>>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.

[MUSIC] >> Carli: I'm going on a road trip in a big green RV with two other teachers.

>> Brandon: From Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, basically all states.

On the exact opposite side of the country I've been on my entire life.

>> Darlene: The theme of our road trip is family and community engagement.

>> Carli: We're gonna be interviewing teachers, and parents, people that work in schools or with schools.

>> Brandon: So those that can really give us at least a different perspective on how we can connect families, communities, and the classroom we're trying to have students learn in.

>> Darlene: I personally think that education starts at home.

Teachers talk about certain things in the classroom, but parents sometimes, they don't know what to say or how to follow up and reinforce these things at home.

So what are schools and teachers doing to kind of fill them in?

>> Carli: I am looking forward to meeting people that have really good community involvement in their schools.

Just the knowledge that everyone is gonna have from their different experiences.

I'm so excited to hear about how they got to where they are, and why they chose to get into education and work with students.

I'm ready to get on the road.

[MUSIC] >> Brandon: All right, Billings, Montana, I made it, long travel, finally made it to Roadtrip Nation.

My name is Brandon McKay-Davis, I am a eighth grade reading teacher.

I am from PG County, Maryland, and I've been teaching there for about six years now.

>> Darlene: [LAUGH] Brandon!

>> Brandon: [CROSSTALK] >> Darlene: My goodness.

My name is Darlene.

I am a first grade teacher in Boston Public Schools.

I am a mother of two.

>> Brandon: Get your bags in, get your bags in.

>> Darlene: You do not wanna carry mine- >> Brandon: Take this small one.

>> Darlene: It is heavy.

>> Carli: [LAUGH] My name is Carli Jarrett, I am from Lancaster, Wisconsin.

And I've been teaching high school math for one year.

>> Brandon: Video games, we've got water.

Do you need water?

>> Carli: You brought your switch?

>> Brandon: Of course, of course.

>> Carli: This is such a new experience that I'm just so excited and I have so much energy.

I just feel ready, but I also, I don't want it to go by too fast.

[MUSIC] >> Brandon: [SOUND] Okay, so I packed and I realized I might need an extra bag just for shoes, [LAUGH].

Darlene, I'm sorry.

>> Darlene: For?

>> Brandon: For judging your shoe intake.

>> Darlene: We're counting shoes?

>> Brandon: I have eight pairs.

>> Darlene: One, two, three.

>> Brandon: I need variety for walking around, camping, being fancy for no reason.

>> Darlene: I have ten.

>> Brandon: You have ten?

>> Darlene: Yes.

>> Carli: I brought five.

>> Brandon: Okay, you win, all right?

You win, you got it.

>> Darlene: I'm the champion.

>> Brandon: You know what, we're just gonna close this, and we're just gonna hide that away.

Shh!, don't tell nobody.

>> Darlene: I feel like the three of us, our personalities, are like the perfect mix.

>> Carli: [LAUGH] First try.

>> Brandon: We're gonna have a lot of fun [MUSIC] >> Carli: Our road trip is family and community engagement themed, which I am super excited for.

Since I'm teaching in my home town, I know most of the kids.

I actually have my sister in my homeroom.

I try and make a bond with all of my students, just knowing what their interests are.

I wanna connect with them on some level that is outside of school.

We have a smaller town, a smaller community, so parents are pretty involved especially at a young age.

As the students get older, I feel they're like, well, they can make decisions on their own, they're gonna be in college or adults soon.

So I wish there were a little more parent involvement, just cuz they're in high school, and they're gonna be adults soon, and I still wanna stay in touch.

So lots of different things I can learn on this trip, like how I can get community members more involved, as well as just figuring out how we can keep the communication going with parents through high school.

Don't stop at the elementary level, but keep it going to the secondary level.

We're all on the same team, and we all want the same thing, so just keeping that open line of communication with parents.

[MUSIC] >> Carli: Today, we are talking to Debra Smith, who is the superintendent of the Fort Washakie School.

>> Brandon: I'm curious about her being in a position of power, what hurdles she might have overcome in trying to get equitable, respectable, or commonplace customs around the school system.

>> Carli: My name is Carli.

