♪ ♪ ♪ >> Ken Hecht of the National STEM Honor Society and Emmanuel Eppie on the consequence of the absence of Black male schoolteachers, next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

♪ ♪ >> We're very pleased to welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles" Ken Hecht, the founder-director of the National STEM Honor Society -- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Welcome.

>> I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be here, Doctor.

It is a thrill.

So, thank you for having me.

>> So, Ken, I always begin our program -- I want our audience to know something about the background of the person that we are interviewing.

You're from Illinois originally.

>> That's right.

Right.

Chicago, the South Side.

I'm one of five kids.

My father is deceased, but a retired Chicago firefighter and carpenter.

So, it's a great background to be from.

It was a very great childhood.

>> So, what inspired you to go into engineering?

>> Well, I was always good at science and math.

This is before STEM, well before STEM.

And I was lucky enough to do pretty well in high school.

And I went to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, which so happened to be this incredible engineering school.

So, I fell into it.

So, one of the key things for me is to not have people just fall into it, but to have it be a purposeful plan, STEM, long-term education and career.

So, that's really what drives me.

>> So, as the leader of the National STEM Honor Society, your own career sort of embodies the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

>> Exactly.

That was the springboard that really got me going.

I always loved the subject matter of school, all the science and the math and that sort of thing.

But then when you really got into it and you started solving problems and looking at things, in my case, as an engineer, which is, "We have a problem.

We have to solve the problem."

And how do you go through that?

What is that process to solve the problem?

So, it was very exciting to me, and it's really something that I've really applied to every phase of my life.

>> And course to be interested in science develops way before you get to college.

There's an emphasis now on STEM in America because some studies have shown the United States is sort of lagging behind the rest of the world.

Talk to us about what's happening with STEM in America and in the world globally.

>> This is really what it's all about, is we want to get our kids, our students involved in STEM early on.

If you look at sports, in soccer, basketball, kids start early.

And that's how, when they get to high school and college, they're so good at what they're doing.

They're in basketball.

They're in baseball.

They're in football.

They're in soccer.

It's exactly the same.

So, we want to start really early, from K to career, and build that community -- that's really what it's all about -- so that those kids -- If we look at, for example, the United States women's soccer team, a couple of decades ago, there was probably two girls kicking a soccer ball, and now they're the gold medal winners.

What happened?

It moved all the way down.

And for a first-grade girl to not be able to be on a soccer team somewhere would be like, "Really?

No, of course she can."

So, that's really what we have to do with STEM and have that mentality that says, "You're in first grade.

You can be in STEM."

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course you can."

>> As you know, there's a considerable education gap, which leads to the wealth gap.

There are many gaps in our society.

But I want to know -- hear from you what has been done by the National STEM Honor Society to reach out to minority communities, to people-of-color communities?

And what has been some of the responsiveness?

>> We're very excited about that.

That's a major premise of what we're really all about.

It's really -- We have something that we call IDEA -- Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.

And it's one of our foundations.

So, what we're really trying to do is reach out to the communities.

As you've stated the problem, if the baseline here is this is the number of kids in STEM, here's the Black and brown and girls in STEM.

And so there's this gap that we have to bridge.

And a lot of that bridging is done by the focus and starting early and have it be very exciting for Black, brown, girls, LBGTQ+, et cetera.

So, really, that's really what it's all about, is inspiring.

And just think about the ramifications of not only if there's STEM education leading to STEM careers -- think about the individual, how that individual can really have an exciting, well-paying career, but if they can take that back to their community and have an impact on their community.

And then they can have an impact on the country because we have this gap.

And as you stated earlier, there's a big competitive gap internationally.

And until we tap all of our resources, we're going to fall behind because we need the Black, the brown, the girls, LGBTQ+ all to increase and get in the game so that we can really have an impact on our country.

It's a competitive world out there.

It's a global landscape we're competing in.

We're competing with every country, every day.

And so what we are looking for, what we're in the hunt for in a school system is to find what we call the STEM champions.

