Getting to the Core with Wayne RESA: Recent Episodes
Jason Siko
Welcome to Getting to the Core: a Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency podcast. We invite you to join us as we discuss a variety of educational topics, and hopefully plant a few seeds that get to the ‘core’ of our mission: Leading, Learning...for ALL!
What happens when talented educators are stuck in limbo-teaching for years but unable to pass certification exams? Getting To the Core sits down with the innovators behind Wayne County's groundbreaking teacher certification program that's achieving success where traditional pathways have failed. Through a unique blend of content expertise, test preparation, and something most programs overlook entirely, WTCP is turning long-term substitutes into certified teachers and addressing the teacher shortage crisis one success story at a time.
The "Getting to the Core of Wayne RESA" podcast features Dr. Jennifer Banks (Washtenaw), Yarisha Johnson (Oakland), and Cherron Ramsey (Wayne County), the trio behind Tri-County Culturally Responsive Mathematics, who have transformed a pandemic-era vision into a five-year movement serving nearly 850 students. These three educators are proving that culturally responsive pedagogy combines rigorous mathematics with meaningful, community-centered learning that empowers students to see themselves as mathematical thinkers and problem-solvers. Through summer institutes, leadership conferences, and student showcases featuring renowned speakers like Dr. Chris Emdin and Dr. Bettina Love, they're breaking the generational curse of "I'm not a math person" and replacing it with mathematical empowerment. Their collaborative approach across three Michigan counties demonstrates how educators can work together to create lasting systemic change that serves all students.
Dr. Aaron Johnson's interview examines how traditional education systems often fail to connect with the lived experiences of students, particularly young Black males, emphasizing the need for more culturally relevant teaching approaches. He advocates for educational environments that authentically value students' existing knowledge and identities rather than imposing disconnected academic standards. The discussion highlights the importance of teacher self-awareness, meaningful writing instruction, and empathy in creating effective learning spaces. Dr. Johnson underscores that while his research focuses on Black male students, these student-centered principles benefit all learners and require support from parents and communities.
Dr. Muhammad, a renowned educational consultant and author, focuses on his newest book, "The Way Forward," while also delving into the legacy of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), the critical importance of equity, the current state of teacher well-being, and the potential dismantling of public education in the US.
This podcast episode delves into the origins, evolution, and impact of Wayne RESA's "Cultivating Genius" programs, focusing on culturally responsive instruction for Black children. It emphasizes the importance of addressing educator biases, understanding the holistic needs of Black students, and creating empowering and healing learning environments. The discussion honors the legacy of the late Ginni Winters, a key figure in the program's development, and highlights the personal and professional experiences of the speakers in shaping and implementing this vital work. The speakers emphasize the need to love on children and smile at them, letting them know that they are seen and that they matter.
The Getting To The Core team collaborates with Leadership Consultant, Linda Kell to discuss why it’s important for our students to have their basic needs met in order to access higher order thinking skills author Dr. Bryan Pearlman.
Wayne State Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Dr. Rema Reynolds Vassar joins our podcast team, Getting To The Core to discuss the current challenges of teaching and learning in urban communities today.
Dr. Jay Marks, a renowned educator, discussed his work on anti-racism, social justice, and cultural proficiency. He highlighted the legacy of Dr. Ginni Winters, emphasizing her impact on education and equity. Marks stressed the importance of radical love, self-awareness, and accountability in education. He shared examples of successful community partnerships, such as the Social Justice Project in Oakland County, which improved diversity education. Marks also discussed the need for institutionalized accountability and the importance of creating safe spaces for honest feedback. He concluded by advocating for courageous leadership and partnerships to address educational disparities.
Chronic absenteeism is a widespread issue in schools and districts across the country. It has raised concerns about academic rigor, student behavior, and performance. In an interview with Getting To The Core, author Jessica Sprick discusses best practices that have been effective in addressing these concerns.
The Executive Director of BFDI Training Institute, Dr. Keisha Allen joins Getting To The Core to discuss the power of Restorative Practices from a facilitator’s perspective.
Recently, our team at Wayne RESA had the pleasure of discussing the Strategic Planning process of Kentwood Public Schools with their leadership team, including Veronica Lake, Suni Joy, Andrew Telvin, and Carrie Tellerico. One of the key initiatives of their plan was the district-wide adoption of Restorative Practices. This approach has been proven to foster positive relationships and promote a sense of community within the school.
As we recognize National Homeless Awareness Week this month, we will be providing some information about the Special Populations Team at Wayne RESA, the McKinney-Vento Law, Homeless Awareness and why raising awareness on this subject is so important. We will be discussing what some common signs of homelessness are, the barriers that students experiencing homelessness face, how districts and PSAs can support their McKinney-Vento eligible students, and who you can contact should you have questions within your district and the county. Joining us are Wayne RESA Special Populations Team members; Dr. Sharrece Farris, Manager of State and Federal Programs, Charter Authorizations and Special Populations, Sabrina Rudy, Special Populations Consultant and Mary Bamrick, Administrative Assistant.
