Overcoming Academic Barriers

In this episode, Anna, Devin and Cory discuss what it takes to help students overcome barriers to academic success. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Well, welcome back to the Holman Family Podcast. I'm Tom Tony, your host here with Anna Tennarello, Devin Durain, and Corey White. And today we're going to talk about overcoming academic barriers. You know, we recognize that sometimes there are very dramatic barriers that some students have to overcome to get to success. And our hope today is that in talking about some of these, that you might find yourself in this journey. Maybe you find yourself in a place where you're, as a family, as a home, you're facing some barriers that seem incredibly difficult. Well, I would hope that maybe out of this conversation you would hear a couple things. One, maybe it gives you some perspective. Maybe on the one hand, uh, what you're facing is a big barrier. But when you hear some of these stories, you might recognize, you know, this is overcomable. Or you may also hear, uh, this is a big barrier, and mine's bigger. Mine feels more intense, but the hope comes from knowing others have also overcome major barriers to success. And so our hope is that you walk away encouraged from this. So, guys, let's jump in. What are some of the most dramatic things you've seen students overcome on their way to success?

SPEAKER_03 1:07

I just would like to say kind of some general like topics, and we can kind of go into some of the scenarios too. But there's no question housing, mental health, and teen parents that are trying to balance having their young child in school as well. Um, I'll never forget one of my um a family that I was, you know, checking on the student. She hadn't been at school. And oftentimes it's not just one, it's not just one thing. There, there's many things that um students and families are trying to overcome. Um, but I go to the home and they were literally moving out, um, had been evicted, and trying to get as much as they could from their home in a small vehicle. Um, and I felt terrible. Here I am coming about school attendance. And um, they are trying to figure out, you know, where are we going to sleep? We have these things, we have to get them out and to our next place. They actually had some arrangements made. Uh, they were staying at a um a hotel, a motel. And um, so they had some next steps. It was a matter of just using the resources. They had some friends trying to help them. And honestly, I felt helpless. If anything, it helped me to be able to go back to the school and relay. There's tremendous things going on. We need to have grace, we need to have flexibility. And then as we worked with the family to make sure that the student had work, to make sure that they had food. So the mom would reach out, she would let me know if they, you know, had some needs for food for the day. I would bring those, I would pick up work, I would drop off work for the student and help help bridge that communication between the family, the student, um, and school. But what started to also unravel a little bit was the student's mental health. And that student struggled desperately. Um, and uh that also played a really big part in their success at school. However, what that parent found was a tremendous amount of support and willingness to be flexible with the circumstance. And it was very stressful for them. And we were able to, you know, help relay, help support differently. It didn't have to be that student coming in every single day. Um, but we could help uh, you know, assist them, link them to supports, and just be there for them while they were struggling.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I feel like I could share for hours, I could take up the whole episode right now on different scenarios that have played out. Um, being in the student support specialist role. And I mean, our bread and butter is constant connections to those community resources. Uh, and so we have had, you know, teacher referrals of students that they've brought to us for different reasons and different scenarios that have played out. I think, you know, one of the ones that comes instantly to mind is a single mom with multiple children uh who's working a full-time job. Uh, however, that full-time job in itself was still not enough to provide for the children, to keep the roof over their head. And so um she had given up on the food stamp application because of all of the stuff that Job and Family Services sends back to the applicants. And it was just so much governmental lingo inside of there. And so when you have a team who is so familiar with the application process and what comes next after you apply and what documents they're going to need, all of a sudden you take away all of the worry and the stress and the give up that the parents uh experienced and you make it seem feasible and achievable. And so this parent not only was able to get uh her food stamps approved, instantly we saw a turnaround in how often she was coming into the school building because she didn't feel like she had to work so much overtime. She didn't feel like she had to constantly worry about a babysitter. Um, we we were able to break down all those barriers, bring your children to the school with you. Other teachers, other staff within the building are there to help you while you're getting your education. Let us play with your kids for a few seconds. We've got a kid corner in the