Build a Strong Foundation: Strategies for Parental Involvement in Education| Episode 46

A Better Chance - https://abetterchance.org/
The Alliance - https://www.independentschoolalliance.org/
To contact Bootsie Battle-Holt - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bootsie-battle-holt/

In episode 46 of the Falling for Learning Podcast "Parenting Lessons from a 3rd Generation Teacher," join us as we dive deep into the heart of educational empowerment with Bootsie Battle-Holt, a celebrated teacher and a beacon of inspiration. Bootsie shares her compelling journey from feeling lost and unsupported during her college years to becoming a National Board-Certified Teacher who champions the transformative power of education.

Discover how Bootsie harnesses her family's rich teaching legacy to fuel her passion for learning and teaching. Her story is not just about academic excellence but about nurturing resilience, curiosity, and a genuine love for learning in our children. This episode is packed with invaluable insights for parents of middle and high schoolers looking to guide their teens and tweens effectively.

Learn how you can empower your children to embrace education, overcome challenges, and achieve personal growth. Bootsie's approach goes beyond traditional teaching methods, focusing on holistic development and the crucial role of parental involvement in education.

Tune in to "Falling for Learning" for more stories of personal growth and empowerment in education. We drop new episodes every Saturday at 5 PM. Follow us for updates and more inspiring content!

#CareerExploration #ParentEducation #AcademicStruggles #DiversityInEducation #ParentSupport

#EducationalOpportunities #LearningGames #HighSchoolParents #CareerPath #LearningProcess

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
3:27 - Getting Hooked on Learning
7:20 - College Journey and Major
13:21 - Engaging Kids in Learning
20:39 - Parental Guidance for Student Success
29:27 - Final Thoughts
31:50 - Contact Information
32:37 - Appreciation Note

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

I got into UCLA. And I came in as a biochemistry major thinking that I wanted to be a doctor. I didn't have the support that I needed when I got here to La really almost failed out right at the beginning. I felt lonely, I felt unsupported. And just didn't really know where to go back to ended up changing my major at that point, thinking that I wasn't able to accomplish being a doctor.

TD Flenaugh: 0:33

Thank you for joining us for another episode of the following for learning podcast, please hit the subscribe button. We're here for you. And you want to stick with this channel. If you have teens and tweens where you're a caregiver, right? Maybe a parent might be a caregiver, and you want to know what to do to keep them on track for learning and stay on track for success. Hit the subscribe button. Hi, we have a special guest who is Bootsy battle Holt. She is a teacher leader and public education she has a proven record for positive outcomes for diverse students. Through leadership and engagement. She was an LAUSD and LA County Teacher of the Year. She is a national board certified teacher in mathematics. And she's a grant writer with more than$100,000 awarded. She's a frequent collaborator with on site, district wide local state and national education polished policy initiatives. She's an experienced professional learning leader and a curriculum designer. Her latest role is with the National Board Certified DEP and she'll tell you more about that role.

Unknown: 1:55

Yeah, hi, thank you for having me on today. Yeah, so I'm really excited about this new role, actually, National Board Certification is one of the highest levels of achievement that a teacher can reach in their career. And unlike the state certifications that most teachers get national board really does represent accomplished teachers, for example, six out of the 50 State Teachers of the Year, this year, our national board certified teachers, and there's a reason for that. So I'm really excited to be working with National Board for teaching standards now. And I'm working on a specific project actually, that is to support more teachers of color, specifically black teachers, and becoming national board certified in the state of California. This is really exciting for me, because, as with other other parts of education, black teachers are deeply underrepresented. Right. And we know that we have additional challenges in the teaching profession beyond just the regular challenges of how hard it is to be a teacher. So I'm really excited in supporting black teachers throughout the state in achieving their national board certification, not only because it's a great honor, but also because it really helps one grow in their career. And as a, you know, lifelong educator, we are also lifelong learners. And so we're always looking for ways that we can grow.

TD Flenaugh: 3:25

Absolutely. Thanks so much for being on our show. What I wanted to first start off our interview with was let fit to you as a young child into learning.

Unknown: 3:38

Yeah, I mean, so what hooked me into learning is that you know, I just I have always enjoyed being a learner. I've always been a really curious person. And so even as a kid, I was, you know, I wanted to know about everything. I think it also was helpful, of course, that my mother was a teacher. Right. And so she, you know, just sort of infused education, everything we did. In fact, the story that I often tell is that my grandmother was a teacher in urban public school, she taught in New York City School District. And then my mother was a teacher in urban public school she taught in Oakland School District. So as a child, I always said, I am not going to do this, because I see how hard it is right? And so I actually, like took a different career path out of college. But it wasn't until my own daughter was in kindergarten, and I was volunteering in the classroom. And I realized how much fun and how impactful it was to work with kids. And so I decided to go back and become a teacher at that point. So I mean, I think for myself, I was hooked on learning really early from the influences in my life, and also just that culture of education. But in terms of being a teacher, I really didn't realize how fulfilling it was to help others in that learning process until I until I had kids of my own,

TD Flenaugh: 5:02

wow, third generation teacher.

