does that mean somebody mine is October 22nd so I still got a little bit of time before mine comes in Mara po I'll be doing mine from Montego Bay I'll be doing the session from Montego Bay um when it's here too Mara PO is in San Diego in the building appreciate you waking up early with us uh every Saturday Mara uh Dr Sonia Matthews is in the building Waldorf Maryland Hayward John is is in the building if you missed that interview with him last week and and and and my other guest and make sure you go back to the YouTube channel and check that out it was on fire he was on fire he was Blazing we got the queen of the castle in the building Kimberly BR Cafe she's here we got Adrien Young new Port News Virginia I'm getting ready to shut it down y'all I came on a few minutes late mck Vegeta principal mcke Vegeta is in Cal City Illinois September Devon Vance is in the building Otis kitchen the second is in the building John Herrick and I should say uh Otis kitchen I hope everything is good with you um with the with the weather I'm G talk about that in a little while uh who uh Otis is down in Tampa John Herrick Denton Texas is in the building and Dr RZ Gaskins I see you and and Jaclyn Harriet I see you up there in Nova Scotia uh good to see you good to see you Dr shica Houston down in Chester South Carolina I see you I hope yall good too with that weather man we gonna talk about that in a little while as a matter of fact let me just say real quick Dr shica Houston and Dr Tammy Taylor with create and educate every Saturday morning 10:30 Facebook live and preceded by Sha hurt at 10:00 Facebook live then myself at 10:55 and then uh and we call ourselves we are Super Saturday and then Josh Tovar and Dr Marty Mar Mareno Mareno I'm trying to work on that Spanish man um is on Sunday at 7 o'clock right so let me shut it down y'all I see all y'all I see you I see you hit that share button hit that retweet button and let me say Let me let me let me holl it Lou Sanders because I always like to end with my jersey fam I see you L Sanders good to see you he been he been rocking with us from the beginning and yeah go Nicks man we got the local homie Carl Anthony towns coming back home in New York he's from New Jersey so we're excited about that but to everybody out there good morning greetings welcome to week 231 of the AP and new principal Academy for those of you that may have missed uh missed us for the past two weeks or even last week you know I told y'all I got to I got to transition out of all that yelling I do man because you know I'm I'm going to be 64 next month and sometime when I do that yelling and screaming like the like the video I show before we come on I be feeling something man it's it's not it's not good and sometime when I do do my I'm on fire I feel something sometime man so it's like you know that's like a warning sign so like I'mma just so so from now on I'm just gonna let you know I'mma ask you the question how are you feeling right and that matters got the mirror up how you feeling today right you had a long week week might have been good week might have been tough may have been whatever everything in between but here we are on Saturday morning and the intent of this is number one to inform but number two to inspire and number three to empower that's why I I would hope that's why you check in every Saturday morning right for the past 231 consecutive Saturdays right we don't mean like I took some days off I've had no days off 231 so I want you to know in terms of me despite the fact that I some of you may have seen on Facebook yesterday that I caught a 7:00 a.m. flight to Vegas yesterday get off the plane go to the Planet Hollywood and deliver a keynote I was supposed to stay there last night and do this broadcast from my hotel room but I was sitting in that room and I got bored I got homesick I said I don't want to be here so I changed my flight caught a red died last night at 10:00 I landed in norc at 6:00 this morning and here I am so let me let you know that that deserves me to scream right now that I'm on fire but I'm just not gonna do it I'm just gonna let you know that I'm on fire right and that don't even feel right man I need like you know I normally W wake up the block but I I just can't do it man I'm getting too old man I gotta I got to preserve myself right so I'm on fire y'all I'm blazing I am blazing I I'm sleep deprived you can best believe that but that's okay this Saturday Academy is that important to me let me go through these announcements man um first uh hurricane uh Helena um thoughts and prayers to anybody any of the fam out there that was in the path of that hurricane uh whether direct or or indirect what whatever it is just thoughts and prayers to you I'm I'm I'm I would I would have to believe that there are fam that were impacted by that because our our AP and new new principles Academy fam is quite extensive right it is quite extensive right so uh so so thoughts and prayers to anybody that was impacted by by the by the most recent hurricane right um secondly um shout out to Kentucky Association of Psych for psychology in the schools against Kentucky Association for psychology in the schools out in Bowling Green Kentucky they saw a fit to bring the kid out to do a keynote to a room full of school psychologists right so that's a little different for me but I'm G tell you something I was ready I was prepared and they tell me it went very well so shout out for to them for for for bringing the kid in and I I you know the transportation to get there that night y'all that's a whole other story man my flight was delayed by like five hours or something car rental place was closed had to call one of them professional car service places so you know they going to inflate the price because because they they got me right they know I gotta get there right from Nashville to Bowling Green so they got me good boy they they like biggie said why they have to stick me for my papers right so they they they got me on that but uh you know I still delivered that keynote baby then we went on to Orangeburg shout out to Orangeburg County School District man they they gave me all the assistance principles we spent the whole day lot of them F I felt I think the whole room was AP and new principles Academy fam man it it was just a lot of them and uh shout out to all of them including Wanda who's on here right now that I know of and it could be more than I just didn't see your name but shout out to Orange birg County man shout out to their superintendent Dr Foster shout out to Dr Taylor that brought me in and shout out to man Just shout out to Orangeburg man I I had a great day it was a great day and shout out to that lunch they gave me man no Subway sandwich at that spot man they gave me the real lunch right some you know I shouldn't be telling y'all I ate that Fried Chicken but the doctor said moderation so that was a moderation dat them for fried chicken legs man so here we go shout out to cultur rise conference man that's put on by my man Jimmy casus and uh and and and and and my Mar G it's it's it's man it was uh we had in we were in Cypress Fairbanks Texas and and and what what a what a time we had man they saw a fit that asked me to come in and do the opening keynote so we had a good time so anybody who was at that culturized conference put on by Jimmy cases um shout out to you and then lastly shout out to the National Conference on Innovative strategies man put on by by my sister from Texas man that's uh Dr Erica Johnson man she did a great job with that we had a great time in Vegas at the uh Planet Hollywood Hotel enough on that um I'm rocking Frankie man y'all remember last week wore my Frankie Beverly hat I I bought this hat for Frank you know for my tribute to Frankie I don't own any white hats right this I bought this just soer Soaker match Frankie right but last week I wore a white today I said let me pull out my concert Jersey man I mean a concert T-shirt and and and and just continue to pay homage pay tribute to the to the late great Frankie Beverly man I've been listening to his music every day since he transitioned I haven't missed a day man just listening to his music and the music is better than I even thought it was because I'm hearing it differently now right so shout out to Frankie Beverly welcome to the first timers if this is your first time I appreciate you being here however if this is your first time that means you missed 230 sessions you missed some serious fire right so go to the YouTube channel AP and new principles Academy And subscribe once again subscribe let me say it again subscribe and hit the notification Bell once you subscribe so that you're notified in case you forget that we're live right we got 22,600 subscribers right now that's phenomenal man but I'm I'm I'm I'm more than pleased about that but guess what it's over a 100,000 APS in the country there's um there's probably about 200,000 plus there's um at least 100 there's over 100,000 principles in the country so the 22,000 is phenomenal as it is I really want to get up into the hundreds so if you haven't subscribed hit that subscribe button on the AP and new principles Academy YouTube channel um I shouldn't have to say this anymore but just in case somebody hasn't been with me for a minute um we're back on Facebook Twitter and Linkedin we weren't there for a minute but we're back right so uh make sure that you tune in to your favorite platform and watch us live um the books that coincide with the platform first the assistant principal 50 if you don't have your copy get your copy you can go to your other device right now or go to your go to your browser hit a different Tab and go to Amazon and get your copy this book man this is used in so many universities man so many so make sure you get a copy of this book and professional development obviously the assistant principal identity make sure you get yourself a copy the aspiring principal so that's aspiring principal or aspiring AP make sure you get your hands on this the principal 50 I don't care what your level is aspiring assistant um new that's for you too and then is my school a better school because I lead it but you know I'm really excited because the new joint is is is out for pre-order I posted it this week maybe many of you saw it what is my value instructionally to the teachers I supervise 50,000 words I wrote in 18 days in the month of May man it's I'm excited it's moving fast you know ASC shocked me when they because this was supposed to be on pre-order in October they sent me an email last week they say it's up and running pre-order sales not the book that's not even in production yet but pre-order sales so you can go on the website uh on ascd.org I will put it on my website next week for next week I'll do it to today but for next week and then you can just go to principal ca.com and pre-order because because I'm I'm put it in the atmosphere right now that book what is my value instructionally to the teachers I supervise that's going to be a blockbuster I mean ain't nothing out there like it just a book that focuses on whether you the person in your mirror is of value is of substance not in the broad sense but in a narrow sense relative to the instruction in instructional aspect of your leadership do your teachers benefit from your presence in the building instructionally pedagogically and thereby students have a higher probability for success that's what that book is about and I am excited about this book so pre-order that book now um be sure to like and follow the AP and new principles Academy Facebook page for the written Sunday morning commentary every Sunday let me do my monologue real quick I'm going to keep it short y'all no sermons today I'm G keep it short um last week I I I talked to you in my monologue about the two posts I wrote on September 17 and September 22nd when I was battling with the superintendent which I'll leave nameless but I think that one of my guests knows him well um Dr Wortham but I I'll I'll leave him nameless but I was in a battle and I was suspended and I had had a termination hearing but once that that that hearing occurred on September 22nd 2004 and them hundreds of people if not thousands that showed up at that board meeting who were outside including my entire School staff and students uh that board heard them and they heard me and and and and voted unanimously that I did nothing wrong I just stood up and protected my students but I paid a price for it I protected them I was advocating for them I was fighting for them I paid a price but to this day 20 years later I am proud of the way I conducted myself despite the fact that I was all over the media all over the television news all over the radio news all over the newspapers I'm I'm proud of myself and if I had it to do all over again I'd do it exact same way no deviation so I'm saying that to say this my my my monologue is is is is is is this the post both of those posts had had had over a thousand likes and and a zillion comments and the comments were saying the same thing and and and I also posted on some of the Facebook group leadership groups Pages as well so I kind of put myself out there because no one could have dug up and like did some investigating on the internet on Google and say oh my God look at this CF was suspended 20 years ago nah you can't find that it's not there but you can't find you can't come to Jersey and find some people and and dig up some dirt on me because I put it I've been putting it out there for years I've never run from this I've never hid from this at all it's just that I went hard on it last week because it was the 20th anniversary but but I don't I don't hide nothing but but here's the thing people were writing on the threads the same thing I needed this I needed this CFE I needed this C thanks for posting thanks for your transparency thanks for your vulnerability I needed this I needed to hear this is what I'm going through right now they sending me inboxes people wanted to tell me this story right so so so it's like everybody need to hear this so so here's my monologue and I'm going to keep it brief somebody said brief you already in it heavy listen if you're somebody out there and you needed to hear my story of September of 2004 here's my question to you if you needed it and you read it and you listen to the monologue last week where I went off my question to you is what are you doing about it that's my question principal C I needed this I'm thankful that you said that but now I'm I'm I'mma flip it back on you so what are you doing how and say it differently how are you moving right how are you moving are you moving strategically to to ensure that your professional life is what you need it to be right because because see if you if if if you if you're going through stuff you know your own stuff don't have to be my stuff but you're going through your own stuff and now you're walking in that building