So I grew up in East Los Angeles, not even realizing I was poor. My dad was a high-ranking gang member who ran the streets. Everyone knew who I was, so I thought I was a pretty big deal, and I was protected, and even though my dad spent most of my life in and out of jail, I had an amazing mom who was just fiercely independent. She worked at the local high school as a secretary in the dean's office, so she got to see all the kids that got thrown out of class, for whatever reason, who were waiting to be disciplined. Man, her office was packed.
Odrasla sam u istočnom Los Anđelesu, ni ne shvatajući da sam siromašna. Moj otac je bio visoko rangirani član bande koja je vladala ulicama. Svi su znali ko sam ja, mislila sam da je to velika stvar. Ja sam bila zaštićena. Iako je moj otac proveo veći deo mog života po raznim zatvorima, ja sam imala predivnu majku, koja je bila žestoko nezavisna. Ona je radila u lokalnoj srednjoj školi, kao sekretarica u direktorovoj kancelariji. Bila je u prilici da vidi svu decu koja su bila izbačena sa časa iz bilo kog razloga, i koja su čekala disciplinsku kaznu. Čoveče, njena kancelarija je uvek bila prepuna.
So, see, kids like us, we have a lot of things to deal with outside of school, and sometimes we're just not ready to focus. But that doesn't mean that we can't. It just takes a little bit more. Like, I remember one day I found my dad convulsing, foaming at the mouth, OD-ing on the bathroom floor. Really, do you think that doing my homework that night was at the top of my priority list? Not so much.
Klinci kao ja, mi se suočavamo sa raznim stvarima van škole, i ponekad, mi jednostavno nismo spremni da se koncentrišemo. To ne znači da ne možemo. Samo nam treba više vremena. Sećam se jednog dana kada sam pronašla oca zgrčenog, sa penom na ustima, predoziranog na pločicama u kupatilu. Milsite da je moj domaći bio na listi prioriteta te večeri? Ne baš.
But I really needed a support network, a group of people who were going to help me make sure that I wasn't going to be a victim of my own circumstance, that they were going to push me beyond what I even thought I could do. I needed teachers, in the classroom, every day, who were going to say, "You can move beyond that." And unfortunately, the local junior high was not going to offer that. It was gang-infested, huge teacher turnover rate.
Meni je zaista bila potrebna podrška, grupa ljudi koji bi mi pomogli, da ne postanem žrtva mojih sopstvenih okolnosti. Oni bi me gurali dalje od onoga što sam čak i ja mislila da mogu. Meni su bili potrebni učitelji, u učionici svakog dana, koji bi govorili: "Ti možeš više od ovog". Nažalost, škola od petog do osmog razreda nije to nudila. Bilo je dosta bandi u školi, i nastavnici su se stalno menjali.
So my mom said, "You're going on a bus an hour and a half away from where we live every day." So for the next two years, that's what I did. I took a school bus to the fancy side of town. And eventually, I ended up at a school where there was a mixture. There were some people who were really gang-affiliated, and then there were those of us really trying to make it to high school. Well, trying to stay out of trouble was a little unavoidable. You had to survive. You just had to do things sometimes. So there were a lot of teachers who were like, "She's never going to make it. She has an issue with authority. She's not going to go anywhere." Some teachers completely wrote me off as a lost cause.
Moja majka je onda rekla: "Ići ćeš autobusom u školu, svaki dan, sat i po od naše kuće." Naredne dve godine, ja sam tako putovala svaki dan. Išla sam autobusom u skupi deo grada. Završila sam u školi koja je bila mešovita, bilo je ljudi koji su bili povezani sa bandama, i nas koji smo želeli da pohađamo srednju školu. Bilo je nezaobilazno da se uvališ u probleme tu i tamo. Morala sam da preživim. Morate nekad da uradite neke stvari. Bilo je dosta nastavnika, koji su mislili: "Ona nikad neće uspeti. Ima problem sa autoritetom. Neće postići ništa." Neki nastavnici su me potpuno otpisali kao izgubljeni slučaj.