Unknown: 5:06

In urban schools, I like to put that there because that's a different, you know, that's a different bag than just any school is when you're working in an urban school district. There are so many other pieces of it that come into play other than just maybe working in, you know, suburban districts or even rural districts, they have their own flavor, their own challenges, right. But urban districts really have things that are different than than other kinds of places to work.

TD Flenaugh: 5:33

Okay, so you said you took a different path, you're trying to run away from your calling? No.

Unknown: 5:41

Yeah, I didn't really think I didn't really think I'd be good at it. I was like, you know, I'm not a patient person, I get it when I don't know, I just didn't think I would be good at it. So I didn't realize that it was even something that I could excel at until later. So yeah, there are a couple of different reasons.

TD Flenaugh: 6:01

So tell us a little bit about that alternative path you took in education, I mean, or you know, your journey, your development and your career and your education. Prior

Unknown: 6:10

to being a teacher. Yeah, so I'm actually just like, different career path. You know, being in LA, we have so much of the production industry open to us. And so I actually went to work for a producer for a production company for several years out of college and worked in producing television commercials. And so another reason that I realized, like, the power and the impact of teaching was that, you know, I was working on commercials, like, Burger King and coke and cars. And I was like, you know, we're selling a bunch of stuff to people that really doesn't enrich their lives. And so when I, you know, got turned on to teaching, I was like, this is something that actually makes an impact with people. Right. And I think being a young mother, that's something that just is so poignant. At that time in your life, you know, where you're like, we really have opportunities to make change, and selling fast food to people. It's not the best way to do that.

TD Flenaugh: 7:15

Yeah, okay. All right. So. So basically, what college you know, What college did you go to? And what like, major did you have when you're in

Unknown: 7:26

college? Yeah, so another interesting story about my college and my major is that, so I grew up in Berkeley, California. And so a lot of students in my school, were, you know, sons and daughters of professors at Cal. And a lot of people applied to Cal, which I did, because it seemed like the natural thing to do. But I also applied to UCLA. Because at 1718, you want to get away. And la seemed really, really fancy to me at that time. So I got into UCLA. And looking back, I think one of the reasons I got in is because I applied in a STEM major. So I came in as a biochemistry major, thinking that I wanted to be a doctor. In fact, specifically, it was funny, I can remember being a kid and people would say, What do you want to do? And I'd say, I want to be a genetic engineer. And they'd be like, what is that, because like, that whole idea was just brand new. I don't know where I got turned on to it. But I'd heard about it and thought it was really exciting, right. So I wanted to follow medicine, and specifically to work in like genetic research, which is a crazy dream for a 17 year old, but that's where I was at the time. So I got to UCLA. And actually, this is really some, like part of my story that that shifts a lot, because I didn't have the support that I needed. When I got here to LA. I was you know, sort of lost at this giant school. The connections I was trying to make weren't really clicking. You know, as in giant, giant lecture halls with teachers, many of whom were amazing researchers, but not necessarily great educators, right. And so couldn't really follow what they were trying to do and really almost failed out right at the beginning. I mean, it was just not a great experience for me. I felt lonely, I felt unsupported and just didn't really know where to turn. And also, you know, I wasn't guided and like, Well, maybe you should take like, in your first year there. Maybe you should take one hard class and a couple of like, using your prerequisite like I wasn't getting that kind of guidance that I needed, you know, so specifically, like, in my second, maybe third quarter at UCLA, I was taking organic chemistry, and differential equations and mathematics at the same time. And it was impossible for me at that time for so many reasons, you know, and, and I just lost really a lot of my confidence as a learner. In fact, I ended up changing my major at that point, thinking that I wasn't able to accomplish being a doctor, or, you know, tackling those classes that seemed so impossible to me at the time. So I actually changed my major to history of all things. Because I taken a couple of history classes with a professor who was awesome. And just I felt like, oh, my gosh, I want to learn, you know, about like, the story of this world, the story of like, how we got to where we are, and that just seemed really fascinating to me. Yeah, when I think back, and people go, Well, history and math are so different. And I always say, you know, the thread that binds them is like making connections. Right? When you're thinking about history, you're thinking about how this is connected to that. It's connected to that, right, sort of sorting out these connections. And the same thing with math when you're looking at patterns, right? Like a lot of the basis of math is like figuring out what pattern you're following in order to solve the problem, right. So I think that there is a connection there, even though a lot of people don't see it. But so fast forwarding in my history class, in some of my history classes. I met this producer, it was just crazy. He had gone to film school and got a job before he finished UCLA. And when he came back, he didn't need to get a film major, because he was already, you know, somebody in film. He just wanted to come and get a degree. And he liked history, too. We met in history class, and I ended up working for him for several years after, after college. And then when I went into teaching, I got in multiple subject credential to teach, you know, elementary school. Because that's, you know, as I said, I was volunteering my daughter's classroom, that's what I liked. I thought, Oh, these little kids are great. I work with little kids. Shortly after beginning my teaching career a couple years in, they start laying off everyone, we had that glut of teachers where there were like so many people. Remember, everyone was scrambling for jobs. And lo and behold, someone said, you know, you have a math credential, that you qualify for a math credential because of all that math that you took in college. Yes. I said, Okay, well, let's do that. And always need math teachers always need math teachers. And I had taken all of that math early on in college, because that's, you know, was that early on career path. And so it actually panned out. For me, it's crazy how things loop back around, you know, in your life, but so I ended up teaching math at the middle school level, and stuck with that just for many, many years. And that really became my identity was as a secondary math teacher.

