Christina: On the next
Inside California Education
Danielle Yount: "They had
two things they were really
focusing on, a
new environment,
and I just lost a home or
I just lost my school."
Christina: Discover how
Sonoma county schools are
recovering from devastating
fires that displaced
thousands of students.
Brian McDaniel: I give
them an alternate.
I give them a pathway to
success that's been proven
time and time again.
Christina: Meet the state's
Teacher of the Year who
overcame childhood trauma
and homelessness to teach in
his hometown of
Desert Hot Springs.
Linda Liebert: Of the 120
right now in our program,
probably 80 percent
are second-careers.
Christina: And professionals
leaving the corporate world
are helping fill the teacher
shortage in Sacramento.
It's all next on
Inside California Education!
Annc: Funding for Inside
California Education
is made possible by:
Since 1985,
the California Lottery has
raised more than $32 billion
dollars in supplemental
funding for California's
11-hundred public school
districts from kindergarten
through college.
That's approximately $191
for each full-time student
based on $1.5 billion
contributed in fiscal year
2016-17.
With caring teachers,
committed administrators,
and active parents, every
public school student can
realize their dreams.
The California Lottery:
Imagine the Possibilities.
The Stuart Foundation:
Improving life outcomes for
young people through
education
♪♪♪
Welcome to Inside
California Education,
I'm Christina Salerno.
We start in Sonoma
and Napa counties.
Fires there damaged or
destroyed multiple schools
and uprooted
thousands of students,
teachers and others.
Let's visit schools impacted
by this natural disaster to
discover what lessons their
experience might provide for
other communities.
♪♪♪
Tim Daly: Sunday,
October 8th, 2017
winds were unusually
powerful all over
Northern California.
But no one could predict
the sort of death and
destruction that would
befall Napa and Sonoma
counties.
Dr. Nemko: When I went
to bed the Sunday night,
before the fire, I saw
fire, but it was far away.
It never occurred to any of
us I think the night before,
that that fire was going to
be so serious it would
close schools
Tim: The fires
that night didn't just close
schools, eight in the
Santa Rosa area were heavily
damaged or destroyed.
Getting those schools
re-opened or replaced,
as quickly as
possible, is a priority,
says Sonoma County
Superintendent Steven
Herrington, who's dealt
with more than one disaster
through the years.
Dr. Herrington: The more
schools we could open,
we would create a
greater sense of normalcy.
And for children
normalcy is important.
So our goal was, and I
learned that from floods and
I learned that
from the earthquake,
you need to create an
environment of safety and an
environment of normalcy.
Tim: Though no schools in
Napa County were damaged by
fire, schools were closed
for two weeks because air
quality was so poor.
In Sonoma County, it wasn't
just losing two weeks of
teaching and learning.
An estimated 1,500 public
school students lost homes.
So did nearly 400 teachers.
Well more than a thousand
students have been relocated
to new campuses, like the
430 students who attend
Roseland Collegiate Prep.
Thomas: You guys are the
ones who are going to bring
this place to life.
So when you see
purple on the walls,
ignore that,
look at each other,
right.
Remember you guys are what
makes us come here
every day.
And that's what's
going to keep us coming.
Tim: There's a good reason
for that little pep talk
from English
teacher Tomas Salinas.
These students from Roseland
experienced perhaps the most
disruption in Sonoma County.
Their school is
heavily damaged,
so they first relocated to
two different elementary
schools in Santa
Rosa that had space.
Then they relocated to this
high school building when it
became available.
Roseland kids have dealt
with a lot of change this
school year.
Danielle: To get them back
in the groove of school took
a little longer because they
had two things they were
really focusing on -—
a new environment,
and I just lost a home
or I just lost my school.
TimL Roseland principal
Danielle Yount is racing to
keep up too.
In addition to unpacking
and setting up yet another
office, she was looking
forward to some fresh paint.
Purple is the previous
tenant's school color.
Roseland has
something a bit lighter.
Danielle: Yeah,
they're green and blue,
and we're living in
purple right now.