I am from Lancaster, Wisconsin, and I teach high school math.

I teach my sister, my cousins, it's a very tight-knit community, which I love.

That's why I wanted to stay in my hometown.

And so, I'm excited to learn more about how I can get the community involved in my hometown.

>> Darlene: I'm interested in listening more about your role and the roles of others in making it an engaging school for families and students.

>> Debra: Well, I come from a big family.

My mom's side, there's 13 in her family.

And so, growing up we'd have family gatherings at my grandparent's house, which is just up the road.

And so, I have over 50 first cousins.

>> Carli: I love.

>> Debra: Which to me they're my brothers and sisters, they're not cousins.

And so, we're very tight-knit.

And I think that helps me in my role here, because there's kids that come here, they're either Shoshone, they're Arapaho, they're other tribes, they're non-Indians, they're mixed like myself, and they're all kids.

Everybody can learn, everybody can succeed, we just have to figure out a way to get them engaged.

What I try and do as a superintendent is, I try to use my interpersonal relations skills with the families.

I try and go to every event that we have, open houses, parent-teacher conferences.

I come to the ball games, I helped coach cross-country, I coach basketball.

And It's a good way to get to know kids if you're a teacher, and it's fun.

So when I became the superintendent, a lot of the older kids were like, that's just Deb.

That's Miss Deb, and stuff, instead of Superintendent Smith.

So it's kinda nice.

>> Darlene: I'm thinking about my school, and what we do to kind of engage families and bring our families in through events and stuff.

Can you name a couple of events or activities that you host or have at the school for families, for teachers, for students?

>> Debra: Definitely, one thing we started when we have new staff members come is they take a tour of the rez.

And so, we have new teachers orientation day, where they have mentors.

And then, they come, and then they get on the bus, and then they go and just learn about where our kids come from, and the different bus routes, and things like that.

Where the store is, where the post office is, where the tribal offices are, where IHS is, so that they can have some sort of connection with the kids.

And then, I also want our teachers to make more home visits.

Even if it's just a quick, hi, how are you doing?

It doesn't have to be, your kid did this, or, and I want more celebrations.

Have them contacting when their kids are doing something, cuz I enjoy that as a parent, getting that phone call, or a little video clip.

So we wanna do more things like that.

When I make decisions or thinking about things is what would I want for myself, for my kids.

And I view all of these kids as being a part of my kid.

>> Brandon: We all say as educators, we care about community, we go back to community, we work for the children.

But you definitely are for the community, you work for these children, and their needs, and the families of these children's needs.

And I commend you, and thank you for that, cuz it's definitely apparent.

>> Carli: All the community members and the students are just so lucky that they have this.

>> Debra: You're gonna make me cry.

>> Carli: I know, we're all gonna cry.

>> Brandon: You're awesome.

>> Debra: Thanks.

Well, our community is awesome.

>> Carli: Yes, yes.

Great.

>> Brandon: And humble.

>> Darlene: Hearing Deb speak on her trajectory, on her journey, and like where she is today as a superintendent.

She's not a superior, she's basically on their level and she listens.

>> Brandon: She was honestly not what I expected.

Being a superintendent, it was important for me to talk to her to show that even if you don't plan for a certain role in your life, if it's presented to you and you are meant to fill it, you should.

I think I'm more open now to taking that journey and not fighting the flow of where it goes.

[MUSIC] [CHEWBACCA GROWL] >> Darlene: [LAUGH] >> Brandon: I'd say middle school, I started thinking about my next step, what I wanna do as an adult.

I wanna be an artist.

I love cartoons and anime and stories so I became an art major and then graphic design major.

I realized that's not me I was like what do you love?

You love stories.

I realized I could be a teacher to help kids who love stories as well and use that love to help them succeed in English class and reading classes.

So I went back to Puget Community College, got my associates in secondary education, so middle school and higher, and then I transferred to Bowie State University, where I graduated with my bachelor's degree in secondary education and a minor in English.

And I got my master's in culturally responsive teacher leadership, which is a focus for me because in my teaching years, I learned that kids like to be seen and they wanna be known, they wanna feel like someone cares.

And this master's, I think, focuses on that.

