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Random people, random topics, talking on random sidewalks in the City of Saginaw, Michigan.
Saginaw, the sidewalk talks with Vermont Roberts. Stick with Vermont.
Speaker 2:Good afternoon. Afternoon.
Speaker 1:I think the last time we interviewed was actually before this high school was built. It was. Like we met in your office and we talked about why the bond was important. And, so this is kind of a cool, like, full circle. Now we're sitting on the sidewalk in front of this gorgeous building.
Speaker 1:So why don't why don't we start there? Let let's start at, like, what was the 2020 bond? And, like, what effect did that end up having on not just Saginaw Public Schools, but the entire city of Saginaw?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so I think, the 2020 bond was a transformational moment, for the the city of Saginaw, Saginaw Public Schools. I think it represents a moment where our community recognized a period where we had to make a choice to come together and unite and do something really special for us for our kids and ultimately our community. And 2020 bond was just a symbol of that as the the board and I were really apprehensive and nervous about it. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:As you you know, we all know 2020 was COVID. Yep. You know, COVID hit March. We were in the planning phases. We had some discussions about if we wanted to continue and actually put it on the ballot in November.
Speaker 2:We didn't know every you know, there was an unknown about everything, and and we just continued through faith, and and thought it was the best thing to do. And our community showed up, 11 out of 12 precincts we won. The only precinct we didn't win was one a small precinct in Buena Vista. But every city, every every city precinct, we won overwhelmingly. And it was a moment of transformation that I recognized, in our community that said this is the moment that we are going to come together, and transform Saginaw into something special.
Speaker 2:And I was just happy to be a part of that.
Speaker 1:I think what what you're saying says so much about Saginaw because you you I mean, you look not just locally in other other cities, statewide, nationwide, like you just you have similar bonds just getting completely destroyed on voting ballots. And I think just kind of the overwhelming approval of this says so much about Saginaw saying, like, this is this is something that we want for our future. This is something that we want for our kids. Yes. We are we are in on this.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely. And in addition to that, you know, you have the the long and huge and storied and celebrated traditions of the two high schools
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:In the city for so long, you know, that were rivals, but really respected one another. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And really an important part of the culture of Saginaw. Like, there was it was more than just a high school.
Speaker 2:Wow. Foundational to the city. Yes. You know, and its history and so forth and so on. And having to make a decision to move on from both of those high schools and come together into one, I thought was, again, just just a transformational moment for for the city and the community.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. So the the bond is passed, and now we're in 2025. What what can a citizen of Saginaw see or feel because of that bond being passed? What has happened since then?
Speaker 2:So again, the first thing is unity. Like, so the the school was aptly named by the community united. That wasn't anything the board or or me or anyone in the school district did. We put out a survey in the community. That's what they wanted the name of the school to be.
Speaker 2:I thought it was perfect. Yeah. And then and then you see or you you begin to see, although the the facility is a beautiful facility, it's state of the art, it's important to the educational process. But what goes on inside of the building is the most important thing. So part of building this beautiful facility was also transforming what happens inside the building.
Speaker 2:That is making certain our curriculum is competitive. We have offerings that our students can select that prepares them for whatever endeavor they wanna pursue Mhmm. After high school. It's a culminating experience in terms of your K 12 career. Your high school experience should be one, where you are exploring different areas in terms of classes.
Speaker 2:You have a large amount of clubs and extracurricular activities to pick from. You have a large amount of athletics to participate in. And so that was something we were not able to do on the two buildings. We're able to do that here. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And this is something that our kids, our parents, the first the video of the first day of school really captured it, how excited they were Mhmm. And and and how proud they were to have a facility like this to go to school at. So we're here. We realized it. And and it's more about, giving our community hope that when we have a vision and when we dream of something, whatever that may be, we can make that happen.
Speaker 2:We we can make that a reality. Everything big began as an idea, began as a thought, it began small, but it can come to fruition. And we are sitting, you know, right here.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. This proof. Like, look at what we can do. Yes.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And I was talking to Arshan Baldwin, one of the new assistant principals at United, and that that was one of the things we talked about is, like, look at what we can do. Look at what is possible. How much more can we do? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I just talked to Nyesha Clark at at, the skate park and she said the same thing. It's like, when Saginaw comes together, look at what we can do.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Look at what we can do. Like, that is that should be our community going forward. Look at what we can do. And this is this is part of the proof of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I love it. From from your perspective as a superintendent, what makes Saginaw Public Schools first a good place for students, and then what makes it a good place for staff?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Great question, Phil. So first, for students, it it is the the safe haven, the safe space where destructive behaviors, self destructive things, is just forbidden. We have created a culture, learning environment where we are about promoting things and practicing things and engaging in things, that's about self growth, development, support, positivity.
