Season 1 Episode 1

What's Your Story? Collective Impact

[Theme Music Plays]

Introduction

Jennifer Mataele:
Hi. Welcome to the Center for Distance and Online Learning CDOL podcast, where we focus on technology enhanced collective impact, implementation services tailored for educators, support staff, counselors, students, and family communities. We will be taking a closer look into a variety of events and/or arts strategies in supporting our educational community with the arts and the whole child.

Karla Sequeira:
We are your hosts, Karla Sequeira and

Jennifer Mataele:
Jennifer Mataele

Karla Sequeira:
both Coordinators from the CDOL Unit within Curriculum and Instruction Division within the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Let's take a closer look at the packed schedule we have in store for you this episode, and delve deeper into “What's your story?”

Jennifer Mataele:
First, we will have a chat with the CDOL Project Director III, Dotti Ysais, about the Scale Up 2.0 event, which builds capacity for educational leaders and putting student voices at the forefront. The theme to build these connections were “Voices to be heard. Stories to be told. Needs to be met.” Next we will discuss with Preetom Bhattacharya:, Project Lead Coordinator III about the upcoming Student Empowerment Conference - in empowering student leaders in partnership with Directing Change.

But first, let's hear about the upcoming events headed your way. We are getting ready for our Student Empowerment Conference. We'll have highlights for the next episode. The Very Special Arts Festival - Arts and Science Unit is quickly approaching May 2nd. This Very Special Arts Festival is hosted by the Music Center and is an annual free event celebrating the artistic achievements of students with all abilities.

Upcoming Events

This festival features students and professional performances, visual and performing arts workshops, and a student art exhibit created around a theme. The National Coalition for Arts Standards - NCAS, has launched a survey to collect on the national standards for dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts. These will be due May 16th. Help shape the future of arts education.

Mindful Minute

Karla Sequeira:
Let's take a mindful minute to do a simple breathing exercise that you can use at any time. Sit mindfully with your spine straight and body relaxed. Notice your breathing. Take three soft, slow, mindful breaths and feel them in your body. Breathe in and feel air coming into your nose. Breathe out and count one. Breathe in and notice air filling your lungs.

Does your rib cage go out? Breathe out and count two. Breathe in and see the air expanding your middle. Breathe out and count three. Repeat for two more rounds of breathing into your nose, lungs, and middle. Breathe mindfully to feel awake and ready for the day. Thank you for participating in this exercise with us.

Our First Guest - Dotti Ysais, CDOL Project Director III

Jennifer Mataele:
Let's delve into “What's your story?” with our first guest, Dotti Ysais, CDOL Project Director III for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Hi, Dotti, how are you?

Dotti Ysais:
I'm great. Jennifer, how are you?

Jennifer Mataele:
Very well. Can you go ahead and give us a little introduction of yourself and a background?

Dotti Ysais:
Absolutely. Well, Jennifer, I have the pleasure of working at the Los Angeles County Office of Education for over 20 years now.

Our unit is one that really is all about bringing students the best opportunities to thrive in the educational system, and it's kind of self-serving. Jennifer, because I am a product of Los Angeles County Office of Education, Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District, and I am I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher. That's how I define myself, no matter what position I have and, work with children. So, that's me. And I am so honored to be here today with you.

Jennifer Mataele:
Oh, thank you so much. I love hearing that. I'm a product of Los Angeles County Office as well, too. And, I love how you know, everything that you guys do is so student driven.

Dotti Ysais:
Thank you. Thank you. We work really hard, and I'm blessed with a team, and you're part of it, that really make it happens. So it's, It's an honor and a joy, and I truly - I know a lot of people say that, but I truly mean it. And hopefully, people who attend our events and are part of our work our partners in our grants actually feel it.

What is Collective Impact?

Jennifer Mataele:
Collective impact was previously mentioned. Can you please explain this concept?

Dotti Ysais:
Absolutely. So Collective Impact was a training that I was able to go to years ago. That really was something special because it had these five components that this model is based on. And those five components meant everything to regarding putting the best professional development together, that was truly centered on the child, centered on the adult that was attending to make sure not only the teacher could do a good job or the administrator, but at the end of the day, assuring that the child would be receiving the same level of instruction. So those five elements, to quickly share with you because they're critical, because if you're missing one of them, it's not collective impact it's just a really good system or model, but to have a collective impact model of implementation, which the Center for Distance and Online Learning, CDOL uses as we serve as the backbone, as the coordinating organization to all of our work.