And the STEM champion is the teacher that's really excited about STEM -- a magnetic personality, someone who's really psyched for the kids -- because a lot of it has to do with project-based learning.

And that's where a lot of this excitement comes, this experiential learning that's combined with the book learning.

So, we're on the search all the time for the STEM champions, which is the equivalent of the basketball coach, the football coach, the soccer coach, right?

That kind of thing.

So, that's really an important component, is finding those people sometimes in the underserved communities.

There you can talk to the people at the schools and say, "Well, who's your STEM champion?"

They'll go, "You know, right now we just don't have one of those."

And that's where Thurgood Marshall comes in.

That's where the Boys Clubs, the Girls Clubs, the YMCA, you know, religious organizations, parents -- they can come in and help to be those chapter advisors for these chapters that don't have a natural STEM advisor.

>> I first heard about the National STEM Honor Society at the Thurgood Marshall Trust Center, and I know that you have a project that you're working on now for the public school system in Washington, D.C. Of all the school districts in America, why did you choose Washington, D.C., which has a very high percentage of students from African-American, Latino, and other communities of color?

>> Yes.

Well, we have a very strong partnership with the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust in D.C. And the late Dr. Lee was instrumental in coming up -- >> Dr. Rick Lee.

>> Dr. Rick Lee.

He was very instrumental in coming up with the vision that says, "Ken, I think what we want to do is we want to go big.

We want to see what we can do about getting National STEM Honor Society chapters in all 115 schools in the Washington, D.C., school system."

Here's a concept that's very important to understand, is that all school systems, public school systems, are a triangle.

They have less high schools, then they have more middle schools, and they have a lot more elementary schools.

And these are the feeders.

So, the elementary feeds middle, middle feeds high school, just like sports.

So what we need to do is go from K to career.

And what we want to do is get school clusters so that there's this natural feeder program, just like sports, where the kids start STEM in kindergarten and first grade, go to middle, go to high, go to college, go to careers.

So, that's incredibly important.

So, we are working now with the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust to identify corporate sponsors for the D.C. school systems, all 115 schools.

We're beginning to do communications with the school systems and with the mayor's office in D.C. And what we want to do is -- because we feel that there's going to be so much corporate donor demand because this is such a great idea, that we want to have a number of these corporate donors get involved in the D.C. school systems and then go across the country with the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust and the National STEM Honor Society to go to other cities -- Atlanta, Chicago, New York -- that have underserved populations and take the model that we're going to build -- We're building the airplane as we're going down the runway -- okay?

-- with the D.C. school system and Thurgood Marshall.

So, we're very excited to get corporate sponsors, get the school systems involved.

Thurgood Marshall involved, have it be a true collaboration.

>> As you know, there's a debate about science.

Some people believe in science.

Some people don't believe in science.

Climate change is one of the big debates.

As a structural engineer, as a scientist yourself, how do you respond to all of these notions that science is not something that decision makers should pay attention to?

>> Honestly, Doctor, I just don't understand it.

I come from such a science background that I really -- I believe in it.

And there's studies.

There's mathematical equations.

You know, we went to the moon using math on theory.

You know, we've sent things to Mars using science.

Like, the proof is in the pudding.

It works, right?

We literally have never been to Mars before.

Now we've got something on Mars.

And we did it all with math and science.

Never been done before.

So, that can be repeated over and over and over again.

So, from the environment point of view, one of the really key things that we're trying to do, three of the things that are required for a student in the National STEM Honor Society is a GPA, hours in STEM classroom -- >> What is the GPA requirement?

>> The GPA is a 3.0 out of 4, which is a B average.

>> That's a B average.

>> Right.

And that's in STEM classes only.

So, we want that kid to unleash their inner STEM.

That's what really we want to happen.

And then there's a certain number of hours which are very -- in STEM classes only.

But the third part is project-based learning hours.

GPA, STEM GPA, STEM classroom hours, and project-based learning hours.