Yeah, so we're hoping to
get some paint on the walls,
maybe over the winter break,
so when they come back,
for a semester or two,
it's a nice fresh start
Tim: Because it's become
more common for California
administrators to
deal with disasters,
superintendents aren't
just sharing information on
curriculum, test scores and
budgets -— they're sharing
tips on disaster recovery.
Dr. Herrington: This is
how you do FEMA forms,
this is how you
do all of that.
Because it's becoming a new
common place situation
for us.
We just kept taking notes
as a protocol and basically
have shared that information
to the next county that
experiences the fire.
Tim: Not long after Dr.
Herrington was dealing with
fires in his region, he was
on the phone with educators
in Santa Barbara, who were
reeling from the monstrous
Thomas Fire.
Glen: We put people who
could help each other,
in contact with each
other immediately.
So for example we were
able to put Sonoma County
superintendent Steve
Herrington in contact with
Santa Barbara County
superintendent Susan
Salcido, so that they could
learn from each other peer
to peer because we know
that's one way people learn
very effectively, is
learning from their peers.
Tim: Glen Price is the Chief
Deputy Superintendent for
the state
Department of Education.
He says every school in
California is required to
develop safety plans that
instruct staff and students
how to respond when a
disaster or emergency
arrives.
Napa superintendent Barbara
Nemko showed us the colorful
and extensive plan that's
supposed to be posted in
every classroom
in her county.
Dr. Nemko: If you look at
it covers duck and cover,
shelter in place,
it covers lockdown,
offsite evacuations.
It covers
animal disturbance,
bet you hadn't
thought about that one.
Biological or
chemical release,
bomb threat, earthquake,
explosion or risk of
explosion, fire,
flooding, pandemic flu.
So yes, teachers
know what to do,
schools know what to do.
And we're pretty
good at following this,
we train people in it.
Tim: Surviving one of those
disasters and re-opening a
school can happen in weeks.
But Glen Price says because
schools and surrounding
neighborhoods can be
so heavily damaged,
complete recovery can
take a very long time.
Glen: Don't think this is
going to turn around for you
in the next 3 to 6 months.
You're going to be looking
at where you're getting back
your students and your
families over a 1 year,
2 year, 3 year period.
Tim: There's also the
issue of missed class time.
Teachers and their students
are scrambling to make up
for lost instruction.
Wendy: Math is
something, you have to,
it's like a sport.
You have to keep
practicing, practicing,
practicing.
They get out of practice and
it takes a few days just to
get them back to
where we left.
Tim: Wendy Momsen says by
summer she and her students
will be caught up.
It'll be much longer for her
life away from school to be
back to normal.
This was her Santa Rosa
house -— she's one of those
nearly 400 teachers who
also lost their homes to the
fires.
Wendy: I'm fortunate to
have a wonderful fiancé,
and children and family.
So you know we're pretty
tight group and so we kind
of are just getting
through it together.
Tim: Experts say this
unfortunately may be the new
normal in California;
preparing for and getting
through some
sort of disaster.
Principal Yount needs just
three words to sum up what
might be the best approach
Danielle: patience,
understanding and flexibility
♪♪♪
Narr: Just like schools,
families should prepare
for emergencies.
Experts recommend
signing up for communication
notifications from
your child's school,
and ensure that emergency
contacts are up to date.
Prepare a Disaster
Preparedness Kit at home
with items such as
personal documents,
first aid
supplies, flashlights,
blankets and water.
Christina: Next, we'd like
to introduce you to one of
five California Teachers
of the Year for 2018.
His name is Brian McDaniel,
and he overcame significant
childhood troubles to teach
in his hometown of
Desert Hot Springs.
Discover why students
say he's more than a music
teacher...he's
also their mentor.
♪♪♪
Aaliyah: It's less of a
band and more like
a family because we're
really close and when we
play together, it
feels like you know,
you're just doing
something with your family,
not exactly
playing with the band.
♪♪♪
Kristen: THEY'RE A FAMILY OF
BAND AND CHOIR STUDENTS ...
KNOWN AT THIS SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA MIDDLE SCHOOL AS
'THE REGIMENT'.
A TOTAL OF 230 STUDENTS
MAKE UP THE MUSIC PROGRAM AT
PAINTED HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL
IN DESERT HOT SPRINGS.
