Raising the Bar: What Every Parent Should Know Before High School

Two Doctors and a Twist — Raising the Bar: What Every Parent Should Know Before High School

Welcome back Dr. Jamie. Over the next 12 weeks we are featuring educators who are making a difference. In this episode, Dr. Marilyn Carroll and Dr. Jamie Chesler sit down with Dr. Teresa Wilburn — educational psychologist, retired high school counselor, Spelman graduate, author, and lifelong advocate for students and families. Drawing on decades in elementary teaching, school counseling, and administration (including assistant principal roles at St. Pius and Norcross High School), Dr. Wilburn shares why middle school is the most overlooked and most critical window in a child’s development.

The conversation covers the drop-off in parental engagement after elementary school, why kids actually need more attention in the middle and high school years, and how sports and extracurriculars build the teamwork skills that carry into adult work life. Dr. Wilburn also reflects on her years serving on the Bill & Melinda Gates Scholarship Foundation Committee, the growing role of technology and AI in the classroom, and why she believes the human connection at the heart of education can’t be automated away.

She discusses her Amazon bestseller Middle School University  — a year-by-year journal and parent guide from 6th through 12th grade — along with her newest release, From Vision to Victory, and two upcoming projects: a new chapter on NIL (name, image, and likeness) for student athletes, and Bridge to Badge, a mentorship program for school resource officers.

Look for more of Dr. Wilburn’s story and wisdom in the July issue of LIV Magazine.

Stay connected with 2 Doctors & A Twist – Just What the Doctor Ordered!

• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
• Follow us on LinkedIn for clips, insights, and upcoming episodes.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Hello, everyone, and welcome to uh this particular quarter sessions of Two Doctors in the Twist. I have Dr. Jamie back with me. She's been working on a huge project. Dr.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Jamie! I have missed you. I've missed our audience. So happy to be back. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Oh my gosh. Thank you. And I know you did a great job on your project, as you always are doing great jobs. I am so lucky to have so many great women in my tribe around me. And it's just wonderful. So I will wait no longer. We have this awesome guest today, Dr. Teresa Wilburne. And we're going to welcome her today to our show. She's an educational psychologist, retired high school counselor, author, mentor, and lifelong advocate for students and families. With decades of experience in education, counseling, and student development, Dr. Wilburne has dedicated her career to helping young people navigate the critical transitions that shape their futures. Her work emphasizes the importance of starting early, particularly during middle school, and she's going to talk more about that. So to prepare students academically, socially, emotionally, and personally for success. Dr. Jamie and I talk a lot about personal brand, preparing yourself, leadership, and we even talk about AI, but Dr. Wilburne gives students the basics of what they need. She's a proud member of AFA CAFA AFA Sorority Incorporated. Dr. Wilburne has also built a remarkable network of educators, community leaders, families committed, and families committed to student achievement and empowerment. So today we're simply having a Saturday conversation about education, family, purpose, and what every parent should know before their child reaches high school. And so, and even into high school, Dr. Realbourne is going to talk to us about that. And I can attest to the things that Dr. Realbourne will probably more than likely talk about. She was a high school counselor at the school where my daughter went. So without further ado, Jamie, what are your thoughts? Let's talk about the journey.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Well, I'm super excited to be here. One back with two doctors and a twist, and to start us off with Dr. Wilburne. So Dr. Wilburn, before we talk about books and education, I guess what we'd like you to do is kind of tell us about your journey. What first inspired you to kind of dedicate your life to helping young people, which is so important.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Thank you. First of all, let me say thank you for having me on. You guys are doing a wonderful job. This is a tremendous show. And I am so happy that you have me on. But uh you are doing a fabulous job with such good information that people really need to know. So everything is so relevant, and it it just brings everything full circle. So let me just say, first of all, I appreciate you and all that you're doing. Okay, start there. And your question to me was what inspired me. Um, I'm gonna walk back a little bit in this journey. One of the things uh that I have done, I don't know if you mentioned this, Dr. Carroll, but I spent uh and I make up numbers because sometimes because I've gotten older. So some I'm gonna say 12 years. I'm gonna say 12 years. I spent 12 years on the um Bill and Dr. Um Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship Foundation committee. I and I I said 12 years, it might have been 13. I made up numbers, okay? So um I spent years on that scholarship committee with um, and I was one of 22 African-American um educators selected from this out of the country to do this. Um, so consistently I was um asked to do it for many years, where I would go up to Washington, D.C. and sit on this panel and we would read through uh, you know, just numerous and numerous and numerous essays and and and very good candidates for this scholarship because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation scholarship is the we call it the Cadillac of all scholarships. Because what it does is it pays for once a student is accepted into that scholarship foundation, their education is paid for through college and through any advanced degrees that they can get ever in life. So if you can get into that scholarship foundation, then you are set for life. Now, the other thing is that um they provide mentorship throughout the uh scholarship. Um, and and so it's forever. So I've known Ph people to get PhDs, MDs, um, you know, and everything with it. And it was so amazing because um Bill and Melinda Gates, the foundation, was just interested in evening out the playing field for minorities. So it was open to African American, Hispanic American, Asian Pacific Islanders. And again, once you got into the scholarship pool, then you were you were pretty much set for life. So as I served on that committee as reading the endless essays of students, and we didn't have we didn't have a set number of students to choose. They said, Bill and Melinda Gates said, if the students have achieved this scholarship, then give it to them. We didn't have a set number, a pocket of money. It wasn't this amount of money, it wasn't that amount of money, it was it wasn't, you know how most scholarships say, oh, we give you 10,000, we'll give you 20,000. It wasn't a number.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah. Well, let me ask you something, Dr. Wilburne. Even though it wasn't a number, these were people that earned this, that had filled the gap. You weren't just choosing people just because to fill a bucket so that you could, you know, hey, great. They were they were outstanding.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Yeah, I love I love the idea of you know, the leveling out the playing field, yeah. Not just, I mean, with everybody, because everybody brings value, and I just love that. I'm I'm so happy to hear about this and that you were part of it. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Yes, and can you imagine having endless money to give out to students?

