(gentle music) - [Becky] It's back to school in Tennessee, and to welcome us is the Tennessee Commissioner of Education, Lizzette Reynolds.

Students from across Tennessee have great questions, and they're ready to get to know their commissioner better.

During her tenure over the last few years, the Tennessee Department of Education has implemented strong literacy and learning acceleration policies, leading to historic academic gains thanks to the hard work of districts, administrators, and families.

Additionally, Commissioner Reynolds has overseen the department's continuous efforts to ensure that all students have access to high-quality post-secondary credentials of value, so students are prepared to achieve future success through strong academic and workforce readiness opportunities.

A native Texan, Lizzette Reynolds previously served as the Vice President of Policy for the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

She has also served as deputy legislative director for then Governor George W. Bush and numerous government positions at the federal level.

It's also important to remember at this back-to-school moment that at one time the commissioner was a student just like you.

- What is one piece of advice you would give to new students starting the school year?

- Gosh, just go in and have fun.

This is about you learning new things.

Don't be afraid at the end of the day.

That's the one thing that you don't want to do.

(gentle music) - Commissioner Reynolds, thank you so much for taking this time to be with us and welcoming families back to school.

- Absolutely.

It's exciting.

- It is exciting.

I love the first day of school.

- Okay, tell me about that.

I know we've already had the first day of school , and we're after that, you know, Labor Day holiday.

What are you most excited about this year?

(Commissioner Reynolds exhales deeply) - Well, I thought you were gonna ask me about my first day of school, but I think I'm most excited about just all the great work that's happening all across the state of Tennessee.

I mean, kids are really building out their foundational knowledge, and we're seeing gains in reading and math, and I'm just really excited to see the work continue amongst all our school districts here in the state.

- Well, I'm excited about that, and I'm glad you mentioned that I should ask you about your first day of school.

Because what I love about this show is we've had a chance to travel through our PBS stations across Tennessee, and you know there are six total located all the way from east to west, and they have been talking with students across the state, who have questions for you.

And one of them I think that I would like to ask is, what would third grade Lizzette think about who you are today and what you're doing?

- Wow.

So third grade Lizzette was really focused on ensuring that I had the ability already at that age, 'cause I was the oldest, and, you know, we're always ambitious.

But that somehow I was gonna embark upon a career that I'd be able to take care of my family.

And so, you know, really focused on really reading and math.

I loved to read, I loved math.

It was my desire to think about what professions I could do, but at the end of the day, I really wanted to be an astronaut.

And so I wrote all these letters to NASA, and I would get all these cool pictures of the moon, and so I thought, "You know, this'll be a great way for me to really get to a place that I can be successful."

So, you know, it was, it's always humbling when you're in elementary school.

I was always kind of the kid that was on the outside a little bit.

But what I would think of myself today would be like, "What were you thinking doing education policy and now becoming commissioner of the great state of Tennessee?"

But you know, it's been great.

So I think she'd be proud of me.

- I think she would be really proud of you, and we're proud of you, so thank you for being here.

- Thank you.

- Okay, so what was your first day of school like?

- I mean, it was just always exciting because, you know, you got new clothes, and especially in like middle school, you know, I'd read "Seventeen Magazine" and figure out what we could afford, the one or two pieces, so that I could be cool.

But unfortunately I grew up in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and it's hot.

And so of course all the magazines were fall clothes, and so you couldn't really wear those sweaters on your first day of school.

So, you know, I just did what I could.

- I love it.

Okay, so we're gonna start in Middle Tennessee.

We're gonna ask one of our students located in the Upper Cumberland.

- My name is Celia, and I'm nine years old, and I'm from Cookville.

And my question is, what was your favorite subject when you were little?

- So, I loved math.

I really did.

It was my favorite subject.

I don't really know why.

I think because you had to think about things differently as opposed to just, you know, reading.

Because reading was just so natural for me.

I just, you know, it's what I did 24/7.

But math, it challenged me, and I really appreciated the challenges.

So yeah, it was math.

- Awesome.

Let's go to West Tennessee, where we have another student from the Memphis area.

- Hi, my name is Amira, and I'm from Memphis.

I have a question.

What makes you smile when you think about Tennessee students?

- Well, you're smiling now.

- I love that smile.

You know, I mean, I just looked at her, and she made me smile.

You know, kids are just so important to everything and to the future of our state and our country.