But then, they were very surprised when I graduated from high school. I was accepted to Pepperdine University, and I came back to the same school that I attended to be a special ed assistant.
A onda su bili jako iznenađeni kada sam završila srednju školu. Bila sam primljena na univerzitet u Peperdajnu, i vratila sam se u istu školu koju sam pohađala da budem pomoćnik nastavnika za specijalno obrazovanje.
And then I told them, "I want to be a teacher."
Onda sam im rekla: "Ja želim da budem nastavnik".
And boy, they were like, "What? Why? Why would you want to do that?"
A oni su rekli: "Šta? Zašto? Zašto bi želela to da radiš?"
So I began my teaching career at the exact same middle school that I attended, and I really wanted to try to save more kids who were just like me. And so every year, I share my background with my kids, because they need to know that everyone has a story, everyone has a struggle, and everyone needs help along the way. And I am going to be their help along the way.
Tako sam počela moju učiteljsku karijeru, u istoj školi koju sam pohađala od petog do osmog razreda. Zaista sam želela da spasim više dece koja su bila kao ja. Svake godine, podelim ispovest o mom poreklu sa učenicima, jer oni treba da znaju da svako ima neku priču, da svako ima neku svoju borbu u životu, i da je svakome potrebna pomoć na tom putu. Ja ću biti njihova pomoć na tom putu.
So as a rookie teacher, I created opportunity. I had a kid one day come into my class having been stabbed the night before.
Kao nastavnik početnik, stvorila sam priliku. Jednom je klinac došao u moj razred, koji je prethodne noći bio izboden.
I was like, "You need to go to a hospital, the school nurse, something."
Rekla sam mu: "Moraš da ideš u bolnicu, do školske sestre, bilo gde."
He's like, "No, Miss, I'm not going. I need to be in class because I need to graduate." So he knew that I was not going to let him be a victim of his circumstance, but we were going to push forward and keep moving on. And this idea of creating a safe haven for our kids and getting to know exactly what they're going through, getting to know their families -- I wanted that, but I couldn't do it in a school with 1,600 kids, and teachers turning over year after year after year. How do you get to build those relationships?
On je odgovorio: "Ne gospođice, ja ne idem. Ja moram da budem na času jer treba da diplomiram." Znao je da mu neću dozvoliti da bude žrtva sopstvenih okolnosti, nego ćemo nastaviti da se krećemo napred. Ova ideja da stvorimo utočište za našu decu, i da ih upoznamo i razumemo kroz šta sve prolaze, da upoznamo njihove porodice - ja sam želela to, ali nisam mogla u školi sa 1600 dece, gde se nastavnici menjaju svake godine. Kako da se ostvari blizak odnos?
So we created a new school. And we created the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media. And we made sure that we were still attached to our school district for funding, for support. But with that, we were going to gain freedom: freedom to hire the teachers that we knew were going to be effective; freedom to control the curriculum so that we're not doing lesson 1.2 on page five, no; and freedom to control a budget, to spend money where it matters, not how a district or a state says you have to do it. We wanted those freedoms. But now, shifting an entire paradigm, it hasn't been an easy journey, nor is it even complete. But we had to do it. Our community deserved a new way of doing things.
Osnovali smo novu školu. Osnovali smo San Fernando institut za primenjene medije. Postarali smo se da budemo povezani sa našim školskim distriktom, zbog finansiranja i podrške. Ali sa novom školom, obezbedili smo slobodu: slobodu pri zapošljavanju nastavnika, za koje smo znali da će biti efikasni, slobodu da kontrolišemo nastavni plan kako ne bismo radili lekciju direktno iz knjige, ne, i slobodu da kontrolišemo budžet, da trošimo pare tamo gde treba, a ne kako okrug ili država kaže da treba. Mi smo želeli te slobode. Ali sada, da pomerim čitavu paradigmu,, to nije bio lak put, niti je potpuno završen. Ali morali smo to da uradimo. Naša zajednica zaslužuje novi pristup stvarima.
