It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's new video.
Al thank you, thank you for my introduction. All and I work together on Saturdays most often. I am here filling in for Dan on Night Side for the next three hours. And I'm going to tell you about my next guest. And this is all in such small print. And see she's a pre professional pre K to sixth grade teacher, administrator education one to six. She also, as well as speaking English, which will help me interviewing her, she speaks Spanish and could translate with advanced proficiency. That's
Clark and Treline. Clark, welcome to WBZ.
Thank you so much, Morgan. Can you hear me loud and clear?
Loud and clear, and thank you. And your background is so intense. You did send a text, but the print was so small Nancy had to use magic tricks to enlarge it for me so I could read it. But let's talk about the conferences. There is a conference coming up in June later on in this summer. It's going to be in Ghana. What are these conferences built around? I know they're educational, but what are they built around?
Okay, well, again, thank you so much for having me on this evening. So, as you mentioned, I am a career educator, and one of the things that has been very important to me and my own growth and development as an educator as well as you know, helping be the next generation of educators is to to have professional development opportunities to continue learning. And so I have a passion for that and I've obviously betten to many conferences, workshops,
et cetera. And several years ago I began trying to present at these conferences on different topics that I have passions about or some levels of expertise. And so one of the the one in June actually is with an organization called Black Women Education Leaders Incorporated. It is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the contributions and achievements
of Black women at all levels of educational leadership. I am currently the national president of that organization, so that I am.
Yes.
It was founded during the pandemic by Doc the Younger basically on Twitter, started a Twitter account and grew it into an organization and incorporated it during the pandemic and I found it on Twitter.
Now I'm going to turn back the hands the time. I want to talk talk about you now, you and I talked about this when we were setting up this time for your interview with me. I'm going to talk about you in elementary school, junior high, high school, and college. What was it about wanting to learn that made you hungry to go into class the next day and pay attention. I know you attended city school and not all of your classmates had that same drive. Why was that drive in you?
Great question? So I actually went to an elementary school where the majority of the students were black African Americans, and many of our teachers were the same, and I have to credit them with part of that drive because they made learning fun, they made it interesting, they made it relevant to who we are, who we were going to become. And so I was always and looking for the next thing, hungry for the next thing that we were going to learn. And you know, so that that
is connected to having great teachers. I mean, you know, kids will learn from people that they can late too, and that they you know, if they liked them, that's a bonus. But being able to connect with my teachers, my teachers and learning who I was learning, how I learned as a learner, that was really critical. And so you know, that really helped me to to think about you know, wow, if these things are you know, if I love to read, I love to write, I love history,
well maybe I can teach other people the same. And so that's that's where I kind of directed my life. At fourteen, I decided that I wanted to become a teacher and a school leader, and that's kind of how I feared in my life.
No, I'm going to tell you a quick story that doesn't relate except to the last thing you said. Growing up, I had a best friend. We went to nursery school together, a couple of different after school programs together, high school together, and he said to me his sophomore year, I'm going to finish high school, go to college, and learn how to be a pharmacist. A declarative's statement, as simple as that.
And he did it. And that's to say, when you're fifteen sixteen years old, what you intend to achieve scholastically and do it is a very impressive thing. And I'm not going to say his name, but he and I are still friends, not as close as we were back in the day, but we're still friends. And he and I went out to lunch not even two months ago, just to catch up with each other and for you
to say the same thing. For you to identify what you wanted as a career path, walk that path, stick to walking that path and achieving it says a lot for you too.
Absolutely.
Now I have a break to take. I'm going to open up our phone lines and I want to tell I want you to tell people about these conferences, the one in Washington, which I think is in several weeks, and the one later on in the summer at Ghana. If you want to call in and speak to Trelaine Clark, please do six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
or eight eight, eight, nine, two nine ten thirty. Give recall I'm Morgan filling in for Dan Rey here on night Side time and temperature nine fifteen pt. Seventy three degrees.
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Back when I say we we're talking edgemaication to be funny when they say that, all right, that laughter you here is from Trelaine Clark, and Tralaine tell me about the upcoming Washington DC conference.
So the conference is held by Black Women Education Leaders Incorporated. And the title is the power of our presence, transforming Black women, transforming education for the future. This is our first national conference. As I mentioned a little earlier, the organization was started in twenty twenty and we are having our very first conference. It is open to all, but the organization has planned it and is planned and all of the presenters are Black women at various levels of
educational leadership. And it's going to be a phenomenal A phenomenal.
