The Power of Communication, Collaboration, and Supporting Military Families with Jessica Saum

What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin, and I'm the host of the teaching champions podcast. And today, I have a wonderful interview for you. And it's one that is near and dear to my heart. I was lucky enough to connect with Jessica som, and she is the 2022 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. She's a special education teacher in the self contained classroom. And her students range from kindergarten to fourth grade. And most importantly, she's a mother in the military wife. And she dropped some gems in this interview from how we can best serve all our students in the school, the power of communication and collaboration, and how we can best serve children who are in military families. There's a lot of great takeaways. So I hope you enjoy what's going on everybody. I am here with Jessica som, and she is an amazing educator. And this is going to be a fantastic podcast. Jessica, welcome to the teaching champions podcast. Hi, thank you so much for having me. It is our pleasure to have you and this is gonna be a fantastic interview because you have so much to share. And you have a unique and pretty special story. Would you mind giving us a little of your background and how you came to where you're at today? Sure. So I am a kindergarten through fourth grade special education teacher at stagecoach Elementary School in Cabot Arkansas, and I am the 2002 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. Teaching was not a first profession for me. So I went to college right out of high school. And after about a year, I dropped out and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I married my husband and moved to Arkansas. I worked I went to a trade school and worked at an esthetician and a day spa. But my husband always encouraged me to finish my college degree because I never had and so I had a real passion for working with students with exceptional needs and diverse learners. And so I finished my college degree 10 years after I started it with a preschool through fourth grade general education and special education, teaching license. And so after graduating, we moved just a few months later to Germany, and my husband's active duty military. So that was his next assignment. And I worked as a paraprofessional, a teacher's aide in it with a student with autism and the elementary school there. And then I stayed home with my children until we moved back to Arkansas, my daughter began getting speech services at preschool. And so when she started getting those services, I had an opportunity to sit on the other side of a Special Education meeting. And it was it was really eye opening and a really unique experience for me to hear words like severe and profound in regards to my own child's development, when regards to delays. And so with that, though, they needed someone to fill a long term substitute position working with early childhood special education services. And so I did that for the remainder of the year. I went and taught one year at an elementary school just as a pre PE teacher in a general education setting. But really, my heart was being pulled back to special education. And so the next year, I was in the setting that I'm in now, which like I said, as a preschool who are I'm sorry, kindergarten through fourth grade, self contained special education classrooms. So it is a few different careers and a little bit longer of a journey. Find that passion and that calling, but I can't imagine doing anything else now. That's awesome. And I think your journey is so special. And it makes us really think about our teaching and I look at you know, you it took you 10 years to get that college degree so that that was a journey. And then you go over to Germany and you have that part as being a paraprofessional, so you get to view it from that lens. And then you talk about being in those special education or those meetings and being on the parent side. And I think that's important for all of us to really be cognizant of what it is like for the parents to be on that side of it. It's made me really think about the language I use when talking to parents because we live education. I mean, we have so many acronyms and especially even more. And so when I'm talking to a parent about a student and when we're reading these evaluations, you know what words that we're using that are really describing what a child can do not just what we're saying that they can't do yet. And I think that was a really important experience for me to have to make me a better teacher, and a better partner to the parents that I work with as well. Yeah, I love that, you know, focusing on and letting the parents know, because it's gotta be hard sitting in those meetings, and just hearing what they can't do. But really focusing and letting them know, you know, your child can do this. We get paperwork when a new student places and so often, it's a list of cats. And I have made a really big effort whenever I'm writing. My IEP is my individualized education programs for students, that every part I add, make sure to add in all the amazing things they can do. Because it's just a snapshot. It's just a piece. But we limit students so much, and we focus so much on where they're not, where their strengths are not at that that's that's not what parents need or want to hear. And it's not what another teacher needs to hear exclusively for me either. Absolutely, planting those seeds, letting people see their shine as well. And I love that. So what's your day you have interesting because you have mall tie ages inside your classroom. So what's your day like? It can be pretty hectic week. So that the most important thing we found and, you know, COVID kind