Soledad Lardies-Dunst: We begin with the training, we train them on the framework, on the specific strategies that we need them to use because every teacher comes with a toolbox and that’s great. But we know now that these strategies that are very specific from this framework, these are the strategies that work best. And because it’s been now nine years using this framework, we have a lot of data to, to back this up.

Mandi Morris: Welcome to the ML Chat podcast. I’m Mandi Morris. Whether you’re in a school district with two schools or 120, you need a plan for professional development to support your teachers, and it takes a lot of work to roll out a plan that feels successful and sticks. This conversation was Soledad and Vanina was really incredible.

They are supporting a big metro school district and are doing just really incredible work, supporting 131 ml at. [00:01:00] Educators and then also branching out from there to support content and grade level teachers as well. For best strategies for ML students, I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation today and walk away with some practical advice that you can implement in your school district immediately. 

Holding a Master’s degree in English language Learning pre-K through 12. Soledad Lardies-Dunst is the Guilford County School’s English learners Coordinator. In her current role, Soledad coordinates and facilitates the district’s EL professional development plan and provides support to teachers, students, and their families.

Van Hackett is the English learners Director at Guilford County Schools. She holds a master’s degree in education and is passionate about ensuring English learners are able to access equitable opportunities during their school experience and post-secondary success. Vanina…Soledad, Welcome to the ML Chat podcast.

I’m so excited to talk with you today. Thank 

Vanina Hackett: you. Thank you so much. We’re very happy to be here and honored. 

Mandi Morris: Okay, so I [00:02:00] think we do have to start with a fun fact that you are both from Argentina. So let’s start there. And did your worlds collide in Argentina and then you ended up in the same place in the states or the other way around?

Vanina Hackett: No, so we did not know each other in Argentina. So we came with the same program, the same teacher exchange program, but we met. Through a friend from Argentina as well, so here in different county schools. 

Mandi Morris: Oh wow. That is so neat. So how many years have you been working together? 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: We both arrived, I believe, in the same year, which was 2003.

And we’ve collaborated on and off all this time that we’ve been here. 

Mandi Morris: That is absolutely incredible, and both in such similar lines of work and then working at the same district level positions. That’s just really such a cool story. I love that. So tell us a little bit about Guilford County Schools. What is your ML [00:03:00] population size and also just the mix of students that you’re serving?

Vanina Hackett: Yeah, so we have our district about 60. 7,000 students in all, and our multilingual learners population is around 9,000, so that’s about 12 13% of our population. We have 120 different schools. And I would say there’s only a handful of schools that do not have a multilingual learner at their school. 

Mandi Morris: 120 schools.

That is a significantly sized school district. And do you have an ML educator on every campus? What? How do you support from district level? How do you support 120 schools? 

Vanina Hackett: Yeah, so we currently have 131 teachers, and depending [00:04:00] on the number of ML students enrolled at a school, we can, we may have a school with three full-time teachers.

’cause the numbers, let’s say, are maybe 180 males at that particular school. So then we have three full-time teachers. But then we may also have a school where we have only four multilingual learners there. So we do have teachers who are split among schools, but we do want to make sure that every single student in our district has.

An EL teacher. At their site. It may not be every day for the 7.5 hours a day, but there they do receive services during the week for sure. 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: And our district is divided into learning zones. There are six zones, and [00:05:00] so between Vania and me, and then we have. Four ELE teachers, we are each assigned a learning zone, and we support those teachers by doing the professional development, visiting the classrooms, providing feedback or instruction.

Helping them learn. In our field, there’s a lot of EL documentation that needs to be completed, so we help them learn all the and procedures. We also, in our office have a testing specialist that supports all of our teachers with this training and the actual administration of the training. Of the test.

Mandi Morris: Yeah. So many different pieces for compliance and ensuring that English learners have access to content. There’s a lot to think about when you’re coordinating and facilitating professional development and [00:06:00] in our niche part of education. I’m wondering what does your education model? Look like in your school district with 120 schools, I imagine you might have a little bit of everything between co-teaching push-in pullout, and a school that has a very high ML count, I would imagine looks really different from the school site you mentioned that might have.

