Insights on Education w/ Dr. Anthony Dixon - Episode 1

This first episode is an introduction to the podcast and provides insight on the vision Dr. Dixon has for the District.

Transcript

[Music] welcome to insights on education with Dr Anthony Dixon I'm Katie Tanner here with of course Berkeley County School District superintendent Dr Anthony Dixon hello everyone just wanted to thank everybody for joining us and listening to us on this first podcast which we're really excited to launch This Together can you just share with everyone really what your goals are with this podcast what your Vision was and what you're hoping to accomplish uh with hosting this podcast this is just an opportunity to reach a larger audience in within Berkeley County I have had great opportunities to meet um so many people uh we've had like some really intentional times where we had some Community nights in we had coffee and conversations and in those experiences I I met wonderful parents um Partners community members citizens of uh Berkeley County and so this is an opportunity that we can extend our reach uh and and share what's going on in Berkeley County introduce our Network to all of the insides that are going on within our district what makes our district run what makes our district so special and and what we are doing to ensure that our students are achieving at high levels so I hope hope uh this will be a time just to engage with our public and just connect with them as well you mentioned just now about uh your community nights in you've mentioned about the coffee and conversations why have you done those and why do you think it's important that you are available uh to the community one thing that is so important is that the community is able to you know hear from me uh as much as as possible you know as community members or parents they are constantly in touch with their sons or daughters teachers they're constantly um connecting with the principal uh and the people at the school level who are doing the hard work who are really in their every day moving Berkeley forward but this is uh an opportunity to hear how the vision connects how all of our work connects this work that we're doing is not fragmented we are intentional about um creating work and creating an environment and a space that is that that connects all of our um students from um birth to post you know graduation we are an essential piece of Berkeley County and it's important um education is such a Hot Topic what's going on in schools is um on everybody's Minds if you have children in the school system system or not and and so this is um just an important time to hear from me to understand that all of this work is intentional and connecting uh and those nights in and those coffees and conversations was times just to really engage with our public they can see that you're a real person they can hear from you and you just have times that you can listen to each other and sometimes we don't take that intentional time to listen and that's what I believe is so will be so good about this um podcast it's a time that individuals can listen to see what we are um doing in um the district and speaking about the work being done in the district for you this is year three sometimes we like to still think of you as the new kid on the Block when you are not the new kid on the Block anymore this is year three of your time at Berkeley County School District as a superintendent obviously with many years of education behind you um bleeding up to the superintendency and there have been plenty of challenges which we know Everyone likes to talk about the challenges uh but there's also been so many things that we've had the opportunity to celebrate uh to accomplish to watch our students that our teachers accomplish we actually get to have that uh that view of the whole district and just just how much everyone's growing and so for you uh with this being your three what are you most proud of and really where can our community see us going where are you going to take us as a superintendent and and what does this mean for you now thanks for that it is year three and it's hard I think to sometimes believe like oh my I'm not a rookie anymore not the new kid on the Block um and it was um a challenging you know we we often described it as a turbulent Landing or challenging time to transition into the role and yes to all of that but what was so unique about it was that I was so like passionate about the work that we had the opportunity to do in leading this District as the superintendent um not only um just because of the role itself but more so that I've I've dedicated a majority of my career um in Berkeley County as a teacher as an administrator um as a district level um employee I've um believed in Berkeley County so much that my son attends school in within the district I I live in Berkeley County and so that is very exciting that something that is so near and dear to me in terms of my passion and the work that I do that I'm able to be a part of it as a year three in leading U this uh District in leadership you you never want to give up you want to keep pushing and so what I've been so proud of is that the work that we have been able to do so far in terms of establishing some really Level Playing Fields for our students for our teachers for our school for District that has been uh exciting the relationship building uh with individuals really developing a strong relationship with our our school board because they help lead us in the decisions that they make that will help us um get to where we are going I want Berkeley County I've always said it I want it to be a district that people run to uh and that people are proud of being a part of and that's from uh our parents to students to employees to our County as a whole but I also want us to be known as a strong instructional District