of changed how students worked. We did a ton of centers when I first started in the class, and COVID change that we could not all be working with the same materials all the time. So we were doing a lot more at our desks. And then as restriction started to ease, we could have some centers and some more collaborative work again. But I think we found that we needed to be very deliberate about those workspaces and what we were using to support student learning. And make sure yes, there's definitely a place for fun and creativity. But what are these resources doing to enhance student learning. But because we do have, you know, kindergarten through fourth grade students are going all throughout the day, to their general education classrooms for activity, lunch, recess, sometimes phonics or shared reading, or science, whatever, will benefit them the most and their learning goals. But we do start every morning together. And that is something we have just prioritized this year, there was a lot of social emotional gaps, because of COVID, you hear a lot about learning loss. But for my students, it wasn't as much academic as it was social and some of those difficulties. And so we come in, we you know, we go into a routine that we put all of our things away, there's always something on their desk for them to work on. It might be a fun coloring sheets that seemed for whatever we're working on, or something else to support their learning. But then we all come to the carpet. And we start every single day with a song and with dancing. I just made up my mind that joy is a choice. And my mindset matters. And my mindset affects everyone else's day when they come in. And so I think it's pretty hard to be sad and to be down if you are dancing and moving. And I love music. And I just think that if we can start every day with a pause on a positive note, if kids are coming to school tired or frustrated, I'm coming to school because my own children and I have argued, it's really hard to stay in that negative space, if we're dancing and singing. And it really has been a great addition to our routine. Students know what day it is, if they've always struggled with the days of the week. They know it's new that Monday, they know it's Taco Tuesday, and they're ready for it. And they don't want to miss that part of our day. And it just it brings us all together. It joins us in and we spent about 30 minutes all together meeting doing different learning targets, sharing a book talking about the day. And then everyone starts kind of working on what they need to be successful. We go through the center rotations, we work individually with myself, repair professionals. And then we have students coming in and out of the classroom with their grades, going out with their grade level peers and then working with different therapists. So it's kind of a revolving door of activity all day long. Yeah, and you know, I love the piece where you were you talking about starting the day off on that positive note, then we're always responsible for the energy we bring in the students feed off of it. But I think you bring up some important that maybe you get your day doesn't start off with the right note. But if we get that, that movement, that joy, get a little music plan, something that a little routine that can snap us out of if we're in a funk or if a student's in a funk, it's a great way to start your day. Absolutely. And we're huge fans of cuckoo kangaroo that's like our we love their music. We love to dance and that just it's it's hard not to have fun when you're doing those things and you just can carry that positive energy forward into everything else we do. Absolutely. Now what are some Ways that you found to be most successful in your classroom and then your students are pushing out as well. What are some ways that you found that you can be successful with the other teachers in your building. So I was very fortunate that the teacher that was in my classroom before me, still works in my school, she is a first grade teacher now, which happens to be the hallway that my classroom is located on. And so I had someone who could at least guide me and share with me what had worked for her and be more than just a co worker, but a friend. And so one thing she shared and that I have continued to do is that every year I make a get to know me card about my students, and I give that to their general education classroom teacher, to the activity teachers, to the administrators to anyone who may come in contact with them. And it could be something as simple as, you know, hey, if I'm having a really bad day, my fingernails are always painted beautiful colors, just acknowledge them, ask to see them. And that might help me come out of it. Or, you know, I need something an encouragement of fidgets to hold in my hand as we're walking so that I can keep self you know, some self control and not poke or bother friend, just little cues that can give them something to connect with that child, that's more that's on their IEP, it's not something you're going to find in traditional paperwork. But that helps them be better prepared to support students. And if they can have that in their hands before the school year even begins, they're going to be so much better prepared to do what's right. For Kids. It's not just about what's required for accommodations or modifications in their IEP, it's about what really helps that child as an individual. And I think that special education teachers often feel like guests going into general education classrooms. But those teachers are relying on us, they're relying on our expertise and our experiences, so that they can do their job as well as possible. And so just that collaboration piece it anytime I think why is this not working? Or how could this be better? So