TD Flenaugh: 13:21

Wow. Yeah. So going back to your kids, like, what did you do for them? To help them get hooked into learning as kids?

Unknown: 13:32

Yeah. So again, I mean, as I said, I think I had really good role models, right? being the child of an educator who always played games and things with me, so. And even though my mom was the teacher, my father was a gardener. He had a degree in botany, actually. But he worked as a gardener for the City of Berkeley. And he loved games at my mom loved games, my mom loved word games, we'd play Scrabble, we would do word searches, we do all kinds of stuff like that. And my dad loved playing cards. We learn every kind of card game there was and strategy and figuring out, you know, how to play all kinds of things. And I think that that was really key to like, me learning how to make learning fun. Okay. And when my kids were little, we did a lot of the same things. I mean, I, I remember, for Christmas, I would always search for like Logic Games for Kids at their level. You know, there was like the ones that were like, can you get the bus out of the traffic jam, and Kenya have? Also, I mean, in addition to the learning of that pace, I think there's also a lot of lessons learned about taking turns about being gracious, you know, there's just a lot like games our way.

TD Flenaugh: 15:12

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Unknown: 16:12

And when I say games, I mean like those interactive, really interpersonal games, not necessarily like a game where you're just playing by yourself, right. But those games, you know, built bonds built a lot of trust between my kids and myself. And then also life skills and learning skills.

TD Flenaugh: 16:33

Yeah. It's part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you because I went to your house for Christmas Eve, even. We were putting these puzzles together. And I actually didn't even want to do it with other people at first. They came and they were doing it. I mean, I wasn't gonna push anyone away. But I wasn't really open, like, you know, not initially. But getting into it, we put the whole thing together. We just like stuck with it. We laughed a lot. We you know, it was a lot of collaboration. And you were saying that's how one of the ways you got your children hooked into learning. And why don't you tell us what your kids are doing now?

Unknown: 17:14

Yeah. So I daughter actually just moved back home after about seven years in Scotland, she went to the University of Edinburgh, where she got her degree and also a master's in a dual major of classics and linguistics. So basically, she was studying both ancient and, and modern language. And then after that, she worked for a couple of years in finance of all things, which is like, I don't know how that happened. But she's a smart kid. And so she got hired for that. And then she recently decided to move back home, mainly because she has always had like a passion for film. She's like an amazing artist, and, you know, loves visual art of all kinds. She's a great painter, and, you know, just artists of all kinds. And she's loved film. For years, she's made student films in the past and all this and she said, You know what, I'm at a point in my life where if I wanted to film, I'm going to come back to LA and I'm just going to try, right. So she's been, she's been hitting the pavement hard in that industry. She's had a couple of little production jobs so far. And she's, you know, thriving, she's just so happy to be back and be doing what she wants to be doing. And then my little one who's not so little anymore, he just turned 22 A few weeks ago, is graduating from Kenyon College in Ohio. It is a amazing private college, where, you know, many writers and presidents and all these people went I'd never even heard of it until he applied, he found out and he was like, Oh, this great school, and I'm like, what, what is that, but it has turned out to be a really incredible experience for him. He's graduating in a couple of weeks, with a double major in math and physics. And he is, you know, looking for a position right now he's doing a lot of networking. You know, just I'm so impressed with the way that he's willing to just make connections with people and call people and talk about like their careers and find out exactly what it is that he wants to do. And find just the exact right position for him. So yeah, I'm really proud of both of my kiddos at this point. It has not been easy, you know, over the last number of years since I'd say since 2018, we've had a lot of loss. As with the whole world, we, you know, have obviously experienced COVID, and all of that, but also, we lost my husband, we lost my mom and dad, both who my kids were very close to. And I think, you know, just being able to have that close connection with them that we formed really early on, has been able to like get us all through. So we are in a very happy place right now. And we know that our loved ones are happy for us, wherever they are.