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah, I wish I had some of that endless money right now.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Me too. I'd be giving it out too. I certainly exactly. So it was endless amount of money. We were like, wow, so you as long as the student reached, you know, reached the goals and and had um and had deserved the scholarship, regardless if they were going to a state school, community college, or whether they were going to Yale, Harvard, or Columbia, it did not matter what the tuition cost was. So I found that first of all, that was it very inspiring for me.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

So um, as I would uh you know go ahead and continue to you know read about these fabulous students and you know the essays that they would write, you know, and many of them had tear-jerking experiences throughout life that would have them in they had everything it took to go to college and succeed in life except for the money.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Woof. That that's kind of reminds me of now how we're about to go through. And I don't think we weren't meant, we didn't mean to talk about this, but we are going through uh uh I think that the school system's students will not get the money that they need to go to college like they used to before, right? And now it becomes a commodity. Education has just returned to uh being commoditized. You cannot have this just like it wasn't as freely as it won't be as freely as it is now. So thank you for sharing that. Um that that is awesome. So tell us a little bit about middle school university. Tell us why you wrote that book.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

So I wrote middle school university as a result of this, and um, it became an Amazon's bestseller. And um my experience uh began in elementary school. I taught elementary school for about nine years. I taught two years of kindergarten, I taught two years of first grade, I taught one year in the fifth grade and five years um as an eighth-grade middle school social studies teacher. So those are my teaching years.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Um you bring that experience with you as well. So you know exactly from experience what you're sharing here and why it's so important. My daughter's an elementary school teacher as well.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

What grade does she teach? First, second, third. Okay, and you can attest to her experiences as an elementary school teacher and what that life is like. I enjoyed it when I was young and thin, um, and I had the energy.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Young and thin. You look great. Look at you, you look great over there. She does what you're talking about, young and thin. Come on now.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

So you have to have the energy, like she said, her daughter teachers in elementary school. The energy was great. Uh, I don't think they want to put me in a kindergarten classroom right now. But I'm saying all that to say, kindergarten, and I, you know, I love that book. The best things I learned about life, I learned in kindergarten. Um, you know, that book. And um, some of those students still follow me even today. Some of them have come to my latest book launch and they have bought the new, the my my latest uh project. But um, I said all that to say bringing all of that in for parents too.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Uh parents sometimes wait a minute, wait a minute. You said we can't we can't miss this. Okay, you brought all of them. This is years later. They came and they're still supporting you today, your students from first, second, and third grade.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Today, I you know, I when I retired at um 40, I'll make it, I make up numbers. So after I retired of like 38 years of being you look good, so you can say the number um I had two of those students that were kindergarten students that came to my retirement party.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