But I'm in a space of uncertainty, what is that next step?

Will I be a vice principal?

Will I be a community outreach coordinator?

I'm not sure where my skills would be best utilized.

I'm not sure where I would be able to shine the brightest to shine upon others.

In Colorado, we got to interview and speak with Jimmy Day II.

He teaches middle school orchestra and band.

>> Jimmy: I teach at East Middle School in Aurora, Colorado, sixth through eighth grade, and I am the current 2023 Colorado Teacher of the Year.

>> [APPLAUSE] >> Brandon: Congratulations again on that.

So would you mind telling us more about yourself, sir?

>> Jimmy: Yes, yes, just finished my 14th year of teaching.

I never planned on being a teacher.

I was a musician.

I played in band.

I loved it.

It was a hobby.

It kept me out of trouble.

It kept me off the streets.

It kept me busy.

And that's about as far as I took it.

I didn't really start wanting to be a teacher until my fourth year in college where I changed my major to music, just to music, because the other two majors weren't working out.

First I came in as an architect major, then for some reason I became a fashion merchandising major and my mother would always tell me just be a music major, this is what you're good at, and I was like no, I've been doing it since high school and I wanna do some different.

Not realizing though that is your lane, and so I eventually made my way to being a music major, just a music major.

But it wasn't until we did a practicum where I would go to different schools and observe the music students and stuff and we would have to do that for our music education class.

One day I went into some middle school band room, I think that's why I'm hooked to middle school and it was this trombone player.

Band director who was a percussionist, he was like, hey, I have tried everything.

Can you help me out with this student because we're just having some issues.

I'm trying everything.

I can't figure it out.

I said, well, I'll work with him.

And come to find out, he wrote everything wrong.

Something that little.

And once we got that, and he started playing and you just start seeing the excitement in his face, he was so happy like, man I could do it now, I could do it now.

I think that moment did something to me cuz it was like I helped this kid.

I was able to give him some advice and it made me feel good for the rest of the day.

And ever since then just kind of like okay, I know what I'm doing now.

I found my purpose, I found my passion now it's just time for me to do what I need to get done, and so I can get out there in the field and teach.

>> Carli: Going off of that, the community members, maybe family members, are they super supportive of the band and they're making sure they're doing everything to help out?

>> Jimmy: Yeah, the parents are supportive.

I will say at this point in my career, I might have had a little more than I've had starting out.

And maybe that's just one of them things that just comes with time.

And I will try my best to build relationships with them.

Like right now technology has gotten us so much.

So it's so many ways communicate with them now.

So we have this platform called Talking Points and I'm always sending messages on there and always thanking them for allowing their kids to perform.

I'm always sending pictures or a little YouTube cuz I put all our performances on YouTube.

So I send the YouTube link.

And so I do that to try to keep them involved because, I mean, I have your child and sometimes I have your child for numerous amount of hours.

So at least you need to know what they're doing.

>> Darlene: Absolutely.

>> Jimmy: And they was always told the only way you're gonna get buy in from the kid you gotta make sure you hook the parent cuz I remember how supportive my mom was when I was in a band in middle school in high school.

I want my parents to be the same way but try to make sure I open that window of communication with them and just really build relationships.

And so I think that has brought a lot of success.

They thank me for really just investing in their child and teaching them a skill.

So I get a lot of praise from the parents.

I'm nothing without them, and I make sure I tell them that.

>> Carli: Do you have any last piece of advice as we move forward on this trip, meeting other educators, or just as an educator in general?

>> Jimmy: It's simple, and this is my motto, just roll up your sleeves and do the work.

I mean, we're all in a struggle, and the only thing you can do is just roll up your sleeves and just do the work.

The other thing is, write something to yourself to just have a constant reminder of why you're doing what you're doing.

I have that on my wall in my office.

So anytime I have a really low day and I about had it, I just have to read it.

So you just kind of, okay Jimmy, get over it.

Okay, it's a bad day, yeah, it's a bad day at the office, but look at how many lives you've touched today.

>> Brandon: He was very authentic and you can really see why he makes an impact in his classroom.