much of it comes back to collaboration and partnerships with those general education teachers. They are experts in the curriculum, oftentimes, if they're teaching, fourth grade reading literacy, and I'm teaching kindergarten through fourth grade, I'm not going to be able to give that amazing content, curriculum knowledge, I'm not going to always have that. But I do have ways to accommodate the student and support the student in how can we take this curriculum, give it to them in a way they can understand, and then assess their knowledge in something that's a little bit more attainable for them. So anytime I've struggled if I can find that here, that partner in the building, and we can bounce ideas off of each other students when and teachers feel more successful as well, because we're both using our strengths in order to do what's right for kids. Absolutely, that collaboration piece is huge. For so many problems, you know, it just it really solves. It solves so many of our issues in school and we can work together and partner and use our strengths to make the classroom the school the community a better place. Absolutely not have you found ways since your urine every single day like timewise time is always a crunch? Is there any like tips or strategies that you have like collaborating with that time piece, keeping that in mind, that is definitely the most difficult thing. And I think special education teachers, because whether they're resource or self contained, like I am, we're not always on the same schedule. And so finding that, you know, professional learning community time, that that team planning time doesn't always happen. I'm very lucky that my current administrator has made a priority that we have, like 30 minutes once a week, at least to all get together. And it may just be a time that we're taking a breath. Like, I'm exhausted, these are hard, but it's a person that understands to, you know, to work with you on as teachers, sometimes we're scared to ask for help or to admit, we we aren't handling something well. And so I've found that if I can go go to my principal, or go to another administrator and say, Hey, can I sit in? Can we get covered for my class? Or can I, my paraprofessionals can handle it this time? Can I sit down and see what this grade level is doing via part of their meeting, a lot of times they can help accommodate that. We just have to be willing to ask for help. It's not always going to work. But if we don't let it know, be known that we need that time and need that support, we're not going to get it so just kind of putting your pride aside and be willing to say help I need I need extra time or I need someone to support me in this so I can better understand what students are learning and what I need to know to be able to teach them. I love that because you know I feel that sometimes to where your pride gets in the way. You don't want to look like you can't handle a situation. So instead of asking and saying hey, I need a little extra help you just keep going down that same path where we can open so many doors if we're just a little vulnerable and I missed. Yes. And I just want to circle back to I loved how you talked about that you give, like those cards to the teachers, you know get to know me card, something that can break me out if I'm in a funk, whether it's the fingernail piece, or some little talking point because we always say like relationships matter. And your students might push into my classroom for just a small window of time. So I don't have that opportunity to to maybe connect with them as much as the students are in my class and the majority of the day, so something small like that, just a little peek into to their life. I love that. And I think too, I try to include, because students will have different needs, and they'll be at different levels of ability. And so I'll put a note in there, hey, I will come with a pair of professional but when I'm in my in your class, you are the boss. So unless you need the paraprofessional to support, you have the same expectations of me. Or it might say, you know, if I'm struggling with this, let my paraprofessional help me just say no, because sometimes we don't know, if we haven't all had time to sit down, we don't know where those lines of who should be in charge and who should be handling behavior concerns. You know, I think it's helpful to let teachers know, this student can handle your redirections. And they're working on maybe moving into less services and less support. So they need to learn to listen to a different adult. It just makes that especially that general education teacher feel like they have, they're empowered to do what's best for kids more as well. And so again, that just that one communication, it makes such a difference. And I always put my cell phone number on there in case they don't have it. Call me if there's a problem, just call me and I'll come down, I don't ever want them to be afraid to ask for help, either. Absolutely. And that's great. And you know, you are paired professional before. So I think that gives you a good insight as well. How about the collaboration with the paraprofessionals because they play such an important role in our classrooms as well. I don't know what our schools would do without them. I am so fortunate to work with the teachers that most paraprofessionals in my classroom, my co teachers, and even throughout our school, we have three different classrooms that have the special education classrooms that have paraprofessionals in them, and just how to work together to say, hey, we both only have one kindergarten student, can one of our paraprofessionals go into support them here. So we're maximizing our staffing. And we're certainly no, we're serving students better. And again, we don't need to have