And so seeing kids in the classroom, learning with the support of their teachers, knowing that the futures are just gonna be opened up for them is what makes me smile.

But it also makes me happy to see when kids are really engaging in whatever that teacher is teaching them and then taking it to whatever next level they wanna take it to, so.

- I love that.

All right, let's go to East Tennessee.

We'll go across the state there.

- Hi, my name is Ali, and what I'd like to know is what the department's goals are for career and technical education.

- So I'm really glad you asked that question.

We're really excited about the work that we're doing to really support students and their futures, and that includes building that academic foundation so that they can do whatever it is they wanna do after they graduate from high school.

And so we're kind of focusing on what we call the four pillars.

So the first one is credentials of value.

So we're really trying to identify what are the credentials that students can attain during high school and beyond high school that are gonna lead them to a job that is gonna pay them well and is gonna sustain them and their families for the rest of their lives.

But along that line, we've gotta think about what should high school look like and then what are the transitions beyond high school?

How do we better support kids so that when they identify what that is that they wanna do, that not only are we giving them the coursework that they need to embark upon, but how is that gonna translate into whatever post-secondary path they wanna do?

Do they wanna go to college?

A two-year, a four-year technical college?

Do they wanna just go into career and do an apprenticeship or work under a master technician of some sort?

Or do they wanna enlist in the military?

The military has so many options that students can embark upon.

They give them not only the opportunity to do a post-secondary education but also to learn the skills and knowledge they need to attain so that they can find a really great job.

That also then comes with the individual advising, right?

We need to better support our counselors at the local level and our parents and our students to understand what courses they need to take in order to achieve what it is they wanna achieve.

So, you know, say you decide, you know, at 12 years old, I wanna be a nurse.

That's what I wanna do.

I wanna be a nurse right now.

So you go and you get on the Career and Technical Education Path, program a study that says, "Okay, you gotta take a phlebotomy class."

And you go in there and you draw blood, and guess what?

Blood's not your- - Thing, right?

- Piece of cake, right?

But that doesn't mean that you have to exit the health professions.

There are so many other opportunities within the health industry that you can continue to serve, because, for me, that means that you wanna serve people.

So what are the other opportunities there?

And then work-based learning.

Obviously, I think we were talking earlier about, you know, what it is that kids can attain while they're in high school in a work setting so that then they can translate that into whatever future skills they might need.

So we have work-based learning partners all across the state, and we have champions.

And in some cases, given the communities, it could be your local Dairy Queen.

And so yes, we wanna give you that experience to be able to ring up and order something, but we also want you to be able to understand what is inventory.

How do you check off what it is that the store needs in order to be able to have the right amount of inventory in order to feed whoever comes into the Dairy Queen?

Or how do you create a schedule of who needs to work and when.

So really thinking about all those other opportunities because maybe the goal is to then be a franchisee owner, right?

So really just really thinking differently about what work-based learning is so that those skills are translatable to whatever that future you want it to be.

- I love that.

And I love the fact that there is a really great two-path sort of system, so that's fantastic.

Now we're gonna bounce over, I believe in our Chattanooga area, one of our stations there.

- Hi, I'm Laurel from Chattanooga.

What is your favorite part about visiting schools?

- My favorite part of visiting schools is not only seeing the kids, obviously, and the students at work, but it is talking to the teachers and the administrators and really being able to understand what it is that they need from the Department of Education.

What are the resources, what are the supports that they need, and how do we better understand what those needs are?

We are a service agency, and we are there to serve not only our students but also our teachers and administrators.

And so it's always great to be able to take the time to be able to sit down with them and understand what it is that they want the department to do to better serve their kids.

- That's great.

So going back over towards West Tennessee, in Martin, Jackson, Lexington area, we have, I believe, Jacob.

- Hi, my name is Jacob, I'm from Jackson, and my question is, what are you doing for the dual enrollment programs in the state?

- Great.

So we work very closely with our partners at the Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in really thinking through what are the best opportunities for students when it comes to dual enrollment.

So I can't just say, "Well, we've got ideas," because it's really a collaborative effort.

TBR already offers a number of dual enrollment opportunities for students all across the state to be able to attend community college and attend some of these, and some of the TCATs, and get those credits that they need before they even go into a post-secondary institution.

So there's so many different variations of dual enrollment, and I think as a community of educators, we are all coming together to figure out what those look like for students all across the state.