And what we want is the kids to get into -- rather than just do an experiment, which is okay, we want them to focus on solving local, regional, national, and international problems, which is the kinds of things you're talking about -- global warming, all kinds of things that that relate to equity and access.

These kinds of things are really important.

So, when that fifth-grade child comes home for dinner, you say, "How was school today?"

"Well, we're working on solving global warming at school."

"Really?

What are you doing?"

"We're doing this project at the National STEM Honor Society, and we're working to solve it right here in our town, right here in our city."

So, we want it to really be looked at in a way as problem-based learning.

So, what everyone talks about is project-based learning.

Think of it in terms of problem-based learning, where you're actually solving problems and we get our young kids solving problems as early as kindergarten.

And these kids have way more brilliance than we give them credit for.

If you give them this chance at saying, "We have to solve this problem, what do you guys think?"

-- watch out of what comes out of those mouths and those brains.

>> Well, Ken Hecht, National STEM Honor Society, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you so much, Doctor.

It's been a thrill.

It's been a thrill.

♪ ♪ >> We welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles" Emmanuel Eppie from the H.D.

Woodson High School in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

Welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having me, Dr. Chavis.

>> Why is there such a shortage of Black male teachers in 2022?

>> I think opportunity, competitiveness, and just the overall knowledge of how Black males can be can be involved in the school system has just not necessarily been broadcasted as well as it probably can be.

A lot of Black males in America had poor experiences in schools, right?

So, if growing up school was a place of pain, why then would Black males want to go back to it to work for the rest of their life?

>> You say a place of pain rather than a place of getting knowledge, getting information, getting what you need to have a good life, education.

>> Exactly.

So many Black males growing up were suspended, have experienced bias-ness and rejection and were not taught in ways that fit our personality or our culture or who we are and how we learn.

And if school doesn't seem like a place where you can chase and achieve your dreams, then why go back there to work as an adult to feed your family?

>> Why did you decide to be a schoolteacher?

>> Oh, see, my journey started way back in high school when my mother was a science teacher, right?

So, my mother was a high school science teacher growing up in Truman High School in the Bronx.

And so we were a team, my mom and I growing up.

So I got to see education from that lens as well.

And so I was taught at home to persevere.

My mother always taught, "It doesn't matter what school you go to.

Only thing that matters is what you make of yourself, regardless of where you come from."

Now, that was a parent who adopted a philosophy that had to push her children to succeed, regardless of the hardships that we were dealing with.

She taught us, "You cannot dwell on it.

Just focus on what you need to do, and no matter what the challenge is, you can handle it."

And so I adopted that and I took that.

So, as I grew up, I consistently found myself with that mentality in spaces where I was mentoring younger people, whether it was on the basketball court and in sports, in different jobs I took, and then naturally in education.

I feel like this field chose me more than I chose it.

>> What are the consequences of not having more Black male teachers in public school systems across America?

>> That's a good question.

Growing up, I didn't have a Black male teacher ever.

>> What?

>> I never had a Black male teacher throughout.

>> Throughout your -- >> Throughout my entire school career, I never did.

I think when we don't have more Black male teachers, we lose our boys.

And we lose some of our girls.

We do -- because there's a role-model aspect that Black males present in the community, present as fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers.

And as a Black male teacher, you have students that see a me in all those aspects of things.

What we tend to do is we kind of -- we're kind of like the balm on some of these wounds and pains and trauma in our community, you know?

And if we're not there, that pain continues to linger.

You know, I had a student who opened up to me a few weeks ago, and I hugged this young man.

And in hugging him, you feel his body just melt, right?

We don't get that.

We don't get that.

And our boys need that.

And our girls need that, too, and need to see that, right?

So, as a community, we need more Black males in a classroom.

So, however school systems across the country can improve the statistics of 2% African-American males in a classroom, you know, whether it's by funding, whatever we have to do to increase these numbers, we need that because, again, I feel like we are kind of the balm in these communities that are hurting.