So when we get a grant, we always write ourselves in as a collective impact coordinating, organization. Based on that, there's always a shared measurement of data and results. You have to be really clear that our goal is the goal of the teacher, the district, the school, the after school program, our partners. We have to be in sync there.

Otherwise we're not working together. Better as you know, the phrase goes, we would be kind of working in competition. So you have to have that measurement of data and results in going after that same cause and goal. Three, you have to have a mutually reinforcing activities weaved together. We call it our tapestry of learning. You have to make sure that your tapestry of learning comes from the lens of everyone involved in your collective impact work.

Next would be open continuous communication, which seems very obvious, but it has to be intentional. It's not a text every other week like “Hi Jennifer, how's it going? You guys good?” No, it's making sure those agendas are being met, that you're measuring together, and that the work truly is working together to be better, with each other. And then, a common agenda for change.

We are agents of change. We know we could do better. We know we should do better, and that's our job. So we always need to make sure that our focus is not only on the highest quality to provide safe and thriving environments for our adults and our students, but also that change is involved. We need to do better, and by using collective impact implementation models, we've been able to achieve that.

Jennifer Mataele:
That's so wonderful to hear because I know being a part of CDOL we all base our work off of that collective impact model and, you know, to get those results and just collectively have those discussions in the best interests of our students. So thank you.

Dotti Ysais:
No, my pleasure. Also, I just want to add on there that when I hear when our artists come in, we do a lot of artwork, art focus work, and I hear them speaking to you or one of the other coordinators and you're talking about, well, CDOL's really working on, let's just say, making sure students are resilient.

And the artist is saying, oh, goodness. Well, this type of breathing exercise totally addresses that. And then you create something unique and unified, there's no better professional development because when you address it that way, it's coming from a dual lens that's all about the adult and the student and building community. So when I hear you and others talking with our partners to make sure that collective impact happens, you bring me a big smile because that's what we love doing.

Jennifer Mataele:
And we always smile too, because as you said, we are better together.

Dotti Ysais:
That's right.

Technology Enhanced Arts Learning (TEAL) Project

Jennifer Mataele:
CDOL has several grant projects that is a big part of that collective impact. Can you tell me about some of those grant projects that have been offered through CDOL for instance, like our Technology Enhanced Arts Learning project?

Dotti Ysais:
Absolutely. We've been so fortunate through the years to be awarded many federal and state grants, along with districts who appreciate our work and give us funding to do very specific, intentional collective impact work with them. So TEAL - Technology Enhanced Arts Learning really is something that came out of the PIF - the Productivity Investment Funds money, that we want to thank the Los Angeles Supervisors for. This was gosh, 12 years ago. They really wanted the Los Angeles County, us along with the Department of Arts and Culture, to provide professional development in a way that everyone would have access to it.

And since we are the Center for Distance and Online Learning, it was a beautiful partnership. And that's when TEAL was created. The online modules that cover all of the arts disciplines, along with SEL along with the introduction to the power of the Arts and STEAM. So that was the beginning of our kind of venture into the power of arts and integrating that into the tapestry of work we were all we were already doing.

Jennifer Mataele:
Thank you Dotti for sharing a little bit about TEAL alongside TEAL with that, investment funds, was there any other projects that went alongside with TEAL?

Dotti Ysais:
Absolutely. Those PIF funds were really about not only doing quality work with our collective impact model implementation, but also, create means to distribute in an online environment, content specific to the power of the arts and collective impact.

The development of these modules, they're all online, they're all free, anyone could access them. Parents are big players there, faced with such a challenge right, in the educational world, and we needed to support our kids in more ways than we even knew back then. Still learning now. And our online academy TeachStar Online Academy allowed us to give teachers high quality online arts content that wasn't only about specifically to art as a discipline, but arts integration, into literacy, math, science, all content areas.

And so again, Productivity Investment Funds, thank you Supervisors. It was a wonderful move because not only were we able to build this wonderful product that has been used in so many ways, in fact, as part of credentialing programs, USC, Cal State LA, it's been outstanding because of the quality, and we're so proud and happy that our institutes for higher education see the value and have included it in their credentialing program, but also that it's free and accessible.

And as I remember, one of my first jobs here was to like, okay, do the content, build it with the Department of Arts and Culture. And what our tagline back then was, “You can do it in your pajamas. You can get the best professional development in your PJs.” You know that was a big deal way back then, and it still is. I enjoy doing professional development in my PJs, I'll admit it. So it was it was great and it was a lovely experience with the Department of Arts and Culture, which we have to this day. We are thriving. We work as partners and we can do some pretty incredible work, for our kiddos and our teachers and our parents and administrators in partnership with them.