- That's great.

So right here in Nashville, let's hear from a student.

- All right.

- Hi, my name is Kylie.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee.

And Commissioner, my question is, what would you say to a student who is having a hard day?

- That's a great question.

Look, we all have hard days.

All you can do is just keep your head high and continue working on whatever it is that makes you happy.

You're gonna have to deal with whatever it is in front of you, but at the end of the day, you get to go home, and you get to do what it is that makes you feel better.

And so focus on that and persevere.

And guess what?

Tomorrow's a new day.

- I love that.

So, you know, I think, Commissioner, something that always makes me feel better when I'm having a bad day is getting outside or just enjoying being with friends.

We have a student that has a particular question about maybe when you were in school.

- Hi, my name's Olivia, and I live in Nashville, Tennessee.

A question I have for you, Commissioner, is what type of games did you play at recess?

- Games?

We played a lot of tag and hide-and-seek.

We did run around a lot during recess.

And I think the other thing that I really love to do, I don't think there are anymore, are those, you know, where you would hold on and kind of spin in a circle.

What were those called?

- Oh, right.

It was like a little merry-go-round thing.

- Yes, yes.

- But you held on to a bar.

- You held on, and you would run and run and run on the side of it, and then you would jump on and hold on for dear life.

- I think there's a reason why those aren't around anymore, right?

- It is.

- I loved the monkey bars.

I would do monkey bars.

- Oh, yeah.

- I loved that.

And the jungle gym.

There's always all those apparatuses to have fun.

- Absolutely.

- Let's go back to East Tennessee.

Hi, my name is Faxton from Knoxville, and what I would like to know is, what did you do when you were nervous before a test?

- Nervous before a test.

- You know, I'm always nervous before any test, whatever that is.

Whether it's, you know, testifying in front of a committee or they're all tests.

We have tests every day in our lives.

So what do you do?

You just brush it off and remember, this is about you being able to answer what it is that you know.

Try not to think of the pressures.

There aren't any pressures.

This is about you being able to understand what it is you know, and then when you find out what it is you don't, then you get to learn more.

And that's the best thing about being a human being, is being able to continue to learn.

Sometimes us adults think about tests as such a bad thing.

And so we kind of, not intentionally, but we create that tension, and then kids feel it, right?

- Yeah.

- It's just a test.

It's just a test of your knowledge.

All we're trying to do is help you so that you can know more so that you can be even more successful than you already are.

- I love it.

That's excellent.

All right, let's go over to Upper Cumberland area for a student from Sparta.

- Hi, I'm from Sparta.

How is Tennessee integrating new technology into classrooms?

- Well, that's a really interesting question because technology's pretty much integrated in all of our day-to-day.

But I think what we're seeing now is that some schools are starting to think differently about how they use technology.

And there was a time, I think, where technology was almost taking over the classroom.

Our teachers are some of the best experts that we have out there.

And so you want them to be able to impart their knowledge to you without having to go through a screen or through a computer program.

And so I think we're starting to think differently about how to utilize technology more as a tool rather than as a replacement.

So yes, it's integrated in so many ways, but I think our schools are starting to think, how can it more enhance learning and teaching as opposed to substituting?

And so I think we're moving more towards that direction, and again, the best teacher is gonna know how to do both.

- Commissioner, we're gonna go back to Memphis.

We have a great question that I think you're gonna love.

- Hi, my name is Dominic, and I'm from Memphis.

What superpower will help you with your job?

- Well, my superpower, I believe, is not something that I, personally, it's not coming out of me, but it's my ability to have a great team.

I can say with a lot of confidence that the folks that work at the Tennessee Department of Education are some of the best professionals I've ever met.

Our leadership team, they understand Tennessee schools, they believe in our schools, and they have the best relationships all across the state.

So it really is the ability to be able to identify people that are public servants that wanna serve their communities, wanna serve their state, wanna serve their country, and wanna serve the world.

And for me, they are my superpower.

- Commissioner, that brings up a great point about your team, but also just our state.

We're gonna go to Jacoby in Jackson for a really good question.

- Okay.

- Hi, I'm Jacoby from Jackson, and I was wondering how voucher programs will work within the school systems?

- That's a great question.

So this past legislative session, the General Assembly passed the EFS bill, Education Freedom Scholarship Bill, and the whole point is to allow parents to have the opportunity to find the best learning environment for their students.