For English learners at it. So how have you approached that? I imagine with a certain level of flexibility, but then also wanting to have unity throughout your school district. I’d love to hear more about that. 

Vanina Hackett: Yeah, so all, and we will expand on this a little bit later, but so. As a district, we have implemented what is known as the three LS framework.

Three L stands for Learning, language and Literacy. This is our ninth year implementing this framework, and we also added a couple of years ago [00:07:00] another framework called Pathway, and both of these frameworks. Were created by the Council of the Gray City Schools, the hosts of the Bayer Conference. That, and this stemmed from research and the collaboration with different universities, so.

When we implemented this framework about nine years ago, this was an opportunity for us to have a common model of instruction that goes from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. So that has really been. A very positive change because before that, each teacher was doing something different, something.

So this model of instruction or these frameworks really allowed us to have unity among all the different levels that we teach. So the models look [00:08:00] a little. Different from elementary, middle, and high school. So in elementary we have, we work more with a pullout setting, small group instruction, pullout. But our teachers, the, the implement, the three Ls and pathway framework, and we align our instruction.

When our district adopted curriculum, so then there’s consistency about what all our elementary teachers do in supporting the content that our students work on. Let’s say in an English language arts class. Then for middle school, we have ELD courses, English Language Development courses, and these courses are part of their ENCO courses.

So they, there’s an EL teacher who has, let’s say, [00:09:00] the times range, 45, 15 minutes per period and then. Similarly, in high school, we had our students take an ELD course In high school, it may vary. If it’s a block school, each block is about 90 minutes, and if it’s a year long school, each block may be. An hour, about 60 minutes.

Mandi Morris: So when you’re thinking about scheduling for your high school students in particular, and you’re thinking about students that are experienced English learners, they have been in your program since K one two, how do you think about scheduling for those students in particular in high school? Are they still in that standalone ELD class and what’s really like the focus and purpose of that class period for those older learners?

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: For our high school students, it’s a little bit different as because the graduation. [00:10:00] Requirements take precedence, right? We want to make sure their students are able to graduate in time, so we offer the supports as needed. We have a class called ELD tutorial, for example. Where our senior English learners may join to get specific help for a particular content area or to complete the senior project.

And then we have other students who may be in, in an advanced grade, but they come to us with limited English proficiency. So those may need to be served direct in an ELD class. 

Mandi Morris: Awesome. So it sounds like you have a very systematic approach and you’ve been working on this for nine years in the school district.

I’d love to talk some about you and your stories, and then we’ll come back to your presentation that you did at Buyer and learn a little bit more about what is your [00:11:00] systematic professional learning approach, Ben, for your school district, for being such a big school district. I can hear from what you’re saying, that it is very strategic how you are organizing services for students.

Really organizing professional learning for all of the teachers across your school district. But we’d love to get to know Anina and Ena a little bit. We know you’re both from Argentina, became friends here in the States. I just love that. And how did you become English learner teachers, educators. Did you always know that this is what you wanted to do?

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: Yes. In my case, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Argentina. And, uh, as in Argentina, English is taught as a foreign language. So I moved here when I was much younger. I think I was 27. And prior to that, all my experience was in Argentina teaching English as a foreign language. I worked at a bilingual [00:12:00] school at.

Companies teaching English to adults in different settings at different language schools. So when I moved here to the States, I joined this program called Participate Learning, and I came here as an international teacher to learn more about the culture, to practice my English, to learn new strategies that I thought I was gonna go back home and implement.

But then life happened and I stayed a little longer than I was planning to, but this has always been my passion, teaching English, learning English, and helping other teachers, and helping students learn English. 

Mandi Morris: How neat. I, it is just, it’s really wonderful. I love, like life happens. You’re like, we’ll just skip over a couple decades.

Here I am. Van Nina, what about you? What was your journey like? 