So you made their testimonies at the retirement party. You know, Jamie, we gotta document that one because I think I we'd like to probably get more testimonies like that of how they made that. But we're gonna talk about Dr. uh Rearborn today, but that impact there, that's a show for us right there.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Well, let me ask you this: how far back can you remember elementary school? What teacher do you remember? Do you remember kindergarten? I'm gonna see. Let's do you remember kindergarten.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

I remember my third grade teacher, Mrs. Copperman.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Mrs. Snap for me, it's my third grade teacher, but before that, I don't remember.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Yeah, third grade. I remember you know, this is a psychological test here. I'm giving you but if you think about the you know, the two elementary school teachers that you mentioned, and third grade is a very uh important year, you remember that person because they left an impression on your life. And elementary school teachers are very, they have a very special place in my heart.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

So I remember Miss Cufferman because uh I got my first spanking from my mom because I can do better. Oh wow, but she was right. Uh so from that experience, it taught me to always be on task to know that you can always do better, never settle for uh mediocracy, always for the best. Yes, but anyway, we I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

And Jamie remembered third grade as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I do remember third grade, and I she was just so so kind and just a soft spoken, just really embraced everybody. We all knew how much she loved us, but and I just couldn't wait to see her every day. And I I found that I really enjoyed the teaching profession, and I and I guess it because to me it's a calling, just it just is. And and I didn't realize that till years later. And I've been teaching for 20 years, I absolutely love it. It was a calling for my my daughter as well. She went into a different field in college and then changed her path. So I I mean, when you have a teacher that connects with with a young mind like that, it it it is just it it just escalates and it's like uh domino effect for the rest of their life. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Yeah, and so and that's how go ahead, Maryland. Go ahead, go ahead. No, I was gonna say this. So that's how all of what you're saying is is is the birth of middle school university. Um, you know, I spent, like I said, fifth is five years in the eighth grade, teaching eighth grade, and um and you know, I just kind of thought, what next? What next? Um my undergraduate degree is is um from Spelman College, in which I um, you know, was in social studies education um as Spelman. But um I knew after 10 years, and what I couldn't figure out at that time in my life was because I felt that teaching education was a very important profession, but we didn't make we didn't make the money. We did not make the money. I was like, why do the most important person that developed life, why don't they make money? And so I did more research on that, and that's when I went back and got an MBA. So I have an MBA, uh, because uh everybody who had graduated from Spelman with me, who had business degrees, were making a ton of money. Um, one of them I'm gonna mention right now, who's uh uh Dr. Rosalind Gates Brewer, who was who was the CEO of Starbucks, and the C she came out, she graduated with me. Oh, that's wonderful. And yeah, and she became the CEO of Starbucks and Walmart. Wow, she did both of those, and now she's uh the sitting interim president at Spellman Um College. But anyway, I'm saying all that to say Roz and I came out the same year. Uh we know each other very well. And I was like, you know, after 10 years of being out of school, I was like, why is Roz making millions of dollars? What the we did the same? What are we doing? And some other students, and I was like, wow, what a you know, and they were business people, they were economics majors, business majors, um, finance majors, you know, and they were just just making more making different. And I was like, what am I, you know, what am I doing here? But anyway, so that's what took me to the business aspect of things. And as I was developing middle school university, it was kind of my test of, you know, how do you grow a business as well as um, you know, educate people? How do you how do you do the both of those? So I had to take everything that I learned and I would, you know, keep I'm a journalist, I love to journal about things, and I'm always writing things down. So I had actually taken middle school university, and it's a conglomerate of all of the parent meetings that I had had over the years of what I needed to tell parents because I was always fascinated how parents would come to parent meetings and sit there, and they would just listen to the teacher and they would nod, and they would listen to the teacher and they would not. And I was like, they don't ever ask questions, they don't ever ask, they just go by whatever the teacher says. So this is developed to give parents more power in the meetings. So when you go to a parent meeting, you know what to ask.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Yeah, and I would definitely say um if you have a student that is headed to high school, I would definitely get this book because I remember when my daughter was headed to high school, uh, Dr. Wheelbourne was just getting to her school. Uh, there was another counselor there working with her, and I went to the school and I said, Do you have anything that parents like what you're sharing, uh Dr. Wilburne in the book that you wrote, that you can share with us about how to get these kids acclimated to high school. Uh, she, my daughter was a very shy, timid sort of like child at the time. Uh and I wanted to make sure she got acclimated into high school the right way. Um, so I'm loving that you wrote this book to get the parents to ask that question. Uh, so much so that when she was going to high school to get to the uh nuts and boots of what you're saying, I threw a welcome to high school party and invited all of the kids from her eighth grade class to this party. Oh wow. And these students, the kids had they had questions. And the counselor, uh high school counselor that was there at the time, she came out to the party and spoke to the parents about different things why the children were over playing games. I did it at Dave and Buster's uh in Atlanta. Yeah, I kind of get a scrap again sometimes, but you know perfect. We want these kids to learn. So I love that you wrote the middle school uh university for that, as well as how it uh continued on, I think, in reading it. I have a copy of the book and reading it through high school. So that was great. So let's get on with the questions. I'm sorry, we kind of got stopped, guys.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

