Episode 36: Zooming In on Empowering Youth with Kerry Tuttlebee
Make sure to read the guest blogpost written by two talented students at 360 High here.
How to reach Kerry and see the work at 360 High School:
Transcript:
(transcribed by kayla.r.fainer@gmail.com)
Melissa Milner 00:09
Hi, this is Melissa Milner. Welcome to The Teacher As... podcast. The goal of this weekly podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... podcast will highlight innovative practices and uncommon parallels in education.
In this episode, I'm chatting with Kerry Tuttlebee, co-founder and principal of 360 High School in Providence, Rhode Island. Welcome, Kerry, to The Teacher As...
Kerry Tuttlebee 00:38
Thank you for having me, Melissa.
Melissa Milner 00:41
My pleasure. If you could explain the genesis of... how did you think up the idea for 360 High School and the design thinking piece of how it got created?
Kerry Tuttlebee 00:54
Sure. I still crack myself up that I'm a high school principal. Because I started my career in education working with young children. And over the course of different roles in education, teaching, an elementary school leader and then being a consultant, I realized after being a consultant for several years, I really wanted to get back to school leadership, and went through a leadership program, and was placed in a residency at Hope High School here in Providence. And I was like, wow, high school, and I fell in love with it.
So during that residency year, the district won a a competitive grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to get seed money to start two new small mastery based and personalized high schools here in the district of Providence. And I was lucky enough to get this job, designing the school, creating the process to design this school.
And I didn't know I had a dream job, frankly, specific dream job, except that I've always been wanting to create positive change in our greater community. And I saw the job description for this. And I thought, oh, wow. And I think one of the things that excited me most is I knew it was going to be a huge challenge. And I knew I would learn a lot. And I also knew I could create a process that empowered our students to lead it, because they were so articulate about what they wanted in a high school, what they saw as problems in typical high school models.
So they hired me, maybe not knowing how radical I was in some ways. They trusted me to put students in a leadership position. And we wouldn't be the school we are today without our students.
Melissa Milner 02:33
That's amazing. What do you mean by how radical you are?
Kerry Tuttlebee 02:39
Well, at the time-- it's funny, because actually, in the last few years, there's a lot of movement towards including students in meaningful ways, not just like a token student participant in certain leadership roles and processes. There's been a huge move or pivot in education to try to give students genuine leadership opportunities and change making opportunities. And at the time, a couple of my supervisors weren't quite sure when I described what I wanted to do after I was hired, of course.
They didn't know if it was going to work. And I said, please trust me. Just come and see us working together. And sure enough, there's a lot here at the school. We're still improving. We haven't figured it all out. And we definitely are going to get better results in the future. But I definitely feel like that's the best thing I ever did.
Melissa Milner 03:27
Was the process meeting with the students first, or meeting with students and parents together, or meeting with teachers and students together? What was the process?
Kerry Tuttlebee 03:36
For the design year, I created two teams. One was the design team that had equal membership of students and adults. And the adults were represented by community members, and teachers, and parents. And then I also created and worked with a local youth group to help lead a student steering committee.
So essentially, the way I saw it was that-- and I told them, it's like I created a student school committee or school board. Because that was the group that met on their own regularly that we came to about once a month. The design team was meeting once a week. And the steering committee was meeting once a week. And then we convene, and the design team would present all of our great ideas that we were doing through the design thinking process. And we were defining the goals and the problems in education in a high school.
We were researching and reaching out to our community groups and constituents. We were planning, creating, really iterating new ideas. And we'd bring it to the steering committee, and they would say yay or nay about our ideas. And sometimes we'd have to go back to the drawing board.
And that steering committee had a lot of power, as did the design team members. But I really wanted the steering committee to be of all students with that power. And they were students in grades 8 through grades 12 in other existing schools here in Providence.
Melissa Milner 04:54
Oh, okay. So is your high school a 8-12, not a 9-12?
Kerry Tuttlebee 04:59
We are a 9-12 school. I included eighth graders in that design process because they were going to be the future ninth graders.
Melissa Milner 05:09
Yes.
Kerry Tuttlebee 05:10
Often there's not a strong bridge between middle school and high school.
Melissa Milner 05:14
Right. Is this a charter school?
Kerry Tuttlebee 05:16
It's a Providence public high school.
Melissa Milner 05:19
Okay.
Kerry Tuttlebee 05:19
Yep.
Melissa Milner 05:20
Very interesting.
Kerry Tuttlebee 05:21
Well, that's what I thought, right? I was like, this is so cool. Because at one point, I had worked in the charter school world, as well as Minneapolis public schools. And really, my heart belongs in public school districts, which a lot of people criticize for valid reasons often. But I really think that not only can we do better, we must do better. And we have a lot of talent in public school districts from students and staff that is often discounted.
Melissa Milner 05:45
Yes. Were you cognizant of equity amongst all the different groups that you did have, the students, the community members? Were you actively making sure there was equity in a diverse grouping? Or did it just kind of naturally happen in your population?