Vanina Hackett: Yes, and like I said, it was similar but also different. So first I started [00:13:00] learning English in Argentina when I was 16 years old, so I think. That and I fell in love with English. I was always, I just loved learning English. I like languages in general.

I have been studying Italian for a long time, but with English, I just fell in love with it. So I started at a later. Age. I completed a five year program for adults because of my age at a private language institute, and, and it was when I was in my senior year in high school that I had the option of attending.

The following year it was, sorry. Actually, it was during my senior year that I could attend a course that would prepare candidates that. Aspire to become teachers of English as a foreign language. This course was free. So and say, why [00:14:00] not? Let’s take advantage of learning more English, accelerated a little bit more.

And while I was completing this course. Then I met wonderful teachers and my plans changed from wanting to be a flight attendant actually, and wanting to be travel the world and use my English to become or to pursue the career of being a teacher of English as a foreign language. Then I came in the same year, 2000.

Three. I also taught at a private school, English as a foreign language, and then again the same. Wanted to explore, wanting to learn more, and yes, and then decided to stay. 

Mandi Morris: Oh, how wonderful. So have you both been in the same school district since 2003? Sonida 

Vanina Hackett: has, I actually started in a neighbor county element, Burlington school system.

I taught [00:15:00] there for three years, and then I ha. Started working in Guilford County schools at one of our newcomer schools. And then so we have in Guilford County, two schools that are specially for commerce. 

Mandi Morris: So let’s talk about that for a minute, because that is one piece we skipped over earlier. Learning a little bit more about your school district.

Tell us some about the population of the students in your school district. 

Vanina Hackett: Yeah, so we have, as far as languages, the vast majority of our MLS are Spanish speakers, but from different countries. So we have from Guatemala, from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras. So. Different countries from South America and then also we have a large population of Arabic speaking students, du speaking students, Vietnamese speaking [00:16:00] students.

Plus about, we have about 120 different languages and dialects in our district. So our district is very diverse and we’re very proud of the diversity we have. 

Mandi Morris: That is really neat and that must have something to do with your newcomer center. I think that’s incredible. A lot of school districts wish they could have newcomer centers, but it takes the right funding and the right philosophy and belief in the school district, and I think that’s so wonderful that you have built that.

It takes an incredible amount of vision. What’s the history there? How did those locations get started and how do they endure? 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: Our longest standing new government school is Doris Henderson. Newcomer school that opened in 2007 and back then we had an amazing EL doctor called Myra Hayes, Dr. Hayes, and she was the one that submitted the [00:17:00] proposal to open a newcomer school to the board, right in our district.

And, and she was very persistent. She believed it and after several times the proposal was finally approved, the school serves students in grades three through 11, and it is an option. Families have the option to attend the newcomers school. Or to keep their children in their attendance zone. Now, back in 2023, we were given the option to open a second newcomer school, our district, kilford County that is large geographically.

And so we began to notice the need for students to get. To those schools a little faster with the transportation, since we have some students who live in the area of High Point and other students who live in the area of Greensboro or [00:18:00] Jamestown. So we were approved. To open our second newcomers school called Sylvia Mendez Newcomer School, and again, they are sister schools.

They both serve grades three through 11. 

Mandi Morris: Wow, that’s an incredible history. It sounds like a lot of dedication and commitment. I love that word. You use persistence. A lot of educators have that, which is a calling to do the work. I feel like especially in the section of education of serving English learners, so many people are just called to this work with a passion for it and have so much persistence and commitment in what they’re doing and so that, so you’ve been in this school district long enough that you’ve seen both of these schools.

Open. 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: Yes, much long time. And with the newcomer schools, our students can stay sometimes a semester or up to a year. That’s [00:19:00] what in compliance with the Office of Civil Rights, we want to have them stay no more than a year. So we have a lot. Procedures in place to facilitate the transition When students are ready to move back to their attendance zone, school and the schools are fully equipped with a principal counselor, with a data manager social worker.

Interpreters teachers who are dually certified and teach the content areas, and also teachers who are experts in the English Language Learner learning process and have an ESL license. 

