Author: Eva Jones

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Elevating Student Voices…

“It is hard to make decisions for the people without the people.”

I was so impressed by what I heard from students recently, I had to write about it. When we are sincerely interested in students’ viewpoints, we gain important information and  thoughtful insight. Having an open exchange of ideas with students is enlightening, proven again to me recently.  When Melinda said, “It is hard to make decisions for the people without the people,” I was so inspired, I wrote it down. I repeated it, and I have been thinking about the implication of her words as they apply to learning, leadership, and systemic change.

I was working with school leaders from 10 different districts to develop a program that will bring their students from different districts together to talk about their experiences in school and their communities, and to discuss issues that are important to them.  These dedicated adults came together several times over the summer to work out the details, create a budget, and write a program announcement that would encourage districts to participate. We knew from the onset that we needed students on the planning committee so we could listen to their ideas and create a program that would genuinely meet their needs, but we were unable to have any join our team until our last planning meeting before school started again in September.

As the students began to introduce themselves and explain why they had given up a summer day to join this planning team around student voice, I could feel the energy go up in the room.  I could see the adult leaders, sometimes distracted by their many tasks, lean in, and listen intently.  One student introduced himself as a rising 9th grader, and he let us know that he was a member of a middle school club focused on fighting racism.  We learned later that this student left out that he was responsible for working through various channels to allow the Black Lives Matter flag to fly at his school during Black History Month and the Pride flag to fly during Pride Month.  This was not an easy feat in his district. His experience included meeting with board of education members, requesting policy revisions and speaking at public meetings. This humble student has more experience around anti-racism work than some of the adults in the room and has already enacted systemic change.

Three students from another school talked about their involvement in the No Place for Hate club and how they structured their meetings so students felt like they could be prepared and be heard during their discussions.  Their feedback about the program’s description flier and the expectations document was priceless.  They talked about audience, stating that the expectations information didn’t read in a friendly way and would make some students hesitant to participate. They suggested that instead, we make a video about this program, and that students studying filmmaking in the Career and Tech Ed program might enjoy the project. They reminded us that students interact via social media and often speak out using videos. By softening the language of the expectations document, students would see that they would be part of a safe space for sharing and discussion. Glancing at the other adults, I acknowledged that we wrote these documents with an academic voice, and with an audience of superintendents in mind, including citing the New York State Culturally Responsive- Sustaining Education Framework.  These student voices reminded us that if we wanted to attract students and show them that this program is genuinely about them, we needed to create products that would attract them. Raised eyebrows and shoulder shrugs revealed that the adults wondered why we hadn’t spent our summer making a video and I knew we all wished we were as technologically savvy as these students and could figure out to get one made in the next week.

Another student let us know she was a three-sport athlete and had been elected captain of these teams.  As we were describing the program, she asked how students would be chosen for this program, who would be able to come?  Her question brought up the notion of what it means to be selected, be chosen, to become part of something, and what it means to be denied access. She reminded us that she was often asked to join these sessions because she stood out as a leader in ways that adults typically define leadership.  She leaned over toward the girl sitting next to her and said, “she doesn’t like to speak up much yet, but I brought her here because I know she has important ideas and needs to be heard.” Others commented on the need to seek out students whose voices are often overlooked or silenced.  She said, “It’s hard to make decisions for the people without the people.” 

I was struck by her words and repeated them to the group.  The murmur in the room, much like a congregation coming together in unison to say, “Amen,” affirmed my sense of this student’s deep understanding of an essential component of leadership and systemic change.  “It’s hard to make decisions for the people without the people.”

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Interesting Ideas

To Kill a Mockingbird on stage

All Rise

When I saw To Kill a Mockingbird on the list of shows at Proctor’s Theater for this season, I began to wonder how this story would play in today’s world.  This novel has been highly acclaimed and highly scrutinized for decades.  I was eager to see how the writers of this stage adaptation were presenting this text to current audiences and how current audiences would receive it.  When I arrived at the theater early to receive our preshow directions for ushers, I was pleased to hear that show had sold well and the house was nearly full for all performances.  Our supervisor also pointed out that the production company wanted to be sure that ushers knew that the content of this show was for mature audiences and that there were very troubling scenes about rape and violence.  This was a clear signal to me that they were not sugar coating the pure horrors of racism and that the production company recognized the importance of trigger warnings, sending a message to patrons that they know this content is painful and disturbing, yet worth telling. 

As the play opens, Scout comes on stage and begins the narration, soon joined by Jem and Dill and I am immediately remembering her voice from the novel, a story I chose to teach to high school students for many years as an English teacher.  The narration moved back and forth between the courtroom scene and life at Atticus Finch’s house. The actors do a brilliant job of revealing the hatred for blacks expressed by Mr. Ewell as he unjustly accuses Tom Robinson of rape and denies that he sexually and violently abused his daughter.  I found myself remembering the poignant scenes from the novel yet seeing them performed on stage in front of me witnessing the audience’s response, often stunning silence, made the power of the text even greater than I remembered. 

This stage adaptation highlights a line repeated in most courtrooms across America, and challenges theater goers to ponder its underlying meaning. Early In the first act, Jem faces the audience and points out that during a trial, citizens are asked to rise when the bailiff says, “All Rise.” Her delivery of this line implores the audience throughout the play to consider what this means. I was moved by this line and the number of times it resonated throughout the play.  When I left the theater the first night, I noticed that they were selling T -Shirts that had a Mockingbird perched on top of the line “All Rise” written across the front.  My first thoughts were to applaud this outreach to all of us to rise, to do better, to be agents of change when we hear racist comments and see systemic racism in the workplace and in our communities.  Late in the second act, Atticus turns to the audience while delivering his closing arguments for Tom Robinson’s trial and passionately demands that the jury and the audience reveal the lies, end the hatred, stop the violence, and the abuse of power, and let this man, Tom Robinson, husband, father, son, kind soul to Mayella Ewell, go home.  These lines are met with a thunder of applause.  The audience gets it.  There is a moment in the theater, in our community, where patrons recognized the injustice and felt a sense of responsibility for it. I felt some humanity among these 1900 theater goers and wanted to stop right there and know that the Tom Robinsons in this country would be deemed innocent and our world would right its wrongs.  Not the case, Tom’s conviction, and eventual murder reminded us of the ongoing evils that are still not righted today.  

