>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

[PHONE RINGING] >> Speaker : Thank you for calling Backfield in Motion.

May I help you?

>> Barrington: Hello, my name is Barrington.

I'm with a program called Roadtrip Nation.

>> Robin: They're sending myself and two other educators across the country.

We just wanted to conduct interviews with professionals.

>> Katerra: We're doing dynamic things in the student success space.

>> Speaker: I'm here for it.

>> Speaker : By all means, count me in.

>> Barrington: That's two, baby!

That's two.

[SOUND] >> Barrington: The day's finally here.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: I landed in New Mexico safe and sound.

>> Robin: It's over 100 degrees here, a little different than life in Alaska.

[MUSIC] >> Robin: Hello.

>> Barrington: [LAUGH] Here we are.

Gang's all here, hello.

>> Robin: Hi, hello, hello, hello, >> Barrington: Roadtrip Nation, we in New Mexico.

>> Robin: We are ready to go.

>> Barrington: We're taking a road trip from New Mexico all the way down to DC.

>> Katerra: Three educators from three different walks of life.

>> Robin: Throughout this journey, we are interviewing folks in education, trying to discover the meaning of expanding student success.

>> Barrington: I'm trying to understand what it takes to succeed for students.

What does it take to be an impactful leader?

>> Katerra: It goes beyond academics, it goes beyond numbers.

What can we do to make sure we're looking at the whole person in all aspects, not just a child?

[MUSIC] >> Robin: My goodness, hello home.

>> Barrington: This is home for the next what, 19 days?

>> Robin: 19.

>> Barrington: Woo!

All right.

>> Robin: We're really gonna do it.

>> Katerra: Like this is for real now.

>> Robin: Really gonna do it.

>> Katerra: This is for real for real.

>> Barrington: You ready?

>> Katerra: Let's go.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: I'm like- >> Robin: I'm going to unpack from here because- >> Barrington: Not a big unpack on the first day?

>> Robin: You've got to.

>> Barrington: I like to let it marinade for a day.

>> Robin: You've got to.

>> Barrington: My name is Barrington Moore.

I'm originally from LA.

I'm a teacher at Crete Academy.

Crete Academy is located in the heart of the Crenshaw District.

It's a school that makes sure that students' basic needs are met.

Make sure students are fed, make sure students have clean clothes.

All right, so it's the end of the year.

Next part of the journey is Roadtrip Nation.

It's a really beautiful opportunity to kinda give back and do the work where you grew up at.

The last thing for me to take down is my student work wall.

Try to be a pillar in the community, but I see myself doing more.

I know that I wanna make a bigger impact than just the 24 kids that are kind of in my classroom throughout the year.

[MUSIC] >> Robin: I have my Golden Girls blanket.

I think I told y'all I'm obsessed with the Golden Girls, right?

>> Katerra: So I'm Katerra Billy, born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens.

I'm an educator living in New Orleans.

This is going to be my fourth year there.

I work at KIPP East Academy in New Orleans.

Low income, underserved, we have a large special education population.

That's where I work, they are brilliant, they are are amazing.

I come from a family of educators, I fought it tooth and nail.

You couldn't tell me that I wasn't gonna be the next Mariah Carey, or entertainment lawyer, that's what I wanted to do.

Like I said, it wasn't my first choice.

And while I'm great at it, while I love it, there's still more, cuz I do feel like I should have had more by this age.

I should have did this, I should have did that, or if I had this opportunity, I would have did that.

How can I give back, but still give back in a way that fuels me too?

All right, I'm all moved in.

>> Robin: Also Baby Simpson came.

>> Barrington: [LAUGH] >> Katerra: Look at that.

>>Robin: I know, so cute!

>> Robin: I am Robin Lockwood.

I live and work in Wasilla, and I teach math and digital media at Wasilla High School.

I grew up in Ester, Alaska, which is a tiny town outside of Fairbanks, and I've really lived in Alaska my entire life.

I am in a program with the University of Alaska Southeast specifically for Alaskan educators.