Of that is there a platform of what as a group you want to achieve.
So so one of the one of the things is that you know, if you look at education, these statistics about how how many Black women are in levels of educational leadership, whether it be uh serving in school based leadership, district leadership.
Or.
Or school board, school committees, et cetera, the percentages are are typically very low. And uh actually actually the percentages are slightly higher for black men in those similar roles. And really, you know, there are some unique challenges that many black women face either attaining those roles or remaining in those roles. And so our organization and this conference seeks to provide opportunities for support for networking.
Do we lose you Trilane Rob endeavor to get her back. Okay, and I'm going to do several things well. Rob attempts to get the connection back with Trelaine Clark tomorrow on The Morgan Show. What am I doing? Oh, I'm doing
something very unique. The first hour, I want people to call in and give me trivia subjects because the following week I'm going to pick one of those subjects, write fifty questions around that subject that I pick from your calls, and the following week we will do questions in trivia game on the thirty first, the thirty first of May, Trellaine, are you back?
Yeah, I'm sorry about that.
It's okay. So where did we cut off with you?
I had just explained what the platform was and being rationale for the.
Conference and between black male educators and black female educators and how the men seemingly don't have it as hard as the black females. Correct mm hmm, okay, yeah, why why is that.
Not to say that it's not difficult? So I'll put that out there, and again the numbers are still are still relatively small, but it's a lot of it has to do with the word leadership.
Okay.
And you know when you sort of think about leadership and how you know, our society is struck shared.
You know.
You you often see, well leader, well, let's likely will be a man, you know, and so that that is just a part of our our DNA, so to speak, as a society. And uh, and oftentimes to what we see in in educational leadership is that black men who do become teachers or who either become and become too leadership educational leadership via various uh, alternative certification programs, et cetera, they often don't necessarily teach as long as black women do.
They're often promoted faster. So there's there's a lot of different factors that come into play. And uh, it's it definitely varies geographically depending on what the population is in certain parts of the United States in particular. But there are a number of things at play when we when we look at the disparities between black males and black females in educational leadership.
Okay, and this is just an observation. I have no science to back me up. But why is it it seems that black students morphing into black educators seem to have more on the ball going for them. From the South than their northern counterparts. And do you think do you think I am did center on that or not necessarily accurate on that.
I hesitate to say they think very specific on that because I am a Northern While I do know many educators in the southern parts of our country, I do again think that demographics and the quality of the education in various places, the value that they place on educators and having an education, all of that makes it makes determines whether or not teaching and education is sexy as
a career choice, you know, and as a profession. Yeah, so it really it does have a lot to do with you know, how much do you value you know, getting an education and then not just getting an education, but getting an education to actually do the same. So, you know, folks, nobody gets anywhere without a teacher, right, That's what nobody.
Nobody does.
However, what we have though, is a lot of disrespect, disregard, you know, low pay, all kinds of things that just say that being a teacher is not something that most folks want to do, and it can be really difficult. It is really difficult that the schools of education are struggling across the country for students because folks are not looking to become teachers, so there's a lot of there's a lot of concern about that.
