Bonus: How to Use Storytelling To Address the (In)Equity in Education

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Max Freedman is a reporter, producer, and co-host of School Colors. He created School Colors with Mark Winston Griffith, a veteran community organizer and the editor of Brooklyn Deep. After four years of research and reporting, the first season premiered in 2019 to critical acclaim. He is thrilled to publish Season 2 through NPR’s Code Switch.Freedman is also one of the creators of Unsettled, a long-running independent podcast about Israel-Palestine and the Jewish diaspora. For Unsettled, he most recently reported and produced “The Birthday Party,” an immersive narrative series about Palestinian-Jewish solidarity work in the occupied West Bank. In the early weeks of COVID-19, he produced Making the Call, a weekly show about medical ethics and the pandemic for Endeavor Content. 

Before becoming a journalist, Freedman was a facilitator with Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, adjunct faculty at Pratt Institute and a senior educator at the New-York Historical Society, where he created an enrichment program for grades 4-8 using musicals to teach American history.He holds a B.A. in theater from Northwestern University, and an M.S. in design and urban ecologies from Parsons School of Design. His work on School Colors Season 2 was supported by the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University.

Mark Winston Griffith is the creator, host and writer of School Colors along with Max Freedman. Griffith is a third-generation resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Until April 2022, he was the Executive Director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, a Black-led community organizing group based in Central Brooklyn that he co-founded in 2011. His parents’ organizing in Central Brooklyn and authorship of a report on Community School District 16 inspired him to co-create School Colors.

While at Brooklyn Movement Center, Griffith created Brooklyn Deep, a citizen journalism initiative that chronicles neighborhood change in Central Brooklyn. He has served as an adjunct professor of urban reporting at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and has been a board member of The City news site, City Limits Magazine and Free Speech TV.

Griffith is an enthusiastic parent of two teenage boys and has navigated the public, private and charter school systems.

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Show Highlights

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]The power of storytelling as a vehicle for making change happen.[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]Looking through a leadership lens of equity and inequity that exists in our educational system. [/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]Gain a keen sense of how race and gentrification impacts the conversation about education.[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]Be a curious leader by engaging in “real conversations” to avoid ill-conceived assumptions.[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]Examples of how the schools are conditioned by external forces.[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]Stories of principal development and the benefit of community resources.[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb use_icon=”on” font_icon=”||divi||400″ icon_color=”#222222″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”23px” content_max_width=”90%” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” animation_style=”zoom” animation_delay=”50ms” animation_intensity_zoom=”5%” animation_speed_curve=”ease-in” global_colors_info=”{}”]The dangers of perception, zone preference and how it impacts families.[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”20px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_testimonial author=”- Mark Winston Griffith” quote_icon_color=”#2A388F” quote_icon_background_color=”#dfe1df” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”52px” icon_font_size_tablet=”42px” icon_font_size_phone=”31px” icon_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_font_size=”20px” author_font=”|700|on||||||” author_font_size=”20px” author_line_height=”0em” background_color=”#dfe1df” global_colors_info=”{}”]

“We spend so much time in School Colors thinking about the problems, looking at what’s going wrong and the barriers. To be quite frank, we don’t spend enough time with kids and the very subject of the things that we’re talking about. In spending that little time with those kids, it brought home to me what this was all about in the first place. These are not subjects or like broken people. These are vibrant human beings.”

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Max Freedman & Mark Winston Griffith’s Resources & Contact Info:

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Learn why the ABCs of powerful professional development™ work – Grow your skills by integrating more Authenticity, Belonging, and Challenge into your life and leadership.

 

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Danny Bauer

Daniel Bauer

As a chronically late student, Danny Bauer once told his Chemistry teacher a fib about saving an entire girl scout troop from a burning building to get out of a tardy.

Danny is not sure if it was the very made up story, the very real cookie he offered his teacher, or a combination of both that got him out of a detention that day …

That experience taught him it pays to develop your storytelling skills.

Danny has been telling stories since then, most recently on the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast, ranked in the TOP 0.5% of 3 million global podcasts, and via his two bestselling books, Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader and Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan.

He also loves telling stories while facilitating in person leadership workshops at national conferences and for school districts.

Danny’s mission is to help Ruckus Makers Do School Different™.

Soniya Trivedi

Soniya Trivedi

Soniya, hailing from the culturally rich land of India, is a dynamic professional in the field of web services, crafting digital landscapes. Soniya’s journey into the world of technology is a testament to her unwavering passion and commitment to excellence, transforming ideas into impactful online realities.

Since 2022, Soniya has played an important role in supporting BLBS with her comprehensive website services.

She loves to travel and cook new recipes.

Dragan Ponjevic

Dragan Ponjevic

Music is an inspiring art form. Sound is conveyed via the air to the ears of living beings, and each being perceives it in its own unique way, eliciting a certain feeling. Dragan feels the same sensation every time he hears music, from infancy to now, as if it were a part of his existence that he couldn’t fathom living without. Dragan opted to deal with sound his entire life despite his formal degree, and today he is one of the most passionate audio producers you can meet and chat to about sound and music all day long. His enthusiasm for audio production, student-like thinking, and curiosity keep him continually mobile in generating new, quality, and enjoyable sound on a regular basis.

Dragan has been producing BLBS audio and video content since 2020.

Christina

Christina

My passion for both baseball and literature was the initial catalyst that led me into education. Growing up as a softball player and a die-hard fan of the Chicago Cubs from the North Side of the city, I developed a profound appreciation for the South Side of Chicago, not enough to convert me into a White Sox fan. As a National Board certified teacher, with over 16 years of experience on Chicago’s South Side, my journey as an educator has taken me from my roots in the Windy City to Virginia, as an instructional coach.

From the very beginning, I have been an unwavering believer in the philosophy of BLBS. My journey alongside Danny has been one of daring innovation and audacity, right from the moment he challenged me to say, “boom” and drop the mic during our initial city-wide professional development event. He has cultivated a team capable of winning a World Series, and I am deeply honored to be a part of this community of individuals who consistently push the boundaries and endeavor to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

Premaria Mutambudzi

Premaria Mutambudzi

Premaria Mutambudzi is the BLBS Office Administrator, This is her 2nd year, she has served in the administrative field for 5+ years, Prim is originally from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She has been married for 7 years to her husband Takunda, and is blessed with two children.

Prim loves meditation, creative writing, poetry, and reading. In her spare time, Prim is a talented and creative Makeup Artist.

Sofia Hughes

Sofia Hughes

– Head Coach

Sofía’s lifelong search for a profession that would “leave the world a little better than she found it” led her to study philosophy and comparative religions, become a teacher, lead schools and educational projects, work for the Argentine Ministry of Education, contribute as a volunteer in various NGOs and become personally committed to causes that raised awareness about the world’s challenges and the potential of education to overcome them.

She is a practically-minded idealist, a profound believer in people and their potential for good, committed to collaborative leadership environments, and instinctively and naturally drawn to create order and systems in seemingly chaotic contexts.

After more than 30 years in the classroom and almost 20 as a school leader, Sofía now divides her time as Schools Development Manager for Cambridge University Press and Assessment, Executive Secretary for the International Confederation of Principals, Facilitator for the ESSARP Teacher Training Centre in Argentina and BLBS Mastermind Coach.

Each of her current roles allows her to travel near and far while contributing to her own lifelong learning, and that of school leaders across the world, in the slow way she cherishes: one experience, one adventure, one conversation and one relationship at a time.

Dan Watt

Dan Watt

– Head Coach

Once a roller derby ref, now enjoying “retirement”, Dan’s got some wild tales from the track. Picture this: Dallas, a Division 1 tournament, and Dan’s zipping around as an “outside pack ref” when suddenly, BAM! He gets bulldozed by “Ruthless Red” charging out of the penalty box. But did he stay down? Not a chance! Dan bounced right back up, finished the game like a champ, and jetted off to Barcelona for the World Cup, broken tailbone and all.

Bruises and broken bones couldn’t keep Dan out of the action. Those derby days weren’t just about dodging collisions—they taught him about grit, resilience, and leadership skills that he’s been flexing for 15 years as a school leader. Whether he’s coaching leaders as part of The Ruckus Maker Mastermind™ team or dodging freight trains in the fast-paced world of roller derby, Dan is always willing to lean into the next challenge.

Jason Dropik

Jason Dropik

– Head Coach

Jason P. Dropik (Babaamii-Bines / Eagle Clan) is the School Administrator for the Indian Community School (ics-edu.org), in Franklin, WI, which serves Native students in the metro Milwaukee area. A member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (BadRiver-nsn.gov), Jason is committed to supporting students, families, staff, school/community leaders, and the community both near and far.

Having recently completed a two-year term as President of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA.org), he advocated for and spoke on the importance of tribal sovereignty, policy, appropriations, and student support across the country. As a Board Member of NIEA, Jason continues with that work, championing training and providing information for schools and community organizations, while creating visibility and understanding of Indigenous perspectives.

His greatest passion is creating welcoming spaces for students to develop their identity, take pride in their language and culture, and to celebrate the rich legacy and the promising future of Indigenous communities.

Gene Park

Gene Park

– Head Coach

First and foremost, I’m a husband, father and son. I’m someone who is driven by my faith. I’m the Principal of A. Russell Knight Elementary in Cherry Hill, NJ. The Parks are animal lovers. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Some things that I’m loving at the moment is playing Pickleball and cooking for my friends and family. I also have the privilege and joy of serving as a BLBS Mastermind coach.

Jesse Rodriguez

Jesse Rodriguez

– Head Coach

Back in high school, Jesse used to painstakingly unthread the logos from his clothing and hats so that he wouldn’t be seen as part of the status quo.

He didn’t know it then, but that was the start of his journey as someone who finds unique ways of communicating ideas.

Then when he discovered his connection to youth with disabilities, he realized that he was among experts who’ve been finding ways to do things differently all their lives.

Leaning into these connections has brought him to become the Innovation Lead for a statewide project called I’m Determined – developing and producing animated videos and feature-length movies, facilitating events and building tools and resources for youth, families, and educators – all as ways to help students ink their journeys for the world to see.

As a leadership coach, Jesse is someone whose consistent presence is there to listen and add value and belonging.

Paige Kinnaird

Paige Kinnaird

– Head Coach

Leadership skills were evident as early as first grade for Paige Kinnaird when the teacher pointed out that “Paige is an eager beaver who completes her own work and then monitors what everyone else is doing.”

This taught Paige the importance of servant leadership. To never expect work from others that she is not fully committed to also putting forth the effort to accomplish.

Paige has used this as the central driving force of her work ever since… a willingness to be part of the work, not just driving the work.

Karine Veldhoen

Karine Veldhoen

– Head Coach

Karine Veldhoen, M.Ed., is the founder of Learn Forward™ and a creative force in education. While her name may be difficult to pronounce, her mission is simple, to champion extraordinary potential. As an educational leader (15 years) she created the first model Learn Forward™ school while simultaneously founding and serving as Executive Director of Niteo Africa. She’s taught Teacher Candidates at both UBC-O and UNBC and serves as a coach for Better Leaders Better Schools.

In all of her roles, she considers herself a modern-day pilgrim who stands for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Now, she dedicates her professional practice to championing EdLeaders to design thriving schools. When Karine is not carving new paths for education, you’ll find her with her husband and three children, her heart-song.