stressed out every day beaten down every day broken every day you can't be performing optimally that's impossible because you are broken you're broken you got a pencil by the chance you you you you are broken I'm looking for a pencil so I can make this a object lesson right I don't want to use an ink pen and and splatter ink all over my place right but um don't worry about it don't worry about it so pretend I got a a a pencil in my hand snap that's you when you walk in the building man I wish I had a pencil man nobody has pencils these days unless you an accountant right so uh and I don't even know if they have them these days right but but again you going through something so and you going through it it's Weighing on you you feel you feel defeated you you you you feel War you feel burnt out you feel stressed out you feel overwhelmed you feel overburdened and you feel broken boom how you going to go into that school and lead optimally in your broken it it don't work that way y'all so I'm asking you the question how are you moving because see that's how I was feeling and and I told you last week what I did I went on and weathered the rest of the year but then I bounced if if you if you don't mind my slang and I went to Essex County vocational technical schools in newk and got a reset and won the milking award I see you deacy won the milking award that means some somebody recognized me as one of America's top Educators I said all right you got me here you smeared me in the media let me go next door let me go somewhere else where I'm where where my style is is respected and appreciated maybe you somewhere where your style is not respected and appreciated or or or or whatever the reason okay then my question again I can let me stop because I'm I'm doing a sermon how you moving differently that's my question to you how are you moving differently what are you doing what measures are you putting in place what does your plan look like what is your vision for yourself or you going to endure that despite the fact like imagine he my guest in the in the bottom there forgive me I did not plan to go this long but but but these comment ments are like keeping me going imagine that that job is breaking you and then you walk through your front door at your home broken y'all hear me the job is breaking you and then you walk home to your significant other or your children or your whomever's in the crib and you're walking in broken then now you're no good to multiple entities not just the school you ain't good to home cuz your spirit is broken so I'm asking you how are you moving what are you doing I principal Cale I needed to hear that all right I got you but what you doing about it that's the real question right so I'm I'mma leave that right there hit that share button hit that retweet button hit that repost button let them know we are here for our our Saturday morning AP and new principles Academy and I got three Dynamite guests I don't know if this was the day for me to be having that monologue when I got three superintendent sitting out there but but but but you know it's it's it's all good so uh let me let me let me bring them up here now let me bring them up here let me bring them up here here they are in the building good morning to you good morning morning I'm glad to see y'all man I'm glad to see you uh uh um uh Dr Roberto we didn't um I got to do this live because we didn't get to do it before um just we we we we just let it flow we just let it flow right um we we gonna be on here for about two hours I guess and um you know just be mindful of the fact that I have a whole nine page of so so when you all are answering questions if you feel like you getting ready to that Spirit hitting you and you get ready to do that whole lecture just remember I got a whole I got a whole agenda man just keep that in mind Hey Y'all everybody good let me read real quick let me read these bios uh Dr Wortham sent me that long one and and I was trying to edit it and I said I I can't so I I said to myself I just got to go with it because there's nothing there's no there's nothing in here I can cut out you know it's it's too much it's too much in here who that can Inspire somebody else so y'all y'all listen up I'm G read fast so when you hear me stutter it's because I'm going so fast right Dr Deborah L Wortham is an educator best-selling co-author Elder professor and nationally recognized lecture circuit presenter a native of Chicago Illinois Dr Wortham is prepared spiritually and educationally she is the former superintendent of school district of the city of York in York Pennsylvania and and the Steelton High SP Highspire School District in Steelton Pennsylvania she was the first locally elected Roosevelt Union Free School District superintendent in 11 years during her tenure the district moved from State takeover to good standing Dr Wortham served as the first African-American female superintendent of the East Ramapo Central School District in Spring Valley New York where all 12 K8 schools reach good standing still found of the Roosevelt Union Free School District Dr Wortham returned in 2020 with the board's leadership staff support and the commitment of students and the community the Roosevelt Union Free School District is once again rated by the New York State education department as good standing thus on July 1 2024 like yesterday Dr wertham took AOW and retired from the Roosevelt Union Free School District her credentials include doctorate and educational leadership from Nova South uh South Eastern University Fort lell Florida master's degree in Reading from Morgan State University Baltimore Maryland a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin and an honorary doctorate of humanities from the anointed by God Ministries Alliance and Seminary New York New York Dr Worth's best-selling co-author of the stem Century it takes a village to raise a 21st century graduate her book setting the atmosphere for leaders and Learners was released in February 2024 the book was featured in the superintendent Association uh administrators General in August 2024 she received Elementary teacher of the year and dissertation of the Year Dr Wortham is featured in several educational videos has written numerous chapters for various books and has traveled extensively lecturing on different topics and finally her most recent uh Community highlights include the 2024 National finalist for the superintendence association women in leadership superintendent category award was presented in February 2024 during the National Education conference the top 100 most influential Educators in New York state 2020 education expert by market scale 2023 East Ramapo shirro award the Martin Luther King Jr service award Rockland County School Board Association Award of Excellence Mid Hudson School coun school study Council educational leadership award the koogi chalia award that means self-determination town of Hemstead and Leadership award uh Nassau County New York NAACP I couldn't delete any of that we just had to go with it good stuff good stuff Dr Joanna Roberto sent me some stuff too I said I got to go with it is it that's that's when you have that's what happens when you bring on superintendent man so is an experience and because they they they done a they done a lot is an experienced and respected student focused leader and lifelong learner she was appointed Director of Education at the Grand eie District School Board in 2020 and leads a district spanning 4,000 square kilometers they they they they they use the metrics up in Canada y'all know that I don't know when I'm breaking the speed limit when I'm driving them cars because it's it's it's saying kilometers you know but anyway Encompass in the city of Branford and and the counties of Brandt H Dem man I probably butchered that in norfol the district serves more than 28,000 students including students on Education Services agreements with six nations of the Grand River um I I always mess this word up missus is that how you pronounce that all right of the Credit First Nation Joanna's extensive education professional leadership um experience have shaped the commitment to creating and fostering learning environments focused on well-being and belonging places where student staff and communities are inspired to grow together and achieve full potential under her leadership gr Erie launched a vision to learn lead and Inspire it's a commitment she makes in her work each day student achievement is at the core of everything we do and the system grows when it is supportive of all students I mean of all Educators and staff continuing to foster a strong culture of learning with high expectations at all levels will ensure our decisions positively impact student Improvement she began her career in education as an elementary teacher in 1997 before transitioning to a role of Ed Ministry of Education she later returned to her hometown of Niagara Falls where she held Progressive roles at The District School Board of of Niagara including teacher vice principal principal and eight years as superintendent of the education curriculum and student achievement at Grand Erie she has led the development of the annual learning and operating plans equity and mental health plans seeing them implemented with a focus on learning well-being and belonging under her leadership she new approaches were launched to support growth through kindergarten and high school recruitment strategies and campaigns her focus on well-being and belonging supported new initiatives for indigenous education student wellness and Equity action and finally Joanna's uh Learning Journey has included both Masters and Doctorate in Education and she has presented her research on leadership and school achievement internationally and France in Belgium she's a board member for the EQAO modernization committee Brock University Board of Trustees and the Niagara University teacher and learner advisory committee good stuff good stuff one more y'all Dr Shannon Vincent Raymond is a retired superintendent on the Mississippi Golf Coast where she served for the past seven and a half years former principal assistant principal teacher Dr Vincent Raymond currently serves as the adjunct professor at her Alma Mo Xavier University of Louisiana in the educational leadership program a conference speaker consultant leadership coach during her 27 and a half year educational career she has worked in many leadership capacities and uses all of those experiences to coach and Mentor new and aspiring teachers teacher leaders and administrators some of her most significant accomplishments in super as superintendent have been increasing the graduation rate from 66.8% in 2015 to 88.4% above the the Mississippi State average in 2022 Improvement of all four schools by at least one letter grade according to the state accountability system Improvement of two of the four schools by at least two letter grades according to the state accountability system and retiring in December leaving the high high school Five Points from an A R A rating according to the state accountability system and attaining an a during the 20123 accountability cycle additionally the district that was one point above an F in 2015 upon arrival reach success as a b District when the scores were announced at the end of the school year five months after retiring these academic improvements are significant as there are there has not been sustained academic Improvement in The District in any of these areas in the past two decades uh Dr Vincent Raymond attributes much of the success much of this success to having been blessed to be selected as the longest serving district superintendent since 1995 and having the trust and dedication of hardworking students employees teachers parents and school leaders who believed winning was possible and finally the quotation that has driven Dr Vincent's Dr Vincent Raymond's work for the entire leadership career her entire leadership career is inspired by Frederick Douglas it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men strong stuff strong stuff hey y'all let's have a conversation I want to I want to start with Dr Wortham um Dr Wortham I I I wrote in my notes I said let me just put this personal note out here real quick I remember um many many years ago when I was just this this young principal who was on the comeup who had a a vision of doing big things in America and Beyond but there were not in terms of see the there are black present out here always but in this space it was limited right ascd it was extremely limited so some somehow someway I met you and you became this is my first time telling you this I'm telling you I'm saying it to the world publicly you became that that role model for me you you became that I see I see me because I see you because you were already doing it you were big time I'm like I want to be big time like Dr Wortham that's what I'm trying to do because if I can get up I can impact a lot of people so I I just kept watching you watching you from afar you didn't know but I was watching you from afar and and and and and and then I and then I kept seeing you do you become the superintendent and all that kind of stuff because when I met you that's not what you were doing yet and then here you know here we are together you know in this space so I say that to say to the fam out there find that person that's doing what you want to do and just watch them watch how they move right watch how they do what they do watch how they watch how they got from point A to point B and then you may not be an exact replica of them but at least you have a model an example of Excellence an example of what it is that you're trying to become right so I just want to thank you personally for just being you wow which helped me to become me as principal C wow oh yeah no doubt no doubt absolute you so with that said doc um you're multi-dimensional um and and and you know some of us out here know some of this on these on this platform know that but I want to I want to isolate the educator for a moment as an educator who is Dr Deborah LW wow that is a great great great question and when I get the answer I'll text T it to you I'll send it to you but I wna I want to segue back to what you said find someone take a page from their book and then you write your own chapter there it is I think the last I checked I'm on your show this is your show and so I've been clapping it up for you for years for years so proud of you but I think the proudest moment was when you stood as the keynote in my district and I sat back and thought look at him okay it was the best superintendent's conference day and that was in what 20 last year last year and so I applaud you and I thank you so very very very much you were such a blessing so who is who is Dr Deborah Wortham well Dr Deborah Wortham is written all in this book called setting the atmosphere hey hey Rich Johan hey these the these are