- You know, let's go to Nashville again, and we've got another great question from one of our students.

- Hi, my name is Kylie.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee.

And, Commissioner, my question is, what makes a really great school?

- Wow.

Well, what makes a really great school?

A great principal, great teachers, and great kids and families.

At the end of the day, you want to feel welcome when you walk in that door.

That is gonna make all the difference in the world as a student.

And that is what's gonna make your school better.

And it matters for teachers too that they feel like they have the ability to teach the curriculum and the standards the way they would like to teach it with the support of their principal.

It's top-down and bottom-up.

- Yeah.

And, you know, I think you do a great job, and your team really does a great job of that, of just making everyone feel loved and respected.

And I love that analogy, that the minute you walk in the door, you should feel that, right?

- Yeah, absolutely.

- You know, here's a great question from our friends over in East Tennessee, again, in the Chattanooga area.

- Hi, I am Kimber from Chattanooga.

And what is one thing you hope that every kid in Tennessee can learn before they graduate high school?

- One thing?

Gosh.

I would say the one thing every kid should know is when to never quit.

How to keep going.

Like, really think about everything that's in front of you, all the coursework that you're faced with, all the subjects that you have to take.

And it's okay not to know everything at first because that's part of the learning process.

So just don't quit.

Don't ever quit.

Know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's gonna be tough, and you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to study hard, and you're gonna have to really think about things, and you're gonna have to be able to do things that you never thought you could do.

And you may not get it right the first time, but that doesn't mean you're never gonna get it right.

So just learn how not to quit.

- That's great.

That's great.

So, Commissioner, again, from our friends over in Chattanooga.

- Hi, I'm Mateo from Chattanooga.

If you could add one new and exciting club or activity to every school in Tennessee, what would it be, and why?

- A new club.

- I have one for you.

- What?

- Policy making.

- Oh gosh, yeah.

- Or aren't you a policy maker?

- It would be fun.

I mean, it's kind of, it's kind of like an offshoot of debate, I guess you could almost say.

Except you're not having to actually debate, but it allows you to kind of research topics that you really.

Like, if you think about something that's part of life, how did it become a part of life?

There was a policy behind it.

So when you think about policies around, say, career and technical education, well, how did we get to that place?

How do we transform what career and technical education used to be back in the day when I was a student to where it is today, where it's giving tremendous opportunities to students all across this country.

There was a policy behind it.

And there was ideas to improve it so that it became applicable in a way that could transform lives.

So yeah, that'd be kind of fun because there's research, there's reading, there's writing, and then there's just a lot of thinking and how you can make things happen.

And that's what policy is.

- Tell me, you really, in Texas, you were instrumental in some really important educational policy.

What are you most proud of in that arena?

- You know, I would say the work that we did around college and career readiness.

So, you know, there was a big trend at one point to really build college and career readiness standards.

So really looking at our academic standards, the stuff that kids need to know at each grade level, what teachers felt they should know, but then we really tied them to how do we get kids ready for whatever it is they wanna do after high school.

So there is a real connection now between what you're being taught in the classroom and how you prepare for life in a post-secondary world.

And so we did a lot of work, and I used to like to say that we did it before college and career readiness was cool.

It really kind of started the conversations, and particularly around the career readiness space.

Like, what are those knowledge and skills too that you need to know to be career ready?

Because at the end of the day, you gotta take those academics somewhere.

I'm really proud of that work and the ability then to then utilize those so that parents can know, through our assessment and accountability system, how well students have learned them.

- I love that.

This is the beginning of the school year, and a lot of parents and kids, we're so grateful to all these students who have asked questions.

What message do you wanna send out to families and schools and especially the students?

- You are in a time right now where the world is your oyster, and you're gonna be able to figure out what it is that you wanna do at the end of the day with all this learning.

Remember, we have some of the best schools in the country and the best teachers in this country, and they're gonna teach you things that are gonna help you be who you wanna be at the end of the day.

So, you know, I know sometimes it gets a little boring or whatever, or you get a little frustrated, but that's life.

This is a little microcosm of life, and you're in a smaller bubble.

And just take your time.

Just know that at the end of the day, this is gonna be the most valuable time that you've ever been able to experience because then you're a grownup, and it all changes from there.

(Becky laughs) - Thank you, Commissioner.

- You're welcome.

- Thank you.

(uplifting music) (gentle music) (bright music)