IT'S A COMMUNITY THAT
HAS LONG STRUGGLED ...
WITH MORE THAN A QUARTER OF
ITS POPULATION LIVING BELOW
THE FEDERAL POVERTY LINE.
MANY OF THE KIDS
HERE WOULD TELL YOU ...
IT'S A TOUGH
PLACE TO GROW UP.
Michael: The schools
in Desert Hot Springs,
for the longest time,
have always had a bad rap,
uh, when it comes to,
uh, student discipline.
Kristen: BUT PRINCIPAL
MICHAEL GRAINGER SAYS IN HIS
FOUR YEARS AT PAINTED HILLS,
A WHOLE LOT HAS CHANGED.
Michael: We've seen over
a 50% reduction in our
student, uh, defiance
and disrespect discipline
incidents, uh, over
the past 12 months.
Kristen: AND HE
ATTRIBUTES A LOT OF THAT TO
THE ROLE THE REGIMENT
HAS PLAYED IN THE SCHOOL'S
CULTURE, AND IN PARTICULAR,
THE ROLE THEIR TEACHER ...
DOCTOR BRIAN MCDANIEL
HAS HAD IN LEADING THEM.
Michael: Brian, through his
mentorship and leadership
has taught these
students what it is to be,
um, a true citizen, um, in
terms of showing empathy for
each other, for role
modeling appropriate
behavior.
Brian:
Everybody has choices.
My kids can
choose to join a gang.
They can choose to be
teenage parents.
They could
choose to do drugs.
I give them an alternate.
I give them a pathway to
success that's been proven
time and time again.
Kristen: MCDANIEL ISN'T
SHY ABOUT SHARING HIS OWN
PAINFUL PAST, ESPECIALLY
HIS TROUBLED CHILDHOOD.
HIS MOTHER WAS THE
VICTIM OF GUN VIOLENCE.
HIS FATHER SUFFERED FROM
MENTAL ILLNESS AND COMMITTED
SUICIDE.
MCDANIEL SPENT TIME IN
THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM.
AFTER BEING
REUNITED WITH HIS MOTHER,
THE ENTIRE FAMILY BECAME
HOMELESS...ALL IN THE SAME
TOWN WHERE
MCDANIEL NOW TEACHES.
THOSE EXPERIENCES ALLOW
HIM TO CREATE A SPECIAL BOND
WITH HIS STUDENTS ...
MANY OF WHOM CAN RELATE TO
THE STRUGGLES HE OVERCAME.
Itzel: So I know
what he overcame,
I know how he suffered.
I know what he went through.
So that inspires us.
That shows us that we're-
we are not the only ones.
That other people
went through it,
and that we can
succeed over that.
(Choir Singing)
Kristen: COLLEAGUES SAY
MCDANIEL HAS AN ABILITY TO
CONNECT WITH KIDS
THAT'S RARE ...
PROVIDING EMPATHY
AND SUPPORT ...
AS WELL AS A SHINING EXAMPLE
OF WHAT THEY HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO ACHIEVE.
Jennifer: He's been through
the things that a lot of
these kids are going
through right now.
Um, and he's come out on the
other side and so I think
that is very inspirational
to our students.
And, and they trust
him, they trust him.
He's not just
talking the talk,
he's walked that walk.
He's been in their shoes.
Kristen: AND NOW HE'S
WALKING IN EVEN BIGGER
SHOES.
BRIAN MCDANIEL HAS BEEN
NAMED ONE OF FIVE CALIFORNIA
TEACHERS OF THE
YEAR FOR 2018.
HE'S ALSO THE NATIONAL
NOMINEE FOR THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA.
SUPERINTENDENT TOM TORLAKSON
SAYS MCDANIEL STOOD OUT
BECAUSE OF HIS DEEP
COMMITMENT TO HELPING OTHER
STUDENTS OVERCOME
THEIR CHALLENGES.
Tom: He wants to pay that
forward in terms of helping
other students,
mentoring students,
helping them gain
self-confidence,
set high goals and so
I like that optimism,
and uh that that part of him
is you know so dedicated to
helping other students
overcome the challenges he
faced.