our students most of the time with one on one paraprofessionals. In this setting, we need it, you know that when they need to have experiences as close to as typical as possible. So they can get used to age level peers and peers in a less restrictive setting. And so, you know, our schools are so fortunate to have amazing paraprofessionals and I just, I wish they had more respect and more appreciation and better pay. I mean, I have to give that plug because we would not be able to do what we do without them. Perhaps 100% agree with that 100%. Now, what are ways that we can best serve those students who come from military families? Because I know this is very near and dear to your heart? How can we best serve them? You know, I think depending on the community you're in, we live near Little Rock Air Force Base. And so there is a large number of military connected families. And the school liaison officer on base and the schools here are pretty well equipped to support students. But that's not going to be the case everywhere you might you know, we talked a little bit earlier about having just a family that's connected to a local area, but they're not near a big airbase or recruiter or someone coming in for a special assignment. And so there's not always going to be those resources. The first thing I would advise schools and military families as well, because they don't all know about it is to be comfortable and aware of something called MC three. It's the military interstate children's Compact Commission. And it is a compact between all 50 states about different ways that we can ensure military families are supported when they're moving between duty assignments. And that's that might mean an Army family is going to be stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. And they haven't been as familiar with the policies and practices of the Air Force community. They should connect with that school liaison officer on base and see about the resources that are there. If it's a high school student, and they're moving in their senior year. What if all those credits are not going to line up and they're not going to be able to graduate on time? That compact helps schools and help states look at transcripts? What course could we take to cover this extra math that wasn't required in Texas? What can we do to make sure the student is not going to be punished or penalized because their parent is serving our nation. So make sure military families know about that. But as far as teachers, we need to understand kids are coming different states have Different social norms and expectations on top of those curriculum differences. And so, you know, in my class, most students notice that Yes, ma'am, or no, ma'am, that's kind of just an extra, like, my own children, you know, that's just, that's just kind of how they were raised. And so it's just kind of how we talk, but you go somewhere else, and that no one is saying, ma'am, or sir, both of my children were born in Germany, and I remember us moving back. And so we're gonna go to the beach this summer with my parents, and we're gonna go to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. And my son said, we aren't going to Greece, and I was no son probably never, ever could, because it's not, you know, 100 Euro flight from Germany, where we have previously lived, the he had no concept of that, and so, so many different expectations and different norms that led these kids, these children from elementary to high school to have some amazing experiences, and amazing insight on the world, let them share that and let them have that voice when they come into your classroom, it might help them connect with another student or have an opportunity to shine in a way that they didn't before it can be that icebreaker for them. So utilize their knowledge, if if the curriculum they were on before is further along than you were on, let them be the Buddy the peer tutor in the class to help other students. So now they're immediately needed and wanted to be a support. And if they are a little bit behind from where your district is teaching and learning, then have somebody partner with them, that gives them a friend. And it's just so easy to find ways to connect students to make sure they have those resources to feel a part of whatever community they're in. It might only be a year or two. But they still deserve to feel valued and honored and, and to have their needs met. Absolutely. And I love that. And it's so important, like you said, they need to feel like they belong to that community. And that's hard, like when you're a transit child, and you don't have route in one place. So you're only staying there for a couple years. Moving on, like you said, mid year, the different cultural norms. And I wanted to read this real quick. You had posted this, your Twitter feed. And I think it's really important because my military background, I was in the military, and I was treated very well. Like, I think the soldiers, the airmen, they they are treated pretty good with with a lot of respect. And what we don't realize sometimes is the military. It isn't just the soldier, it's the family. And it's you posted in the was in the military officer magazine. And they said, the real heroes are the children. And it just says, If anyone deserves recognition and appreciation for their selfless service, it is military children born in military hospitals around the globe, they will learn far too young goodbyes will be frequent and difficult. At some point in their toddler years, they inevitably, inevitably will hug a camouflage leg of someone other than their uniform, parent by mistake, they will move repeatedly, usually at the precise point in time when they feel most subtle. So I thought I read that. And that's extremely