Jennifer Mataele:
And that's so great to hear, because I know that these modules are just so helpful and enriching of content that, you know, it provides that accessibility not only for, you know, students, but also, you know, teachers in the community and so forth. So thank you.

Dotti Ysais:
Yeah. Thank you. You were one of the first users part of TEAL when you were at La Puente.

Jennifer Mataele:
Yeah, a lot of fun. Yeah I remember.

Dotti Ysais:
Yeah. So I just yeah, it's built a huge community. I mean, it it's pretty amazing when I get calls from districts when they're hiring people and they would say, and they still do, like - Why does this person in their portfolio have a TeachStar certificate? Don't you do that with the districts?

And then we're like - Well actually we do it with some universities and it's a mandated piece of of the work that someone has to complete to be a teacher or an administrator, counselor, whatever it is at their school. So when you if you choose to honor this person, you're teaching someone who I mean, you're hiring someone that has been part of a powerful movement and can be a leader in the area of arts. So you get two for the price of one. And they they just are more times than not hired because that HR person or principal understands goodness, I'm hiring someone who already understands the power of arts in the world of education, and we love that.

Jennifer Mataele:
And that's so true because actually overseeing some of those Cal State LA students, we hear so many stories where they use that towards their resumé or interviews and it's a great, a great thing to have on their resumé. And they immediately get the job just by seeing that certification.

Dotti Ysais:
Right. Right. And plus, you know, here at the county office, it's important for us to have a partnership with the local IHEs because they do professional development, and we want to make sure our messaging is one of collective impact. So when you go in there or other Coordinators or myself go in, talk to the instructors, the professors, we build that community.

Our future teachers are stronger and better and so are the administrators. So it's been, you know, you know, it's good. But then when it starts thriving on its own and it lives in places that you never dreamed of, you know, it's good work.

Promising Learners Project (PLP)

Jennifer Mataele:
I know we have some other, grant projects that, are from the California Department of Education. Can you talk a little bit about those?

Dotti Ysais:
Sure. We have one, that right now we've had several, but right now one is that's in its second of a of a, it's three years, it's called the Promising Learners Project. It's from the California Department of Ed, the CDE, it's an LCSSP grant. And it's amazing it's the second round that we've received.

And what I love about it, it's very intentional about addressing, a certain population that we need to do better in supporting. And we use the arts as a big, component of that support. So right now, the three year grant we have from the CDE is focused on foster youth and unhoused youth. And we are loving that grant, because we have the opportunity to work with kids that we need to make sure have all the advantages and all the support and all the love, all the kindness we can give, to make sure they feel safe and they can thrive in the educational environment.

So you've been a huge part of it. You were a huge part of the first one we received, which I'm going to say was so successful, is a big reason why we got the second one. And so, yeah, it's a wonderful grant. We work with, local districts providing artists that go out there in partnership with us. And they move, they dance, they draw, they sing. It's really about storytelling. Wouldn't you say it's like giving them an opportunity to maybe you. We all know some people can share their story stories through their voice. Some find it more comfortable and more appropriate to do it through movement, some by drawing. So we allow we build those all those different avenues so all kids are heard and seen and part of the system.

Engaging California English Learners through the Arts (ECELA)

And this specific grant is for foster, and unhoused youth. So we are very honored and love that work. Just like we also, you asked about the CDE We also like I said, we've been very, very, very, fortunate to be awarded several grants. And this one is actually the second round of the five year grants. And it's called ECELA and it's specific to literacy, English learners, and again, art plays a big part of it. Allowing children to learn strategies in partnership with, you know, LACMA and, 24th Street Theater. We have so many it's hard to... USC, LMU, I mean, we can go on and on, but the point is, giving everything we have collectively with our partnerships to provide an environment where kids can express themselves, learn literacy in a positive, kind way, and just let them thrive.

So that's one more, grant, but that happens to come out of the federal government, which we're very, very excited about as well.

Jennifer Mataele:
And I'm so glad that you highlighted both of those, projects, just because seeing the faces and the students that are exposed to the arts and the different arts disciplines, because some of them, you know, they may not be great in a subject matter for that case, but having the arts integrated there, you could just see immediately these different groups, you know, have that increased engagement and motivation. So thank you for highlighting those.