I feel called that this is what I'm supposed to be, but it's scary.

I mean, I am not even 30, yet I feel like I should be a principal.

>> Speaker: Submitting her final assignment.

Woot woot!

Yay!

[APPLAUSE] >> Robin: I truly want to move mountains.

It's just hard to have gone through an ed leadership program and be back in a classroom.

Did the checkmark thing, and now I don't know what to do with this next piece.

And yeah, it's scary not to know.

[MUSIC] >> Speaker: Ready for an adventure?

>> Barrington: I'm ready for an adventure.

>> Speaker: All right, you're about to have one.

>> Robin: [LAUGH] >> Barrington: We took a hot air balloon ride, the most soothing, serene opportunity to really just reflect on this road trip and this experience that was gonna happen.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: Who would have thought there would be so many dogs barking?

>> Robin: I know.

>> Barrington: [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> Robin: We saw the beautiful mountains and the sunshine.

And by the time we ended our hot air balloon journey, we were in the middle of the desert.

That's a pretty good metaphor, what's happening in education is academics on one side, and we have the other side of our emotional growth.

>> Katerra: It goes beyond academics, it goes beyond numbers.

>> Barrington: Just making sure students' basic needs are covered.

>> Robin: We know kids aren't going to learn if they're hungry or uncomfortable for whatever reason.

As a future leader, I am committed to finding that perfect balance so that the whole child is cared for.

>> Katerra: I'm looking forward to speaking to the leaders.

What development do we have as adults or as teachers, educators to share with these kids?

>> Barrington: Through some of these interviews, I hope to be a person that takes something that's like, no, we can expand this, this could be bigger.

To be a part of a curriculum that supports your identity, seeing what type of ownership comes when you give students actual voice.

That's something I'm looking forward to learning.

>> Katerra: Then we came tumbling down [LAUGH].

>> Barrington: We had such a thrill ride of a landing.

>> Speaker: Stay in the basket, sir.

>> Barrington: I'm over here getting cuts and scrapes and bruises.

Katerra got twigs in her hair.

Shout out to the exoskeleton because ain't no way.

Every summer you're due for one great story, and I have mine to tell at my summer PD now.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: So we're on the way to interview Dr Karen Sanchez Griego.

>> Robin: She's a Latino woman working in the Navajo Nation, and so being of one culture, and then working with another culture.

I want to know what that's like.

>> Barrington: What work needed to be done to even know that you are fully supporting that population, right?

>> Katerra: I feel like this could be an interview that lasts all day, literally.

>> Karen: So we're on the school grounds, but we're in a hogan.

One of the things that we started like five, six years ago when we came to was really talking to the kids about space and place.

I'll tell you that one of the things that some of the kids said is, these don't look like the spaces that we're used to seeing.

We hired a Navajo company.

And actually all the wood and everything that's in here, they wanted to make sure that whatever was placed in the hogan, everything in here had come from the community.

The wood, the vigas, everything comes from the space and place where they live.

And so you bring that outdoor space into their living space.

And we just said, this is gonna be a classroom.

And a space that anybody can utilize that gives the kids a sense to say my space at school looks like my space at my grandma's.

>> Robin: So thanks so much for having us.

We are three educators traveling across the nation trying to discover the meaning of expanding student success.

Instead of just academics, how are we servicing all of their needs?

So as we interview you, that is at the back of our minds.

We would love to hear your story and how you ended up literally in front of us right now.

>> Karen: I remember I was working at the federal building.

So one day, we used to have an hour for lunch, and I used to walk down to the local Catholic church and I'd go to noon mass.

And there's a school right there that's right next to the church.

I come out and I'm kinda looking and I'm standing in the parking lot and I'm looking over the fence at the elementary and middle school.

And some man says, excuse me, ma'am.

He said, are you a teacher?

I said, no, no, no, no, I'm panicking.

And he's like, well, do you wanna be a teacher?

I did not think of that as a pathway.

Anyways, it ended up working out.