powerful. And, you know, like, we were talking earlier, I'm in a remote area. So we're not used to too many military children coming in and out, but we do have them or if you have a National Guard unit that gets activated, and all of a sudden, that parent isn't there, that we're we're as educators cognizant of that and recognize on that social emotional piece that they might have those struggles. But I also love when you said that they have special things and experiences, let's bring them in and share like your children. Let's share those years from Germany, and all of that background knowledge and what you've experienced. So there's there's a ton of ways that we can bring that to our classroom. There are and I told someone the other day, because my husband is temporarily not with our family right now that I think some of the biggest struggles we think about when he left and you know, people just embraced us, our school, our church, our local community friends checked on us. But we have to remember too, that coming home is really difficult. And I think the military return has been very romanticized. You see in movies and all these these things, the family is figuring out how to be a family again. And so where you may not see any behavior or even academic concerns early on, or during the deployment, when they're coming home families are trying to figure out how to reconnect and those roles are changing my son more than once to said, you know, I'm going to be the man of the house and and I'm going to help I'm going to do these things. It's not his job. He's a child. You know, he doesn't have to, but then when you know when dad comes home, he has to kind of fake You're about how to step back and let dad do those things again, and especially with an older students, so just just remembering those families that not just while one or two, one or other parents are gone, but when they come home to that there's always going to be that adjustment time and continue loving them and me all students need grace. And sometimes those behaviors that you hear, you know, often the cause of behavior will make you cry, not be mad anymore. So just just giving some grace for those extra times that we don't always understand can be difficult as well. Absolutely. And, you know, I agree 100% I think it is romanticize that coming home, you see the videos of the soldiers and bracing their families and everything. And I know for myself, like, after that moment, you go home to that house. And for me, I was gone for 15 to 16 months. And then like the world kept moving on. But I'm coming back almost like that that place before. And there's that readjustment and like use, especially for the families, like the families gotta get reintegrated and everything. And also, you know, on those deployments, being aware of like the spouse that all of a sudden has to take on the role of both parents take on the role of ever running the home, that slide on that spouse is showing grace to the students and grace to that spouses at home as well. Absolutely, absolutely. Because they can't do it all. They can never fill that total role if that parent, but they are certainly trying. And I mean, if it's a dad, we have tons of women that are active duty as well adapt, you know, maybe doesn't do the daughter's hair every morning. And now he's thrust into that primary role, it can be really challenging. So I that's a great point, the parents are going to need a little bit of that patience and understanding as well. Well, excellent. Thank you for spreading that message for everyone out there. Now, you also so you've been a busy woman, because Teacher of the Year and I know you had a big week in Washington, DC and I would absolutely and I know the listeners would love What was that week like, it was probably one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. You know, you're showing up as an adult, I have not done as much social stuff in the last few years, like most people, because of COVID. I love to travel, I love to do those things. And we haven't done as much of it, but you're showing up as an adult with 50 plus other teachers from all over the country, each state was represented plus our territories, our Department of Defense teacher came from Korea, and you gather together and you are ready to learn and grow and just meet 50 of your brand new best friends. It was so encouraging and so energizing, because we were all we're all exhausted, if any teacher tells you they're not exhausted this time of year. They're not telling the truth. But that positive energy of what's happening in their state, what they're experiencing, the opportunities they've had. And to all be together and share in that energy. I mean, you could feel it. Every time you walked into a room. We were encouraged, we were taught. We had former teachers of the year that would come and share with us. We learn different strategies to help be better State Teachers of the Year. And then we had an opportunity to go to the White House to meet with the President and First Lady. We had a day set up on Capitol Hill where we could meet senators and congressmen and women from our own states. And from a neighboring state. I was partnered with the teacher from Louisiana. And then we had a gala where we were just honored and celebrated. It was incredible. And I we have a few other experiences. We go to space camp together this summer, I will stay awesome pelvis I will say together that again. Like what a great experience to be with these, these teachers who are their best in their state right now. I mean, to think these are the best the best right now. They are doing so much for education, they're doing so much for students. And I have so much I can learn and take back from them. I found myself you know, with the teacher that