Kristen: MCDANIEL CREDITS
HIS EIGHTH GRADE SCIENCE
TEACHER DAVID ZIMMICK,
FOR BELIEVING IN HIM,
SAYING ZIMMICK
WAS A ROLE MODEL,
AND THE FATHER
FIGURE HE DIDN'T HAVE.
Brian: He revolutionized how
I thought about life and my
purpose in it.
And so seeing the power of
a teacher is something
I wanted to have; I
wanted to replicate.
Kristen: WHICH PERHAPS
IS WHY MANY OF MCDANIEL'S
STUDENTS SAY THE REGIMENT
FEELS LIKE FAMILY ...
AND THIS
CLASSROOM, LIKE HOME.
Henry: When you
need comfort,
he's always there for you.
When you're alone, he's
always there for you.
Even when you are at
lunch and you're sitting by
yourself, he sits with you.
Aaliyah: When you
think of a band teacher,
you think of someone,
like, you just learn,
like, music theory from and
how to play an instrument.
But in his class, you get
these life lessons along
with that
Kristen: LESSONS THAT INCLUDE
BEING A GOOD CITIZEN ...
HAVING FAITH IN
THEMSELVES ....
AND HAVING
EMPATHY TOWARD OTHERS.
MCDANIEL REMEMBERS HIS
OWN DAYS AS A HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENT IN THE BAND, AND
HOW IT FELT TO BE PART OF A
GROUP AT A TIME WHEN HE
OTHERWISE FELT ALONE.
Brian: Band and choir in
particular is a team sport.
We're all in this together.
We live in this
communal fish pond.
And if somebody does
something that is negative
it affects us all.
At the same time when things
are going right in band we
all celebrate each other.
Kristen: AND THEY'VE HAD
A LOT TO CELEBRATE ...
THE REGIMENT TOOK HOME A
NATIONAL TITLE LAST YEAR AND
THEIR WIND SYMPHONY WAS THE
ONLY ONE TO GET THE GOLD.
NUMEROUS TROPHIES
DEMONSTRATE THEIR SKILL
AND SUCCESS...
BUT MOST OF ALL, THEY
HAVE A GROWING CONFIDENCE IN
THEMSELVES, ALONG WITH
KNOWLEDGE THAT AN ADULT THEY
TRUST ...
CARES ABOUT THEM TOO AND
BELIEVES IN THEIR ABILITY TO
SUCCEED.
Brian: There
are no bad kids.
There are bad behaviors.
If you can give your
child a better choice,
if you can talk through that
you don't have to be the
clown, you don't
have to be the enemy.
You could be the
hero of the story.
That's where
music is amazing.
Every kid is
the quarterback.
Every kid is the hero.
(singing)
Set me free to
find my calling
and I'll return to
you somehow ....
Kristen: MCDANIEL
KNOWS FIRSTHAND,
IT IS THE TEACHERS WHO
HAVE AN ABILITY TO INSTILL
CONFIDENCE ...
TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND
A SAFE SURROUNDING ...
AND TO TEACH NOT ONLY
THE LESSONS IN THE BOOK,
BUT THE LESSONS THAT
EXTEND OUTSIDE THESE WALLS,
AND INTO THEIR FUTURES.
LESSONS THESE
STUDENTS ADMIT,
ARE CHANGING THEIR LIVES.
(Singing)
♪ And the Sky is clear and well
Itzel: Being in
choir helped me a lot.
Um, he believed in me even
when I didn't believe in me.
Even when other people
didn't believe in me.
He always found something
good to say and always made
me want to push forward.
Evelynn: He serves as like a
father figure for a lot of
students.
He's not just
like a teacher,
he's like a counselor too,
And it is really helpful,
and whenever I leave his
class I always feel better
than when I entered.
Aaliyah: Some of the
greatest life lessons I
think I've learned is
inside his classroom,
you know, because he
wants us to do good.
He ...
He wants us to
want to do good.
♪♪♪
Brian McDaniel: Are
you guys having fun yet?
Narr: Since 1972, California
has been recognizing
outstanding teachers through
its Teacher of the Year
program.