And so let's stop.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Yeah, so you've written speaking of your book, you've written extensively about middle school students. Uh, why do you believe middle school is such a critical period in a student's life?

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Um, I think parents are very engaged in elementary school. They, you know, they're excited about kindergarten and first and second, they, you know, parents by middle school parents are like, okay, go on. Like you got this, you know, there you so we see a drop-off in parent meetings in middle school. High school, they just don't go. Nobody's going to a high school parent meeting. But guess what? They still have home.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yeah, yeah. And they do, and I think that's wonderful about the high school and the the uh parents going to those meetings. I never missed a meeting on high school, so I guess I was kind of different.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

But it wasn't it wasn't the crowd. When you go to a uh elementary school uh parent meeting, you have a bigger crowd, you have all these parents, they're excited. Um, we quickly, we educators found out that um if you even though you have a business part to the meeting, like the school funding and all that kind of stuff, you one of the other things you do is you put their kids up on the stage and that'll drive them out. So we have to learn to have some kind of program. Oh wow, kids, and then we throw the business part of stuff in there, yeah. At the business, you know. So that's we we learned that later on. If you, you know, if you have uh it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if they're playing the few the horn, even if they can't the violin, it doesn't matter as long as you have somebody's kids up there, then they'll parents will show up. But if you don't have the strategy, yeah, great strategy.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah, speaking of parents, bro. Jamie, I think what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 21:05

I think you had some questions for uh in the I do, I I I do, and you know, because you know uh many parents they kind of focus a lot more on the elementary school experience, just like you're saying, more parents are showing up at the at the the parent conferences, and that's good. I mean, your child's little and you want to be there for them, and then when they get older, you go, Okay, you can handle it now, that the teachers are there, and I and I just I just I don't have the time or whatever the reasons may be. Yes, absolutely. Why do you think that I mean, just moving from elementary to middle school and the downturn of parent engagement, why do you think that middle school that it often gets overlooked and then then even continues on into high school?

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Absolutely, absolutely. Um it's it's interesting that parents um do it that way because I think they need more attention in middle and high school. You need to pay them some attention. That's when you learn about their more about how their personalities have developed. And I think you hit on something there. Pay attention in middle school and in high school. That's where they need most of the uh the attention. So um, and you know, as well, after I left teaching school, and then I became a school counselor. Okay. Um, I looked around the room and I said, Now I don't want to teach anymore. I'm not making enough money. Um, what else can I do? I didn't like the principal's job. I know I didn't want to do that. And I looked around, and the actual counselor looked like she was having fun with the kids. I said, Look at her job. That's a cute little job there. So that's when I looked in too. Because she was, you know, all the kids liked her. She was uh, you know, having fun with the kids. She's doing these fun little activities, you know. Um, and and you know, she was more engaging and it was out of the classroom. So that's how I and when I became a school counselor. And I did that for initially for about nine years, once again with my business mind saying, now how can I continue to make more money but still be in education? And that's when I went into school administration and I was an assistant principal at St. Pius High School here in Atlanta for about um, let's say, let me give it four years. I make up, I told you I make up numbers. So about four years at St. Pius as an assistant principal because I did most of my 14 years and um in Catholic school before I went to public school. And then I left there and went to public school at um Norcross High School here at the North in North Atlanta. And so I was uh there two years. We're gonna talk about numbers again. Um I was there for about two years as an assistant principal. Now, Norcross High School is big, very different from St. Pius. Norcross High School is um 3,200 strong.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