I went over and taught there, I taught English.

I just loved it.

I went into a program called ALAS, which is the National Association of Latino Superintendents.

Just learned a lot about what it was to be leaders of color in communities, any community, right?

And be able to talk about diverse situations, no matter where you were, no matter what race you were.

And then a friend of mine who's from Cuba said, you gotta go out and help Cuba.

They're doing some work on high school redesign.

What is going on?

They had a 62% dropout rate, 62%.

And the majority of the dropouts were boys.

Boys of color, mostly Navajo boys, Hispanic boys, and they would just kick them out.

They used the policies in the state to just kick them out.

You're out ten days, you're out.

They didn't find out if their parents were dealing with kidney disease.

They didn't do any of that.

I just started kinda maybe same as you guys, thinking, how come nobody advocates for these kids?

We just said, we need to break the system down.

We're gonna have an outdoor class.

We're gonna give you paid internships.

That's what we do, $15 an hour, based on anybody that works in our state.

And people were like, well, how can they do that?

And I said, we're gonna allocate it in our budget.

And again, having a good board that was like, are you ready to blow it up?

>> Barrington: [LAUGH] >> Karen: Let's blow it up, right?

And let's do the right thing by kids.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: The students literally had say so in how the school was getting remodeled.

These capstone projects, projects that students really get involved with that are community-based, like the greenhouse.

>> Levi: Lettuces, a lot of greens.

These are big things cuz kids love salads, it goes quick.

>> Katerra: Really?

>> Levi: Yes, they will choose a salad over just about anything.

>> Katerra: [LAUGH] I wish those were my kids.

>> Barrington: What changes do students really wanna see?

Those are the types of things that I wanna bring back with that moment.

>> Karen: All of the research shows that if you take care of all these other things, they're gonna do much better.

And if they see themselves in their teachers, in the communities that they live in, in whatever it is, then guess what?

The data shows that they do much better on the academic performance, regardless of how you do it.

>> Robin: So as you are just talking, so many things are popping in my head.

It feels daunting and huge seeing what you've accomplished.

>> Karen: But it's not me, if I can just start with that.

You come with this core set of values, and even I can see it in you guys.

You have this set of what you wanna see done for kids.

And you feel like, as the leader, I can do this.

Whether it's in my classroom with my 36 kids or my 160 for the year, or I'm gonna do it, whatever, and your will to do that, you're set to do that.

That's why you're called.

I wanted to give each of you, I used to give these to my teachers and others, they're little hearts.

And I collect them from around, cuz I really feel like teachers and educators and those that work in schools are the heart of what goes on.

So I wanted to give you guys each one.

>>Barrington: Oh, my goodness.

Can I call dibs on green?

>> Katerra: Oh my, go ahead.

>> Karen: Those are for you to remember not only Cuba, but your journey as educators and your journey as teachers.

And I'm excited for you, and I hope one day I'm gonna be able to come and sit with you guys at your schools or at your whatevers and say, >> Karen: Rah rah!

I don't even think about it.

I just think, you know what, it's their time, and we all need to be nurtured.

>> Karen: It's beautiful.

[MUSIC] >> Barrington: That's the one.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

>> Katerra: She's the superintendent, and she's very humble in that this is not all her.

Having a leader like that who's willing to hear you and say okay, how do we make this happen?

>> Robin: She is out there, she is doing the work, and she is part of that.

Everybody is an equal and everybody's working towards this.

>> Barrington: Also just the amount of student voice that was really acknowledged.

From the remodeling of the school, to what they want in the curriculum, I think that when we talk about student voices, that's what we want.

>> Katerra: It is.

>> Robin: Yeah.

[MUSIC] >> Katerra: I was able to spend some time on Black Wall Street in Greenwood District.

Being in places like that, it's beautiful, but it's also heavy, A huge African American population existed and thrived.

People weren't okay with that, and they did the ultimate hate crime.

wiped them out, and still there is no justice for that.

>> Barrington: This is where things used to be.