You know, Black communities are really hurting -- right?

-- across the board.

And that hurt is being categorized as so many other things, except for what it is -- pain.

Well, we see that.

>> So, how do the students react when they see they have a Black male science teacher?

>> [ Chuckles ] H.D.

Woodson has a large African-American staff base, and I think students feel safe.

They feel they have someone they can relate to, or rather that relates to them.

They feel empowered.

And as well, they start seeing what they can be through us.

You know, one of the reasons why I stayed a teacher was because when I started my career, I started as a football coach -- right?

-- in Baltimore County.

I started as a football coach.

And the students there asked me to become a teacher, right?

I said, "I'll think about it."

>> So, you started as a coach?

>> I started as a coach.

>> And it was students that encouraged you to go into classroom teaching?

>> Exactly.

Right.

>> That's an interesting turnaround.

>> Isn't it?

And after my first year of teaching, I had a young student who came to me.

I had turned 24.

He came to me, and he said -- as the school year was ending, he said, "I just want to thank you for being a teacher."

He said, "My brother is your age, and he has a hard life.

And so to see you here, you inspired me."

And he said it so timidly, right?

And then he walked off.

It impacted me so much.

I knew at that moment that my presence mattered even more than I thought it did.

And so I let that marinate in my heart and kept going.

>> How do you feel about this syndrome that is emerging in the United States where in some states and some local school boards are now banning books, including banning mathematical books?

>> In my opinion, I think states need to take some training on diversity and inclusion -- right?

-- which can simply be spelled out in one word as "acceptance," which I believe is just liking the next person a little bit more and accepting where they come from without perceiving it to be a threat to who you are.

We want to -- I think as a community, a global community, we want to utilize the creativity of all our populations.

And there are some populations -- the African-American population went through slavery, went through those moments.

And emotionally, it mattered to us.

And so I think to not talk about that or to ban it negatively impacts one segment of the population because that's a part of culture that we we respect and it's a part of culture that we need to be accepted, that this is what we went through, this is where we came from.

And I think as a collective body, it would benefit the entire nation as a whole, including the state of Florida.

>> There are myths and stereotypes about the eagerness of students from communities of color to want to learn.

As a high school student teacher, tell us what truth you have seen on this subject matter.

Do your students want to learn?

Are they eager to learn?

>> Absolutely.

My students love to learn.

They love to learn.

They want to learn.

But they do want to be taught according to who they are -- so, which is where it's on... >> Cultural sensitivity?

>> Exactly.

So, it's on the educator to learn to know your students.

You have to know your students.

You have to like your students.

And as an educator, it's not just about the subject.

It's not just -- If it was just about the subject, we could send them to Google, right?

They could just read it on Google.

Google doesn't have to talk to them.

But it's about the human being.

You know, we're trying to educate the human being, so that's the difference.

But my students love to learn.

They're eager to learn.

You know, we're Woodson Warriors in D.C., right?

And they're warriors.

They overcome a lot.

They overcome a lot.

We have a lot of students who've gained tremendous amount of acceptance and scholarships into various colleges.

So, every day we highlight someone else, a new senior who reached a milestone.

You know, we have so much talent in our building.

And our students are scholars.

They have great GPAs.

Of course, in any school, you're going to have some who don't have it, some who who do, but 9 times out of 10, I believe the issue is not so much of if the student is not willing to learn.

It's external matters that are affecting that child.

And I say that, and I emphasize "child" because, end of the day, as adults, we always have to remember we're dealing with children, right?

You're 15, 16.

Your frontal lobes are developing.

Some of them trip over their own feet.

They're going through puberty, right?

And so they are children.

And if we can just look at each child as, "This could be my child," how would you treat your child?

If you're a good parent, love on that child, and I guarantee you will see the child -- the child love in that child come out.

'Cause it's right there.

>> Well, I'm sure your mother is very proud of you as a science teacher herself.

She now has an experienced, successful science teacher as a son.

Emmanuel Eppie, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having me.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

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