all my children that's my man that's my man that is my man and so one on one of your sessions you said you wrote 12 books and you just said you wrote 50,000 words in a minimum amount of time those nuggets that you gave inspired me to write my book and so I am I I give it back to you I give kudos back to you Dr Deborah Wortham is one that I believe who is called to be and I'll say this an educational evangelist and that's why I've served in five districts because once you do something and you do it well by the grace of God then you go on and that has been my calling I will say in short form that my sister Lori encouraged me and gave me these words before she left which developed who Dr Wortham is before she passed she said to promise her that you will be I would be the best that I could be so through my career I've been struggling not struggling but on this journey to find out who is Dr Wortham who is Deborah Wortham and this is what I settled on so so far that if you are so great who are you helping to make great if you are all that and a bag of chips who are you helping so that's who Dr Deborah Wortham is I am an educational evangelist I am called to serve and I am called to help someone else move forward before before I give you this follow-up question let me repeat what you just said if if hey somebody I'm talking in my camera right now if if you are so great who are you helping to become great that matters because because if if not then what's the basis of your so-called greatness yeah yeah some somebody gotta come on this ride with you somebody you know doc uh given given the pressures the demands of the super tendency it is not an easy job um the three of you know that um given the the the the stress everything I talked about before in my monologue that that that can potentially accompany it and us bringing that home that that that Spirit from whatever the day was or the week was the month was whatever it is my question to you despite all that why the superintendency for you well wow in my book setting the atmosphere there is a chapter called the fit checklist and that fit checklist not only applies to being becoming a superintendent but it also applies to whatever position you desire to hold now I knew that as an assistant super attendant on the road as a consult continue to say well make the recommendation make the recommendation and you want to see the manifestation of all of your recommendations and I will tell you the truth I have to tell you the truth that one day I was in church and the Pastor said sister Wortham stand up I stood up and he said you're going to be a super intendent I'm like good pastor great thank you so very much he said it again stand up you're going to be a super great and he said it a third time and I said now pastor this is getting to be a little bit much but what he didn't know was that I had applied to be a superintendent and and that calling came from the promise that I made to my sister to be the best that you can be my desire to want to have that wider platform to be able to sew into other people I will tell you that I am called the students superintendent we are there be because we constantly ask ourselves is it good for kids and if it's good for kids go for it you were in my district last time and you could see the students served as the MC the students carried the superintendent conference day so my calling why superintendent because I am called to develop I'm called to encourage and I'm called to serve and that means going into those places and setting that atmosphere making the air positive and moving forward so everybody succeeds love it love it Dr Roberto you um we met because you invited me to your world grand Erie District School Board um few couple couple what two three years ago something like that yeah yeah two years ago and I had an opportunity to not only be a presenter but to to learn a few things relative to you know I think about in the states when we're on land either contiguous to um or or or the ACT actual land where the Native Americans as we would call it here would be but that land is not typically recognized in a in a in a formal setting as in being with you in your District that that recognition took place and the celebration of of of of local tribes in that first nation so I got to I got to learn in addition to coming out to present um in a space that was very different from what I'm accustomed to right so so with that said and if you want to comment on that any Feel Free as I ask you this question um on the education side this same question for the three of you um because because you're multi-dimensional there's so many different aspects to all of us but there's this education side and that's the side that's the side that people tune in every Saturday hear about so so who is who is Dr Joanna Roberto as an educator well uh first of all I want to say thank you so much um for being here today and for inviting me and to be in the company of of all of you I'm I'm honored and uh I think it speaks volumes um we get to sometimes watch you on the other end and so uh to be in the room with you is is really special so who am I I I want to start off with um with two things so that you can deeply understand where I where I am today and where I hope to continue to go the first one I believe is deeply rooted in something very similar to what was issued as stated earlier it is the call to be of service um to be of service and to be um in my instance I like student centered I'm always saying students first right what is our moral imperative and how are we right going to to serve those students so that they can reach their full potential and that is really at the Crux of who I am it's at the core of my being it always has been from the moment I walked into a classroom um and and I think that's carried with me along my journey and in order to really understand this person or an individual you got to know their story and we all know we all have a story and my story um came from my grandmother who immigrated to Canada in 19 1950 and didn't didn't speak a word of English and in fact never did um she only knew her native language and it was only oral so she never went to school she did not know how to read in her own language let alone right and I remember her saying to me that I came to this country to plant a seed right and she followed me in my educational Journey um until she was no longer with us um and passed away but every single Milestone um she watched um and she couldn't as I said read but what she could do including my graduations was run her hand across my diploma degree and she would feel the embossed um lettering and she knew it meant something and so for me um that was something that always carried me in my journey and she kept on reminding me why she planted that seed and I always say it it is always about when I bring the best out in you it draws the best out in me and that is essentially who I've been and who I continue to be to surround myself with great leaders who want to elevate the work and who really want to support students and reach their potential but almost get them to that point where they have been successful and contributing members of society and that is always at the core of my work so essentially who I am I appreciate that that's that's great stuff so let's go to that superintendent question uh it's not easy it's not easy work um I I I take my hat off despite you know I had four super no I had more than four four different districts no three different districts four different schools but multiple superintendents I I take my hat off to the to these superintendent except one of them but uh but I take my hat off to him because the work the work it it just never ends I'm sure that that there's never a time when you can say matter of fact forget I'm sure I'm positive I'm certain there's never a time that you could say there's nothing else to do let me just chill there there's there's there's always always always work but but those challenges those pressures those demands those obstacles that accompany that work that you're passionate about my question to you is same question why do it at the superintendent level and that's for you DR robberto why yeah my glasses are gonna fall off I you know I I want to go I want to go to this this this image for those of you who online and uh knowing your moral imperative what what your purpose is um and I think this is endless work I want to be really clear with you uh this is um work in which you need to show your vulnerability and your humility at its finest and you need to surround yourself with a really strong team who energizes you to see your worth um because you can set a vision right but you need others to help you move that along and you need others who are different um in their approach and their style and their thinking because we can complement one another and when I come to the why I always I always ask myself if we do this what is our evidence of impact um so if I am in this role as director which is equivalent to a superintendent um what is my impact going to be and I ask myself that every day very similar to the question that you ask and that is why is your school better because of you um I have taken that statement and I have elevated that with the principles and the system leaders in my district to ask ask them why is this District better because of us why is this District better because of me um and I think that those are powerful reflective questions that we need to ask ourselves at all times uh embedding that into our behavior is an critical aspect of actually taking that right and moving into action and if this is a lonely job at the end of the day right you have a team but you take it all on and people don't realize how lonely this job is and in order for you to get to past that point um you got to go back to your why and your why is your moral imperative is that I believe that if I am continuously leading right in a manner in which is not only collaborative but in a manner that is focused on students their well-being and their achievement right that at the end of the day we have built contrib members of society at the end of the day we have elevated their confidence and their potential and if we can continuously gather our evidence of impact around this right it will give you your moral imperatives to why you do what you do because it is a difficult role and it is a difficult job um and often I always say we sometimes get away from the learning agenda um and so how do we ground ourselves back into that learning agenda and I think that that becomes my purpose um is is to constantly be focused and driven on that and have Relentless leadership to know why you're doing what you're doing is all about the greater good it's the sum of its whole Parts it's never about you powerful stuff you know I gotta I gotta holler the fam out there on the other side of my camera real quick off of something you said and then I'm gonna go to Dr Vincent you know um hey fam hear me somebody sometimes it's it's very easy for us to look at other people and say they got it going on right like yeah they you know maybe they were blessed maybe they were brought up in the right circumstances for them to be able to do various things that they do let me holler somebody that may have those Notions you heard Dr Roberto she said I took from you the book you the title of the book you wrote I'm gonna put it on the screen shamelessly is my school a better school because I lead it but I've expanded this since then is my team is my department is my division is my district better because I lead it hey fam out there I'm just little ow me from E Stars New Jersey man you know I I I y'all y'all know my story I'm not gonna do a monologue you know my story you know my five years of high school you know my nothingness right but I'm somebody that eventually came around and I had a notion that that question first that question drove my leadership let's say that first but but but soon after or after I should say not soon after but after I said that question is a question that all leaders should embrace so I had the audacity I'm I'm I'm preaching the fam out there right now I had the audacity to take that question that I would ask myself every day at dismissal is my school a better school because I lead it and put it as the title of a book wrote a seventh chapter book about the title and it became a bestselling book so I'm saying to somebody out there don't look at somebody else don't look at the four of us and say oh man they got it going on no you got it going on don't don't limit yourself realize that there's greatness in you but sometimes we don't tap into it or we don't unleash it to let it to let it just soore so understand there may be just a like like the Frederick Douglas quote right it it could be some line that's in you that can impact the whole freaking planet don't look at somebody else look at you and ask yourself what am I doing with my gifts and my talents enough said enough said because I be done got on here and preach the sermon and then Dr Wortham probably take over the sermon and preach the real sermon so I'm I'm just going to I'm I'm gonna let it go right so he hey Dr Vincent you know um we met in Lima yes Ohio and I I didn't know you before that and no and I and and I got to know you out there and I'd said to you I need you on this platform and and and here we are we were in liner with Emanuel Curtis who's doing big things in Lia shout out to Emanuel if he's on here or will see the videoer and and just doing big things and I've I've watched you from afar ever since so so so with that being said again the isolation of who you are on the educational side uh who is Dr Shannon Vincent well that's a very complicated question um because Dr Shannon Vincent did not set out to be an educator um I have a degree in English from Xavier thought I was going to be a writer I never wanted to be an educator um until I graduated and came back home and uh my father sat me down and he uh first of all wanted me to get a job to get off of his payroll right as most fathers do um and I believe my father saw something in me that I did not see in myself and so shout out to parents who guide their children to the place where they see their um children's gifts and don't be afraid to do that um and he said to me Shannon I see you teaching I see you guiding young people and you should try to substitute I was a substitute teacher I challenged the test and I started teaching um nth grade English and I absolutely loved it so that was the journey to education for me um my father always taught us to leave the world a better place than what we found it and that's how I got into education so Shannon as an educator um Dr Shannon as an educator is always trying to leave the world a better place than how we found it um my father grew up without his mother she died at a young age um from cancer and he had to live