Now I'm going to share a story with the audience. I shared this story with you earlier when we were coordinating the day and time you were going to be on. I went to the C. C. Perkins School, which is on Saint Petol's Street, South End, and I entered into the second grade and I stayed in that school third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, and sixth grade. And due to a quirk in they're teaching scheduling, you had the same teacher each grade for that year. My second grade teacher
as well was my fourth grade teacher. Her name was Elwood, missus Elwood. I don't remember her first name. And this goes back about ten twelve years ago. I'm in a bank, my bank in Chestnut Hill, and it was around Christmas, so they had a security guard in there, and obviously during Christmas they want to have a presence to keep
somebody from doing a naughty act. And as I'm leaving, I knew all of the bank personnel, so two or three voices, oh yeah, goodbye, Morgan, and the security guard a police officer stopped me and said, are you Morgan White Junior? No, are you Morgan White? And I said, I'm Morgan White Junior. And he said, my mother loved you. I said, pardon me, and he said, my last name is Elwood. Does that ring a bell? I said, yes, your mother taught me in the second grade and the
fourth grade. And he said, the most heartwarming thing to me, My mother loved you and everything that you've done in the public, from writing books to being on the radio and every now and then on TV. My mother did the best she could to keep up with your career. And I said right back to him, she was a contributor to my doing all the things that I have done, and having the brain power to do the things that I have done. And I did not exaggerate when I
of that story. That is the truth for all the people listening right now, and for missus Elwood, Miss Nardone, my homeroom teacher in high school, mister Fox my biology teacher, Miss Specter my junior high history teacher, and I could keep going. They all made it interesting for me to learn. And mister Forsyth in Earth science freshman year, he taught me all about a Nansen bottle, what it was, what it did? It collected silt and I can remember that now from being in the ninth grade. What a Nansen
bottle did. These teachers instilled in me not just the hunger to learn, but to excel and learn. And those of you who know me, and this is to you, Trellaine, because you saw me at the Esplanade I don't know ten twelve years ago, entertaining. For those of you who have seen me entertain using trivia, couldn't do it without the teachers that taught me. And on that note, I'm going to take my break if you want to call in six one, seven, two, five, fourteen thirty eight, eight, eight,
nine to nine, ten thirty. Trelaine and I are going to talk about another conference this summer in Ghana, and I'm going to talk about how that country's use of educators differs from the United States. Time and temperature nine thirty seventy three degrees. It's night side with Boston's News Radio. We are back. I'm speaking with educator and that's the best word. She has been dedicated to teaching and learning more as she teaches. Her name, Trelaine Clark. You want
to call in and chat with her. I won't stand in your way six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty or eight eight, eight, nine to nine, ten thirty. And you talked about the conference in watching in DC coming up in June. I know there's another conference later on in the summer in Ghana. What is the perspective to learning, teaching and learning in Ghana versus the way we do things in the United States, If there is a difference.
Well, I of course, I guess I want to just say what the conference is. So it is through Ghana ASCD, which is an educational organization, and the conference is the International Educator's Summit twenty twenty five. It's held July eighteenth through the twentieth in Accra, the capital of Ghana. I went last year to the first conference. I presented there and so this will be my second time attending and presenting. So this I think it's a little trys of talking
about Ghana's education system. I'm still learning a lot about Ghana's education system as a whole. What I can say is that through my interactions with Ghanaian educators during my trip last year, I was just so awestruck by how dedicated they are and how much they are willing and just hungry for learning and opportunities to do so, opportunities
to engage with other educators. So there there are definitely a variety of challenges in Zhana, but what I felt the most strong most strongly was how much they love their students and how much they were willing to try to figure out how to make sure that they could
get the best education they could provide them. And so there are some resource challenges throughout the country in different parts of the country, things like access to internet, even access to to books, other types of technology, and and then even you know, environmental concerns, access to you know, clean water and those those types of things. But again
it depends on where you are in the country. So you know, the education system is there, it has it has been there, and there's lots of lots of educators who are working to refine the system and ensure that that students are getting what they need. It's very highly regarded. Education is very important to to Dnean citizens, and so it's really it's really really admirable what they're able to do, often sometimes in the face of not having what they need in order to do to do the best they can.
Is their school day time here in the United States, and it varies state to state, but usually your school day start at eight o'clock, maybe earlier some places, but between eight and three you're in school. Is it the same? Is it the same in Ghana? Do they do four days a week, five days a week, or even six days a week, because in different school systems around the world, those numbers fluctuate.
Yes, they do fluctuate, and I'm not on one hundred percent sure how much that is the case. But they are in school for you know, I would say average five to six hours a day, very similar to okay.
And most schools in the United States. Most schools don't have an issue with supplies. If you need a pen, if you need crayons, if you need a ruler, your school provides it for you. If you need a computer or support supplies for your computer, most schools have that. But you may it sound like in Ghana that necessarily isn't the fact.
That is not always the case. That is correct mm hm okay. So they are are using whatever they can, sometimes slate boards and talk sometimes they have uh they do have notebooks and things that uh, you know, and and pencils. But a lot of times, again depending on how rural the school is, they may have limited resources. Okay, the school, the school where we have our where we're having the conference, got a international school is one of
the more heavily resourced schools in the country. As it is, uh, I believe that students have to apply for that school.
And so that's school.
The school is beautiful, It has a has a library and internet access and and other things. So it really just depends a little bit on where in the country it is located.
And when is that You say, it's in July.
July eighteenth through the twentieth, And I want.