Dotti Ysais:
No you just were you just used a word that I should have used since my very first sentence. And that is engagement. Because we know that art and this is research based, data driven information we're sharing, art is an amazingly powerful way to make sure children can thrive and have access and be engaged in all subject areas, and maybe they can't verbalize it now, but boy, can they dance it.

Or boy, can they express it through just movement and and music. Music is a huge part. Soundtrap has been a big partner of us for years, along with a lot of other wonderful partners who we are just very, excited to continue and grow our work. But yeah. Engagement. You're absolutely right. That's part of all our grants.

Jennifer Mataele:
Thank you for highlighting Promising Learners Project and also going into ECELA - Engaging California English Learners through the Arts. Are there any other grants that focus on the whole child that also integrate the arts as well?

Creative AWARE Project

Dotti Ysais:
Yes, yes, 100%. So we're all about the whole child, right? We know, a thriving child is one that feels safe, secure, understood, heard and valued. And that's the whole child. And, one of the grants we recently received was an additional five year grant from the federal government. That really is all about the whole child and making sure that they are physically and emotionally strong and using the arts to promote that in all of them. And again, I want to emphasize it's all about the student, but we cannot leave the adult out because our adults that are with our kids, they have to also be served.

And that's part of the county office's work as well. So any any type of work we do, as I mentioned at the very beginning, includes the administrator, the teacher, whomever needs to be there from the school, the parents, always the parents, and making sure that they experience the movement, the music, the joy of the arts. Because if they're not enjoying it, why would they value it enough to do it with their kids?

So our Creative Aware and you'll get it from the name of the grant, Creative Aware, that it's all about creativity playing a big part of supporting the whole child to thrive academically. And also, you know, emotionally and socially, because it's all about that whole child. So that's what our work with Creative Aware does and like I said, it's academics centric, but making sure social and emotional needs and, support are embedded and weaved into this tapestry of work we do.

Suicide Prevention Ongoing Resiliency Training (SPORT)

And one of those pieces of work is, something I'm very proud of that started many years ago, actually, even before TEAL, even before we got the PIF funds, it was about 1 or 2 years prior, the CDE had a student mental health initiative grant, and I was asked by the Superintendent to serve on that. And CDOL was just it was just a beautiful fit for us because as we spoke about the arts and having that online, we were able to do the mental health piece prevention, intervention, postvention work and specific to the student, the teacher, the administrator and the family.

And so again during COVID, we had this powerful piece of work online that everyone had access to. And, we availed it availed it to everyone and worked specifically with districts so that they were also making sure and making sure we were being accountable to the health of our children. And, yeah, informing and and making sure that the parents were on that journey as well.

So that is a project called SPORT that has been around and thriving. And most of our districts have been trained through it and teams and retrained, as you know, you're part of that work. Again, we're a collective impact unit, so we just don't run in our own lane. We run in the lane of the kids, which is all of them So if it's mental health, if it's art, if it's literacy, if it's math, it's all collectively all these wonderful brains here.

And, and spirits work together at CDOL to make the work happen. So SPORT was something that was important back at the date We were the first really county office, that was our focus, as part of SMHI years ago. To do it online, we were the only ones doing a series of prevention, intervention, postvention 12 plus years ago.

Very proud of it. That work continues now. Continue. It continues under the umbrella of Creative Aware. And so it's a full offering with, Creative Aware, again, with tons of partnerships internally and externally in that collective impact model that we've been talking about this whole time. So it's powerful work. It's a big grant and we take it very seriously, but we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of joy because of our partners. And, and the deeper we get to do with everyone. So.

CDOL Partnerships

Jennifer Mataele:
Are there any other funding streams that you work with?

Dotti Ysais:
Absolutely. You know, one of the most creative, wonderful things that have happened to me in the 20 plus years I've been here is that some of our districts that we've worked with, that we've built these relationships, we've built these collective impact, projects with.

And you know, once, once a partner, always a partner with us. Many of our partners, are ten plus years. When I say partners, I not only am talking about our districts, but I'm talking about, other, Los Angeles County departments, including Department of Mental Health, Department of Arts and Culture. I mentioned earlier about, Productivity Investment Funds from the Supervisors.

We've been very honored and excited about building these relationships through the years. While through all this work, we've had a chance to work with many, many districts and, some of those districts valued our work and what my staff's been able to do with them. And connecting other partners like Disney, the Imagination Campus, Universal Studios, Spotify, Soundtrap I can go on and on.