with his grandmother in the housing projects of New Orleans and so he a lot of times was living you know pillar to poost having to fend for himself and didn't get the opportunity to go to college so we understood what college meant for him and what college meant for us he went into the military and so College was very important to him for us and um we took that very seriously so from that perspective everything that we've done since then has been a gift from our parents they've sacrificed for us to have everything that we have and for us to be where we are with that the children that I've worked with and I've noticed this you know how you find Is 2020 everything that I've done is to help children to see that it doesn't matter where your parents come from it doesn't matter what your parents have or don't have it doesn't matter um your educational attainment of your parents it doesn't matter if you grew up in the military it doesn't matter if you don't have all of the things that your friends have um what matters is your ability to move past that to get where you want to be I have a bunch of degrees my sister is a wealth advisor um and my parents are regular middle class parents we grew up in Bas housing in bxi Mississippi and it's all because of what our parents put in us not necessarily what they could purchase for us and so I take that into the educational space every day and it has led me to appreciate and to work hard for children um in spaces who have parents like my parents um and I believe that it has helped me to have some success in many places where I've served I've been an alternative school principal um that was the hardest but most rewarding um situation that I've worked in and so me as an educator I just want to see kids win and I do whatever it takes whatever it takes to see children win and see the communities win just want to see so that's that's if I can wrap it put it in a bow in a box wrap it up put a bow on it that's whatever it takes to see children win see their parents win see the community win that's what I'm going to do so let me ask you this so so so all that work you just talked about in those various capacities then you decide that you want to be a superintendent so you want to be the head of an entire school district and now you you're not the one working directly with young people in the classroom as the classroom teacher you're not you're not the one who's leading the school where it's just one entity within a larger District here you are the leader of a district with all the accompanying stress and and trial and tribulation and challenges and obstacles Etc they come along with it my question same question why the superintendency for you Dr Vincent I was on the coast for 20 years 18 years and for 18 years there was one District that struggled and I had applied the first time and they told me I was too young imagine that and so I watched superintendant come and go come and go come and go and so finally I said okay I'm going to apply again because that one District was the D District the F District over and over and over again and I felt like the time was right and I felt like the Lord was leading me there I had fixed schools here and there and everywhere and I felt like that Community deserved to win and through prayer through watching through my experiences I just felt like the timing was right and I felt like the Lord led me there and and no exaggeration from the time I put in my application I I I even tried not to put the application in the Lord woke me up the application was due at midnight I I woke up in the M it was like 10:30 11:00 I completed the application got it in right before midnight and it was the easiest process they called me the next day the interviews I knew half the people who interview it was the easiest process and it seemed like it was just a smooth process to get through the the entire interview and selection process so I felt like the Lord led me there um and the work that we did there while I was there was the Lord's work um and they're on a good path and I believe they'll be on a good path for a long time to come so um I felt like the timing was right and I felt like the Lord needed me there at that particular time love it so yeah here you are I'm sitting here listening to you and I'm and I'm looking for a post that was up here and I I can't find it um because I wanted um okay here here's the I see the person let me just oh where is it I'm wasting time I got to find this post I gotta find this post I gotta find it I gotta find it y'all bear with me one second I gotta find this I got to find this uh oh man I'mma take about a second more and then I got to move on and try to find it while I go to the next question because I wanted I wanted to address this person because this person was reaching out for help and and and and it's so many comments that came after this post okay all right I tell you I tell you what folks um I have her name um I just don't I think no was it I don't know if it was Heidi so I don't want to say it was Heidi and it wasn't Heidi I I'll find it I'll find it let me keep going okay no problem all right so anyway um y'all let's let's let's let's let's get into some things here bear with me because in looking for that post I let myself get a little unorganized all right here we go so let me go let me go to Dr uh Roberto on this one to start off I'm G ask you all the same question but um this this this this superintendent's role as in your case director but you know for all intent intents and purposes a superintendent's role in my mind I you know I I interviewed for several superintendent positions they were all recruitments though it wasn't like I I wanted to be I I've never wanted it it's just people board members calling me you know I'm not gonna tell you the districts because the stuff ain't even legal but but but folks calling me like we we want you and I don't want that y'all come on now no we need you and I and I go and sit through it and and and it made me think about the superintendency a little bit different as as as folks would would would would reach out to me for these interviews in these clandestine places right so that nobody would see us having this conversation and um and when I think about the superintendency you know outside of school safety which is a a I would think your number one priority you know you know the lay person might think academic performance but but for me I would think as a superintendent the safety of everybody in that building is probably primary and then and then coupled with that the overall infrastructure you can correct me if I'm wrong this is just me like thinking about what this thing is the overall infrastructure of an entire school district and which is inclusive of funding of those buildings and and and the various other departments and so forth that had to be funded I would think that that's right there at the core but when I sat in those interviews outside of that which I referenced I said but but let me let me talk to y'all about the daytoday now right I said as a as a superintendent I would say to them you probably will not want me there very long when you hear what I'm about to say as a superintendent my number one priority outside of those two things I just said is the principles in the buildings right see it's I you know I could say student a achievement the students the teachers no each of those buildings in my mind I've never done this before so y'all can correct me in a minute each of those buildings is like a franchise within a larger company and I need to know that the the leader of the franchise the CEO of the franchise is on point right because if the CEO of the franchise is on point I can probably sleep a little more comfortably knowing that the organization within the building is functioning because of that CEO so therefore that person is my number one priority that principle right so my question to you and I'm gonna throw it at at at each of you where do you stand as this principle being such a huge priority and and this this I hope this is not too too much pressure as far as this question I don't think it is what does your roles look like like let let let me be principal since that's who I am principal Cil what does your roles as superintendent look like in that context I just I just frame toward ultimately making me as phenomenal as I can be as principal Beyond just my inner drive to be successful I'm looking at the superintend where where do you stand toward making me effective let me start with Dr Roberto so you know I actually immediately when I thought about this thought about me in my principal ship as in the school um and that's kind of like where you start right you know you learn you learn by doing and um um I went right back to that experience and right back to the role of the superintendent and how they shap shaped me and provided me um with ways to empower me both as a leader but also more so as an influential leader um at that school and those were really key um experiences for me because I had some outstanding Role Models um that that helped me to understand what it meant for the principal's voice um to have system impact because sometimes we can be really focusing just on our school um and so what does it mean to really look at our work as Leaders as principles leading from the middle um on a large scale and so that stayed with me that resonated with me into my role as superintendent so in Canada you have superintendant and then you have the director okay um so I just to give some context I have 10 superintendant uh and I have 72 principles so 72 schools um and so for me it's really important that I lead through superintendence uh because as I left the principal ship and became the superintendent under a director um that was the basis and the foundational skills that I needed um to understand what it meant for me as a superintendent to empower the principles and hence I carried that with me as I became the director so I have to do two things simultaneously in tandem right is build the the efficacy and the agency of the superintendents right to ultimately build the efficacy and the agency of the principles because at the end of the day the principal has the sole responsibility of their school right it is their Community it is their they know their context they know their relationships um and so we have to be responsive to their needs and so My Philosophy with my superintendence and my vision that is on the ground right now implemented is that the super attendant are in their schools at least three to four times a week and within their Cadre of schools whether they have 20 or whether they have 15 schools they actually go even further in two or three of them meaning they are there maybe once a week right because the only way we're going to be able to feed up and across the learning organization is to know exactly what the needs are in the schools and the only way you can do that is to ensure that you are building and empower in your principles so the level of agency um to the level of um instructional capacity and into a level of really understanding how they respond to the needs of their Community which is staff students and parents and how you build their own professional learning in order to do that because they can't do it alone right so we have to be responsive to say what who are our Central folks that are going to support them and how are we as superintendents going to support them them and then that comes to the senior leadership table to say this school needs X because we don't look at each school and say we're all going to give every school the same we got to know what each School needs and the only way we can do that is being present in schools and working very closely with our principles because we cannot move a district without our principles um and that is an important part of our work and we have to tell them we have to tell them what we told them and we got to tell them again that they are an important component of us when it comes to a district and when it comes to moving a district and that ultimately builds agency because it doesn't become us and them right it doesn't become principal and board right it actually becomes a team right and in order for us to Pivot or in order for us to move the district along a Continuum the only way you can do that is if you have the solidarity and the deep understanding of our respective roles and how we support one another and that has got to be reciprocal at all times you got to zoom in and you got to zoom out you got to know what the individual School needs what the individual principal needs right and then you got to pull that back and say okay now how does that fit in the grand scheme of a district right what is it telling us right what do we need to do more for our schools what what do we need to do more for our principles and then how are we going to do that and that work has to be done like I said in tandem with the superintendent so I've got to build the senior team capacity right uh because if they don't understand that connection right then we got a fundamental issue that we've got to start to go back to the basics and build Grassroots what are our beliefs right what are our roles right because you want to walk into a school and into a room like this whether it's virtual or in person and you don't want to know who the principal is who the superintendent is who the instructional coach is who the resource teacher is because at that point in time time right you were all sitting there right for what we talked about earlier the collective good the greater good moving student achievement and we're all Learners there are no titles in those rooms right it's what we do with our work and our roles to influence that afterwards I love it I love it before I want to continue this same question with with Dr Wortham and Dr Vincent but before I do I found the the post and this is the fir of the 231 weeks that I've been doing this this is the first time that I'm not the oldest person on the screen um I know you're public with your age but I'm not going to say it Dr Wortham that's I'm I Le that to you if you wanted to but um but I I want you to talk to this young lady doc I you know it's I I could easily just go ahead and throw my my two cents at her but I want you to do it she said I'm a firste principal I needed to hear this I doubt myself all the time is this right for me I think she's probably speaking for others who are on the call can I really do this I I've been asking myself the wrong question I'm I'mma turn this over to you Dr Wortham the answer is yes you can and I am so glad that you raised that question because you raised something that many people I'm sure on this platform you're they're asking today or they've asked at some point in their career and I have to say I join you in in in in that and that's why we have to I've embraced the philosophy of efficacy and