Kerry Tuttlebee 06:03
No, absolutely. We had a very rigorous selection process that had equity in mind in terms of making sure we had students that represented the students at our actual high schools. So we had students learning English, because often students who don't have a solid grasp of English yet who are new to the country don't get included in leadership roles that do already exist for students. So we thought about things like that. We had an even gender mix and different gender identities in the group and other types of things. And ages, like I said, from 8 through 12th grade.
Melissa Milner 06:38
Right. So it sounds like there was some real representation there. Very powerful. I wonder what-- I mean, just hearing about this process, I wonder how you became familiar with design thinking, what experience you had before now to be able to do this, number one. Number two, what was the most challenging part of getting this school up and running?
Kerry Tuttlebee 07:00
In terms of design thinking, I learned about the process prior to that role that I had when starting this school through a nonprofit I worked for called TNTP. And we worked with different school districts here in Rhode Island with the Department of Education to re-envision different types of education policy, as well as try to recruit and train teachers for high need subject areas like high school math and science.
But I really didn't start to put design thinking into practice until that design year. I knew I wanted to use it as a process. But then I met and started to partner with a group here called The Business Innovation Factory, who are design thinking experts. And so they helped to lead that process and facilitate the process, so I could learn it as well as participate with the team members. And we partnered with the youth org I mentioned earlier. Actually, I don't think I named them, but they're called Youth in Action.
And so The Business Innovation Factory and Youth in Action were instrumental in our design here and making sure we had equity and also use a process that is truly about equity. That was the thing I learned to love about design thinking is that you have to make sure all voices are included, all stakeholders are involved. There are lots of challenges. I think back then-- again, this has changed over the last several years, which is incredible to me.
But I think one of the biggest challenges was getting the adults with power to believe in and trust the youth and to trust the process that empowered the youth. Because we're very used to being comfortable making decisions in the best interest of students. And that's truly coming from a good place. The intention is good there. But we aren't all trained in practice. And I certainly wasn't, in other stages of my career, able to always do that, which is really share power.
Because a lot of times education is like, you are the adult with the wisdom and the knowledge, and you are to impart that upon the children. And that's a bit old school in some ways. But frankly, it's the way that the vast majority of our educational institutions still operate, higher ed, as well as K-12.
Melissa Milner 09:14
I've only done a little bit of reading about design thinking, but I know it's supposed to start with empathy.
Kerry Tuttlebee 09:19
That's exactly what I found so remarkable about the process. And even though different places use different terms of how they describe their design thinking processes, that empathy part is essential to every process I've ever seen of design thinking. And really asking our team members to put themselves, in the business world, what you would call the user's perspective and think about putting yourself in someone else's shoes.
And so they had to go out and conduct empathy interviews and find out about people's experiences and bring that back to the team to report about what they learned. That was part of that research process. And it was great, because it allowed people to participate in the design process, both from their own perspective, which is often where we can sometimes get stuck. Because this is what I've been through and what I believe is most important.
But it really opens your mind and your heart to consider other people's perspectives and experiences in a different kind of way. And we still use a design thinking process here at
Melissa Milner 10:23
It's so empowering. As far as curriculum, were you able to design your own curriculum? And are the students, as part of their curriculum, doing design thinking?
Kerry Tuttlebee 10:34
Right. So it's really like a tool that we use, just like project based learning is the main course not the dessert if you do it well. You're learning through doing the project. You're not just learning and then presenting a project. Design thinking is similar in the sense that it's a tool to guide. We use it mostly for improvement or in certain classes.
Here at 360, we have a making focus. We're a maker focus school. So you really have to think about, all the time in different classes-- for example, I was talking to one of my juniors today who has created his own fashion label.
Melissa Milner 11:12
Oh, that's so great.
Kerry Tuttlebee 11:13
And so it's really something he's not yet selling online, but that he's giving to his friends, local in the community, getting feedback from them, their perspectives and then making improvements.
Melissa Milner 11:24
That's amazing. I know I'm sort of asking this question, knowing the answer. But is there a passion that you have outside of teaching that helps you or informs your work?
Kerry Tuttlebee 11:35
Typically, I would share something pretty basic. But since you and I were connected through Nancy Barile's book and writing, I will say not many people know this in terms of my education colleagues. I'm a member of a community that's focused around punk rock music and social change. And I have been since I, myself, was a teenager and a youth activist. And it's shaped my entire life and something I still value.
I'm a musician. I played in a band back in the day. I'm not actively in a band, though. I have been inspired more recently to start playing again. And maybe someday I'll be a punk rock principal in a current band. But that really has shaped a lot of the way I view. And honestly, I think it helped prepare me for this job in ways I couldn't have expected. So much of teaching is flexibility and DIY, do it yourself, right?