The goal is to honor the
teaching profession and
heighten interest in
teaching as a career.
To qualify, teachers must
be named a finalist in their
local county competition
and have taught for at least
eight years.
Christina: While some
teachers are driven from a
young age to join
the profession,
many others take a
longer path to get there...
..maybe even decades before
they realize their calling.
Let's meet several teachers
who've left the business
world to become
teachers in Sacramento,
a trend that's helping to
fill the state's teacher
shortage.
♪♪♪
Jon: We owned a
family business,
a travel store here
in town, for 40 years.
My mom had a good idea, and
her idea was to supply the
traveler with everything
they need in one spot.
We kind of went out with a
little more of a thud
and a whimper.
And so I think it was
more of a message from the
universe that maybe this
wasn't my path anymore and
that there was something
new for me to do that I was
meant to do.
This is the same as a book.
I want you to
start in on this,
everybody.
Being a new teacher, it's
why I have my gray hair and
my lines on my face.
It's challenging, but it's
also incredibly invigorating
and rewarding, unlike
my past business career.
Christina: Jon Holloway is
embarking on his second act.
He's teaching
fourth-through-sixth graders
at the California
Montessori Project's
American River Campus.
Not only has it given him a
new lease on life -- it's
also filling a need.
Lisa: There's definitely
a demand for teachers out
there, there's a demand
for quality teachers.
There was a time a few years
ago were I would receive
hundreds of applications
for just a handful of jobs,
and now within the
last couple of years I'm
receiving 30, 50, 70
applications for the same
handful of jobs.
Linda: There is such
a teacher shortage in
California right now.
We have a lot of
teachers retiring.
And post-recession, people
are now able to afford to
retire and so there is a
huge shortage in California.
And with that shortage,
it's really built intern
programs.
Christina: Linda Liebert is
the director of the Teacher
Intern Program run by the
Sacramento County Office of
Education.
The two-year program
provides a non-traditional
pathway to the classroom for
people like Jon Holloway.
After 160 hours of
prerequisite classes,
the interns are
hired as full teachers.
They spend the
week teaching,
and on Saturdays take
classes to earn their
credential.
Linda: Of the 120 we have
right now in our program,
probably 80 percent
are second-careers.
They're burnt out from
being out there in
Corporate America.
They're not feeling
fulfilled anymore.
They're feeling that
there's not a purpose,
and so a lot of them bring
those talents into teaching
and they feel like they're
actually serving and making
a difference.
Christine Anderson: Even if
you've had the best week of
your life, it's
been a tough week.
Because teaching is hard.
Our interns and
especially our,
our, second-career interns
are juggling many things and
giving up their Saturdays.
But, I, they really see
great value in the time
because the things that
we're doing are applicable.
And I think that's one
of the strengths of this
program is that immediate
application and that
immediate feedback for them
in the midst of the work
that they're doing.
Christina: Interns also get
immediate feedback in the
classroom, in the form of a
teaching coach that visits
twice a month.
Coach Phil Romig is a former
principal and teacher who
helps interns
hone their skills.
Phil: If they know that
you are kind of - they never
know where you
are going to be,
but you're are aware
of what's going on.
-Right.
Jon is a great new teacher.
He's excellent
at what he does.
He has skills that he
does not know that he has,
as far as his
calmness and his demeanor,
and his respect
for the students.
Um, he is a business person.
In teaching it's a
little bit different,
it's not dollars and cents,
it's how kids are growing
and moving
along a continuum.
Christina: Sharon Ferrell
and Jon Negin are also
second-career teachers in
the Sacramento County intern
program.
They're both spending
their first year teaching at
Natomas Charter School,
where Jon teaches biology
and health and
Sharon teaches chemistry.
Sharon: Before I
was a teacher,
I worked in
molecular virology,
which always has everyone
make this sort of like,
"ooh" expression.
Um, I worked for UCSF
in research institute,
we actually were on the
campus of San Francisco
General Hospital and I
was researching HIV.
After I left
molecular biology,
I stayed at home to raise
my children and I thought,
you know, I can
combine those two loves,
so I decided teaching
science was where
I wanted to be.
It's more complex than
just one thing.
Caden: I really
enjoy this class.
It's very hands on.
It's not all paperwork,
which I've been in a lot of
science classes
that are like that.
Ms. Ferrell is a
really, really good teacher.
And it's an
organized classroom, too.
So yeah we may get
a bit out of hand,
but she does tend
to keep us in order,
so she's a great teacher.
Sharon: I think that as
an, especially as an older
person, the kids they think
of me almost as a mother
figure so they, they feel
confident in me right from
the start even
though I'm a new teacher.
And I have enough confidence
to straight up to them,
"Look, we're new,
we're doing this together,
I'm a brand new teacher this
year and we're all going to
learn together.
We're going to see what
comes out and if it's not
where we thought we'd be,
we're gonna start over and
try a different tact.
Christina: Across the
hall from Sharon Ferrell's
chemistry lab is Jon
Negin's classroom.
His students were surprised
to learn that their teacher
is a retired military
officer who spent nearly 30
years in the Army.
Sierra: I thought he was a
college professor before.
Just like, there's just
something about him that's
just so official and
he's very knowledgeable,
but I had absolutely no
idea he was in the military.
That just kind of makes
me think higher of him,
like he's more
of an official,
more of a person
to look up to.
Jon: As an Army officer, a
lot of your job is about
teaching and training young
soldiers as individuals and
teams and I really enjoyed
that aspect of the Army.
That's one of the best
things about the military,
maybe a lot of people
don't think about that,
but you have a tremendous
opportunity to impact young
people.
I think it's actually a
fairly normal transition to
go from serving in the
military to going back into
a classroom and teaching at
a lot of different levels.
You're responsible
for their lives,
literally, in the military,
and in teaching you're
responsible for their
academic life and their
growth academically and it's
a tremendous responsibility
that you can't take lightly
and you have to be all in.
Christina: As an added
challenge....teacher interns
at certain charter schools
are not only learn how to
teach, they're learning
a very specific style of
teaching.
For former business
owner Jon Holloway,
that means taking intensive
Montessori training classes
on top of his
credential classes.
Phil: In the
Montessori model,
students are asked to do
more self-directing on their
own and the students take
more ownership of their
learning.
You have to then monitor
multiple students doing
multiple things
at the same time,
so the skill
set is different.
In a regular, traditional
classroom it might is more
of 'I'm going to do this one
thing with all these kids
and have them all try
to do really well."
Jon: I guess the most
difficult thing is trying to
meld the two types of
teaching that I'm learning
simultaneously.
And being in charge of
21 lives is an awesome
responsibility and you have
to have the commitment to
match that responsibility.
Lisa: They just want to
be remember to be kind to
themselves.
We know that they are
new teachers coming in,
and a lot of times they will
have very high standards for
themselves based on their
success in their previous
field.
They just need to give
themselves that time to grow
in this new field, just like
they did in their previous
successful profession.
♪♪♪
Christina: That's it for
this edition of Inside
California Education.
If you'd like more
information about the
program, just log on to
our website insidecaled.org.
We have video from
all of our shows,
and you can connect with
us on social media as well.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you next time on
Inside California Education.
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
Annc: Funding for
Inside California Education
is made possible
by: Since 1985,
the California Lottery has
raised more than $32 billion
dollars in supplemental
funding for California's
11-hundred public school
districts from kindergarten
through college.
That's approximately $191
for each full-time student
based on $1.5 billion
contributed in fiscal year
2016-17.
With caring teachers,
committed administrators,
and active parents, every
public school student can
realize their dreams.
The California Lottery:
Imagine the Possibilities.
Dr. Pascal: So, Greg,
it's a lot to take in.
And I know
that's hard to hear.
But the doctors
caught it early.
Hi, Blake.
My dad has cancer.
And I know how
hard that is to hear.
But you are in
the right place.
Dr. Pascal and her
team, they know what to do.
They know what to do.
The doctors know what to do.
So here's the plan.
First off, we're going
to give you (fades out).
The Stuart Foundation:
Improving Life Outcomes
for Young People through
Education
Additional funding for
Inside California Education
is made possible by
these organizations
supporting public education:
♪♪♪