Speaker 2:And and we all know in in our city sometimes there are environments or places where our kids can't get that. There are there are a lot of things that are self destructive that are going on. Mhmm. And so we've decided that when our when our students come through our doors, this is going to be a place where they are introduced to everything that is designed to propel them to whatever next level that is for them. We will have the resources to get them there.
Speaker 2:The human resources, the instructional resources, the physical resources, all of it will be available, to help develop the whole student, you know, academically or cognitively, socially, emotionally, physically, all of that. So that this is a place where whatever a kid wants, we have it inside these doors.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And so we're we're proud about that.
Speaker 1:The again, one of the other topics Arshan and I talked about was, showing kids what's possible. Yeah. Exposing them to this is this is what your life can be. This is the choices that you can make and how education empowers you to be able to, one, be aware of those possibilities and then two, to choose them. And I and I I love what you're saying about inside the this building is a place where where kids see that potential and then are equipped to achieve that potential.
Speaker 1:And it means so much not just for the kids themselves, but for their kids and for the generations that follow. And that's when you talk about community transformation. That's what happens.
Speaker 2:Correct. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 1:When it comes to staff, obviously, you can't have a school without a staff, a school system without a staff. What makes Saginaw Public Schools a great place for staff?
Speaker 2:So interestingly, the the first thing, I'm I'm under no illusions about this with our staff. The first thing is they wanna make a decent living. They they've got into a profession or job, so they have to feed themselves. They have to feed their families, their loved ones. So we we make certain that our that our salaries and our benefit packages, are competitive, if if not the best in the region.
Speaker 2:That's number one. Number two, we provide all of the necessary professional development and training so that they can be highly effective or the best professionals, in whatever, area that they're in, whether they're a teacher, a social worker, a counselor, an interventionist, a security officer, food service. Whatever that may be, we provide professional development and training to be able to do their job, well, but also to be able to support and respond appropriately to our students. We know based on science, there are certain characteristics that our students come through the door with. Our adults have to know those, and they have to be able to respond to them appropriately.
Speaker 2:So that's that's two. Three, we celebrate them, and we provide, incentives, along the way. Successes, we celebrate. We provide awards. We'll open up, opening session.
Speaker 2:The entire opening session is just about celebrating our employees. All the employees of the year for last year, their accomplishments, that's opening session. And so we think the combination of those three things really makes this a great place to work. Love it.
Speaker 1:Especially the first part. And I'm just gonna come out and say it as a former teacher. Like, if if we want great teachers teaching our kids, we need to pay them the wages that great teachers deserve. And so when you come out and say that, I I think teachers can take pride in that. Like, it's it's a one, like, it's a functional thing.
Speaker 1:I need to be able to support my family with with what I am trained in. Yeah. But two, it's also like we value you. Right. We appreciate you.
Speaker 1:The all of the work and all of the the life that you're pouring into our our children, like you should be compensated for that. Yeah. And that's encouraging to One of the things that we were talking about before we started recording was, the work is not yet done. And it and it can be easy kind of seeing this beautiful building and you're one of the school years is over say like, yeah, we did it. It's it's all over.
Speaker 1:We accomplished it and we're riding off into the sunset. When you said, like, we're not done yet. The work is not done yet. We're still working hard. Can you tell me more about what
Speaker 2:you mean? So so the five year strategic plan that we're just completing, so that strategic plan 2020, which bond 2020 was a part of, was really just the first phase. It was really just getting us back to, where we needed to be in from a facility standpoint, from a programming standpoint, from a staff development standpoint, really across the board, competitive wages, salaries, bringing what we were saying, bringing our school district into the twenty first century. Alright. Now that work has to continue, we have to sustain that, but also progress that, so that we move further into, what a modern school district should look like in of making certain that its students are prepared.
Speaker 2:So what does that include? We have the facilities now. We're working on the programming, but the programming is fluid. Mhmm. Because as a school system, we always have to respond to what's happening, in the broader economy, so to speak.
Speaker 2:Our economy is changing. It's moving from it's moving to a more skill based economy, meaning a person doesn't have to generally go through a traditional, I went to college, I enrolled in this particular degree program, I got a bachelor's degree, I got a master's degree, and I'm going into a career for thirty years. Mhmm. That that's no longer the case. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:If you have a certain skill set that you can market, and you can apply, you can generate income. Mhmm. And so we have to make certain we're preparing our kids for that, that we're building a certain that now is STEM. Mhmm. An individual that has some some expertise in STEM doesn't necessarily need a particular degree to go out and and make money.
Speaker 2:So that's part of it. Just staying on the cutting edge, what's happening. So you'll see in strategic plan twenty twenty five, focus on programming. You'll see focus on partnerships. We are increasing our partnerships with, local community colleges and universities, businesses to give our kids job shadow opportunities Very cool.
Speaker 2:Experiences. And it's a focus on staff because what what we have come to realize is the staff member that has to continue to be effective with our students has to evolve just like our students evolve. Mhmm. Just like times change. I was educated in the nineties.
Speaker 2:I received my bachelor's degree and master's degree in the nineties.
Speaker 1:And
Speaker 2:so, you know, how much has changed Mhmm. Since the nineties?
Speaker 1:You weren't even really carrying cell phones early nineties.
Speaker 2:I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't get a cell phone till February. There you Actually, 02/2001.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 2:So you think about that, and you think about a person that received their formal training in the nineties and how much has changed, you have got to retrain Mhmm. To be able to teach the kid that's coming to you, that's being born in a technological age.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean, you bring AI into the conversation and, I mean, you you go back three years even. Yeah. Two years even. And AI in the classrooms and what it meant for education and brain development and the future of the workforce and employment like that was not even really thought about on the public scale.
Speaker 1:And now it is it is at the forefront of like, how do we navigate this? It's happening so fast and at such a scale, like, do we do? And when you were talking about a priority being, how do we equip our students with skills, adaptable skills that they can use as careers change and the world changes. I I love so much because I look back at my own professional experience and over the last ten years I've done, I've had to do so many different things because not only is the world changing, but also my life is changing and life events happen. And having the skills in place gives you the resilience to be able to say, okay.
Speaker 1:I I I have my degree in that, but that doesn't work anymore, but I can take the skills into this industry and I can still be valued. I can still be appreciated. I can still build a life for myself and my family and a future and all of those things that allows you to pivot and adapt in ways that just saying like, hey, you are you're really good at math. You're a math major. You're always gonna do math.
Speaker 1:Go into math. Math. Math. Math. And then AI says, you don't even have to learn how to add anymore because I got you.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I love that focus on skills and like how do we build a future in an unknown world for kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That is that is exactly how to capture a feel. You Yeah. How do you prepare for a world that you really don't know what's going to exist in You know, that is our constant challenge. That's part of '20 strategic plan 2025.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. The the the strategic plan 2020 and then the strategic plan 2025, as you were talking about it, reminded me like, kept thinking about how this building is is is built. It's like, you gotta build the foundation first and you can look at it and say, well, this isn't really a high school. Well, you gotta build the foundation first and then the frames go up and you see it take form.
Speaker 1:And it's like, well, you can't really go in there yet. And so, well, you're building it up. And now you built it and now it's been used. And then I look over here and I see the athletic facilities being built. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, that's the next part.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's the next part and the next part. And so I think, like, my my encouragement to the community is, like, one, this is this is the beginning. Correct. You can see it, the proof that when we come together, something happens, but this is the beginning and look how it evolves. So my question to you is because it's not like the the future and the success of our kids is not just up to the school system.
Speaker 1:It's up to all of us as a city, as a community. What what does the Saginaw Public School system, what does it need from us as community members to help support our kids, to support your work with them, to help them be successful?
Speaker 2:Oh, great questions. So number one is trust. I I think from from me as a student and as a small and as a kid that was, you know, that was raised here, grew up in this community, one of the the biggest shifts that I've seen in public school education that I think has not helped it is this this mistrust between the parent and the public educator. Right now, we run into a lot of situations where, you know, when we're explaining something that took place, in school, whether it's just a grade, whether it was an incident or what have you, the parent begins to question the educator. You know?
Speaker 2:And I I think we've gotta get the trust back where they understand we are here to to support your kid and make your kid develop into whatever he or she wants to be. Mhmm. Now that's tough work at times. Mhmm. And I'm under no illusions.
Speaker 2:All of our employees are not perfect.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:But, for the rule, most of our employees are gonna have really good intentions. Mhmm. So trust is one. Just just trust us. And then if we are doing something wrong that you feel like, just bring it to our attention.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I'm sure we will acknowledge it, we'll consider it, and we'll work on
Speaker 1:that. Let's communicate about it.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. Yes. Let's communicate. Two, I I really think we we I would like to see our community raise our expectations, for our kids.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. You know? And and I'm I'm talking about in the school, in terms of what they can achieve and what's possible, but I'm also talking about outside of the school and the I grew up in a community where if you were walking down the street and you were doing something wrong, whether it was disrespectful or you know, a violation of the law, what have you, individuals in the community loved you enough or cared about you enough to redirect you, to correct you. Mhmm. And and it was understood by me as a kid, that I was not to resist that.
Speaker 2:Right? So an individual will correct you. Hey. That's not something you wanna do. That's gonna hurt you.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And I would I would listen. I I knew because in my home, I was taught, listen. If somebody tell you from an adult, you respect that. We've lost that. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And and the reality is the time that our kids are in school, it's about one eighth or one seventh of the time that they're at home or in the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I I wanna speak to that quickly because as you're as you're talking about the responsibility the community has to our kids, faces are popping into my brain of Charles McNair and mister Pugh. Yeah. And like just these these bulwarks of community in Saginaw and how many lives they affected
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Of kids that were not their own. People, human beings that they did not not have any financial or professional connection to, they were just like you. Like, I'm going to take you under my wing. I am going to help you. And I think what you're talking about really speaks to part of the foundation of Savanna, these people caring about other people.
Speaker 2:We were a village. Yeah. We were a true village, and we've lost that. And and because of that, because we've lost that aspect of our community, we are losing kids. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We are we are really losing kids. And so I would really like to see that. And then the the third thing is is account hold us accountable. I I really would like them, trust us, but hold us accountable. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Hold us accountable to what we're supposed to be doing as professionals in the school system. Mhmm. Those are those are some things that I would like to see from the community.
Speaker 1:And if the relationship is good, you can both trust and hold accountable at the same time without saying like, without destroy torpedoing everything. Like you think about marriage, like it's the same thing. Like I need to trust my partner.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:At the same time, I need to be able to accept that she calls me on on my bullshit. Hey, like, bro, like, I need you to help me better. Yeah. And that doesn't mean that our now we get divorced and our relationship is over all those things. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We still retain trust, but accountability is part of creating trust. And when you're talking about trust, I, I wanna advocate for, or say what I'm, I'm sure folks are saying is like, well, trust is trust is earned and you're absolutely right. We trust trust is not we are not entitled to trust. Trust should be earned. At the same time, we have to give people an opportunity to earn that trust.
Speaker 1:Correct. And we have to look at what is done and how how people act and what is communicated and actions and all of those things to create trust. But if we if we start off the conversation saying like, I will not trust you. Like, like, we don't have anything And who's gonna suffer? Our kids are gonna suffer.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Trust and accountability. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. What, what are you looking for?
Speaker 1:We're we're sitting on the grounds of the new high school. We're a week away from school? Two weeks away
Speaker 2:from school. Little over a week. Okay. Yeah. Little over week.
Speaker 1:Little over a week from school. I don't know when this is gonna go out, but a little over a week from school when we're recording. What are you looking forward to most this year?
Speaker 2:Oh, man. So I'll be honest. We're we're sitting in front of the field house, new athletic complex. I'm looking forward to the first football game. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's gonna be awesome. Yeah. I'm looking forward to the ribbon cutting ceremony for the field house. I think our community is going to be absolutely blown away, with this with this new facility. I'm really pleased, with their decision to to give us the opportunity to build this for our kids.
Speaker 2:I'm really looking forward to that, and really looking forward to unveiling 2025 strategic plan, rolling that out, to the staff, and looking forward to just continuing to see our kids' faces, not only on the first day. First day I go, I'm usually at a kindergarten class. They're the best on the first day. They're the best. Hey, listen.
Speaker 2:You should see their faces on the first day. But during the year, big moments. Mhmm. You know? Mhmm.
Speaker 2:You'll see you'll be sitting in the basketball game. You know, it gets heated, and there's a buzzer shot. Mhmm. Man, and you see kids just light up and parents and running around the gym. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:You know, you you're at you're at a commencement, you know, and families are there, and they're hugging and they're crying. You're at a you're at a music program during the holidays. Mhmm. You know, and a kid gets up and and and is really talented with a voice, and they're in the crowd just is those moments
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:That I look forward to.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, I'm I'm looking forward to you, the rest of the staff, Saginaw Public School Systems, all of this all the kids, the community just have it having an absolutely incredible school year. I wanna thank you guys so much, you and all of your staff for for the way that you pour into your kids. Again, as a fellow educator, I know what it takes and how much, like, how much it takes. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we we owe you guys so much, and I wanna thank you. And thank you so much, Vermont Roberts, superintendent of Saginaw Public Schools.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Phil, for what you do. This is really important. Yeah. Really important for our community, so I appreciate you as well. Amen.
Speaker 2:Thanks, brother. Yep.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yeah. That was great, Phil. Thank you.