Vanina Hackett: Yes. I actually, so that was my first job in Guilford County Schools the first year when the school opened in 2007, and we only had, that was the only year that we only had fifth grade at the elementary level.

And I remember our former [00:20:00] director calling me and asking me or telling me about this job. So students will stay for a semester or two semesters, they will get acclimated to the United States. Instruction will be all in English. They will come from many different countries. And I remember saying it sounds like an ideal job.

So yes, that’s how I started at in Guilford County Schools at the Dory Anderson Newcomer School. 

Mandi Morris: Oh, how wonderful. And the director knew at that moment you were the right person for the job. And all these years later, I think it’s so neat when we talk to directors that have been in the same school district for a very long time, there is just that history of the school district and the population that you serve and you’re joking.

So that like I’ve seen too much, but that also is. So informative for knowing what works here and what have we already tried and it didn’t work. What do we need to adjust to support our teachers here? Because the needs, you’ve [00:21:00] been there long enough to see that, and I’m sure in the time you’ve been there, you’ve seen the population shift.

And would it be correct to assume that your population has grown as well? 

Vanina Hackett: Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And that’s why that was the advantage. We saw the need of opening a second newcomer school, and that is how, that was my first experience outside the classroom because when Sylvia Mendez opened, I was hired as their curriculum facilitator.

So the need was definitely there. And for now, both newcomer schools are very successful in what they do. 

Mandi Morris: That’s incredible and it’s such unique professional development for teachers working in the newcomer setting. The scaffolds and access to content are a really unique set of skills, and I think it’s incredible to have teachers that are able to focus on honing in on developing those skills.

That feels to [00:22:00] me. A big miss that happens when we have newcomers that are immediately dropped into a regular tier one classroom is that they have so many teachers that have the best intentions, but not the training to be able to accurately scaffold and support students with such emerging English proficiency.

So having that semester or two for students to get their feet on the ground, get acclimated. Accessing content in English. I think that’s just such a beautiful opportunity for your students. So let’s pivot here and talk some about your presentation at the Buyer conference, and I’d love to hear how that connects back to the work that you’re doing in your school district to support your teachers.

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: The Buyer conference, we have been presenting annually with them now for the past six or seven years. As Van was saying, this is our ninth year implementing the learning. Language and literacy framework. The Council of the Great City Schools is a [00:23:00] nonprofit organization that supports the largest urban districts in the US and our district, Guilford County, is a member of this council, so as a member district, we have access.

To their professional development, learning language and literacy framework, that what we call this, and also this is our third year implementing pathway reading and writing strategies. Our presentation at advice was a little bit twofold, one to talk about the strategies. That work best with English learners and also to explain the professional development plan, how we year after year onboard new teachers by providing the initial three years training, and in the past couple of [00:24:00] years, how we have integrated the three L training with the pathway reading and writing strategies.

And that’s how we have sustained this professional development with our new teachers each year. 

Mandi Morris: I would love to hear more about how you’re onboarding new teachers. I think whenever you either starting a new school district or just a new teacher, there’s so much information coming at you at the very beginning of the school year.

What does it look like for your model to support new teachers that are coming into your school district? 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: It all begins with a vision. A vision, vision from the top. For us, this vision with the three Ls framework began with our former superintendent, Dr. Contreras, and today it continues with our current superintendent, Dr.

With me Oakley, and our Chief Academic Officer, Jomar Maintenance, and they’re both very [00:25:00] supportive of the work that we do. So it begins with that vision that, that we, you know, and from the moment we interview new teachers, we let them know. How instruction is being delivered here in Guilford County because we know it can vary.

Even within North Carolina. We can go to the district next door and they’re gonna be doing something completely different. So what we do is hard work, ’cause we use a framework and it requires work. It requires developing units collaboratively. It requires searching for the right material, building those units.

So we let our teachers know that this is what they can expect, and so if they agree and choose to be hired by us, then when we do that onboarding, we begin with the training. We train them on the framework on the specific [00:26:00] strategies that we. Need them to use because every teacher comes with a toolbox and that’s great.