efficacy is the capacity to mobilize available resources to solve problems and promote development our goal As Leaders whether your superintendent a principal regardless assistant principal our goal is to build the of the people that we are with either on our team because confidence is the name of it you need confidence to walk into a meeting you need confidence to log on to a zoom so confidence there then leads to effective effort to hard work and that hard work leads to achievement so I've said to my principles and here's this word lavish principles lavvish your teachers feed the teachers so that they don't eat the children back it up superintendant lavish your assistant superintendant lavish your principles feed them now that quote when I saw that quote I said the philosophy of efficacy brings forth and promotes the response to that because so many times we see people in a performance goal orientation but you principal Cale have created a safe space so that we don't have to perform this platform promotes what we say as a learning goal orientation it's okay not to know but it's not okay not to know and not to learn it's okay for you to say what you believe what you feel and seek help and that's our role our role we at some point as principal we had to know everything yeah and if you didn't know it then you were banished you know you were you were put in the corner you weren't even CC back in the day on on emails but we've come to the point now where we know that we walk with our head held high and what we know we know and if we don't know it we can find out we can Google it we can go to YouTube University but our confidence our confidence is the key build and become an efficacious leader so here it is in our world I hold true to 3bs that we should be in those buildings no matter what your title is if unless they're The Three Bs what is it the three Bs what stands with the letter B that would keep you from being in the classroom that means if there's blood okay if somebody's sick go to them if there's h a bullet if there's safety issue go to it or if it's your boss if the board comes or whoever go to it other than that find yourself in the buildings and here's another pneumonic for you you 4280 I've built a conier service conier so that everyone is served 42080 that means superintendent principal we must visit at least four classrooms a day for 2080 so you visit four classrooms a day and what are you doing you're looking you're inspecting what your you're looking to check on the wellness of your staff you're looking to make sure those learning targets are really learning and hit they're hitting the Target and so when you do that four times a day four classrooms going in giving hugs shaking hands encouraging building confidence then that comes to 20 a week and 80 a month I tell you when you do that you're exchanging the energy you're giving energy you're promoting energy and then you know the sound of the house every principal every superintendent has to know the sound I heard a music director say this that he knew what songs to teach and so when you know that you're putting out greatness that's the found we would teach our young people affirmations and one affirmation find out how great you can be and then you say find out how great you can be and if you take the first letter I'll end with this if you take the first letter from find out how great you can be that comes up to figa so that's the sound when you hear someone say figa be that's the language what have you built what's the sound and the feeling tone of your house I was in the mall and I heard someone say figa that was it I don't know who said it but my response was the sound carries us the sound builds confidence love it so Dena I hope that that was helpful for you I saw I saw the comment and I wanted to make sure that we address that right and Dr Wortham there's our guy a Neo salad The Good the good superintendent right that's my guy yeah yeah that's my guy yeah he doing his thing man he doing over there in yeah yeah yeah good to see you my brother in the Hat I'm paying tribute to Frankie Beverly so you know we did this this the second week in a row I'm I'm rocking because that's what he wore on stage this hat a hat like this all right let's go so same same question let me go to Dr Vince then I'm gonna come back to you Dr Wortham and now look y'all it's 128 y'all give me the slightly shorter answers [Music] right because I we ain't even get to them talking points yet so give me the slightly shorter answer Dr Vincent what do you think do I need to restate the question yeah I believe you yes restate the question yeah I'm I'm saying that you know outside of those core responsibilities you know school safety the the the infrastructure of the district I I would think if I was a superintendent those principles would be a major uh priority of mine um which would allow me to rest my head on the pillow comfortably at night yeah what is it so so my so my question to you is what does it look like from your Vantage Point to en ensure that a principle is effective as as as one could ultimately make that person to be for lack of better way of phrasing that um what is what is that what is that look like from the perspective of the superintendent so I'll tell you um the the first thing is um and I learned this from I you've had two of my principles on your show Dr Joe Nelson and Dr laquan Nelson I mean Dr Joe Griffin and Dr laquan Nelson and so um the first thing you have to do is you have to have a great sele section process and when you have um and be involved in the selection process when you're involved in the selection process and you know who you're choosing um and you know their background and what they can do on the front end it helps you to know what they can do on the back end so that we'll start there um the second thing I would say that was an advantage for me was I knew um um and we had conversations about what my expectations were they knew we were in a turnaround situation we they knew what the sense of urgency was they knew that we only had a year to two years to turn things around they knew the accountability model they knew I was very serious about um academics and culture and discipline and so we all kind of said okay this is what we're going to do we jumped in together and I believe my alternative school background kind of helped to create a plan that we could work together um from that I believe you set the goals you set the mission and then when you have people who know how to operate in your goal or within your goal um and they know how to do my job was to support to check in to have uh we still had monthly principal meetings we still had our academic check-ins we still did our data check-ins but I kind of got out of the way and then I gave additional support to those new principles those who did not know how to do those who weren't as familiar with uh turnaround process it's the turnaround leader term I learned from Dr Joe Griffin and he said look doc I'm a turnaround leader and I was like okay just let me know what what you need from me and he's like I'll let you know what I need from you and and we had that relationship and so that helped me to know that when he needed me um he would say okay this is what we need but we had open lines of communication um and it worked and so I believe that the superintendent and the principles role has to be one of open communication that for some people goes outside of the quote unquote 9 to5 right we talked all the time um during school hours after school hours on the way home what do you think about this I was thinking we should try this um but it also could Flex between a high level of support to less support dependent upon what the principal brings to the table um and the situation of the district at the time and what the needs are um and I think that the superintendent has to be uh confident in his or her skills enough to flex back and forth and to be able to uh give that support where it's needed but then back off when it's not needed without taking things personally and that's something that I had to um learn and but still support I hope that was a short enough answer but still give you that was good but but you know what caught my attention in a mighty way the whole thing did but when you said back off when not needed and and I would think I've never done the position and I as far as I know I never will but you know you know God works mysteriously sometime but as far as I know and he will wake you up yeah but but that I would think that that's a skill that we that that that many of us have to learn to back off because because one could say the same thing for the principal ship relative to staff right whether it be teaching staff or whatever staff in the building so I I love it let me let me go to Dr Wortham on the same question but I'm I'm gonna add I'm gonna add a piece to it DOC just said from listening to from Dr Roberto and and Vincent it it it triggered another thought same question but in addition to that Doc is is there is there a place where the superintendent or superintendent staff in this case I just want to focus on superintendent though forget what I said about staff superintendent particular if the superintendent has a principal background is there a place where you become a teacher to the principal right um so the same question but just add that piece to it okay I'm I think I'm just resonate on that piece is there a place where the superintendent becomes a teacher am I right yeah 247 247 I lived for Monday mornings when the entire cabinet would participate in a learning walk and it was my opportunity to go into the classrooms with cabinet now when when I went into the classrooms I talked to students but the cabinet would look at the learning Target and we would go empty-handed no clipboards no nothing I didn't want anybody writing anything I saw that comment in the chat that the teachers were intimidated when the principal would come in it's about your demeanor and it's about your mission and your vision and oh my goodness the relationship and so when you go into the classrooms I participate in as many of the professional development sessions as possible so I want to make sure that the professional development seats sits into the classroom that it gets there so when I go into the classroom I've said to the principles to the entire District I'm looking for me I am not looking for you because if I don't see the professional development being implemented then it's Deborah wortham's fault it is not your fault so I need to back up and figure out how do we make it look like what it's supposed to look look like and that takes the pressure off of here they come because we might have about 10 people with us and so that number could be intimidated but if you build those relationships and you know that we're trying to do this together then we're going to focus on the the business of the business so it's my turn to go into the classroom see what we see know what we're looking for everybody knows what we're looking for because we're looking for the professional development the syic standards the systems that we have put in place and articulated so we're looking for that then we go out into the hallway and we powow now we poow because I want to hear from the business manager from your perspective do you see what you're supposed to see and do you understand why we need to identify the funding stream for that to happen I want to hear from the uh head of human resources did you see the characteristics of why you hired that person Etc so you're always this is my time oh my goodness it was my glory moment to be able to teach you heard my claim to fame you read it in the bio you said I was teacher of the year for elementary for Baltimore City yes and that was my claim to fame so teaching getting it out into the the the classroom so that my babies the children can learn the children can't learn if the teachers don't have it if the teachers didn't get it then it's our responsibility to love up on them what teachers need want to know where am I supposed to be at 9 o' what am I supposed to doing supposed to do at 9:30 at 10 o'clock tell me and I will get it done that's the beauty and that's the wonderful part about being a superintendent because you are constantly teaching that's how I can say that I served five districts and they all became good standing good standing there it is there it is wait let me say one thing ugly shoes ugly shoes you can wear red bottoms but you better be able to get around to your buildings in comfort so those ugly shoes it doesn't mean that they're ugly and yly and worn out but they are comfortable enough for you to get around let me recommend Clarks you know let me I can recommend a lot of Brands but you have to be able you could be cutie on duty but your feet must be able to sub sustain the systems that you have put in place I think I learned that the hard way I have bad feet it's part some of it's my my my new diabetes but um I I know I was wearing stuff that was probably too tight back in them days um you know that leather and them hard soul and all that kind of stuff walk in them Halls all day but I want to uh I want to throw another question at you all before we go to um those talking points we got a little time um I'mma stay with you Dr Wortham in terms of sequence um I'm known to say in fact it's the reason that I wrote the assistant principal 50 that the assistant principal ship in my strongest opinion is the most misunderstood and underutilized position position in all of Education when I walk into a school as a consultant on a school day and I see an assistant principal as a disciplinarian and cafeteria Duty person from the time the students walk into the building until the time that they leave the building and ye and yet this person supervises and evaluates a portion of the staff then I I I have to wonder and ultimately I ask the question when does this person coach and mentor and Lead instructionally these particular teachers that he supervises that she supervises is it that we're just doing the formal evaluation the summative and rewarding this teacher could be so much more effective if I was that coach so my question to the three of you I'll start with Dr Wortham what is the role of the superintendent toward ensuring that that the principal understands his or her role toward making the assistant principal a phenomenal instructional leader because that's got to trickle from somewhere because if if it's just organic then the tradition Across America not not the paint with the whole with a broad brush on the entire country but the places that I'm invited to to go and work with the the assistant principle the the instructional leadership being in classrooms having those those conversations with staff in a pre- and post context is is is somewhere on the bottom of the potem of the totem pole right so um talk to us about the role