Season 1, Episode 12
No broken children鈥攐nly broken systems, starring Kareem Weaver
Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres soaks up wisdom from Kareem Weaver, an educational powerhouse who has spent over 30 years working toward the end of illiteracy. Kareem levels with Ana about the hard truths of education reform. Together, they get vulnerable about the personal costs they鈥檝e paid in being committed to their work and the belief they share that no teacher should have to make those sacrifices. Kareem also discusses his time working in juvenile detention facilities, how a frightening diagnosis changed the way he approaches education, and how administrators can best help create sustainable careers. Taking all those lessons back to the classroom, Ana and Beyond My Years Classroom Insider Eric Cross talk about preparing more than just lesson plans, developing focused skill improvement, and making the connections between academic success and behavior reform.
Meet our guest, Kareem Weaver.
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Kareem Weaver is an award-winning educator and community advocate with extensive experience leading schools and systems in district, juvenile justice, and managed-care settings. His advocacy is featured in the 2023 documentary The Right to Read.
Kareem has worked with the Council of the Great City Schools, the College Board, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission on literacy as a civil right. He has offered diagnostic support to districts, states, and educator preparation programs; presented at over 100 conferences, departments of education, universities, and community organizations; and led field visits for system leaders, all in service of bringing clarity to the literacy crisis and illuminating the most productive path forward so that all children have access to Full and Complete Reading, which is a Universal Mandate (FULCRUM). He is the current second vice president and education committee chair for the Oakland NAACP.
Meet our host, Ana Torres.
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Ana has been an educator for 30 years, working in both the K鈥�8 and higher education sectors. She served as an administrator and instructor at various public and private colleges and universities and as a bilingual and dual language teacher, dual language math and reading interventionist, dual language instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in K鈥�8 schools. Ana is currently the bilingual and multilingual specialist on 61传媒tv鈥檚 product specialist team, and delivers literacy and biliteracy presentations across the nation. Ana鈥檚 passion and advocacy for biliteracy and multiculturalism has led her to educate leaders, teachers, and parents about the positive impact of bilingualism and biliteracy in our world.
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Meet our Classroom Insider, Eric Cross.
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Eric Cross is a middle school science teacher who hopes to someday be a lifelong educator, like the guests on Beyond My Years! In each episode, Eric connects with host Ana Torres to discuss her guests鈥� best insights gleaned from their long and rewarding careers in the classroom. Then, Eric talks about bringing some of their wisdom into his current classroom and busy life.
Quotes
- 鈥淚’m at the age now where I really don’t have much patience for things that aren’t gonna make a difference.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淲e can busy ourselves doing a lot of other things, but when you learn to read, your life trajectory changes drastically.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淲here do we want our young people to go? What opportunities, what paths do we want them to have access to? Reading is a gateway for life.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淚f you can’t grow people, what are you doing in a seat? If you’re an administrator and you can’t grow teachers’ practice, then you’re a manager, not an administrator.鈥濃�擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淗ope is wonderful, but that’s not a strategy. You have to be very specific about what you’re going to fix, what you’re going to address, and what you’re going to master.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淭here are no broken children; there’s broken systems.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥淪elf-care has gotta be on the front of the agenda, not the back burner. Many educators, we just are so busy in the grind of teaching and learning, we forget.鈥� 鈥擪areem Weaver
- 鈥溾�夿eing prepared in so many aspects of life outside of the classroom makes you better in the classroom.鈥� 鈥擡ric Cross