building. Um, and so just seeing all of that relief, the first conversation I had with her in person and just tense and felt like she was on a time crunch and didn't want to give me but two minutes of her time. And you break down that wall of this is this person's actually here for me until the end. They want to see me get the to the goal of, you know, for this instance, it was the food stamps. And then those phone call conversations went from two minutes to now 10 minutes because she's asking more detailed questions. She she has interest now. She's taking a uh a lot more time to understand everything. And so just seeing the relief that came over that student and seeing and knowing that no longer is she just going to work, coming home, stressing, not knowing what to do. But now it's going to work coming home, and she's got food on the table. She's got a fridge and freezer full of food. And so that was just one of my like my first milestone moments of let me just help for a moment. And if I can get you for that five seconds, yeah, um, like we talked in the last episode, it can lead to so much more opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Or you see that teen parent come in and then all of a sudden they see somebody else who just brought their little one and they realize, hey, I'm not alone here. And look, they're they're doing it and they're coming to school and they've got their little one with them. And the staff, they look, they look happy and thrilled to have them here. And then you start seeing them more. I know you had a family that you were visiting quite a bit. And while she was expecting, she was sick a lot, missed a lot of school. We didn't know how things were gonna work out. And now that she's had the the little one, and she's in school more than I've ever seen her thriving, uh, brings her little boy all the time. And it's just so exciting to see, you know, that change because initially they think, my goodness, I'm pregnant. I I'm gonna have to just give it all up. And I know the mom just feeling like we've got a lot of home situations going on, um, just uh just struggling um within the home of you know, family disputes and things like that. You know, I remember coming up to on a home visit and there's screaming and hollering out in the lawn and everybody upset. And the parent comes up to me. I'm so sorry that you're seeing this. It's like, hey, you know, this, you're all right. Are you are you safe? Is everybody okay? That's all that matters. Things happen. And, you know, her reassurance and everybody okay? And I'm just trying to, you know, get a handle on the situation. And I've had a lot of problems. And so, you know, uh, you can just see their their fear that someone may be judging them, um, maybe struggling to, you know, see that, you know, we're still willing to help. Um, and we are, and I think that they feel that over time.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah, I I think you we could talk about this for for hours, stories on stories. What it comes down to, I you both touched on it, is like we're the rock for these families and the and the students. Um Anna, you talked about it judgment free. We we don't judge. Um they they can tell us absolutely anything as long as they feel secure in it, and we don't go and tell other students. So when they come to the school, they feel safe. That's no one knows what's going on. Um, and like Anna said, once they, once they we get them to that point and they realize like, oh yeah, these people care, they're they're here to help us, they'll continue to unload and they they have that person to talk to to unload on. Um, and then we help them be successful.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Absolutely. And I mean, just speaking to parents too, you know, we we understand that there's things that you're trying to make better in life. And there may be some past addictions, and you know, there may be some, you know, involvement with probation or things that it happened in past, but you were trying to do better with your life. And sometimes in that comes some penance. Uh, we had a family that um there was some domestic violence, and uh the parent ended up having to serve time that was, you know, being held over. And so the the children had to go, it was uh two sisters, and they ended up having to go to different households. But the parent made sure that they had, you know, those, those, the kids um situated to where, you know, they could, you know, have a roof over their head, food on the table. Um, but it was difficult. And uh, you know, our students really struggled. They didn't know when they were gonna get to see their mom next. Um, and so they were dealing with a lot of emotional things, whether they were okay where they were, um, it was just a lot of, you know, loss in that moment, not knowing what the next days were gonna be like or for how long. Um, and so, you know, when we did come, as they missed some school and checking on them, um, having that trust in that conversation, making sure that that there was food, making sure that their needs were met, because, you know, obviously that is a main priority, our student safety. However, we understand too that parents are trying to uh, you know, get things uh much better for their family. Um, and sometimes it might come the hard way. Um, but it's it's still we're there to help them overcome. And that's that's the biggest message for me.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