TD Flenaugh: 20:32

I'm sorry that you have to go through that. Yeah, thank you. Wow. So what lessons can you impart to the parents that are listening of teens and tweens that are trying to find the right balance with getting their kids on track for learning, make sure they stay on track for success? what are maybe some missteps or something like that you may have taken or you learned that you want to let them know, that to do or to watch out for? Yeah,

Unknown: 21:05

um, I think you know, what's interesting is that I'm maybe obviously, kind of a type A person. And so I'm a real go getter. I'm like raising my hand for every opportunity and volunteering here and getting in there and doing all this stuff, you know, and both of my kids are actually really type B personalities. They are like, you know, my son is just super chill. And even though he's done like a lot of really amazing like performance stuff in his life, like he doesn't seek that he doesn't seek the spotlight, he kind of, you know, dopa Lee falls into things. Sometimes he's like, kind of Dopey and fall into something, and that he was like the star of a show, but didn't even really care to do that kind of, you know, but, you know, neither one of them was like, the kind of kid who felt like they needed to get an A on everything, they cared a lot more about learning than they did about the grade, which was different than sort of the way I felt like I was taught, not necessarily from my parents, but from society, it was always like, You got to get the A, you got to, you know, you got to be a student, you got to be a number one all the time, you know, my kids never really felt that way about things. And it's really worked out for them, because they've been able to enjoy learning. So I think one misstep that I made, was trying to impose like, my, my super, like, hyper type A vigilance on them. When they were like, Mom, I just want to learn this, I just want to find out about something. Yeah. And so honoring, like that curiosity, in the end was way more important than even, you know, even though they both ended up at elite colleges and whatnot. It wasn't because they had super GPAs. Neither one of them had, you know, over a four, which, you know, just like my kids gotta have a 4.8 now or whatever, you know, that wasn't my kid. But they had amazing letters of recommendations. They had amazing interviews, when they went to talk to people, they had ways that they displayed what they've learned and what they enjoyed, you know, and so I think that really being a little more chill and following their lead, would have made all of our lives a bit easier. through middle school and high school.

TD Flenaugh: 23:28

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's really important for you to talk about, like, you know, the type of schools you put them in and, and why and how that supported their craft. Yeah.