But we know now that these strategies that are very specific from this framework, these are the strategies that work best. And because it’s been now nine years using this framework, we have a lot of data to to back this up. And so we do an initial training. We also do. Uh, welcome back meeting with all 131 teachers, and that’s where we explain the professional development plan.

That will include mostly PLCs, professional learning communities. We hold PLCs twice a month with all of our teachers, and in addition to that, we host PLCs just for our new teachers. To make sure they can get that coaching. This is not the type of professional development that you end and you put in a drawer.

No. It’s [00:27:00] professional development, followed by coaching, followed by classroom visits, followed by lesson planning and collaborative lesson planning with other beers. 

Mandi Morris: Earlier you mentioned that your school district is broken up into four zones. So are those PLCs happening within the zones or are they happening on each site?

The teachers within the site are doing the PLCs twice a month. I’m thinking about other school districts that are, that say we can’t pull our teachers, we don’t have the funds for subs, we don’t have common planning time. So when I hear you saying that your teachers are getting together twice a month for PLCs, I’m like, wow, that is pretty incredible.

How have you figured that out? 

Vanina Hackett: Yes, we actually, so yes, it has. I mean, it has shifted also, especially after the pandemic and what we learned about the advantages of virtual sessions. So we, our district is divided into six [00:28:00] different zones. But our EL teachers come together after school, or maybe last year.

We have been based on teacher’s feedback. We have been adjusting based on their feedback. For example, last year. High school teachers because they have a later start time, they would meet in the mornings virtually, and that is based on feedback. That is the way it has been after the pandemic. Our teachers prefer that virtual session, and then this year we hold these PLCs during the afternoon times, but respecting the times the teachers.

Stop their classes and we are also trying to be mindful of their time after school hours. Few years ago maybe we had two hours after school, so that has changed. And this year [00:29:00] we implemented a new plan where. Teachers only meet for 30 minutes, but actually those 30 minutes, it’s collaborative work. They get to work.

So we were able to implement that because they also need the different district updates or continue the learning and professional development. So we have implemented a recording. That teachers, that those recordings are shared at the beginning of the week, and then teachers are able to view these recordings during their planning time.

During school hours, yes. We really appreciate 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: the feedback that we get and we know that most teachers, they just need time. Time. When you ask them, what do you need? It’s time. Things have changed. What, 20 years ago could have been a two hour in person PLC or professional development. Today [00:30:00] with all the demands that teachers face, we have had to adjust to make it more realistic for our teachers.

So this almost hybrid model that we’re meeting in person and it’s very focused planning. And then in addition to that, we will teach us, that’s what they said, not unclear. I don’t wanna sit down and just listen to. Reminders or announcements, I can do that at my own time. So we are just trying to listen to them and give them back some of the time that before might have been a more, a meeting that didn’t have that flexibility.

Mandi Morris: Yeah, I like that hybrid approach. It makes a lot of sense. And you’re trying to meet teachers where they are and understand that. Everybody has their own kid pickup and sports or activities after school, and those after school commitments can be very challenging. So it seems like you guys have come to a really great approach where you’re asking for less time.

It’s committed, focused co-planning, PLC, time, reflection, [00:31:00] time for those teachers together. And then announcements get a hundred percent. That stuff can be done asynchronously, but that’s really such a cool approach that you’ve taken to be able to meet in the middle on that. So when you guys are thinking about professional development, is that happening with your ML teachers only or are you doing professional development with grade level teachers and content teachers as well?

Vanina Hackett: Great question, and this is what 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: we’re about. 

Vanina Hackett: Yes. So 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: we have different types of professional development that we offer. One of them is offered by our ed teachers at their schools, and it’s one presentation that has two parts, and we have developed that presentation for consistency. So. The, we want to empower the teachers to be the experts in the building.

So that’s the first step. Our teachers have that information that they can share [00:32:00] about our program, about how English learners are identified, the annual test that they test, how they receive testing accommodations, the laws that you know, guide our work. And then also the instructional strategies that they use in the classroom.