Much has been said about this novel recently given that Atticus is most often portrayed as a white savior, and I confess that when I taught the book years ago, I encouraged my students to see him this way.  I am more scrutinous of a white savior mentality now and see the harm it causes so I was very interested to see how this adaptation would present Atticus.  I was pleased to see that although he continued to be portrayed as highly regarded, honest and honorable, several of the characters called him out for his actions.  Jem spoke frankly to his father yet is sometimes dismissed as fathers sometimes do to their adolescent sons. Calpurnia brought the message home when she eventually confronted him about his inability to see that he caused harm when he unwaveringly showed understanding and kindness toward those who have committed hateful acts. 

Offering equally powerful performances and impactful messages were those playing Mr. Ewell and his daughter Mayella. Mr. Ewell is a disgusting representation of racism and hatred in America.  Joey Collins does an incredible job portraying this vile character.  He spewed horrifying justifications for oppressing black people, and we heard his daughter rant the same justifications during the trial, even though Atticus gave her an opportunity to do right, to be honest and to speak the truth about her father’s abuse and violence toward her.  She couldn’t do it; she was trained to see the world through his lens and was afraid to rethink her stance.  This too, speaks to the underlying issues of racism in America and the divisive nature of discourse on many other subjects as well.  We learn from our parents and see the world through that lens, right or wrong, and it takes powerful reflection and purposeful action to unlearn that inherent bias. 

I must also speak about the casting of a hearing-impaired actor.  Anthony Natale was an excellent choice given that an important message of this text is to appreciate people for who they are and recognize their individual characteristics as strengths.  Clearly ­­­­­­­­­Mr. Natale is a skilled actor and played his role perfectly.  I enjoyed watching him sign throughout his delivery and those who voiced his lines did so beautifully and matched his performance perfectly.  This casting decision was another artistic choice that left me truly thinking about the messages of anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. To say I was moved by this performance is an understatement. The actors gave outstanding performances, playing their roles perfectly, matching each other in talent and passion for this story.  

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Introduction

Listening, Learning and Leading

Early on…

I grew up on a dairy farm in Hurley, NY, as the youngest of 7 children. As a child and long into adulthood, I didn’t understand or appreciate what was instilled in me when living on a farm. My husband and I decided to raise our three children in a suburban environment, and quickly realized that our children could learn so much from their grandparents in a rural environment.  We visited often, helping Grandpa dig for potatoes, bake bread in the outdoor oven, tending the vegetable and flower gardens and baking rolls and cookies, lots of cookies with Grandma.  To this day, I look at open green spaces, seeing all their shades, marveling at the color of freshly plowed dirt, and listen intently to a waterfall in a mountainside. I also developed a great appreciation for history and architecture from my parents. The house I grew up in was a stone house built in 1769 and in addition to farming, my father worked as a restoration carpenter to help make ends.  He often designed roofing angles or molding patterns on the chalkboard that hung in our kitchen.  I love to garden and hike and am especially tuned into the impact of nature.  I enjoy problem solving and the challenge of figuring out logistical issues, particularly those where resources appear minimal at first glance.  These are all traits instilled in me early on and have proved useful over and over again.   

A passion for listening…

Early in my career as an English teacher and Director of English, I became a Syracuse University Project Advance instructor.  Attending professional development seminars at SU and partnering with university scholars shaped my “Ways of Seeing” and caused me to think deeply about how lived experiences and personal bias inform how we understand people, choose our social groups, make meaning of what we read, and influence how we make decisions in our personal and professional lives.  This realization helped me grow in my role as a school administrator, always pushing myself to seek out the perspectives of all stakeholders and open up space for all students to speak and be heard in the classroom, in our school community and beyond. 

And Learning, and Leading…

When two of my children moved on to college, I decided I wanted to pursue my doctorate degree. In 2015 I joined a group of school leaders on Friday nights and Saturdays for over two years and we learned about system leadership, delving into change theory models, school law, data informed decision-making processes, and many other essential topics when transforming schools.  When it came time to consider dissertation topics, I decided to study what educators in suburban schools know about diversity, equity, and inclusion and how districts go about professional learning on this topic.  My passion for understanding systemic racism and what is needed to ensure equity for all children had been smoldering since my eye-opening work with SUPA years ago, but is now fueled everyday with hope that by listening to each other, inviting people into a conversation about racism, anti-racism and inclusion for all, we will foster a constant review of our systems, engage in frequent conversations with students and families about their experiences and break down long held barriers for students in schools. 

Hobbies, Interests and Service

I love to spending time with my family, visiting my children who are now living in 3 different states, and my siblings, also scattered up and down the east coast. I enjoy travelling, always seeking out art galleries, big and small. I love to watch artisans and craftspeople in the midst of a new creation. I often find my way to a hiking trail during our travels. We are working on building a cabin in the woods just outside of Cooperstown, NY and I love the view down the valley from this lovely spot. I enjoy walking, hiking, yoga, reading, golfing and gardening. I spend my free time in my niece’s flower shop, inspired by her love of flowers and creating happiness in a vase for her patrons. Every Thursday I deliver food for those who are food insecure. This is important to me as I count my many blessings and continue to work to provide access and inclusion for everyone.