of superintendent toward ultimately getting to that AP I'll I love it I you you you are on rapid fire with these questions today because I love it apprciate it I appreciate it honestly at one point as an assistant principal I thought it was the worst job in the world yeah same here I did and so all of the uh I'm I'm just gonna hold this up yep yep yep yep setting the atmosphere there we go get put it up better so the lighting doesn't so it's just put it hold it back up so that we can see it good because you got see you got that virtual background is messing with you a little bit okay all right Google it all right so the life's work is right there and let me just be an assistant principal for a minute and so the principal then decided that I would be just as you said I would open the building I would make sure that the children came in without any discipline problems I would make sure that they had breakfast I would make sure that they got to class wait where's the instruction and all of that wait and then I would Circle and then do every lunch shift so wait a minute where my masters in in in Reading where when do I use that so I had to do this I had to learned to build relationships with 700 students I learned and this was when OA was in Baltimore but I learned the power of the microphone a cordless microphone and I would walk and talk with the young people 700 kids would get there early just so that we could have a morning meeting so while she banished me she told me she had a dream that I was the principal of the boiler room so assistant principls feel that way for a reason however I learned confidence in public speaking with the young people you banished me to the cafeteria for all the lunch periods I invited the parents to come in we created a finer Diner Chang the atmosphere finer Diner moms finer Diner dads I bought them aprons and they had Chef's hats and if you all are really good and put your you know napkin in your lap then one day we're GNA go to a restaurant and we did and so I made it something so then I asked for a transfer and I went to the largest Elementary School on the East Coast as an assistant principal as an instructional leader but I took with all of the things that I was banished to do but now became my jewels and my treasure so as a superintendent knowing that I need assistant principles I need principles to build a legacy so my challenge is principles what are you doing and then you take it another step further don't have to ask the principles what are you doing to develop the assisted principles when you meet with principles you meet with the assistant principles as well and you feed them simultaneously at the same time so the assistant principles are to assist in the work while you are waiting to step forward and just do it together when you're banished take advantage of it and make it a treasure instead of something negative principles build your confidence build the confidence and capacity of the assistant principles we all do the learning walks together there are no titles no first name no last name everybody is on the same level love it love it let me go to Dr Vincent with the same question thank you um and thank you Dr Deborah for that story it reminds me when I was an assistant principal for the first time and I was doing all of the discipline and my principal expected for me to be in classrooms a certain number of times and I was unable to do that and so I received a written reprimand because I was doing all of the discipline for my grade level my grade level was popping right I took that WR reprimand personally and I said how do you want me to do all of this discipline and all of these observations and so he just said you got to do it and although it hurt my feelings he was correct it was my job to do both and although I was angry with him and we have remained friends all throughout my career um I was better for it as I became superintendent when I hired APS or when APS were matched with principls we have done our best to match them with degree areas specialty areas um one who's math certified social studies you know with English so that they're matched up and we do have assistant principal meetings and principal meetings together um in the summer and then and throughout the year the aps meet as a group to go over data the expectation from the principles is that they hold the assistant principles accountable for the observations and then those those are sent in electronically where they're monitored and the principal's job is to help Monitor and then review those um observations with their assistant principles so just as Dr Deborah has mentioned the expectation is that we're all looking at instruction because it takes all of us um the last thing a principal wants to do I'm sure um when I had assistant principles is is write up and a written reprimand for the person that you work the most closely with so um it's better to coach them up than to have to rep reprimand in writing yeah um the expectation is that as a team that we all move the student achievement forward and um when we met with the team we said you are our team and we expect for the whole school to move and the principal you're the leader however um with your APS this is what we expect of all of you and so we give them the support that they needed to get that job done so be before I go to Dr Roberto you you just said something that I I I just need to respond to talk to us so you got a AP and a principal and a principal does what you just said feels the need to to write up as as they would say write a written memorandum um to the assistant principal about the assistant principal as a as as a as a as a memorandum of Correction and it's got to go into their file and now let me speak from the vantage point of CF and then I'm gonna give it to you okay now to me from my vantage point that relationship is permanently fractured I don't you know and again this me so you know my little two cents of someone and and we're not even talking about the superintendent now we're talking about the principle yes if I have to write up my right-hand man or woman I don't know that we bounce back from that I don't know I want to hear from you though and and if others want to chime in then go ahead and chime in what what are your thoughts about when it gets to that level it gets to that point that I gotta I gotta write you up now so I'll speak to when it happened to me in 200 S 8 n it was a long time ago it I was a first year AP um because this person was already my uh had been my friend for a long time I did take it personally and it did hurt my feelings um and I immediately you know went into his office and said what is this you could have talked to me about this you didn't have to write this up and you didn't have to send this to HR you know what is this and so um we already had a relationship and so I felt that I could go directly to him and ask what you know why did you feel the need you could have told me that you needed this this this and this um in other situations that may not be the case but it did not I was upset with him for a little bit but I moved past it I'm I'm not the type of person to hold a grudge I learned from it I um you know moved through it and it did prevent me from becoming principal in that particular District or or anything else or superintendent in another District you know it did not move any further than that but I can see how it would fracture a relationship if there is not already a strong relationship prior to that particular written reprimand um I would not suggest that principles do that with their assistant principles I would suggest that there is a discussion happens first yeah um prior to a written reprimand because I don't think that you can come back from that especially when you have to work in tandem es especially in a turnaround situation there's too much that has to happen and there and and trust is is such a two-way street and when you break down trust and then you have to work together um it it's hard to regain trust and and as I've said said so many times that trust is is much more valuable than knowledge and skill you you can you can learn things I can teach you things but what I can't get back from you is trust and so um I would suggest a conversation I would suggest how can I help you get better at getting to the classrooms can I take some of the discipline for you can we divide this discipline between the two APS instead of you doing all of the discipline because your grade level is off the chain cuz that's what it was um before I do a written reprimand but it happened I moved past it he moved past it we're still friends today um and then you know and it made me better because it made me focus on my time management and then I was able to move throughout the school year um and as as an Adjunct professor today I would suggest to my future principles um that's not my first line of of of Correction I would talk to them I would offer assistance I would offer a line some other correction and then get to the point of reprimand but some people feel that I give people too many chances but you know that that last part you just said is is is so key relative to the audience the fam that is on here right now yeah because because at the end of the day unless you have the authority to move that person out of your building if if that person's pretty much married to that building for the year and therefore married to you yeah it's got to work one way or the other and yeah and I don't know that it's going to work through through through a reprimand in writing but but the conversation that you just talked about and and this thread is is loaded with that with the same comments I think that's so crucial now now this topic has nothing to do with anything that we're talking about no it doesn't I'm sorry no no no but no no it was relevant to your answer yes I don't mean it that way I don't mean it it's not relevant it was relevant to your response to the question and I felt the need to to to to Via left via right so that we could have that conversation too because I'm always thinking about who's who's who's on the other side of my camera and it's it's it's a lot of young administrators and and and folks could be somebody could be in a relationship right now I can't stand my assistant principal or that assistant princip I can't stand this principle right so so so I think they need to hear this in terms of how we move forward so yeah taking the risk of opening up the floor to Dr Roberto and Wortham to add their two cents we we we probably have to do a part two of our discussion today because we never got we still didn't get to the talking points but uh and I don't mind doing a part two I do them with people all the time that would be great does any body want to chime in on that you know I'll be I'll be brief um and I will just chime in I I think all of you have made some really valid points and also really appreciate the experiences that you've shared uh again I always go back to you know my own lived experience um I've been in uh in situations where I've been super thankful to have excellent Mentor principles as a vice principal uh you take the things that work uh from them and you build them into who you really are um and uh I think they're Lessons Learned things you wouldn't do and things you would do um but I always came out of my partner relationships as principal vice principal built on not only trust but it's ongoing communication and it's always about at some point that gradual release of responsibility I think I'm going to be doing this this is how I'm going to execute this right am I missing anything what do you think and always a debrief you know what do you think I could do differently what do you think I could do better but I also think it's incumbent upon you as a vice principal to also Advocate and what I mean by that and and to be assertive um in your own learning Continuum so what do you actually need right and you really have to look inward to look at your strengths and your areas of growth the only way you can do that is get feedback timely and rapid and I'm going to tell you honest feedback because it's no there's no ego in this if you want to improve in your work right it is all about separating the person from the profession right it's not about oh you know I'm really down now because versus right how am I G to get better at this because the end of the day I got to stand on my own two feet and so um those have been my lessons learned and things that I've imparted um both as Mentor mentee um I can currently say in our discrict we have we've built two really strong foundational aspects of our work and that is you got to know your administrators you got to know your school profiles and you got to know their strengths their needs and and it's really important is to who you match them with it is a skill set right sometimes you Outsource right and you complement one another uh but the only way you can do that is if my superintendents are in those schools and they're able to know who their principles and vice principles are and understand their needs and their strengths because you also have to grow them so where do they go next and and I think that that's an important aspect of our work and we are very committed to them in creating conditions for them to learn with each other family of schools meetings once a month they have principal vice principal networks um those are important aspects of the work um we have or have opened system committees that are open to all principles and vice principles so it's all about creating conditions and opportunities and we have a very strong Mentor mentee um program whereby it's not your even though you're in your school with your principal who is your Mentor um 247 right we also pair cross District um and that gives a VP an opportunity to build a relationship with someone else um and to be vulnerable and be able to have other conversations with another caring administrator so we build and Elevate the capacity of the mentors not only in their schools so what is the role the principal and vice principal how do we create conditions for them but then also how do we create Mentor mentee programs for our principls and vice principles because we need to have great principles who are mentoring upand cominging Vice principles into these roles and we need to have Vice principles who know what it's like and what it feels like because one day they're going to be a rentor and so that is our philosophy and our approach to our work you you know that that's powerful stuff um and and and we we all script and and but we still relevant and and I want to stay off script for a second I know that there's like three questions on the on the table right now but let me let me throw another one at you because you said something it triggered something else um what from from from the vantage point of the superintendent what happens when you know that