Seeing him get to where he is and then get the accolades he's received kind of made me feel more at ease knowing that I didn't get to where I am quickly, but where I am is important and maybe even I can achieve a level of impact that he has now attained.

[MUSIC] >> Brandon: At the Dinosaur National Monument Park, we had met a young boy, maybe 10, at the oldest 12, named Bobby, who I also asked about why is it important for families and parents to be involved in school.

>> Bobby: Because it's important for children's parents to know what their children are learning in school.

>> Brandon: This man is very smart.

>> Bobby's Mom: [LAUGH] >> Brandon: Listen to him, listen to him.

Thank you guys very much.

I know you're enjoying your day.

The way you said it so matter-of-factly and just confidently is like the kids are aware.

The children know, from 18 to 10, they know that having a parent or an adult involved in your life does wonders compared to otherwise.

It was really fun to see kids again teaching me something outside of classroom setting kinda reminding me like, yeah, kids will tell you anything and you'll learn a lot from them as they can learn from you.

So it was a nice little field trip.

[MUSIC] >> Darlene: My name is Darlene.

I am a first-grade teacher in Boston Public Schools.

I am a mother of two.

Baby.

I grew up in a single-parent household.

My mom made such a big emphasis on the importance of family and support.

So that's where I got the idea of family is the backbone of life.

So I grew up in the town I teach in, Jamaica Plain in Boston.

I started as a sub and the first sub job I got was at the school that I went to.

I immediately found, this is it, this is my passion and this is where I wanna be.

My goal for the trip is to learn and grow and get as much out of experiences that I can.

[MUSIC] >> Brandon: We spoke with Travis Allred, who had been teaching and then stepped away to work with a non-profit, Envision Utah.

>> Travis: Hello!

>> Darlene: [LAUGH] >> Travis: Come on in!

>> Darlene: Hi, Travis.

>> Travis: Nice to meet you.

>> Darlene: I'm Darlene.

>> Travis: Darlene.

When I first got hired onto the role, I hadn't been exposed to brain building basics.

The first one that I had ever read was about changing diapers with your baby.

And I had a four month old at the time, it was five years ago.

For the first four months of Madeline's life, I had been changing her diapers in silence, as many a dad across this country might.

The brain building tip said, when you're changing your baby's diaper, see if you can make her giggle or coo, and then try and get her to giggle or coo back at you.

That was it.

It was this beautiful paradigm shift that I had, and I thought, my gosh, if I can do brain building here, where else can I do brain building?

And it's not designed to be anything complicated.

When we think about brain building, a lot of parents think, I have to be on my hands and knees, I have to be down on the floor, it has to be some grand thing with expensive toys, or tools, or programming.

No, this is while you're already cooking.

You can just talk to your baby while you're already cooking something.

Baby, now I'm putting the onion in the pot.

And then you turn and look what she's doing.

Are you banging that lid on the floor?

And now you're crawling over to me and now you want me to pick you up?

That's all we're talking about, is these simple little things where we're just adding more language, adding more vocabulary into our baby's life.

And these are the building blocks that will shape her brain, will shape his life for a trajectory that we know is going to have lifelong health impacts, resiliency impacts down the road for years and decades to come, and it starts with parents.

And for me as a nonprofit, where I can just do one little thing, when I can say, mom, talk to your baby every day, that's going to make all the difference growing up.

Oh man, that's magic.

>> Darlene: Yeah, the importance of reading to babies.

>> Travis: Absolutely.

>> Darlene: Talking to babies, even in the womb.

>> Travis: Absolutely.

>> Darlene: I used to sing to my child, and when she was born at the time that she could react to things, it would click with her, the songs that I would sing to her.

And I was like, wait, what's going on, you've recognized this?

>> Travis: The research is there, the science is settled, babies recognize mom's voice better than other voices in utero.

>> Darlene: So I have a question coming back to your role right now in Envision.

One of my major goals is to kind of equip families with this foundation of being their kids' biggest- >> Carli: Advocate.

>> Darlene: Advocate, biggest cheerleader, and all that, particularly with academics.

So what advice or what suggestions do you have for me as I kind of work on that?

>> Travis: Yeah, I think coming at it from this attitude of mom, dad, you are a brain builder.