Resources:
MCAH Homeless Awareness Month Toolkit
Common Signs of Homelessness
School House Connection Common Questions
Covenant House - Sleep Out Event
Wayne RESA Homeless Education page
Wayne RESA Presents: Getting to the Core - MiCIP.
Today's content will be about continuous improvement. The State of Michigan has revamped our school and district planning to be more reflective, intuitive and responsive to the needs of staff and students. The process of district and school improvement is meant to be used for setting and aligning goals and expectations to the district and schools mission and vision. The goals have strategies and activities to systemically implement and address the needs of the district. Over time the process improvement planning has become cumbersome and compliance driven. MiCIP or Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Planning is a new and improved way to assist districts with school improvement in a way that helps to ensure that goals and expectations are being monitored and evaluated consistently throughout the school year. There's a new platform to house the plan that's much more intuitive than any of our old district school improvement systems. Your host is Marvin Franklin, Eudcational Improvement Consultant at Wayne RESA. Our guests are Nekeya Irby and Kimberly Murphy, Educational Improvement Consultants at Wayne RESA.
Wayne County MiCIP University
Michigan Department of Education - MiCIP Website
Wayne RESA Educational Improvement Team
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that “communication” encompasses so much more than language we speak, hear, or read. While language is one form of communication, humans communicate in numerous other ways with their body, eyes, hands, sounds, actions, and more.
“AAC, or Augmentative and Alternative Communication, refers to any form of communication that we use. So not just our mouth words. It could be our gestures…It encompasses forms of communication that supplements or replaces spoken language,” says Pam Cunningham, an Assistive Technology Consultant at Wayne RESA. Pam, joined by Amber Wade and Laura Begley, also Assistive Technology Consultants, helps us understand this simple, yet important concept on Wayne RESA’s podcast, Getting to the Core.
October is AAC Awareness Month, so we hope you will join us as Pam, Laura and Amber describe the ever-important role of assistive technology in ensuring Wayne County students are heard, understood and supported to their fullest potential.
Wayne County school staff interested in learning more about how the Wayne RESA Assistive Technology Team (WATT) can provide consultation and equipment for students can visit our website where they can also contact WATT to begin a consultation.
In Social Studies, our core—the essence of what we do—is to develop informed and engaged citizens. We want students that not only have content or disciplinary knowledge of the world around them, but the skills of how to apply that knowledge and the desire to do so.
As supported by our recent change in the Michigan social studies standards in 2019, students must be exposed to a more comprehensive and inclusive history. If we value that ALL of our students feel connected and engaged, they need to hear and see history from ALL perspectives. They also need to be asked to examine the ongoing impact of history on today's world, and to look ahead to tomorrow. Simply put: Students can't analyze and have meaningful conversations if they do not have access to the full story. As Dr. Michael F. Rice, Michigan's state superintendent, put it,
"Our children deserve to learn about the full breadth of U.S. and world history. As educators, we have not just the right, but the responsibility, to teach them this full breadth of history, including race, racism, sexism, and other difficult and challenging subjects."
Join us on a journey of understanding as we discuss the importance of topics with:
- Scott Bentley, Park Superintendent of the River Raisin National Battlefield Park;
- The Honorable Chief Billy Friend of the Wyandotte Nation; and
- The Honorable Chief Glenna Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee Nation.
It’s not day care, it’s early learning. It's about providing quality, experience-based learning opportunities during the crucial, early developmental years of our children's lives.
Join us as we talk with Beth Garza and Carissa Orr, Early Childhood Consultants at Wayne RESA, about the importance of high quality childcare programs like Strong Beginnings and the Great Start Readiness Program, and how parents can find the best opportunities to foster brain development for their 3- and 4-year-olds.
Wayne County, Michigan parents can visit findFREEpreschool.org to find a no cost, high quality program near them.
What is “Culturally Responsive Mathematics?”
Using the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM.org) definition, Culturally Responsive Mathematics seeks to promote a positive mathematical identity in students by providing tasks that are relevant, personal and meaningful to students.
What does this approach look like, how does it differ from previous approaches to teaching mathematics, and how are students in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne County responding to this Tri-County initiative?
Join us as we learn from our regional experts, who are pioneering this work across our three counties:
- Jennifer Banks, Ph.D., Director of Instruction, Washtenaw ISD
- Yarisha Johnson, Mathematics Education Consultant, Oakland Schools
- Cherron Ramsey, Mathematics Education Consultant, Wayne RESA
Intro Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Length - 25 minutes
On May 16, 2022, Great Start Collaborative Detroit/Wayne had the distinct pleasure of hosting Chelsea Clinton on a “Talking is Teaching” tour of Detroit and Wayne County. With some support from Wayne RESA’s Communications Department, Great Start Detroit/Wayne successfully planned and executed a fabulous tour of four community organizations that exemplify the mission and approach of this early childhood literacy campaign. Joining us today are Kathleen Alessandro and Carmen Colón of Great Start Detroit/Wayne, who will walk us through the exciting event that has since garnered nationwide attention to the important work with early childhood literacy in Detroit and throughout the state of Michigan.