there's like like a school it could be just a principal at AP it could be a principal in multiple APS what happens when you know that there's friction between a principal and an AP under your watch at what point do you step in if ever anybody can jump in on that one or do you just let it work itself out are you behind the scenes working with the principal what talk to us you know there is friction and you must model that you must intercede because if you don't it's going to fester and it's going to grow and then before you know it you'll wonder why teachers are at odds and why students are at odds because the environment from the top is toxic it doesn't smell good it doesn't feel good and so you the when when I said the 42080 four visits to the classroom by the principal by the assistant principls as well then that really does uh increase the visibility and and the articulation and the love because that's what it's all about building that that that repertoire of goodness wholeness in your building I will tell you that as a superintendent I since 2008 yeah since 2008 I did a morning message that means that every morning I would broadcast at least for two minutes that seems like a little bit of time but that's a long time two minutes and I would give the entire District secretaries custodians everybody had to log on and give them that spiritual vitamin if you will help to change the attitude something might have happened at home but you pressed your way to come to school hurt people hurt people and so it's not an i me my mind it's we us together and we've got to cultivate that all the time when I left as superintendent a parent of a prek child said I'm going to miss Dr Wortham because she made us happy happy every morning when are we making people happy when are we sharing the joy so when there is a disconnect and for any listeners out there the disconnect I gave it a name two people I called one French and one fry and everybody knew about French fry hey stop it let's bring this thing together because we cannot soar if we cannot seal and sit together and let some of this stuff just go away it's got to happen love is the key lavish and usually when people are at odds it's because they don't know the work and the wealth they don't know the work and they don't know their wealth so it's up to us to help them to know the work and to breed the wealth know the work and breed the wealth you know so much more that that that that I know we could talk about because three of us on three of you four of us on here but I'm looking at the time and I definitely don't want to monopolize your day I um as if if you've watched this platform before then the people who are regulars on here know that I over plan all 231 sessions um I'm I'm I'm I'm you know like I'm putting these things together on the air on the airplane on the hotel room and and I'm getting excited getting excited then I forget but I did ask him for talking points and I never get you know so then I I wind up bringing guests back on because it's so late I don't want to open up that can of worms with the talking points let me just give you this last question and then and then when we're offline if we could nail down a date today if not then we'll do it later and then we'll come back and we'll just pick up from where we leave off because we go we getting ready to go on two hours in a second right so let me no we're there we're there so uh let me let me ask you this I want to stay along the same line of thinking uh we can go around to all three of us here um and I appreciate all these comments that you all are giv because because people uh people people loving this conversation but y' y'all ain't heard nothing yet because you didn't hear the talking point so uh so definitely when I give the date y'all gotta come back now listen same line of thinking you got an aspiring principle aspiring administrator I should say goes to grad school and and and wants to be an administrator and and and then they may read some books or or maybe part of this family on Saturday mornings and other things that they do go to conferences plns institutes lectures the whole nine of professional learning and then ultimately they interview and land a position now we we all know and I don't I I wouldn't know this about your districts because we didn't have the conversation but we know that there are also these these these Pipelines that an aspiring leader may go through before they're hired so the district has a better grasp of who this individual is because of this training that we did Beyond grad school so so so my question to you is this from the vantage point of the of the superintendent again because that's who we got on the screen um what are your thoughts in terms of ideally what that transition should be from grad school to being an administrator in my district is it just going to grad school interviewing well and getting the position or do you take the wheel and now there's some other things that you do that that that are going to be done before we feel comfortable in offering you POS a position I want to give you one of two ways to answer that question you don't have to answer it personally as I as I as I say to most of my guests but I failed to say it to you you can answer it as a consultant and just give what you feel is the answer uh or you can answer it personally in terms of what it is that you do that's your choice I'm not g to call on anybody whoever wants to jump in here go first I'll go first um I think the best way uh principal C is to have a pipeline built within your system grad school teaches you idealistically I teach it every week idealistically and we use your texts right idealistically this is what it should look like but what it really looks like is something totally different and so in order for people to truly be ready as doc says doc you know Dr Deborah says truly be ready to see the children the parents the teachers the situations the the the crying the the Fallout the the everything that happens in real life I believe that every District should have a formalized I mean we have informal right pipeline whether you are in on a small leadership team a team leader um a um Future Leaders um team that meets with the principles the assistant principles to review data so that you learn how to do that so that you are assigned to duty station so that you can analyze discipline so that you can watch and monitor help the assistant principles know what to do um in the case of an absence of someone all of those things are important skills that we can teach people before they get into the seat I did not know what to do as a superintendent until I got the contract and signed it and and showed up on July 1 nobody told me what to do until I got there if there were a pipeline that would have shown me what to do before I got there when I got there I would have known oh this is how I start right so I think that we're doing ourselves a disservice by just doing grad school a great interview you sign the contract you get there and then you're learning as you go my suggest question just and and it's based on the everything that I've seen over the last 28 years is that we have a formalized pipeline teaching people what to do how to do what our expectations are what it looks like in real life matching it to what idealistically we're teaching them in grad school so that when they get into the seat they hit it and they are hitting it running and we don't have to stop to say okay this is what you learned but this is real life they know what to do and they can do it well and our children are better for it I love it anybody else want to jump in I'll just quickly jump in I think it's incumbent upon a school district to create a a program or a pathway um for us to build leaders um that is one of my responsibilities as a CEO of the organization and so I think a really important aspect and the way you build this program or this pathway is by leveraging the administrators that you have in the system uh because they become the face to those programs they become the connection to those people and the more Pathways you create the better opportunities you have for a district I don't believe um that it is necessarily you go from here to here uh and there has to be like Steps in between I think that there are opportunities um within systems within schools that create leadership Pathways for the individuals um to grow in and I think like I said we got to nurture the programming um not only before you step into the role right we can you know in in my district I have a a profile that they have to build to look at evidence of impact in a variety of areas from accountability to instructional uh programming to building relationships but it's not about just those markers it's about what are you doing to grow your leadership um at all times and and that's my responsibility just because you're in the role of superintendent or a director doesn't mean that your Leadership Learning stops um and I think that that's a really important piece that you have to take and look at within your District to say what are we offering what is our leadership mandate or our policy or our Outlook what are our programs that we're offering for everyone um and it's not just about becoming a vice principal and principal there are lots of other leadership roles and lots of other folks that we have to elevate again in the district to be leaders in their own right you know so I guess I can just before you go doc I wanna I want to throw something at you with that um your I want your response to that the question on the table but let's let's look at Heidi and and and and merge that in she said she said aspiring AP here going up against others who have experienc as an AP is tough I have many experiences as part of the campus leadership team but when it comes to hiring an AP people would rather hire the experience AP how do I go up against that so so your response that you were gonna give but can you infuse Heidi into it sure you know this is amazing because I was just going to lift up one word and that is systems systems how can you um how can an AP get experience if you never give them the opportunity and so you you have to have systems I I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna probably leave it I'm pretty much right there but the systems for Learning and I made it no a shame that in every District that I took over I had a mentor and because it was a requirement of the state that you have a mentor regardless of how many years you brought to the table to that state and so I would say as a superintendent we have to have systems in place for Learning and I learned that from a teacher and the teacher said we always provide um uh workshops so that we can benefit that so that the children can benefit when do we focus on us and so we turned the tide and we said let's focus on learning for everybody and when you level the playing field and everyone becomes a learner a learner including the superintendent then we can inhale and exhale systems must be in place when I took over that District that had been taken over by the state for 12 years the only District in the state the the uh super the chancellor gave me a book or and said read this and that was growth mindset and he said one other thing create systems so when we create systems then there's no fragmentation people or practices don't fall through the cracks create a system for learning for everyone love it love it love it you know hiy I'm I'm G say this to you as well Heidi Matthews sometime this may not be your situation but I'm just going to throw it out there for you and everybody else is on here that's got interviews coming up at some point this year um for for for years many years more years than I can recall I was getting inboxes and emails from people who had interviews approaching and they were looking for advice from me so these were people I don't know just strangers from All Over America and I'm literally responding to people um upwards of seven different people a day seven days a week it was it was just so much and I'm responding I'm responding and I'm never hearing back from them and and I got to a point where I said enough of this I said let me just put the information out there so I made these two 45 minute videos on uh and they're on YouTube on the channel for this platform um AP and new principles Academy there's a playlist there but these two videos in particular thoughts to consider for the assistant principal job interview what I found based on the information I got from all these folks that watch the video it's uh it's got like 65,000 views or something like that and the folks were saying that they they interviewed for years I mean that this this like the common sentiment they interviewed for years but could not get hired they watched the videos that I recorded and they say now they got multiple job offers right so what that said to me was they didn't know how to interview now my hope is always as I always say that they didn't just interview well but then ineffective on the job right we want you to go in there and we want you to be not not not good when you get started because you're learning but going there that folks know that there's a wealth of potential in you so I'm saying that to you uh Heidi to say go to the AP and new principal Academy YouTube channel scroll down to the playlist and look for that those two videos thoughts to consider for the assistant principal job interview and maybe you're interviewing and you're you're not responding to the questions the way that the interviewer will want you to respond I don't give you the the answers to the questions because I don't know the questions what I tell you is how to go in there and get the job and apparently there there very few places you know I travel extensively as a presenter there it's a it's a it's a it's a rare day that I'm in a room and there's not somebody in that room that comes up to me and says thank you sir principal C I'm in this position because of your video it's a rare I don't care what state I'm in in this country it's a rare day that someone doesn't come up to me and thank me because they because they're attributing they having the position to those videos then of course I got the principal video which I did live on this platform so that's there as well same scenario right so uh just want you to know that that's out there now as far as the four of us we uh we'll talk offline and and and come up with another date because we got with your talking points we got like another two hours of content right so uh we got we got to do a part two but I do want to do the rapid fire right now that's important so let's um let's go to our rapid fire which I call my bam impact questions um all I need is a one sentence or one word answer let me let me put this on the screen to make my point Derek said I'm one of those people thank you principal C see and that's that's