This is Dreamwood theater.

Having such economic success that leads to power, that leads to sustainability in their own communities.

It has literally physically been taken away from that community of people.

This small strip of financial wealth raised such a problem that people had to literally destroy it, that's wild.

>> Katerra: But the artwork and the way that they're trying to preserve things, I feel is beautiful.

And they're still fighting the good fight to get justice.

>> Robin: It was amazing to see Black Wall Street.

Only knew about it in a podcast that quickly was listened to.

And so to hear and listen and learn from Katerra and Barrington and what this means for them, and then therefore their students, because they work with a population that reflects them.

This road trip has opened my eyes to a whole different history.

>> Katerra: The fact that people are learning about it is the first step.

>> Barrington: Hello.

[MUSIC] >> Robin: It's amazing to expand your horizons as somebody who's lived in Alaska pretty much my whole life.

I actually grew up in a cabin for the first few years of my life without running water.

Can't even imagine having kids in diapers with no running water.

Or having an outhouse, that that's where you use the restroom.

[LAUGH] Something that I'm trying to grapple with is Ryan, my husband, has a internship at the hospital, he got placed at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, which is the town next to where I grew up.

And I am feeling like it's a silent push that maybe we need to move back.

Maybe we need to be where I grew up.

But I think there's also a lot of hurt from being in school there.

Sorry.

[MUSIC] >> Robin: When I was growing up, just thought that I, I think, was an odd duck.

And I still am an odd duck, but I have learned to love that about myself, right?

And so it was hard going through school.

I have a smile on my face every morning when I walk in because I love my job.

But I didn't have a smile every day in high school.

All teachers do this because we have some sort of calling, and my my calling stems from not wanting that for kids.

But also knowing that I need to be in a space that I can handle, pushing myself and being confident in who I am, enough that I'm ready to take that on.

[MUSIC] >> Linette: [SOUND] Everyone put your hands together, place your feet in front of you, and let's do our breathing techniques.

You breathe in, [SOUND] and out, in [SOUND] out.

[SOUND] I feel you and I believe we are ready.

[Speaking Comanche] Ms. Linette, I am a [Speaking Comanche] Pre-K [Speaking Comanche] Comanche Academy.

[MUSIC] >> Dava: Culture is our identity.

Having access to their language and culture and having it in a way that they get to be proud of it.

We focus on the child first.

They're the driving factor in all of our decision-making here.

>> Barrington: So what sound does this make?

>> Katerra: [Speaking Comanche] >> Crystal: [Speaking Comanche] >> Crystal: Yeah, and then you would say your name.

>> Crystal: [Speaking Comanche] Crystal, my name is Crystal.

So, I'm the language education assistant I have parents and grandparents that come up and they say, kids are coming home and they're speaking so much.

And there's some things, we don't even know what they're saying.

>> Barrington: [LAUGH] >> Crystal: And I have to ask them, wait, what is that?

>> Robin: Yeah.

>> Crystal: And I think that brings the families a lot of pride to hear the language again, because a lot of us especially for my generation, we heard our grandparents speaking Comanche as we were growing up.

Our kids now, they don't have that, their grandparents aren't speaking the language.

So a lot of people are loving the language revitalization that's happening here.

>> Barrington: Being at your school, which is a small school, but you can feel how mighty it is, and it reminds me very much of my school.

In South Central, we're in the heart of the Crenshaw District, and there's so much going on that these kids have.

It's a lot of trauma, but I want my students to feel that same type of affirmation.

And it comes from the adults like us being on the ground, figuring out what it takes to teach this whole child because they deserve to be taught in every single aspect of their being.

What impact are you trying to get out of the curriculums you really value?

>> Linette: I'm gonna teach the state standards, right?

But first, I'm thinking about our culture.

How can I integrate our state standards into the culture, right?

Teaching culturally responsive.

>> Barrington: Right.

>> Linette: That's huge, every little person that walks, every little learner that walks through our door is living, breathing curriculum.

