Blogs on California

The evening was filled with tales of despair, struggle and ultimate success. The Carlston Family Foundation was recognizing six outstanding California teachers, nominated by their former students who graduated from high schools in high poverty/high risk environments and went on to succeed at prestigious universities. An appreciative audience of family members, friends, students and colleagues were alternately roaring with laughter and fighting back tears, as they listened to the teachers describe their journeys from cluelessness to mastery in the classroom.

I work as a Transformational Leadership Coach in the Oakland Public Schools. I coach individuals, schools, and the educational system towards transformation. But what is transformation? Is it possible to coach to something I can't define? I know that what we have now is not working for the majority of children. Beyond all the statistics about graduation rates and literacy levels, I know that most kids don't love school and wake up every morning aching to get to that place where their minds, bodies, hearts, and souls are nurtured.

Every once in a while, when visiting a successful school, you see something that makes your jaw drop, something so extraordinary, you have to stop and make sure what you saw is actually what it appears to be. What stopped me was the sight of more than 200 middle schoolers sitting in silence, eyes closed, nearly motionless, meditating together for 15 uninterrupted minutes. It happens twice a day at San Francisco's Visitacion Valley Middle School. They call it Quiet Time.

It takes courage to stand up to a bully or challenge hate speech. On K-12 and college campuses across the country, students and educators are coming together as "upstanders" to change their communities for the better. Their stories of everyday heroism are highlighted in a compelling new documentary and accompanying educational campaign called Not In Our Town: Class Actions.