To take you back a year that this is your second year being a part of the conference. What was it like stepping up to that podium, looking out, seeing all the faces focused on you as you gave you a speech?
Well, I didn't.
I wasn't one of the ones giving a speech. But I just did a workshop. Okay, so yeah, so it wasn't. It wasn't in front of the whole the whole group of attendees. So I had a workshop and I had some participants there and it was great. We had a great conversation. My topic was on resilience and educators, and you know, there was a moment where I said, you know what am I going to teach and educators about resilience when this is sort of part of their DNA?
And it occurred to me that you know, it definitely is. It is a part of our DNA. For those of us who identify as as black or African American resilience, it is just a part of who we are. So they had great conversation about that and keeping ourselves, you know, rested and invigorated and encouraged to continue in our work.
I do not know, so I'm maybe speaking from ignorance, but are there any skirmishes on the outskirts of Ghana with their neighbors or their neighbors neighbors? Do you hear gunfire at night? Now? I know there are different warring segments all over Africa. Does Ghana have to worry about that or are they pretty much safe when it comes to their neighbors and how their behavior may be.
You know, I don't actually know a lot about the political climate. I do feel like Ghana is a very safe I felt completely comfortable there, So yeah, I think that you know, every every country has its uh it's it's things around that, but I don't to my knowledge, I don't think that that is a significant problem.
And you felt safe attending the conference on your school property, you felt safe walking the streets?
I did, Yeah, I did.
And how do people from Ghana look at people from the United States?
So again, it definitely depends on what region they are from, but oftentimes they're they there are assumptions about our our our wealth or our economic status, you know, sometimes assumptions about not even our educational status or even our own access to resources. And at the same time, you know, there's often that there's also somewhat of a reference to for for at least for educators, because of how we what we are, what we're able to do and accomplish
because we have so many more resources. So they, like I mentioned earlier there, they want to learn and they want to hear more and find out more about what they can do with their students to uh to support them. So it's very it's it's very humbling and heartwarming. Those educators that I met were just fantastic.
I'm going to take a break, but when we come back from the break, I want to focus on your perception of deficiencies. And I'm not talking across the country. I'm talking about in Massachusetts. Any deficiencies that we have in our education sources around the country, different around the state, different schools here or there. What needs to be fixed, And just to the opposite of that, what's a shining example of what we in Massachusetts do right now? Hold
on to that thought. When we come back, we'll hear how you feel about those things. You want to call in and join the conversation. I'm running out of time with Lane. She's waving a boy the top of the hour, which is roughly ten twelve minutes away. Six one, seven, four, ten thirty eight, eight eight, nine to nine, ten thirty give us a call here on Nightside, Dan is off. I am here. I'm Morgan time in temperature nine forty five seventy three degrees.
It's night Side with Dan Ray on w B Boston's news radio Trelaine.
I promised you a chance to answer the two questions I gave you, basically, what are we in Massachusetts educationally doing correct? And what are we in Massachusetts educationally doing wrong? But I've got two people that have called in, and I always yield to phone traffic. So first let's take Jane in Shrewsbury.
Hello Jane, I'm Morgan and Trelaine.
Hi.
Ja, I missed a little bit of a show show. I hope I'm not too off topic, but I kind of wanted to get a tiny bit political and ask your pinion. I think there's a lot of people in this country who don't know what DEI stands for. But in my opinion, diversity, equity, and inclusion are all good words. So I'm confused as to why it's been politicized as a negative thing. And if you wanted to comment without being you know, if you don't mind, that would be great.
Oh boy, Yeah, so I am in agreement with you. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are all what we where we should be as a society. We should be accepting, in my opinion, of all different types of people, all the different gifts and talents that they bring into spaces. We should be equitable with our resources. We should be making sure that everyone has what they need to be successful. That is a definition of equity that I live by. And then inclusion, you know, the word is base words include, So when
we include people in the conversation. When we include people in the spaces, then we're we're able to get a
whole lot further. So, you know, I think that there are many assumptions that are made about the work of dei UH as a of practitioners and as a practice and UH A lot of it is based on on just a lack of knowledge and understanding that these are not terms that are specific to any one or two groups of people, but yet they're actually principles of how we should be coexisting as humans in the spaces that we occupy.