Intro Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Length - 49 minutes
Do you remember all the facts you learned in your history or geography classes? Does it still matter? Are you an actively engaged, responsible citizen? In this episode, we sit down with David Hales, Social Studies Consultant at Wayne RESA, to discuss changes to the social studies curriculum over the past few years. Yes, facts and knowledge do matter, but we also need to learn the tools to use them to engage civically. David discusses how the C3 Framework for social studies instruction helps teachers address both the knowledge and action aspects to create responsible citizens.
Intro Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Length - 23 minutes
Since schools first shut down in the spring of 2020, our students have experienced things that none of us really imagined, from emergency remote teaching, social distancing, packets being sent home, Zoom classrooms, wearing masks, and an ever changing set of circumstances. The 2020-2021 school year was unlike anything we had ever seen. This school year has also been different, and while we’re never going back to 2019, things are slowly looking like they once did.
So, we thought it would be a good idea to hear directly from students on how things have evolved over the past two-plus years. What do they like? What has changed and what has stayed the same? What do they want the adults to know? To that end, we asked several students throughout the region about their experiences…learning in the pandemic.
Intro Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Background Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
Length - 15 minutes
In this episode, Wayne RESA Career Counselors Brad Minton, Tanji Lilly, and Chris Ferrell discuss how the Ready to Launch program assists local districts and students (and their parents!) by accelerating students' exposure to career resources by working with individuals and small groups and providing individual action plans. The counselors provide resources that help students explore career interests, expose them to careers they had not thought about before, pathways to achieving career goals, and opportunities for internships and financial assistance.
Length - 27 minutes
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In this episode, Kyle Gnagey is joined by Heather Vaughan-Southard (Professional Learning Director - MAEIA), Brenda Bressler (Music Educator - Huron School District), and Susan Briggs (Art Educator - Dearborn Public Schools) to discuss the role of Arts Education in social emotional learning (SEL). Our three guests discuss the importance of student development through the arts, as well as the role art plays in supporting learning across the curriculum.
Length - 20 minutes
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
For this episode, we are joined by Ginni Winters, a School Culture and Equity Consultant at Wayne RESA, and Dr. Velicia Humes, a School Climate Consultant at Wayne RESA, to discuss school culture and climate, and how the pandemic has brought to light issues that can occur when the culture and climate of a school is not conducive to learning. In addition, they give ideas on how teachers and leaders and take steps to improve the culture and climate of a building using Bruce Perry's 3Rs - Regulate, Relate, and Reason.
Length - 52 minutes
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Welcome to Season 2 of Getting to the Core. To kick off the new season and school year, we sat down to interview Dr. Daveda Colbert, Wayne RESA's new superintendent, about her background, her journey to RESA, and her vision for the county, as well as some fun questions. Good luck as we start the new school year and enjoy the interview!
Length - 30 minutes
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In our final episode for the school year, Dr. Ellen Vorenkamp sits down with RESA Instructional Technology Consultants Judy Bowling and Jason Siko to discuss innovative learning strategies for summer learning that are no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech. Whether it’s a structured activity, informal learning, or a passion project, there’s plenty of ideas for educators as they share summer learning ideas with parents and students.
Length - 46 minutes
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In this episode, Melissa Wilson sits down with Randy Liepa (Superintendent - Wayne RESA), Andrea Oquist (Superintendent - Livonia Public Schools), and Terry Dangerfield (Superintendent - Lincoln Park Public Schools) to discuss the past school year, and what's on their wish list with respect to changes that they hope remain once the pandemic is behind us. The superintendents also discuss how the challenges over the past year have shaped and strengthened their views on the importance of public education, public health, and community involvement in the education of our children.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In this episode, Ellen Vorenkamp chats with Joe Musial, Cindy Cook, Jolia Hill, and Marvin Franklin about how Wayne RESA's Attendance Resource Team (ART) uses research and data to help combat chronic absenteeism, as well as challenges the pandemic has presented with respect to student attendance.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In our third episode of Getting to the Core, Michelle Wagner and Stephanie DeVee discuss creative ways to make connections with students in a remote environment. Stephanie is not a newcomer to K-12 online learning; she has been teaching for an online school for several years now, and has refined her toolbox to overcome the challenges faces when trying to build rapport and trust with students from a distance.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In our second episode of Getting to the Core, several Wayne RESA consultants discuss the importance of feedback and assessment, and how educators can adapt current classroom practice to the remote environment.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
In our first episode of Getting to the Core, several Wayne RESA consultants discuss their experiences with remote learning as both educators and parents of school-aged children.
Music by Wataboi from Pixabay