They share some of the most powerful strategies to build capacity within the school. So that’s one layer, the EL teacher presenting to their staff, and then from our end vision to the PLCs that we have for all of our teachers. And then we have PLCs for exclusively for our new. ML teachers. We also work with content teachers, and that depends on the needs of each school.

For example, like today, a, we have, one of our teachers is meeting with the English teachers at one of our. High schools, and [00:33:00] again, she’s meeting with them during their planning time and she’s bringing in some strategies that school does have and or ML teacher, however we come in to provide additional support because while these English teachers have the planning time, our teacher is teaching, so sometimes it doesn’t work for our EL teacher or a mentor to come in and work with the content teachers.

So that’s where we come in and we present. To specific groups of teachers and sometimes whole staff as well. We may have a school that requests a professional development for the whole staff. Now, something new that we have implemented this year is trying to build capacity district districtwide by using our teacher workdays.

So again, the option to provide the PD session virtually. Has allowed us to expand our [00:34:00] capacity, and so our offering sessions that are tailored specific to elementary or middle and high, sometimes we might do secondary or combined, but instead of going just from school to school every day, we’re just trying to build capacity by offering this session to multiple schools, and it’s been well received.

We have some schools that have joined. From their media center and they watch the presentation together and we like to include an application part. So it’s not just I listen to a strategy, how will I apply this in my next lesson? So that has been very successful. 

Mandi Morris: It sounds like you started with really building up capacity for your ML educator.

And then from there, allowing them to support content teachers, grade level teachers on their sites. You could spend the entire school year getting around to 120 sites, but you really have to spread out that work. But you are filling in the gaps [00:35:00] where planning periods don’t line up or for really specific needs.

A very practical approach that you’ve taken. I also heard you saying that for consistency, that the training materials you’re providing from the district, I think that really takes a load off of the ML educator site by site. I’m sure there’s some flexibility for them to tailor it based on the needs of their site and their own strengths, their own experience.

That barrier of I have to create this from scratch. That’s its own barrier. I, I love that you’ve taken away that barrier and now you’re giving your teachers the resources they need so that they feel like, okay, I can do this coaching part of my job in addition to supporting English learners. 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: And then we also have a handful of teachers who serve our English learners at more than one site.

They may be at four different schools throughout the week due to their low caseloads at each of those schools. [00:36:00] So sometimes we assist by offering that session virtually because the teacher may not have the capacity to go to her or she four schools to do the presentation. So we assist as needed, but the presentation is the same.

The information is being distributed district. Right? 

Vanina Hackett: Yes. And we also as lead teachers coordinator, so we always say right at the beginning when we launch our professional development during the welcome back meeting, at the beginning of each year when we present this, that this is what we would like them to do.

And we mention all the positive impact that these presentations have. We them, if you need this. Systems we have presented with them. We have been with them at different, when they pre, when they do these presentations at their schools. But this idea actually came from one of our own teacher that shared, [00:37:00] I do a presentation for my staff, they said, and we said, oh, how wonderful.

And then we started thinking, how powerful would it be for us to create something that then. All our teachers would present districtwide. So this idea really came from one of our own teachers. 

Mandi Morris: That’s incredible. And why would you need 131 teachers doing the same work when you could do it once and then share out and allow people to tweak and massage that to, to meet their own specific needs.

I love that. This has been such an incredible conversation. I know that we could probably talk all day about how you’re supporting your teachers. It’s incredible that. You are being so thoughtful from the beginning of the school year all the way throughout the school year. We’re not doing a training and putting it in a drawer like said earlier.

It’s really a coaching cycle that you have, and through that coaching cycle, you’re really modeling for your teachers what it would look like for them on site to be doing that. [00:38:00] Similar coaching cycle with their peer colleagues. Just such cool work that you’re doing in your school district. I would love to do some rapid fire questions before we go.