Okay, maybe 3,400 that that year. Okay, and there were 12 assistant principals um at that school. And in addition to that, we had a powerhouse sports program. We were always winning the state championship in basketball. Uh, we were always winning state championships in soccer, football. We were a major power powerhouse. And I talk a lot about sports in middle school university, uh, because I think sports, any type of extracurricular activity is very, very, very important. So I talk a lot about um how teamwork, you know, you're always having to learn be a team. That's where that concept came from. It came from sports. Yeah. So when you're in the work world, they say you're part of a team. Where did you learn to be a part of a team? In elementary school when you play little league, whatever. I feel like you're dropping nuggets right and left.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah. I'm sorry, Jamie. I'm sorry. All my children were in little, you know, little league and you know, the the the football and the baseball and and and boy scouts and girl scouts, yes, wrestling and all the things involved. So yeah, they learn to be play with the team.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

So yes, because when you when you get to be an adult, what do they say? We want you to be part of our team, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:37

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

And in your mind, you go back to when you were in whatever situation where when you were part of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

That is true. That is true. You're dropping nuggets, and um on on nuggets, what I mean by that is I get it, keep the kids involved, get involved, pay attention to your children, especially in the middle school and high school years. That's when you want to be around them and having conversation more and maybe at the dinner table more with them. Yes. Now, how do you think technology has impacted? This wasn't one of my questions, but I gotta ask it. Uh, how do you think technology impacted all of this?

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Impacted all of the education.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Everything that you're saying about education.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yeah, uh, technology has uh changed the face of education and will continue to. Uh, we as educators had to learn the technology game, and I think we're all we educators are always behind the technology game. Um, we're always in schools, we're always having to learn to catch up. Technology is out there, and then we go try to chase it and find it. So, what we're um it changed what classroom looks like. Look at this, it's changing how we're doing this, this conversation. We're on a Zoom conversation um in different parts of the country. Um, but it it so it has changed how teachers teach. You now have online education. Many schools now are starting online education as low as fourth grade. So you can go full-time. Um, I know in Gwinnett County here in Georgia and now in Rockdale County, you can start your child in fourth grade online. Now, initially, those homeschool programs and those online programs were designed for parents who wanted to educate their students at home for a variety of reasons. But now technology has taken over, and I think COVID forced us home, and uh we educators had to fight had to figure it out how are you going to educate these these students and they're at home because guess what? They're at home.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Yeah, so technology has do you think that I'm sorry, do you think that AI can help with some of the areas where there's a workload with with teachers and counselors?

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Yes, I think they can take away the administrative part of the job or they can help with the administrative part of the job. But the things that are important, the things that you both of you said earlier, the humanistic part of it. Right. Yes, that's kind of a dangerous, it can take it away, according to me. Right. But I agree with you. I don't think I've learned there are lots of testing out there with AI, how to make it more humanistic.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

It's still not the same. You just you still need the human connection. Okay, I think we've got people, we want that connection. We're built that way, and we'll look for that. Yeah, AI is ever going to remove that. Okay, I'm glad to hear you say that.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Yeah, but it can help with the teaching load, I think. But it's oh, absolutely happening. The one-on-ones with the students and things of that nature, that's where it becomes very important.

SPEAKER_02 28:50

I actually well, it's interesting. I followed um this guy on um, I can't think of his name on um social media, and he's a very hands-on type of school principal, and one of the things he's making his school go back to this year, he's making them go back to pen and paper. He's throwing away the tablets next year. And yeah, because one of the things, you know, we took Cursive Writing out a couple years ago, but it took away the hand, the the hand eye coordination, it took away that development, and now we're seeing kids who don't have good coordination as they grow up because they they didn't learn to write, they didn't have all that penmanship, and you know, penmanship taught you discipline, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Well, we're as we wrap up. I uh Dr. Jamie, you have any other questions you wanted to ask, um Dr. Wilburne?