I think that's kind of the messaging that we have at Envision Utah, is to sort of help parents understand their role and how important they are as a child's first, best teacher.

Parents, you guys are brain builders, and you guys are part of a community of brain builders.

And so it's not just up to a teacher when they get to kindergarten is when you start learning.

It's like no, no, no, it's from the first day.

If I can teach mom something, and I can teach baby something, and mom can teach baby something, I can hit this beautiful sweet spot in this intergenerational role, where mom can go, you know what, I can affect baby right here.

And then baby can have this beautiful new trajectory, and that's where I can see change, that's where I can see growth.

So when you're doing your parent-teacher conferences, when you're doing those back to school nights, mom, dad, you guys are brain builders, and I need your help, I can't do it all alone.

You're with your kid the other 130 hours a week, I need you to be brain building at home, and this is what it looks like, [SOUND] right?

And so you can do something like that really easy.

That's what I would recommend for sure, is to tell your parents not to stress, cuz they're already doing an incredible job.

>> Darlene: Travis, I can totally feel your passion for what you do and for this- >> Travis: Well, thank you.

>> Darlene: Yes, no, I keep hearing that mom, dad, you're doing a great job.

That's what's in here right now, and I get teary too.

>> Travis: Me too.

>> Brandon: [LAUGH] >> Travis: It's hard, it's hard, it's hard not to get emotional about this stuff because it is real.

It's hard to not feel attached to the cause because you know that it's going to pay off somewhere down the line for somebody.

>> Carli: That was beautiful.

Thank you for sharing everything.

>> Travis: No, thank you guys, so much.

It's so fun to be here, and thank you so much for coming.

>> Darlene: I felt very, very strong in connection with Travis.

He works with babies zero through five and their families, which is what I'm working with as a mother.

And then coming into kindergarten next year, I feel like what I've been learning applies as a teacher and a mother.

I was a little worried at first when he said the term brain building.

So listening to him kind of stop and say, you're already doing it, was so filling and nice to hear.

[MUSIC] >> Darlene: This experience has been transformative for me.

I've been able to gear toward finding my identity outside of being a mother.

I haven't really been able to take a step back, reflect, ask myself questions about me and my identity.

So this trip has definitely given me the opportunity and is what I needed.

[MUSIC] >> Carli: The leaders have had lots of great information.

I do feel like a lot of it has been community engagement, but I have talked about at the high school level, I feel like parents aren't as involved, and I still don't really know a way to get them super involved.

I definitely think this trip has made me realize how important that positive reinforcement and letting the parents know your kids are doing great, you're doing great.

It shows through your kids, and having this trip to hear from the parents and the teachers and about how much it means.

This is definitely something that is going to be a goal and something that I focus on a lot this school year.

>> Brandon: The classroom is changing a lot, and I've never really before recently thought about what my timeline is in the classroom, when it's okay to step away, grow beyond it.

But I'm starting to now be more aware that there might be a timeline to get ready to leave the classroom, to seek higher positions, greater things.

And, of course, I'm gonna miss certain things about it, but in undergrad, I did focus on Black male educators.

So it might be time to put my money where my mouth is, more so, and try to be a greater force for change education to increase that number of Black male teachers.

And that might look like an outside the classroom position.

I think now more than ever I need to really reflect on myself and think, when is my last day in the classroom?

>>Carli: We've been interviewing teachers, parents, advocates for family and community engagement.

>>Brandon: I want to do more, not just in my classroom that one year I have them.

I want to be that for a vast majority of students in my county, in my state, in my area, my community.

>>Darlene: Families need to be involved to help raise and build these strong characters that we need in the world.

>>Reach out to your families and to your students.

Get to know them as human beings.

See them in their full humanity and let them see you in your full humanity.

>>Narrator: 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 >>Narattor: Road Trip Nation is made possible in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the philanthropic foundation established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911.

The corporation's work focuses on education, international peace and a strong democracy.

To learn more, visit Carnegie dot ORG.

>>Narattor: And by Strada Education Foundation, strengthening the link between Education and Opportunity.

Funding for Road Trip Nation, also provided by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.