I think that sounds that sounds good because we learned so much from people who might be different from ourselves. So I agree with what Chlaine says. I'm margan. You mentioned about what's Massachusetts doing right and wrong, and I don't have a lot of knowledge about that, but I could think of one thing, and that is that a lot of the very wealthy towns have been able to rebuild all of their schools, you know, knock down old
schools and build new ones. But when you get into cities, there's not as much space, so it's a lot harder even if they could afford to to build schools. But I feel that that also lends to some lack of equality as far as resources. When you've got kids in a brand new building, you know, it's all the bells and whistles versus an older building that might need attention.
Okay, and let me say this, I was very fortunate high school the second year of the MECO program. If I had, for whatever reason, instead of sixty seven to seventy one, had I been put into high school sixty five to sixty nine, I would have gone to JP High. And I am not knocking to make a plain high because I never went there. But I guarantee you I had a much better education provided for me by Brookline High, a considered a considerably wealthier community than the Jamaica Plane
section of Boston. That's it. That's all I got to say.
Yeah, I get that, and METCO has been really good for a lot of kids. But as I think Howard Bryant said at the fiftieth anniversary, why do we still have to be having a program like that instead of everyone getting an equal education in their towns? True? But yeah, METCO has been good for a lot of individual people.
How true? All right, Jane, I got two more people to get on.
So thank you.
Bye bye. Let's go to Henderson in Boston. You're up next one night side, Hello Henderson.
Hey, good evening time. First time caller. Just wanted to say, uh, teacher's rock. I agreed, thank you.
I think I'm saying that.
I'm saying that for a couple of reasons. Is because of a teacher. She just we just had a funeral. She passed away pancreatic cancer, Renee Beckett Simmons. I just want to say her name, Okay.
She helped my.
Son get into teaching, and you know he and and like you was said earlier, you know, he taught and he was looking for more money and he went into a different field. In another instance, in the sixth grade, a teacher came to for our house and told my parents that my brother was going to be special.
Now.
My brother had a speech impediment, and later on in the ninth grade, another teacher taught him to think before you open your mouth. If the whole world could do that, he was able to control that speech impediment, and he went on to be one of five in the United States and an electrical engineer and doctorate of philosophy.
Reasonably proud, I won't say his name about my kid brother, but he is. He went on to run all the small businesses in America under Obama. He was appointed by recess appointment to the Chief Counsel of Advocacy for the Small Business Administration in twenty ten, and he served until twenty fourteen. I'm just saying, a kid from Dorchester, you've never heard of him, You know what I mean? That that's you know, he's like.
Traveling the world.
You know, he's now.
Doing some international counsel on small business stuff. But you know, it's just a blessing what teachers could do. So I just want to chime in. I usually listen, but tonight I have to say thank you, Thank your teachers.
Thank you for the call. I've got one more call to take. Mark and Austin you are next.
Hi Morgan, thanks for taking my call. What's Massachusetts doing right? And education? Charter schools? Okay, Yes, the idea, of course is you give nonprofits a certain amount of money to
run a school, try some experiments. I am especially impressed with Boston Green Academy charter schools because I just retired from supermarket work in the neighborhood and at least three of my coworkers who were going to Boston Green Academy were enthusiastic about the quality of their high school education, and it has It has a very good music program,
so I understand. It has a very good journalism program, so I understand, and has a special deal with Brighton High School across the street where the kids at Boston Green Academy can participate in any of the extracurricular activities offered by Brighton High School. So there are other examples I could cite, but I don't have a lot of time. I guess the teachers' unions don't have necessarily like the
idea of charter school so much. But you know, the truth of the matter is that Boston does well in providing you know, very good specialized high school programs, and I'm not sure that would be possible without the charter school model.
Mark, you made it in just the right amount of time that I have left. I'm going to start you here. I'm going to say thank you for your call and your comments. Thank you, and Trelaine, we don't have time for you to answer my questions, but you got a Floria phone calls that all seem to be quite supportive of you and your perspectives, and thank.
You, thank you, I appreciate it. This was wonderful.
And now that we've done this, will you do it again one day?
Absolutely?
Thank you? Fun Well you apprehensive at first, I wasn't sure.
How I was gonna go, but once I get in my flow, you know, it's all good. So yes, definitely would love to be back.
And I will love to have you on Trelaine Clark, thank you and everybody else. Next couple of hours, we're going to talk about James Bond here on night side nine point fifty eight seventy three degrees