Unknown: 23:49

So, yeah, you know, that's such a great question, because, particularly in this la landscape, and for others, you know, across the country who are in these systems, where you're competing for spots, and schools and all of that, right, like, it can be so daunting to figure out where to go. And I remember even from preschool, like listening to all the moms saying, like, Oh, you gotta get this preschool. You gotta get in that preschool. And I was like, Oh, my God, like, how am I going to navigate all this? And it turns out that, like, my kids went to elementary school at the closest school to us up the street, like the local public school. And it was, it was great. It was, um, science magnet school. It wasn't super heavily science, but it was a science magnet school in name. And they had, you know, like a science lab. They went to once a week, and they had a science fair once a year, you know, and so, there was a science sort of part of it. And again, that was just by accident. It was like my local school and they had the science program. And after that, they went to the middle school where I taught ACC, which was a, you know, has a reputation of being pretty rough. It's a title one, fully title one school, the test scores are not high. But being in the school. And knowing that no matter where your kids are in school, they can get a great education. If you're, if you understand like, what the learning goals are, you know, what, what's actually happening inside the school. And I think, for all parents, even if you're not, obviously a teacher at that school, if you really get to know the school well. So if you're there, and you know, you know, who are the teachers that all the kids love, who are the teachers who do who go the extra mile on taking kids on field trips, and making sure kids have access to things and all of that, right. So being able to navigate the school is really important. So yeah, my kids went to the school that was, you know, tough reputation, low test scores, and all this and they thrived there. They have great friends who they met there, who they're still friends with, they got a really solid education. And we were prepared to go to the local high school after that. Someone sort of off the cuff mentioned that there were some different kinds of organizations that helped students of color get into some of the local, like, independent schools. And I was like, I don't know anything about that world. I mean, I was a public school kid, my husband's public school kid with my parents were like, Yeah, I knew nothing about private schools, right? And this person said, No, you know, you could, you could, there's great programs out there, you should really look at it. So I said, Okay, I'll make this call and see what they have going on. And it really did change things because this program called ABC, a better chance that's been around for, like 50 years, is focused on getting students of color into top schools, top private schools in the area. And they're actually nationwide as well. So you can find them in lots of urban centers. So ABC, and they make the process easy. Also, by doing one APA, it's sort of like doing a common application, like you would think, college. You know, so normally, the process would be you're applying and doing all these applications to all these different schools, but they help you go through all the testing that you need. They have like a special testing session setup for their students. All these things that make it more accessible, right, and it really is about access. And so I got a shout out Mr. Moura, he was my daughter's eighth grade math teacher. And he still teaches in the district, but he was the one who told me to check out a better chance and and so that was the pathway that got my daughter into Harvard Westlake where she had a ton of opportunities. I want to say also, though, you know, we were, as I said, we were prepared to go to the local public high school, and we were totally fine with that. It actually turns out that we got like, a really amazing scholarship package and offer from Harvard Westlake that really made the difference, because my daughter was an athlete. And so they were gonna pay for, like, all of her athletic stuff. And you know, and they just had a lot of opportunities at that school that you just wouldn't get elsewhere. So I mean, she got to travel on a filmmaking trip to Cambodia for free, things like that. Like, we weren't gonna get that our local school even though I think my kids would have been fine there. So that's how she ended up there. And then he just followed. So they did go to an elite, private, high school. But I don't think that that was necessarily like, the secret sauce of their success, if you will. Right. Right now, it was just another sort of leg up along the way.

TD Flenaugh: 29:27

Yes, okay. Cool. All right. So as we're wrapping up, is there any like last bit of information or takeaways, you want to leave parents who are really trying to navigate the educational system to make sure their children are on the path to success?

Unknown: 29:48

Yeah, I mean, I just want to go back to the part about just being engaged with your kids school. You know, you know, we hear that a lot to get into the schools and it's so different Call me we have so many things going on in our lives, especially in this day and age. I mean, we're trying to make ends meet, we're trying to put dinner on the table, we're trying to, you know, pay our bills, all of that. And so it is not just an easy thing when people say, Oh, go to your kids school and get involved and all that. I understand it's not easy. I mean, even as a teacher at their schools, you know, I had stuff, we had stuff going on in life that made it difficult to always engage. But I really do think that that makes a difference, right. So wherever you can find that time, you know, go through your kids backpacks, and see what kind of fliers are in there about things that are happening at the school, lots of that stuff gets thrown away. But that's really where you get a chance to make connections with teachers to make connections with the community to make connections with, you know, your PTA or your parents organization, whatever. You know, when I think back to the parents who I knew who were at the school, even the ones who had challenges, but found a way, whether it was volunteering on a field trip, or helping out in the costume room, when the kids were doing a school play, or whatever, right? If you find a way to get in there, I think it makes such a huge difference to how your kids View School, and also to how, frankly, how you're treated at the school, right, because it's easy for a school site to you know, sort of lose focus of individual kids, but they don't lose focus when the parent is really a part of the community. So I would say get in there, get in there, wherever you can, however, you can just make it known that you're, you know, an active parent, just as much as you possibly can. Even through middle school and high school where it becomes harder. Yes.

TD Flenaugh: 31:51

Stay involved.

Unknown: 31:53

Stay involved. Exactly.

TD Flenaugh: 31:56

Thank you so much for joining us. Bootsy. We appreciate you. And if people want to get in contact with you or reach out to you, where should they do? Um,

Unknown: 32:07

yeah, I mean, definitely a LinkedIn message is great, because I will respond to those. I look at all of my LinkedIn messages. If you want to go ahead and post that. post that link. Yeah, feel free to feel free to reach out. Say hi, and then I'll say hi, back.

TD Flenaugh: 32:27

Thanks again.

Unknown: 32:29

All right. Thanks for having me. This is fun.

TD Flenaugh: 32:32

Thank you. Thanks again for supporting the falling for learning podcast. New episodes go live every Saturday at 5pm. You can watch us on youtube.com at falling for learning or listen on all major podcast platforms, such as Apple, Google, Audible, Spotify, and much more. For more resources visit falling in love with learning.com We really appreciate you have a wonderful week.