And as the very first pilot middle school in all of Los Angeles Unified School District, you better believe there was some opposition. And it was out of fear -- fear of, well, what if they get it wrong? Yeah, what if we get it wrong? But what if we get it right? And we did. So even though teachers were against it because we employ one-year contracts -- you can't teach, or you don't want to teach, you don't get to be at my school with my kids.
Kao prvoj pilot školi od petog do osmog razreda u celom losanđeleskom ujedinjenom školskom distriktu, bilo je dosta opozicije. I to zbog straha - šta ako ne urade stvari kako treba? Da, šta ako zabrljamo? Ali šta ako odradimo sve kako treba? To smo i uradili. Iako su nastavnici bili protiv toga jer zapošljavamo samo sa ugovorima na po godinu dana - ako ne možeš da predaješ ili ne želiš da predaješ ne možeš da budeš u mojoj školi sa mojim učenicima.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
So in our third year, how did we do it? Well, we're making school worth coming to every day. We make our kids feel like they matter to us. We make our curriculum rigorous and relevant to them, and they use all the technology that they're used to. Laptops, computers, tablets -- you name it, they have it. Animation, software, moviemaking software, they have it all. And because we connect it to what they're doing — For example, they made public service announcements for the Cancer Society. These were played in the local trolley system. Teaching elements of persuasion, it doesn't get any more real than that. Our state test scores have gone up more than 80 points since we've become our own school.
U trećoj smo godini, kako smo to postigli? Mi pravimo školu u koju je vredno dolaziti svaki dan, školu gde se naša deca osećaju da su nam bitna. Mi kreiramo nastavni plan, koji je rigorozan i relevantan. Oni koriste svu tehnologiju na koju su navikli. Laptopovi, kompjuteri, tableti - oni sve to imaju. Softver za animaciju, za pravljenje filmova, sve to imaju. Mi povezujemo nastavni plan sa onim što oni rade. Na primer, oni su napisali saopštenje za javnost za "Društvo za borbu protiv raka". Ta saopštenja su puštana u lokalnim trolejbusima. Učite ih načinima ubeđivanja, ne može praktičnije od toga. Naši rezultati državnih testova su se poboljšali za više od 80 poena od kad imamo našu školu.
But it's taken all stakeholders, working together -- teachers and principals on one-year contracts, working over and above and beyond their contract hours without compensation. And it takes a school board member who is going to lobby for you and say, "Know, the district is trying to impose this, but you have the freedom to do otherwise." And it takes an active parent center who is not only there, showing a presence every day, but who is part of our governance, making decisions for their kids, our kids.
Ali je potrebno da svi učesnici rade zajedno - nastavnici i direktori sa jednogodišnjim ugovorima, koji rade prekovremeno bez dodatne kompenzacije. A potreban vam je i član školskog odbora ko će da se zalaže za vas i kaže: "Znate, distrikt pokušava da nametne ovo, ali vi imate slobodu da to uradite drugačije". Potrebni su vam angažovani roditelji, koji ne samo da se pojavljuju u školi nego su i deo uprave, donose odluke za svoju decu, našu decu.
Because why should our students have to go so far away from where they live? They deserve a quality school in their neighborhood, a school that they can be proud to say they attend, and a school that the community can be proud of as well, and they need teachers to fight for them every day and empower them to move beyond their circumstances. Because it's time that kids like me stop being the exception, and we become the norm.
Zašto bi naši učenici putovali tako daleko od kuće? Oni zaslužuju kvalitetno obrazovanje u svom naselju, školu na koju mogu da budu ponosni i školu na koju lokalna zajednica može biti ponosna. Njima su potrebni nastavnici da se bore za njih svaki dan, i da ih osposobe da krenu dalje od svojih okolnosti. Došlo je vreme da klinci kao ja, prestanu da budu izuzeci i postanu pravilo.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)