what that's that's that's that's what it is man it's uh and I'm and I'm proud of them videos I got to tell you matter of fact y'all y'all stay on for a second I'm talking about the fam now let me let me holl at you for a second I I I I got preach this to you real quick I'm keep I'm going give you the short version I have those videos out there and there are people in my world in my Orbit who question why I would put that kind of free content out there they're out there those those people have been in my ear but I also have as I post as I as I put on the screen a little while ago today the nine hours of content on becoming a professional speaker you better best believe I got people in my ears on that one because that's that's th those contents can generate Millions for me I didn't say a million I said millions for me right those $100,000 weekends right um and then I got the the the five hours of videos for the though that person who wants to write the bestselling book not write the book but the bestselling book all that stuff's on YouTube for free it's people in both ears like CFE are you losing it as you're getting older why are you giving this stuff away and my question my response y'all will be able to relate to this I said because you don't know my relation to my maker you don't understand that so to you I'm doing something ridiculous but to me I'm getting blessed beyond anything that I could have ever imagined so so I'm good with that I'm I ain't because I I'll start preaching so I'm saying I'm saying to somebody out there yes make your money but I'm also saying don't let every like like those of you that that like talk to people like you like you got certain advice don't the only time you gonna give something is when they give you a paycheck cuz God watching you if you got something let it be times in your year that you just give it because it will come back right I don't respect people that the only time they talk to people is when there's a paycheck attached to it I can't respect that then when then you're a walking business when when does your Humanity come out right there's got to be a human side of you that just I want to help you to become better at this thing that you're chasing right now right so that's that's where I come in there's a lot of I shouldn't be saying this publicly because some of the clients might not like this but there's some places I go man it's like CFE could you come on and do this and that yeah I'll be there uh how much how much does we got to pay you I I said I'm going to be there right I'll be there that's it so you know so you gotta have that side of you too enough said ain't got nothing to do with nothing let's let's go I sometimes you just got to squeeze in some things man little little commercial on people right so um let's go Dr Wortham number one is education on the right path for undeserved children I believe that education is on the right path for undeserved children because I believe that our children must receive the best and I believe that the best is yet to come that was two sentences you're good can true Equity occur in America schools for black brown and other underserved students yes does Dr Deborah wortham's work contribute to the progress we desperately need absolutely if you could do a reset on your life would your line of work be different or the same it would be the same on steroids why do you continue to do this work at 75 I can't give up can't give up what fires you up within the work that you do knowing that I am true to a commitment that I made at a as a teenager to be the best that you can be which means developing others that fires me up every day and what do you love about the work you do I love the smiles on the faces of the young people and the adults that say thank you Dr Roberto what what do you dislike about the work you do did you answer if you did you're you're muted you're muted that's what it is I'm muted I apologize no no no problem uh I want to pause on that one I gotta think about that one think about it okay no problem um what has been your greatest victory in your work thus far building a strong leadership team what was your greatest mistake in your work thus far that might be one of them ones you want to think about too there may be a [Laughter] few I think I I I think just in general I think um um making sure that uh you always have the pulse of of what's happening in your district and respond with um respond in a very proactive manner and I think that you got to remind yourself about that um you can't be at the bequest of of of um pressures when you don't have all your facts um to be able to deliver and I think that's an important part of uh you're getting along they rapid fire rapid fire I know all right here we go what has been your greatest challenge in this work my greatest yeah that's right good my my greatest challenge in this work um improving student achievement are you proud of your first year and I never asked you this question so I hope it's relevant are you proud of your first year as an assistant principal as an assistant principal yeah that's like almost 20 years ago you know you remember you remember yeah I am proud yeah are you proud of your first year as a principal 100 per. who inspires you in your work uh my family very good Dr Vincent um what do you reading right now it could be a book but it could be an article blog tweet anything I am reading I'll come back to that because I uh taste a taste for more it's a book that we're reading in our sorority oh okay do me a favor y I got I gotta scream at my son real quick he's loud on okay go ahead scream oh he really meant scream all my son was on the phone too loud man all right okay we go um where we where we at where we at okay what Cas for more it's a book for a book club for my sorority oh that's AKA right no I'm Delta my sister's AKA it's okay it's all the same what I just did well we love your sister too my I said hello I will she's on here I'm sure she'll chime in until I said skiwi I will I'll deliver the message what book what book would you recommend for our viewers this afternoon Dr um so the book that I use for my class is is my school a better school because I lead it I love it I love it I'm blessed what what do you want to accomplish that you haven't accomplished yet the completion of my book um eight ways to survive the superintendency I think that it's going to be prolific for superintendant to know what it takes to survive and stay in the superintendent role for longer than two and a half years which is these country's average love it are you satisfied with where you are professionally right now in your life yes I am I'm retired and I'm Consulting and coaching and I am loving the freedom and the fun what could you say to a viewer out there who continues who continues to face closed doors keep knocking at the doors because one is going to be open for you and the one that opens for you is the one that is for you what could you say to a viewer out there who's lost their fire sometimes you have to relight your own fire it's not up to anybody else to light your fire it's yours if Dr Shannon Vincent was a word in a dictionary what would be your definition o that's a good one Relentless if uh where we at if Dr Deborah Wortham was a word in a dictionary what would be your definition determined if Dr Joanna Roberto was a word in dictionary what would be your definition actualize love it hey y'all this was uh this was this was powerful this was this was great stuff hey folks on the call you know how we applaud our guests those of you who are veterans we just give them our favorite emojis in whatever platform you're on so let let us know how you felt but before I bring my emoji out I gotta highlight y'all y'all went crazy when when Dr Wortham said her age uh she doesn't look let me just put this amaz y' yall was like y'all was like uh yeah yeah so are there's a few more in there somewhere because I seen them they they kept coming but let me yeah keep bring keep those emojis coming if if today's session resonated with you if you enjoyed it if you got something out of it if you if you found that there were things that could be implemented into what you want to what what you're doing um if it was just a good session just give us those emojis let them know that that's that's the way we applaud them so let them know that you enjoyed the time you spent with us this morning as I get my emoji I get my Louisville Slugger out here and and and and go to the plate and y'all hit Grand Slams every time you came to the plate four four runs batted in each time so you um you hit it out the park hit it right out of Yankee Stadium and uh I I I loved every minute of it so I appreciate you I appreciate appreciate you um our folks are Dr Roberto I'm not sure but I know that that uh Dr Vincent and Wortham are presenters and authors and all that good stuff so uh Dr Wortham how do they get in touch with you if they want to bring you through to work with the staff for a day or do a keyote or whatever it is they absolutely you can definitely go to my website and that is Dr Deborah elworth them.com y'all see that so one word word Dr Deborah elworth them.com right and she' I'm sure she'd love to come through convocation keynote keynote for PD or or full day workshop half day workshop full contract consultant whatever it is that's what she does right at 75 I'm only saying it because you put it out there right so that's what she does Dr Vincent does the same thing how do we get in touch with you and thank you for this hey with hey with John put it up there for us oh okay well you can reach me uh by email at Dr shannon1 15@gmail.com and my website is Dr Shannon CC uh wixsite.com all right so you see the spelling there Shannon and then uh so just go on and reach out to her and then you see uh Dr Wortham there and then uh Dr Roberto you doing any Consulting no I'm not not not this time under my contract but I do a lot of uh talks if you need them to be done you're happy to reach out I can do them virtually gra they're all Grace So joanna. Roberto Grand er.ca give us that one more time joanna. Roberto Grand er.ca good stuff and I should I should have also asked the three of you um as far as I don't I don't I don't know what your social media presence is that's why I didn't tag you on all these these um posts I wrote the other um on Thursday but uh how can they just follow you on social media uh we'll start with you Dr worther yeah you can follow me on uh LinkedIn and it's just my name Dr Deborah Wortham same thing on Facebook and Twitter Dr Dorth there you go there you go Dr Vincent I'm Shannon Vincent on Facebook and Dr Shannon Vincent on the I am there you go and uh Dr Roberto uh Dr Joanna Roberto at uh on Instagram there you go there you go so that's it folks uh any closing thoughts to the fam from from from either of you thank you so much for having us all right anybody else any closing thought I'll just say thank you so much for having us looking forward to part two and uh what I tell everybody keep leading keep leading thank than you so much for having us keep Rising keep Rising love it love it let me close out y'all stay on when I go off stay there and then we we we'll talk off mic real quick off camera hey folks uh he fam appreciate you being here um glad you're here every week um 231 um was another phenomenal session so next week we go to 232 I got this young lady you might know her Dr Wortham Dr asena bz is going to be my guest um a New Yorker and uh her topic I had I I pulled it up on my phone real quick and let me just let me just get it for you her topic is the impact of emotional efficacy on leadership Effectiveness I decided we go oneon-one uh the impact of emotional efficacy on leadership Effectiveness so that'll be Dr B she's an author of many books and uh and we'll be here at 1055 so plan to be with us folks next Saturday 10 o'clock Facebook live Sean hurt followed by create and educate with Dr shica Houston and Dr Tammy Taylor at 10:30 Yours Truly myself at 10:55 that's super Saturday and then Sunday we rounded out with uh PDP podcast Josh Tovar and Dr Marty Moreno that'll be at uh 7 o'clock Eastern time my books you know what they are so make sure you go to Amazon and check them out but also be on the lookout for the new one which you can now pre-order at ASC what is my what is my value instructionally to the teachers I supervise make sure that you subscribe to the AP and new principles Academy YouTube channel hit that button and subscribe to it and then hit the notifications Bell so that you can be uh notified if you forget that we're live right off of YouTube uh like and follow the AP and new principl Academy Facebook page I'll have a commentary up tomorrow morning not later than 10:00 so make sure that you like and follow that page we got about 10,000 Plus on there now so let's see if we can increase that and then um visit the website principal ca.com and finally your diet make sure you eating right your exercise I'm G get out there y'all I I um I'm sleep deprived right now I flew to Vegas yesterday and flew back the same day that's that's Insanity right but uh I got homesick I just didn't want to be in Las Vegas I probably any other city I probably would have been content I don't love Vegas I don't know what it is but I just don't I don't love the Vegas Strip let me say that I don't I don't dislike Vegas but I don't love theas veg strip you know it's just a town of it's just a a street of tourist tourism and I just I said let me get up out of here and go home so I went home so here I am landed at 6:00 am and have only sleep I got was what I did on the plane and that's minimal but I'mma get outside and do me about two miles and then I'm G come in and chill so make sure that you're taking care of yourself making sure you get the exercise in and then those virus precautions y'all it's stuff out there y'all it's stuff out there I think I might I think I might go to the drugstore and get me a few shots give me a flu shot get me a CO shot get me a RSV shot I'm good on a pneumonia shot somebody and don't get on there talking about you don't need all that hey man when you fly as much as I do you you you want to safeguard yourself as much as you can because them people are coughing on them airplanes man they are sneezing on them airplanes and I'm G tell you something else about those folks on them planes they don't they don't believe in covering the M their mouths too much you know foret like like like i' be all like this they be like I'm like man you ain't serious are you right so you know so I gotta I gotta make sure that I take care of me man because it's it's some nasty people on the airplanes other than that y'all I appreciate you have a great week have an extraordinary week have your best week yet peace peace Thumbs Up Now that fist back all the way count three one two three bam I see y'all next Saturday man y'all have a phenomenal week