You can learn from them, and I think it begins in your classroom, right?

If we could get anything across to any teacher, talking circles are imperative.

You listening and not judging and letting them talk.

After we took that 30 minutes, because that's how long it took, we went back and had the most productive day, because they got it out.

They were heard, right?

It wasn't like, no, we don't have time for that, let's move on.

No, first, let's take care of you and what's going on inside of you, because then I'm gonna get the best of you.

And you're gonna get the best of me, cuz we are connected, right?

And that's teaching culturally responsive.

It doesn't have to do with anything with your skin color or where you come from.

That is teaching culturally responsive.

This is why breathing, when you start it, it not only empties their mind, but it also empties yours, right?

And you leave whatever you brought in out there.

Anybody can do that, whoo, just breathing lets go of everything.

>> Robin: I grew up without running water in a tiny two-room cabin.

Went away for college, but then was just called back to Alaska.

And the school that I teach at Wasilla High School on the lands of the Dena'ina Athabascan people, but I am not.

I am a white person teaching these students, and as I move into a leadership role, just understanding my place as someone who's lived in Alaska, but- >> Linette: Can I put something back on you?

>> Robin: Yeah.

>> Linette: Just because you don't have any Native blood in you, you said you are white.

That doesn't mean you can't lead our people.

It might be rough at first, but as long as you don't ever forget what it felt like to not have running water, that's something that's gonna tie you and connect them.

Cuz you didn't have something, right?

That's what keeps us humble.

And guess what?

It came full circle for you, right?

>> Robin: Yeah.

>> Linette: I bet you never could imagine you're gonna be back there being principal, right?

>> Robin: Right, right.

>> Linette: And now all of a sudden, you find your feet there and you're like, what am I doing here?

You second guess yourself, right?

Instead of trusting the process, and truly being connected with your journey, this is my journey.

I am living my journey.

I don't care what anybody else says.

That's what I teach our babies.

Who cares?

Live your life and you live you.

[MUSIC] >> Robin: Something that has always been said to me is, okay, you're gonna be a great leader when you can have thicker skin, or when this doesn't get to you as much, or when you're no longer so empathetic with every situation.

And what I heard from Linette Steele, it's okay, and that's a gift that you have.

Why would you want someone in the public education space who's just a robot?

>> Linette: There's doubt right now, but you shouldn't.

You shouldn't doubt it for an inkling.

You are just connected to them as they are to you.

[MUSIC] >> Linette: That's your purpose.

>> Barrington: Seeing the parallels between Comanche Academy and being on Black Wall Street, learning about the real history of one student does not take away from another student's background or another student's community.

Having identity pushed at the forefront of these curriculum that are supporting Native American identity, we do this for the success of all children.

>> Linette: [Speaking Comanche] >> Barrington: That's great.

>> Linette: Yay!

[Speaking Comanche] >> Barrington: Picture this, it's three people on this RV, it's me, Katerra, and it's Robin.

We are all on this pathway out here where we're becoming more confident in our abilities to become our future selves.

And I'm just so excited to see what we got during the next half of our trip.

>> Katerra: We all came on this journey to really see what our next steps was.

Going on this road trip allows me to sit back and look like, okay, well, there's still many, many avenues for me to continue to explore, and it's okay.

>> Robin: It has just been great to hear and realize that if we wanna, quote unquote, fix the system, I don't know if that's really.

I mean, that's what I want to do, right?

I actually want to fix the system.

There's no quote unquote, I have to be part of the collaboration to make sure that every kid gets what they deserve.

[MUSIC] >>Barrington: We're taking a road >>Katera: three educators from three different walks of life.

>>Robin: We are interviewing folks in education, trying to discover the meaning of expanding students success.

>>Katerra: Going on this journey has invigorated me.

>>Barrington: It's amazing how many people have seen my potential throughout this trip.

>>Robin: I need to be in a headspace that I believe that change is possible and I heard that >>Speaker: you are more powerful than you realize.

And they need somebody brave.

Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com