So let’s start with one. What practice do you believe is making the. Biggest difference for your teachers or for your students this school year? 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: Okay. I’ll start and I’ll say, I don’t know how much time I have, how rapid this will be, but I would say our framework, the learning language and literacy, we call it the three Ls framework.

Together with the Pathway reading and writing strategies. Again, both frameworks come from the Council of the Great City schools, and they have really developed these frameworks in collaboration with a lot of experts in the field like Lily, Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore. The University of California and Irvine Pathway comes from Caribou Olson, Robin Scar, and of course [00:39:00] the support from the council itself.

The English Learners Division, Gabriela Ro, the former Di and David Lie, the current director. Without them, we could not do what we do. So for any district looking to be innovative and see what works with English learners, I would highly recommend contacting the current director, David Lai, and learn more about these two incredible frameworks that have given us this consistency with our instruction in grade K 12.

Vanina Hackett: And then I would say that as at the district level, the structures that have been in place for cross departmental collaboration. So that practice has really allowed us to expand the, this, the building of capacity throughout the district because our students, [00:40:00] so we have felt. We have been very pleased with the professional development we have offered our teachers, but our students spend a limited amount of time in their EL courses or ELD courses, so by ex.

Banding and by working collaboratively with many different departments like the counseling department, academically gifted department math, English, language arts, is we see the connections and we are able to work collaboratively to support our students. So I’m very happy about that practice for our students.

Mandi Morris: That’s wonderful. When you are thinking about your careers, what is something, a way of thinking or a shift in your thinking or someone who has made the biggest impact? 

Vanina Hackett: Yes, I can think of. So not only one person, I believe I can think of three [00:41:00] different people in my career. First, that one teacher that inspired me to be a teacher of English, just because she.

Believed in me and she expressed that belief ly. And then I had a principal who also made a huge impact at the Doris Anderson Newcomer School as a first year principal at that school. How he cultivated that trust and that community. And that sense of belonging and also expressing his belief for each member of his staff and then also our former director.

So I worked for her for over 15 years and knowing her courage, her persistence, and, and the belief in the work that she actually passed on to all of us. So I just have felt very [00:42:00] honored to have. Been inspired by these three amazing people. 

Mandi Morris: That’s really cool. What about you Sida? A lot of 

Soledad Lardies-Dunst: people, right? A lot of champions we’ve had throughout our journey.

’cause I, that’s when I visit schools every day. That’s what I tell our students. None of us, we adults and we’re, I’m an English learner. I will always be. I continue to learn every day. We did not get. Here by ourselves. We had a lot of help along the way. The other day, I had a student who said I did not ask for help before because no one would help me before.

So I stopped asking a student from Sudan. That’s always a good reminder that we. Are very privileged to be here today, sitting in the, in these seats and having what we have, just to name a few. Definitely there’s a teacher who was my inspiration to become a teacher myself, definitely mom and dad, believing in, in what I could do when [00:43:00] I was younger and I was having all of these ideas about traveling to another country and having all of these experiences.

Shaped who I am today. Definitely said all of our mentors from our former, UH, director and the privilege that I’ve had to work with the members of the Council of the Great City School because you can have a great program, but if you don’t have all the leadership pieces to work with adults and. Build those relationships to, to get the buy-in from teachers, because us working with adults can be challenging and especially when you’re trying to implement a new model, a new professional development, and you start from scratch and back then we didn’t have the data to back it up.

We had to go. By the data from other districts that were successful using this framework, having those tools to be able to navigate those difficult situations [00:44:00] when a teacher might have been pushing back, and I don’t wanna do it. And I want to continue to teach skills in isolation instead of using the integrated, the contextualized approach that we use today.

That is based on complex and compelling texts and teaching literacy in context. That just took a lot of work and I was very lucky to have all these mentors that that helped me navigate one situation at a time. And as always, we’re still learning. There’s always something new that we continue to learn.

Mandi Morris: Yes, absolutely. And I’m sure that you are inspiring educators every day and all of the support that you’re giving them for them to be able to do the work they’re doing with Students in Schools. Soda and Vanina. Thank you so much for being here. This has been such a lovely conversation today.