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Well, um, I I know your newest book that uh it guides parents through supporting their children and and beginning in the middle school years.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Yes, this uh middle school university. This actually is my older publication. It started uh starts at sixth grade. Okay, and it says what to do in sixth grade, what can't um what to look for in your student sixth grade, what to ask the teachers when you go to the parent conference. And this is kind of like a journal, you keep it on your child. So by the time they reach 12th grade, you have a whole little journal about them from sixth all the way up to 12th grade. One of the things I say every year, though, as you learn about your child, is to take them to a college campus every year, starting in sixth grade. And it says, Have you visited a college lately?

unknown 30:33

Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

So based on what you're sharing in the book, what does you know, real meaningful parental involvement, what does it really look like from your perspective and your experience?

SPEAKER_02 30:48

Again, keeping um you keeping your records for one, and keeping good records. And I tell parents, you know, keep a shoebox over there and every year or every semester, throw a hard copy of that report card in that shoebox and uh, you know, keep it. Um, and then you know, go take it with you when you go back to the even if you have to go to another school or transfer schools or something, you still have a hard copy, your own hard copy of what your child did in sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade. So I think that experience helps a parent. So too, when they get to um 11th and 12th grade, they're not panicking. Oh my god, college. Kind of, you know, so you've kind of been on, you know, you you've been on top of things over the years. Okay, good.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Oh, awesome. So I understand that you have one more book that you just published. And what is that book about?

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Yes, this one is called From Vision to Victory, and it's actually uh a personal journal. Again, I like to journal, but it's a personal journal for and a lot of my students, like I said, uh, who have I've had them journal over the years, um, you know, came to the book launch, and this one was done in in February, March, February, March, book launch in March, and it sold out um on the day of launch. So um congratulations. So it's it's it's it's there now and on the website. You know, uh I didn't sell it through Amazon this time because it's a binded, um, it's a binded publication.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

Um Vision Directory is more of uh you know an adult publication that helps you vision. And um it has journal prompts in there for you to do throughout the month. It keeps up with your daily, your daily life for you to reach um all the things that you have envisioned in your life. Because the other thing I've always done is vision boards. And I did that with even kindergarten students. I did it with, you know, uh middle school students, but um always having a vision.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Well, I love that. So what's next, Dr. Wilburn? What's next for you?

SPEAKER_02 33:00

I'm glad you asked that. Um, I have two projects going on. Um, I'm gonna add a chapter to middle school university on NIL, which um for sports, um the image and likeness, and uh because now um college sports is driven by the money that it brings in. So teaching parents what NIL is, um uh their name, their image, and their likeness, um, how social media plays into that that high school and college as you become a sports. I've had uh several students that have gone to the NBA and the NFL. Um, so yeah, so those were always fun times. Um, you know, being a counselor for those students. And um so when you're that's a different type of student. That is a student athlete that's really a big 10 type of that's a different app. That's a different and it's a different parent. And I never tell parents that their kids are not gonna be NBA or NFL players because they might. Yeah, never mind. But usually we know early on who are the, you know, who's the who the big ones are, but you know, I I would never tell anybody they're not going to the NBA because they come in, they'll say, I'm going to the NBA. So absolutely, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

I know that's right. Yeah, I know that's right. Well, Dr. Realborne has lots of uh great stories. We are going to um feature her stories and a little more information in our uh July issue of Live Magazine. Um and so you'll have an opportunity to read more about Dr. Realborne there. But until then, Dr. Bilbourne, thank you for spending part of your Saturday with us. Your wisdom.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

One more thing I want to mention, another project I have that's really big, and it's called Bridge the Badge. And Bridge the Badge is a program for um um school resource officers. We're going and teach them how to be mentors to kids. Oh, nice. There's a team of us that, yeah, we did it in Chatham County schools in Savannah um last year. And so now we have an opportunity to um present in front of the uh Georgia School Resource Offices Convention that's coming up in Columbus, Georgia, uh in about two weeks. So bridge to badge, look for that program. Um we're taking that show on the road, and um you'll see more about that soon.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

And we will make sure we include that in the write-up for you. So your wisdom reminds us that success doesn't suddenly begin in high school or college, it begins with intentional guidance, caring adults, and strong foundations. We want to thank you for joining us on Two Doctors in a Twist. And until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep investing in people that matter the most. Thank you guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

You guys are fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Thanks for having me on your show, and I look forward to getting the link to it.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Thanks, guys.