where our students are thriving academically socially emotionally and they're we're turning out great citizens we're turning out strong employees or college students that go to college or go straight to the workforce or in the military whatever it is that they decide to do that that's what I'm so excited and want to celebrate that we are trying to really create a school system where we're all connected we're pushing towards the same goal and people can see that and we can do that through any types of challenge if we've done it the last two years we can do this and continue the work regardless of what's um thrown our way because our focus is our students our teachers our principles and leaders our employees and our parents and Community you just mentioned something that I really want to ask you to expound on because I think it makes you who you are every leader has their own style with how they lead and and what they show to the world but you mentioned your son um and that by having him here within the district it's because you believe in the work that we're doing you have believed in the work that we're doing and want him to be here we also had an opportunity for some of our parents and our students to get a glimpse into your focus and priorities being a parent and a superintendent at winter

graduation good morning and I would like to say this morning I was supposed to be um my son who's a student of Berkeley County School District had an event um out of state and I was going to be there supporting um him but the weather changed my flight so I said the next important thing was to come and honor you as winter graduates the future is in your hands and we know you will continue to shine brightly in all that you do graduates please turn your

tassels can you talk a little bit about why it's important for people to see you as a superintendent as a former classroom teacher but also as a parent of a student within our district I think that has definitely been unique I don't think it's only me that's the superintendent you know that had that is also a parent but it has been very interesting to navigate and it's been special to me to be able to try to find a balance it has made me understand even more that we are people first and within our school system we are people first we're parents we're children we have parents we made have to take care of parents or we have things in events to um you know attend for our our children you have to be intentional how to balance that and how to like draw a a fine line and how to help create boundaries today I'm here as Dad and he helps me do that I think he's always been very intentional okay when you come today you come to my event you come to my b performance or you're coming to meet my teacher you're coming as dad you know you're not coming as the superintendent and if someone asks you a superintendent related question let me get back to you I'm here to really focus on and put my attention to uh my son and there have been many unique experiences where hey I'm just Dad I'm going to put on jeans and a sweatshirt and try to tone it down and help or do whatever it needs to be done or just there as you know what any parent would do and just recently you mentioned the winter graduation I had to make the decision and maybe two three months before there was an event that he got an opportunity to participate in in Atlanta with his jazz band and so he told me how important it was for me to be there and so I said well the fastest way I can do it is to fly get a plane ticket and and I decided to do just that and had it way in advance and thought we were all good and I had to make the decision when later on we scheduled a winter graduation which is something that is important to our parents to the students we have students who had the unique opportunity to graduate early because of whatever it is they wanted to go to college early they wanted to go into the workforce they had military they had other aspirations and so we did our first um winter graduation and it was at the same exact time I thought I can get back in time like catch a early flight but his performance and the winter graduation were they were scheduled at the same exact time and so I made up in my mind it's like well this is very important I'm going to his performance and that's what I want our employees to hear and know like yes we have of work to do yes things are there but you have to try to set some priorities and some boundaries and so I had to make that decision and like you know what to do then what was the twist to it Atlanta had a winter storm and so my flights were delayed it wasn't able to um get there I talked to him and he totally understood it like hey I can't make it so since I didn't make it it's like I'm going to the winter graduation and I'm going to participate there and it was great to be a part of it I had his Facebook live so as soon as I got out of the graduation I could watch a recording his mom sent it to me of his performance but I also got to celebrate with our parents at the winter graduation and when I looked out into the crowd I saw how happy they were to celebrate their their students that in the district and their accomplishments and I want people to be able to do that I want to be able to do that as a parent and I want our public to be able to do that you know our parents so it's very important that we create these experiences from again Head Start to postgraduation we create these experiences in Berkeley County Schools that allow parents to celebrate enjoy create memories with their students and to see the academic the the talent you know their accomplishments watch them grow over time so yeah it's fun being dad and being superintendent I do don't take it for granted and so it just makes things more real um and in our decision making and my decision making and knowing that