We have Mike Sullivan, an amazing muralist. We just did Billie Jean King last Friday. She came down to Poly High. One of her, well, the high school she graduated from, she could not be more kind and gosh, just an inspiration shot in the arm. Not only for the adults that were there. And trust me, there were a lot of adults who just couldn't wait to meet her.

But the kids, she was all about the kids. You were there, you know. She loved the fact the tennis team was there. She spoke to them. Mike Sullivan is a beautiful muralist. He, we unveiled her mural there. She was very touched. She has a strong commitment because her family, her brother, her father all graduated from Poly High. She really was incredibly wonderful with the kids. So, Jennifer, this event is part of a series, as you know, of going to athletes, people who have excelled either as musicians or athletes, artists name it in going back to the communities they grew up and they graduated from, their high schools and letting them tell their story and letting them listen and speak directly with the students and hear the students' story.

SCALE UP 2.0 Conference

And, she was magnificent. And I, we were all very touched, how committed she was to making sure she listened to every tennis player there was, and in attendance, and they were touched, taking pictures, signing and just listening to each other. So that Scale Up 2.0 event is incredibly powerful because it's about storytelling, and it's about making sure children understand the world has a lot of different jobs in it.

Dotti Ysais:
It's that college and career pathways piece. It really addresses all of that. So. What happened was, some funds AB181 185 and they valued our work so much that they gave us some of the money that they receive are receiving for three years. This is two of three years and have asked us to continue bringing what we call the joyful work, the kind work, the whole child work through the lens of the arts to support their students and their staff.

And we do that by having these types of events, by bringing all different types of artists to them. Residency and also having wonderful events. Just a few weeks ago, last month, we had our second huge Scale Up 2.0 conference at Disneyland. And it's all about the power of the staff, engage family and community, elevates student voice and leadership in your districts.

So we invited all the districts that have contributed and very generously and graciously said CDOL keep doing this work but at a deeper level and they all they're all different. The work we do in each of the districts, but they all have these elements - promoting mental health through the arts, building literacy through the power of diverse libraries, raising awareness to culturally responsive teaching and learning practices through student voice and leadership.

And the last one addressing equity with an arts integration lens. So because we are a collective impact unit, lots of conversations, everything that is unique to the needs of the districts, and the needs of our students and at this, big event we have, we bring in artists. Disney is a big contributor. We had Moana there. And because that she's a powerful young lady who really her story is one about knowing your story and making sure that you continue on and make your dreams come true.

You see beyond the waves, right? And, it's just it's just incredible because they have enlightened us, they've lifted us, they've empowered us with the funds they gave us, we were able to bring all this wonderful work along with our partners, to support the districts in, in the way that they have, really valued for, like I said, ten plus years.

So they actually the districts are paying for it themselves out of their AB 181 and 185 funding.

Jennifer Mataele:
Thank you so much Dotti, for sharing that. I mean, the Disneyland experience and also the Billie Jean King mural, which was so inspirational, by the way. But I just wanted to thank you for taking the time today and, sharing a little bit of your story, CDOL's story and all the different grants and projects that we do here. And can't wait to hear more.

Dotti Ysais:
Oh, thank you, Jennifer, and thank you for your hard work and for everyone listening to take the time to listen. We're very grateful. And please keep the children as our focus, they're our future, but you know what? It's our job to do whatever we can to make sure they all thrive and they're safe. So thank you.

Jennifer Mataele:
Thank you.

Our Second Guest - Dr. Preetom Bhattacharya, CDOL Coordinator III

Karla Sequeira:
Let's continue "What's your story?" with our second guest, Dr. Preetom Bhattacharya, CDOL Coordinator III for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Hi, Pree.

Preetom Bhattacharya:
Hi, Karla.

Karla Sequeira:
How are you doing?

Preetom Bhattacharya:
I'm doing really great. How are you?

Karla Sequeira:
Doing well thank you. Really excited to hear all about the amazing work. You know, let's just start off with some introductions, introduce yourself, a little background and your role here at the county office.

A Little Bit About Dr. Bhattacharya

Preetom Bhattacharya:
Okay, a little bit of background. I have served as an administrator for well over a decade. So that's been at the district office or as a principal, even an administrator- assistant principal. I'm a twin toddler, dad. I think that's really important when I think about who I am.

Karla Sequeira:
Busy, busy.