you're from Wyoming, Nebraska, Kentucky, Alaska, you know, just to sit together and talk and these men and women that I never would have met otherwise, that we have completely different backgrounds, completely, even different beliefs on different things, but to have what you are saying be respected and appreciated and sometimes challenged. I mean, there's no other way to grow. And so I'm so encouraged by it. And I know these are like 50 plus of my brand new best friends and I cannot wait to continue learning with them and growing with them. That's awesome. And I love like taking people from all across the you know the country and like you said different walks of life sharing different ideas. We all teach different things. subjects. And sometimes the best ideas can come from just bouncing off of ideas with people that might not be at your specific grade level could be a completely different grade level, but they open your mind. And also, I love the piece where you said, you got together, you had real conversations challenged each other, but we're respectful towards one another that we don't see that right now. You know, there's so much if you don't disagree, you know, we automatically aren't getting along. Well, we all I mean, we all disagree on certain things, we are not teaching the same way. We are not believing necessarily all the same things. But we can respect one another. And what I mean by that is, that is how it should be. That is what this is all about the end of the day. I said this when we are when we are at our Capitol Hill meetings, talk to teachers, ask us what we need, ask us what we want, even if you don't end up using that idea. Even if you disagree with that idea. You've respected me enough to hear what I have to say, to value my experience, my education, my expertise. And at least now you have that information to go and do something with it, if you so choose. But sometimes we our ideas have to be challenged. And sometimes someone's going to think of something I know. cabby is one of the teachers from Wisconsin, and he said, Well, have you talked we were talking to military issues? He said, Well, have you talked from Rachel, the Department of Defense teacher about this? And I was like, no, why haven't I? Why didn't I think of that? Yeah, you should do that. I'm like, Yes, I should have already. But just I needed someone else to say, Why haven't you thought of this, and it was fantastic. So it is just so encouraging. And we need that positivity. You know, we do get tired this time of year, we are rundown and to be encouraged and supported by people that are just also in this with you, but are so amazing. And so love what they do with it was just the most empowering experience I've had in a really long time. That's great. That piece like leaning into others, sometimes we don't have it. But if we can feed off of others energy and ideas, great things can happen. Yes. And I think that leads into a great question. You are a mom running the household right now as your husband's on deployment, like you said at this time in the school year. And I know you have one week left after this, I believe. So we're all tired. How do you keep that positive mental framework or positive mental state during this time? You know, I think for me, personally, I need movement, like I talked about in the morning, we start our days with dance and music. I wake up every morning and exercise before school, which most people like shake their head at me like what are you thinking, getting up that early. But just that, for me is my time alone, to set my mind on the day, I'm choosing to do something for myself. So I'm not pouring from an empty cup, I'm putting into myself something positive, something that makes me feel better. And then I'm able to take that energy into the day. So I'm not getting out of bed at the same time as my kids are running around and all going crazy at the same time. And that sometimes still happens. But I'm taking that time for myself to make sure my mindset is set on positivity for the day. I also I chose before I get out of bed every morning for me, I take time to pray, I pray for everyone in my family and to pray for myself. But I don't touch my phone right away, I found that I was waking up going straight to Facebook and straight to the news and just flooding with things that weren't positive. And so I took that minute to set my mind on positivity for the day and then do something for myself. And I feel like that really makes a difference and how I can carry into everything else I do. And so it's even thinking about that with summer with teachers about to go on summer break, find something to do for yourself, whether it's that Netflix show or that book or something a trip, we have to we have to take care of ourselves. And that doesn't mean neglecting the other responsibilities and other people. It just means that we're able to do what's best for others, because we've taken some time for ourselves as well. That's fantastic. Now, Jessica, how if the listeners want to connect with you, what are the best ways that they can connect with you? I'm on Twitter, Jessica song sau mm. I'm the Arkansas Teacher of the Year. So that's kind of makes it easier to find. I also have a Arkansas Teacher of the Year Facebook page. So either one of those is a great way and then you can link my email address to to this when you post it but it's Jessica dot som at CPS dot k twelve.ar.us. So it's kind of long, but I would love to connect with others. I have a year sabbatical from the classroom that starts July 1. So it's kind of just bittersweet. I'm hanging on to every last minute in the classroom for the next year. I have a whole year to work with other teachers and to see what people are doing and and learn from them. I don't want to