there's 40,000 students that we are trying to um create this unique world class education for and in that 40,000 I have just one of those students and that's very important to me yeah no that's that's definitely important I know that uh getting to see that glimpse into you know normal life parent life or our parents seeing that with their superintendent is is some place that everyone can connect together and you talked about just now the challenge you had with weather going into Atlanta that weekend and it seems that we have received that weather here in Berkeley County uh the last couple days we are having having abnormal snow on the ground we are seeing our students sledding we are seeing people in snow gear we are seeing snowmen around uh the coastal uh area of South Carolina which is abnormal and that uh is a little bit of a challenge in and of itself you know we're used to hurricanes uh but snow is not something we typically deal with I think the last time we really had some significant snow was about seven years ago so you as a superintendent nail have um got to deal with weather related closing for snow on the ground for the last three days so can you talk about weather closings we know that that is a very Hot Topic in our community uh we get lots of chatter on all of our platforms when we're getting ready to make announcements about the weather and I think people really often want to know like how do y'all decide I mean what makes you decide that we're going to do a delay or we're going to close our schools or we're going to do e-learning can you talk a little bit about um how those decisions are made the complexity of those decisions and that we really can't make them uh in extreme haste I know that as a parent myself I often want to know right now what's going to happen in three days so that I could prepare uh but there's a lot that goes into these decisions and I think it would be helpful for our community to hear a little bit from you about how you weigh those decisions and and the steps you take to make um as best of a decision as you can make with the information you have yes and I feel feel like really unworthy having this leading this conversation when everyone I feel depends on you Katie to send out the message whether schools are are closed or not as the voice of Berkeley County and so you know I I think the pressure too is let's make this decision so Katie can report to our public the right thing to to do so thank you for being that person I know that's a huge way too there's so many decisions that we make in leadership as a leader uh in this District as superintendent and like you said weather has come up and this is the first time that I've had to deal with snow as a superintendent we've dealt with hurricanes we've dealt with like heavy rains I think we've dealt with like a tornado the snow was was definitely different when you said sledding in South Carolina I'm like what but those pictures seeing our students do that and making those decisions come with extreme intentionality and we start as soon as we hear of a system a weather system that is coming through there's so many different Outlets that we communicate with to help us make the right choice the right decision we start off like talking to Emergency Management we confer and just talk I you know have the superintendent across the Low Country which I'm so you know thankful for Neighbors Partners uh having those conversations talked to the sheriff our County Supervisor we've even sometimes reached out to you know local municipalities but our supervisor Johnny GB and our Sheriff Dwayne Lewis I've heard them say it time and time again that it's so unique how these different municipalities from school to government to U law enforcement Emergency Management how we work so closely together and that's something that's special to Berkeley County that's created in Berkeley County and I'm just fortunate to be a part of something like that that kind of network but we have several conversations we have meetings that we discuss the weather flow system what the potential impacts we have a land mass that's the size of the State of Rhode Island so we we look at like what is it going to do in Daniel Island what will it what will happen in Cross what's going to happen in K Hoy St Sten Goose Creek Hanahan Somerville we look at all those areas and potential impacts and then we also layer it on to state regulations you know we layer it on to like how many days can we miss what days do we have to make up should this be an e-learning day should it be just a day off and we tag it on to the end of our calendar on our makeup days what is going on on those days if can we move that everything is accounted for every day has something on it and so we have to really be intentional about how we make our decisions sometimes it's really you get a lot of Sleepless um nights a lot of early mornings but we communicate with a lot of different individuals to make the right weather call and this time it was not just snow that was impacting we were thinking about like how quickly will the ice on the roads melt will it freeze back up at night like are schools are ready to take in a students and so it's a A fullon system that every member of our team has a part in we try to bring them all a seat to the table but we have to do it so um systemically that there is some control over it and we can guide ourselves to the right decision at the end of the day the decision has to come from the superintendent but we do as much as we can to collaborate to make that decision and to communicate with our partners and then after that the call has has to come from Katie Tanner to let the public know what happens and what we're going to do we always want to let you know as early as possible I hear a lot like oh we're always the last Berkeley County is always last and it's not necessarily we're U last sometimes we're the first sometimes we have to make the decision and other districts don't there's so much that goes into to it that may not be a Nuance in in Charleston or or Dorchester or Georgetown or colon that is unique to Berkeley and we have to consider that and we try to communicate as much as possible as often as possible with our public so they know where we are yes sir and I appreciate you expounding upon those decisions we all have a lot of fun with the Katie T teams and post um I know as a cabinet and colleagues we all have fun with it and uh my family and friends have lots of fun and group messages about uh the Tanner weather calls and um I I do love getting the opportunity to communicate with with this great Community I laugh at the jokes uh we all laugh at the jokes and uh it's all in good fun but we do take those decisions seriously and um you do a great job of making sure that you're hearing from all of your cabinet you're listening to the county you're listening to municipalities and together we have been able to make some strong decisions that have kept safety first but also made sure that we keep our academic progress uh moving forward so um appreciate that you know our future this this week is is going to be a return to school which I think we're all excited about I know kids have loved the snow but parents are ready to get back to life and so when we talk about future you know not just next week with us returning to school uh but what does the future look like in brkn County School District I mean we mentioned earlier this is your three you got a lot of positive momentum we're seeing schools move forward we're seeing kids grow we're celebrating uh I ready achievements we're celebrating our students for all of their you know academic athletic achievements there's some excitement building in Berkeley County and um what what does that future look like for you and Berkeley County School District year three and Beyond in my professional opinion what makes schools uh and school systems and districts you know run well is trying to make sure that we connect everyone um and connect the work but we can't do that without the support of a strong focused Board of Trustees and um beginning year three like I feel so confident in having a strong trustees that are like focused on moving Berkeley County forward they're focused on our work and they're allowing us as a school system to do what we do best be the experts but guide us through with their level of expertise and with their Community understanding that's where it starts in the grand scheme of things because you can't do the work without a majority support and a majority that is focused on um students is focused on the best for the district so that's exciting hands down I I'm so thankful and grateful for that in that work what I um Envision to see is that we continue to build a strong instructional framework for our um system that we continue to create the supports to push that instructional framework forward and when I say supports are we are we does our professional development align do the decisions that we make align do activities that we do aligned to the goals that we um want to achieve we have also had the opportunity to create a schools Division and reimagine our schools division where it allows um us to supervise principles differently and supervise principles that no one in our system stops learning stops growing stops getting feedback that will help an allow them to improve and this helps us ensure that we have the right people leading the the buildings we have strong principles strong assistant principles strong instructional coaches that are hiring phenomenal teachers support staff the right bus drivers the right par professionals the right office staff the right custodial support we are linking it all to making a positive difference increasing our student achievement aligning our goals with our state goals and just focusing ourselves on what's best for our students and then for the employees within our system so what I I think you're going to see is a strong academic system that also is enhanced by um Athletics the Arts our a variety of like clubs and social emotional opportunities for our students that's only going to create stronger students and we will get that District that people are running to we're like the fastest growing District in the state we want the individuals that are here that are native to our district and those that are moving and migrating to our district to be just very proud of it and support us and and brag about us so that's what I I look forward to and creating that it's going to be a lot of hard work but we're we're making sure that we have like the right people on the team and continue the momentum with the right support to make the decisions that will get us there yeah and that creates just a really uh motivating experience people want to be here uh we're excited about the work we're doing and I know that working with the staff we have here we're all excited about making that positive difference for kids thank you for given us this Insight today thank you for your time I'm uh looking forward to the next time we're going to get together to chat in episode 2 we've got great things to talk about this year and let our community get to know you better get to know the cabinet better get to know even some of our partners maybe will have visit us some and really give that inside look on education as a whole system it's going to be fun so I thank everybody for listening today and thank you Dr Dixon for letting me join you for this first episode it's going to be a fun year it will I'm looking forward to it I so excited about being able to share some insights and allow our public to understand a little bit more and hear the great things that are happening in Berkeley County [Music]