Preetom Bhattacharya:
Child of immigrants, I think that's really important because it drives a lot of the work. When I think about how I want kids to be seen at school. The work I do now at the county is I serve as the Coordinator for a project called Creative Aware, where we look at the intersection between mental health and the media arts. I get a chance to work with project leadership here at the county office, as well as at the federal level and at our district offices, so that we can kind of coordinate our work and move forward together to fulfill our grant goals.

Karla Sequeira:
Fantastic. Now I know a little bit about Creative Aware. Hint, hint. Because, you know, we get to work together in this fabulous space. And I know our director, Dotti has also shared much about this grant. And I know right now there's a little bit of planning about something called the Student Empowerment Conference. So let's dig right in and talk a little bit more about what the Student Empowerment Conference is and why it's important to our students.

The Student Empowerment Conference

Preetom Bhattacharya:
I think our Student Empowerment Conference is an opportunity to celebrate the creativity of our students and encourage them to use their voices. Sometimes we make a lot out of leadership. We make it a really big idea or really big task, but leadership is doing the small things too. Being kind to someone. Making a video about your experience as a student, like in a PSA video like our students made. Well, that matters. And giving students that space is important. So what we want them to do for their entire lives is use their voices and share their stories. And so the Empowerment Conference is partially a celebration that they did mental health. I think our hope as a team is partially that students can look at all of these different journeys and find their own future in what some of our mentors share with them.

Karla Sequeira:
So much power in what you just shared. The storytelling piece is huge, the student voice. The journey piece. I think it's just amazing that you're able to go out to the schools and really directly connect with students and not only share your experiences, but, you know, give them an opportunity for them to create, to engage, just to be able to see that there's just so much power and what they have to say.

And in a minute I'm going to talk a little bit more or ask you, I should say, just about what this whole conference, how it aligns with the work you do with the Creative Aware grant, I mean that I've heard you say the real VIPs, the stars of all of this work, the students. Can you talk a little bit about how the Student Empowerment Conference aligns with students with with the goals of the grant?

Mental Health Literacy

Preetom Bhattacharya:
You know, one of the most important goals of the grant is that we start speaking a common language when it comes to mental health. And in the grant speak, we call that mental health literacy. And that's critical for our students to use language that our adults can understand, process and assist them with the things they may be needing as they communicate using that common language.

So that's something directly that we're working with school staff and students to be a part of establishing that common language and that mental health literacy that comes with real hard work, training students on the mental health continuum, ensuring that they understand the difference between depression and, stronger feelings that they may be having. Just really, like I said, establishing that language.

It's important that we do that with families as well, so that when we talk about things to look out for when it comes to mental health, families are again using the same language and looking out for the same things that school staff or the support staff, being friends of students, might be needing to look at, look at and communicate. Think when it comes to families. I mentioned earlier, I'm a dad. I'm the son of immigrants, so stories are important to me, I think maybe at this point in my life. But, I think a lot about fitting in and, sometimes I was, you know, too American for my Indian family. And I was often too Indian for my American schoolmates.

So the easiest thing to identify as was whatever school was as a Mustang or Brahma or whatever the mascot. That can be a space, school can be a space for students to find an identity. And we can give students that space by allowing them to tell their stories. Everyone has a family that you can tell a story about, and giving that space to students through our project and through the grant work that we do at CDOL is exciting. It's cool that we get to do that.

Karla Sequeira:
Deep appreciation for that.

Preetom Bhattacharya:
Connecting to the families, right? Connecting to my family. I think it does two things. Sorry. I think the first thing it does is it preserves those stories, but it also ensures the reality that the stories are worth telling. I think that's like a really good thing for students to have.

Karla Sequeira:
Absolutely.

Preetom Bhattacharya:
So that's what we're hoping to do.

Karla Sequeira:
Deep appreciation for so many things that you shared. I too am first generation here. Absolutely thinking about my own growing up, at school and not really knowing, really always having that safe or brave space to be able to tell my story. And I think the storytelling aspect and you mentioned the PSAs. So for students to create these and really put their voice in and craft them and work in groups, I think you give them a really great opportunity to be able to be vulnerable, to share, to find common ground, and also to just talk about their differences. You know, you just said it beautifully, telling your story to your family, and your family, may be your school family, and the fact that you're talking about educating students, the educational leaders and families and bringing in that community community piece really just makes us so much stronger.

Thank you very much. I appreciate all this and can't wait to see some of these PSAs. It was great hearing about our guest stories. Thank you for joining us in this episode.

Conclusion

Jennifer Mataele and Karla Sequeira:
We look forward to you joining our next episode. Have a wonderful day and remember "What's your story?"

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