just be going around teaching my experiences. I want to steal all of your amazing ideas and bring them back to my classroom and my community as well because I know there are two yours out there doing things that I haven't even thought about. So I would love to connect with as many people as possible and just take every minute of the next year to become a better teacher and a better leader, for my not just for my own community, for my state and for our country. I love that I think I'm excited for you for this coming up year, I think great things are headed your way. I'm very excited about it. Awesome. And the last question, if listeners could walk away with one thing from this episode, what would you want that to be? I really think that we have to remember, I've always hear schools talk about like, we're here for the kids, we're here for all kids. And remembering that all really means all it means you're diverse learners, I mean, your English language learners, it means your students who are never going to go to college, but need to be equipped to enter the workforce, or the military or a trade school, whatever that is. So when we're thinking about what we're doing best for students, it really needs to be what is best for all and collaborate to make that happen. When we work together, we really can meet all students needs and understand that their success is going to look different, we're going to have to teach them in different ways to achieve that success for them. But when we partner together, we're pretty unstoppable. Yes, we are. And I love that, Jessica, thank you, ah, you know, this is the first time we met. But I love the positive energy that you give off. This has been an amazing conversation. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you to the your husband, but like we said before the family serves. So thank you so much for your service for your your children's service, thank you for serving the children of your school, and what you do for them. And thank you for serving all of us. And I know that you're gonna go on us this year and spread just a great message, one that all of us needs to hear. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me, I really enjoyed it. This was such a great interview with Jessica, and you can just hear her wisdom and her passion pour through her. And she dropped a ton of gems in this interview. So let's get into the teaching champions take where I share three of my biggest takeaways. Now the first gem is how she talked about the power of asking for help. That vulnerability piece in education can be extremely difficult, especially as you become a more veteran teacher. Because it's not always easy to say that you're not quite sure how to handle something, and to go ask for help. But it's something that we should be doing. Because in our schools, and within the people that we connect with online, there's so much knowledge and experience. And every single one of us has faced different challenges. And we might be able to provide each other some insight. So I love the fact that she highlighted going to seek help, and not always trying to find the solution on our own. The second gem that I loved is how she talked about that collaboration piece. And she gave a great example of collaboration with those who work with through the get to know me cards that gave regular education teachers little insights into the children that might push into their classroom. She also talked about how many new ideas came from talking with other teachers of the year when she was in Washington, DC. And I loved how Jessica highlighted that these people. They came from all walks of life. They taught in different areas. But just by sitting down and bouncing ideas off of one another, they were able to come up with so many new insights. And another piece of this that I thought was extremely powerful, is she said they didn't all share the same beliefs. They had different thoughts. But they were all respectful towards one another. And they all gave each other the opportunity to be hurt finding that group that can fuel creativity in that group that helps light that spark within you is huge. And the third gem that I took away from the interview was all about the military families and how we can best support them that we should have an understanding that these champions are being uprooted every few years, and how hard that can be. So we should find ways that we can help them find that sense of belonging then we should recognize the different life experiences that they may have had and try and incorporate that into our day. And then we should also be showing grace to these children, especially if their parent is deployed. And even have that understanding that when that parent does come back into the family unit, that there's an adjustment process. And that has to take place. And that can affect how that child shows up to school. And these are just three of many gems that I took away from this interview. I would love to hear what your favorite takeaway was. So hit me up on social media and let me know. Thank you for listening. And being part of the teaching champions community. We support, we encourage, we lift each other up. And this is an episode. That means so much to me. And if you would share it to bring more awareness and how we can support children that come from military homes, I will be extremely grateful. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. So it can come to you right when a new episode drops. And always remember, whether you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Spain, to Bahrain, we're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as we go out into the week, May you step into your strength may step into your shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody