Hello good people and a happy March to everyone! Another jam-packed month in the life of a school year ahead for us. Hope you are seeing the silver lining of the spring arriving. We have some great cultural celebrations and highlights for you this month including Ramadan which began at the end of February, and runs through the March 30, Women's History Month and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.

Ramadan in a very special time in the lives of many of our students and their families around the district. Ramadan is considered the holiest month in Islam because it marks the revelation of the Quran, the holy book for Muslims. A note about religious observance: As children adopt and learn the significance of their families' beliefs and collective practices, many young people fumble through observance and wrestle with ideas and expectations. Let's try to be patient with students as they grapple with their beliefs and their families' expectations.

Disability justice as an endeavor is still in its formative stages in many ways. As educators, we have often learned to diagnose and solve the problems. This month we are reminded to humanize and normalize the diversity of human experience. It's a tough order when we have standards and expectations, but more and more, there is evidence that students can rise to expectations and thrive within supportive systems.

Women's History is a great time to not only recognize the shoulder to shoulder contributions of women throughout history but also to remember and learn from history how to better collaborate and recognize oppression and the tools of control limit us in the endeavor toward a more whole humanity.

Every once in a while we can go about our workday and find ourselves surprised by the kindness, care, or hospitality of others. This happened a few weeks back while at Lincoln Park. I was done with my work there and getting ready to leave when it was suggested I go check out the "Nepali Knitting Group." I did not anticipate that I would end up connecting in a very meaningful way with a Nepali woman who went out of her way to get me a plate of food, find a place for me to sit and find ways to connect with me in her limited English. We laughed and shared stories about family's migration stories and learned that we each had the same number of children simply connected as humans. Apparently the group used to meet in the park by the school and some staff observed them and invited the group to share a space in the building to stay warm. It's a surprising and joyful thing to have these moments. I hope we all have moments we can savor in throughout our days we carry on. According to Molly Arancibia, the LP counselor, Hannah Snyder was critical in getting the group connected to the school. It's so nice to learn stories of our school communities coming together support neighbors.

Students in Ms. Wood’s Class on the bus drive to their internship sites

It is no secret that the nation is experiencing an extreme teacher shortage. In October 2024, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that “the majority of the country’s public K–12 schools experienced difficulty hiring fully certified teachers heading into the current academic year.” The top two challenges facing school districts was a lack of qualified teachers and too few candidates applying for open positions. Districts like David Douglas, with a student body made up of more than 75 percent students of color and in high-poverty neighborhoods, experienced the most challenges hiring teachers. That is why the Grow Your Own program is essential: it ensures that we can hire from a pool of highly qualified teacher candidates who share our students’ lived experiences and are committed to working in our district.

One of the most important ways that the Grow Your Own program expands and deepens the teacher candidate pool is by providing David Douglas High School students with opportunities to participate in teaching internships. For the past month, seniors in Ms. Wood’s Introduction to Education class have been working alongside mentor teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels on a weekly basis. After each classroom experience, interns write about what they have learned in an observation log, reflecting upon the everyday benefits and challenges of teaching. A common realization interns have is how teaching is not only about knowing a specific subject, like music or reading, but also about supporting students as full human beings. Another is how challenging teaching can be.

Nelson Santos, an intern in Mr. A’s band class at Alice Ott Middle School, recently wrote: “Today Mr. A talked about the importance of building connections with students. He talked about his personal experience with being a significant person in a student's life. How being a band director is more than quarter notes and eighth notes. It's being a role model for kids.” Jennifer Pacheco, an intern in a 3rd grade class, observed how along with reading and math, her mentor teacher supports the social emotional development of his students: “I realized that third graders can be sensitive, which I understand because they are still very little, but I've witnessed a couple students cry from feeling angry, sad, and not having good days… One student cried because he didn't get many correct answers. My mentor teacher talked to him alone and made him understand that it's okay to not win all the time. I just thought that was really sweet and that kind of situation happens very often, especially in the younger grades.”

Classroom management is a common challenge interns notice in the classroom, as students have a hard time staying focused, following instructions, and waiting for their turn to talk. Isaac Matsushima, an intern in xx, notes: “We do talk about classroom management in Ms. Wood’s class, but I feel that there is really only so much talking you can do to help prepare you for what real class is like. This internship really does give me the best hands-on experience that I would need to be successful as a teacher.” Princess Moreno, an intern in Ms. Zimmerman’s 2nd grade Spanish Immersion class at Lincoln Park, was able to implement strategies she observed from her mentor teacher to address this: “I got to lead the morning meeting! … The students wanted me to pass them the talking stick to their side. In the end, I said, ‘I'll be starting with this side because they are showing me they are ready by being quiet.’ Ms. Zimmerman gave me a smile and a thumbs-up to let me know I made the right choice.”

Isaac’s and Princess’ experiences demonstrate the importance of providing high school students interested in education a supported internship experience. Rather than struggling with the challenges of teaching on their own, interns can observe their mentor teachers, problem-solve with Ms. Wood, and debrief with each other. This type of hands-on career exploration has led many former high school interns to join our Grow Your Own program upon graduation. They now work as teacher’s assistants in our district while taking evening college classes to obtain a teaching degree. Ms. Wood sums up the power of the high school internship experience to address the national teacher shortage: "Classroom internships give our graduating seniors a chance to learn by doing—engaging with students, supporting teachers, and seeing firsthand what it takes to lead a classroom. By providing these hands-on experiences within our own district, we’re not just shaping future educators—we’re fostering leadership, strengthening our school community, and showing students the power of learning through real-world experience."

If you are or you know a David Douglas student, staff, or community member who is interested in pursuing a career in education, please contact Andreina Velasco (andreina_velasco@ddsd40.org), Grow Your Own Pathway Navigator.