So there's a system that I've been blessed to create called CAB, a CAB. It's uh it's a system that's meant to help organizations uh sort of get to sustainable, repeatable success. And the CAB stands for clarity alignment, and the final one is busting barriers. And one of the things that that I teach in that that system is that when it comes to barriers, uh what we are left with is that we have to break through every barrier that stands between us and success. If we're going to get to a goal and there are seven things in front of us that keep us from that goal, we have to solve all seven. Uh we can't solve six and get there, right? We can solve six and three-quarter and still not get there. And um, one of the things that I think I really appreciate about Buckeye is that most often in life, uh, we are sort of on our own. We well, let me back up. The truth is that we are sort of all on our own and busting our own barriers. We are all responsible for the barriers that are in front of us. But that doesn't mean we have to approach them alone, right? One of the things that we can do is is team up with other people, like accept the help of somebody who maybe has been through that situation before or has means or resources that's willing to help. And it's interesting, Anna, because as you're telling some of those stories, what I hear is an underlying theme uh in some of it is uh that you as professionals are prepared to do nearly whatever it takes to get that student across that finish line or to get get their educ keep their education moving. Um but there's this tendency, I think, on the part of people to not want the help. And um maybe it's not so much want the help as it is almost an embarrassment to need the help. Uh you mentioned a second ago when you talked about uh others coming in, other students coming in with their own children and seeing another student with their children there and recognizing, oh, it's okay. It's okay. And I think what I hear in that and what I see often is that we are very reticent as humans to admit that we need assistance because my ability to take care of something really speaks to my esteem, right? My how I see myself and the value I find in myself. And so if I admit to having a need, that means that I'm incapable. And the whole narrative then that swirls around that. And I think that what I'm hearing you guys express is uh, for example, you talked about the instance where you walk up on the family and there's domestic violence happening in the front yard, right? Um what what's the response immediately in that? It's not a plea for help, it's not a cry for assistance, it is an embarrassment. I don't want you to see, I'm sorry. I don't want you to see this going on because I know what this might say of me. And your disarming approach to that immediately to say, that's inconsequential to us. We we there, we're not, I'm not thinking anything about you except, are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay? And immediately what that does is it calms that need for us to be seen and significant first, and it puts us in a position to be able to receive help, right? Um, and it feels like sometimes as we're solving these these physical barriers. So I was thinking of as you guys are talking about, Maslov's hierarchy of needs. And I'll I'll only take a moment. I know as the host I'm not supposed to talk to the host, but uh uh Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right, begins at that base level of the physical needs, the food, water, shelter, but then it moves into safety needs, right? Am I am I safe? Am I secure? Resources, health, uh, property, all those things, right? And then it goes into to love and belonging. Am I in community? And then be it's not until above that that we actually get into the self-esteem piece. What's fascinating to me is so often the top two tiers of Maslow's hierarchy, self-actualization, which means um, what can I be? What can I accomplish? And self-esteem, those two things are tied so closely together. Like I find so much of my self-worth in what I do, right? Self-actualization that that's what's top of mind for most people in the immediate moment. So the sooner we can say, I see you as an individual, you matter, you're significant. Now let's get down to your physical needs, right? Are you okay? And that's why I'm just it's a fascinating thing I wanted to kind of mention here that I'm in the in terms of barriers, um, it's not always just the physical things. Food, water, and shelter, obviously, yes, it's huge. There's also then the emotional barriers that those you're serving face, right? I'm I'm curious, like, where does that come from for you? I think that the three of you sitting around this table are some of the most compassionate people that I know. It's like, where does that come from for you? That's not you don't you're not trained in that. You didn't go to compassion 101. Like got your degree in compassion and now you can be an educator. Right. It's like like, what's the source of that compassion that you genuinely feel to walk up on that situation and be like, I get it. Are you okay? Are you safe?

SPEAKER_03 16:27

I mean, I think it's treating human beings like human beings.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

You know, we're all here together. And I guess it for me, I've I've always just really wanted to be a part of something that that helps the greater good. Uh, I feel very passionate uh for our students and families. And being a part of Buckeye was always the the best decision for me because that's really what they stand for. And I feel, you know, again, we've talked about um bringing some of the best of the best people together and being like-minded. Uh, and I do feel like, you know, those that they've they've brought uh to be a part of this team are the most compassionate and loving, you know, towards students and families and wanting to help them.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Yeah, I I think it comes back to the old grade school saying, treat others how you want to be treated. And if if I was in those situations, what would I want from somebody right now? What what do I need? How would I want to be treated? And I think we all do a really good job thinking thinking that way and and caring.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

It's just incredible when when you see a student feel empowered that they're that they matter. Um it's it's one thing, and I think it's easy, even as adults, uh, when we struggle with something, to just sit in isolation and and feel like we don't want to reach out ourselves. It's so hard for myself to recognize that and be willing to come to Corey and say, Corey, man, I'm struggling with X, Y, and Z. And so because I'm self-aware of that, and I think we're all self-aware of that, we know that when we see a student who is feeling isolated, or we just get the little tidbit of the iceberg of what's going on, it's easy for us to want to get down to what's below that oceanic level. What's the rest of the iceberg? What's what's really going on? Because that's where we can start to let them feel empowered. Um, they can they can lift their or lower their guard a little bit to us because we're not just, oh, you're doing okay. You're sitting here and you're okay, that's good. I'm glad, I'm glad you're here. No, we want to get to the root of it because that's when you can make this this iceberg look beautiful because uh you have a whole story to tell then. You took it from just this little thing that you knew a little bit about, but you addressed it, you took the time with the student, and now you know the whole entire scenario and kind of a plan of action of how you can help the rest of that.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

So and I think too, uh, just to go back to we've, you know, we develop these relationships with our students. We have those moments uh where they where they share something, where they share their struggle, where we share our struggles, and we don't go away where they're constant support.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_03 19:17

And I think that's it's powerful. It we, you know, I think in in in all regards to our teachers' efforts to constantly stay connected to the students, uh, family engagement, student support, our principals, our admin, we want to show our our students feel valued and cared about. And that doesn't just come with a, well, let me tell you how to do this and and move on. We're there for them. We are not judging them. Uh, we want them to come back, we want to continue those conversations and we want to continue that support. We are not going away. Uh, we want to help see them through. And uh, you know, we're not gonna turn our backs no matter how difficult it gets.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

I think the one thing we're up against, too, is they're so used to our students and and the parents, families, guardians. They're so used to when they're when they're going for a resource or when they're going for support from an agency. Hey, I need you to be here at 10 o'clock at this time. I'll give you 20 minutes of my time, and then I'll send you on your way. Good luck. BCS is like, hey, come in at 10 o'clock. We're gonna sit down and talk everything out, figure out what all is going on, and then we're gonna become your advocate with these agencies and not give up because we know that maybe you feel like giving up. But we're gonna continue to pursue and push until we finally find that one resource that is going to help you and feel empowered in the end of it.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Well, we definitely know that uh you can't reach success without dealing with every barrier that stands between you and success. Uh, in some cases, that means we have to overcome them. In some cases, more rare, uh, it means we can go around them, right? We we can find a different path. But ultimately, every barrier has to be addressed and overcome. Um and so I would I'm curious as we sort of head toward wrapping this up, that like what would you say? Because you know right now that there are moms and dads, caregivers, there are students that are struggling, they're facing whatever it is, whatever barrier it might be. Um, and in in some cases, uh it has become, like you're saying, the iceberg. It's it's far bigger than they recognize, right? They only see a little bit of it, but boy, this is once they get into it, they're gonna discover this is a bigger magnitude than I thought. Right. And in some cases, the reverse is true. They're believing that this is a huge thing, but really when they start digging in, they'll find out it's really easy to overcome. But in all those cases, I'm curious, what would you say to them if you could stand in front of them right now, uh recognizing it and not necessarily addressing the specific barrier they're facing, but in just sort of mindset about the general idea of overcoming things that stand between you and success? How would you encourage uh? Moms and dads, caregivers, and students right now.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

I think we just look at them and say, Hey, we got you. We got we got you, we got your kids, um, we'll handle it, we'll take care of it, we'll get you through it, and we'll get you on your way. And I think that's what it comes down to is we we got you guys.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Ask for help. It can be difficult, but ask for help. That's what we're here for. Um we're not turning our backs on you, and you we want to get you through. Take it day by day. Small chunks. We'll get you there.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

You guys nailed it. Let's talk. Let's sit down, let's talk. If you're here at lunchtime, let's go grab lunch from the cafe and we'll spend some time. I want to hear it.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

That's incredible. I mean, honestly, I think I might be showing up around more to just sit with you guys and talk through some things. Honestly, it's like when you come to the place where you're surrounded by not just problem seers but problem solvers, really, it what it means is you can solve anything. You can get past it all. And I think that's really honestly the heartbeat of BCS when it comes to busting through the barriers and overcoming those major obstacles. And I hope that what you're hearing in this conversation today is exactly that. That uh, and it sounds so cliche, but guys, it's so true. It's like together we can get through this, right? Um, try not to isolate. Try not to hide, don't, don't allow yourself to maybe hide behind embarrassment. You might, you might feel it, but just have the courage to ask the question and to express the need. Um, because you're gonna find on the other side of that question very compassionate people who genuinely want to help you get where you have to go, especially in this arena of academics. So, guys, thank you for this conversation today. I think it's been incredibly encouraging. You guys are just amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.