And so that's very much a part of the punk rock ethos. We would find spaces to hold punk rock shows. We made our own magazines back then and all sorts of things that were how we communicated and expressed ourselves. And I feel like I carry that ethos with me every day, even if I wear a suit to cover all of my tattoos.
Melissa Milner 12:53
I just think it's amazing. I mean, between Nancy-- and I talked to Mike Earnshaw, co-host of the podcast,Punk Rock Classrooms. And now I'm talking to you. I don't think it's a coincidence that there's all these educators who were involved in punk rock and love punk rock. There's such-- it's such a culture. It's fascinating. I'm learning so much. I never really listened to punk rock. And now I'm like, okay, I like the culture around it. It's pretty cool.
Kerry Tuttlebee 13:22
And I think many of us who are still very connected to punk would say things like, punk rock not only changed our lives. A lot of people say it saved their lives. Because it created this community. And especially back when I was young, often we were the outliers in terms of being alternative to mainstream culture. And so you could find those people you had common ground with.
And then I think valuing that kind of community lends itself so perfectly to being an educator. Because when you work in a school, you're a social creature and connecting people and a lot of the same kinds of traits I see there. I wouldn't have seen it at first. But now looking back reflecting on it, it's fascinating.
Melissa Milner 14:05
I'm assuming it's that DIY or that unity idea is that you were able to bring people together. You were able to say, oh, I think this company is going to help us. I think this group is going to help us. And you're pulling those resources to do all of the work that you've done.
Kerry Tuttlebee 14:24
Absolutely.
Melissa Milner 14:25
It's amazing. What's your proudest moment in your career so far?
Kerry Tuttlebee 14:28
Definitely, it was our first graduation. Because of the pandemic, we've only had one in person graduation unfortunately. Because the class of 2020, it was a virtual graduation, which was still celebratory, but obviously not the same thing and very sad in some ways. Because we couldn't put them through their spring senior year rites of passages. We only had one class that preceded them.
But that 2019 June graduation I'll just never forget it. It was incredible on every level. The students to help design the program-- we were able to recognize each individual student in a way that you might not be able to in typical high school graduations. And I did a great job not crying until my last sentence. I would have my faculty like, don't let me cry.
Because it was so moving and so beautiful. And we're still in touch with all of those students, even though it's a small group of alumni. Because we're a small school, so far it's a small group. They're a mighty group, and they're going to change the world.
Melissa Milner 15:33
That's so amazing. You say you're a small school. How many students do you have?
Kerry Tuttlebee 15:37
Currently, we're just under 300 students?
Melissa Milner 15:39
OK, wow.
Kerry Tuttlebee 15:40
So we're gonna grow a little bit more next year, and we'll have, ultimately, no more than 350.
Melissa Milner 15:46
Wow, I'm going to share one of my passions, because I'm curious.
Kerry Tuttlebee 15:49
Please!
Melissa Milner 15:50
Do you have a theater program? Do you have a music program? Do you have all those fun staples to what normally clubs in high school would be?
Kerry Tuttlebee 16:01
So I'll be honest, that's something that's a sore spot for me. Because as a small school, we can't do it all. We can't afford it all. So even though I'm a musician, and I value it, and we have an amazing 360's Got Talent show, and we have a lot of students who have those interests, we don't have those fully fleshed out programs yet. We're hoping to add theater.
And then what we've done for any area that we can't sort of specialize in right now or maybe ever - because again, small school - is we have deep community partnerships. And we partner with the Providence After School Alliance. And so they have programming three different sessions a year with community partners who come into school. Or our students go out to the community to learn different things.
A partnership with AS220 here, which is also a punk rock space, but an artist space and a music space for all sorts of genres of music. And so a lot of our students learn music production and how to emcee and rap and do hip hop there.
Melissa Milner 17:02
That's great.
Kerry Tuttlebee 17:04
So I'll often, before the pandemic, once a month on Wednesday nights, there'll be open mic. And many of my students would perform. And that was always the highlight of the month. So that's what we've tried to do. Because even though I'd love to do it all, and sometimes my faculty will also tell me, I've learned the hard way. Less is more.
Melissa Milner 17:23
I know, I know.
Kerry Tuttlebee 17:24
But do it well. Because when you see a kid getting so excited about something, you want to have that. But my next dream is eventually-- if I don't go back to being in a punk rock band someday, I will have a school band here, like a rock band.
Melissa Milner 17:40
Yeah!
Kerry Tuttlebee 17:41
I already have a couple of members. And after the pandemic, we're going to start to practice. It might end up being mostly covers, but that's okay.
Melissa Milner 17:48
That's great! Oh my gosh, I love it. I love it.
Kerry Tuttlebee 17:51
It'll be a faculty and student band.
Melissa Milner 17:53
What are you zooming in on right now with your work?
[ZOOMING IN SOUNDBITE]
Kerry Tuttlebee 17:58
So two things. One is really expanding that idea of being a maker focus school. And what that means is across all content areas and how students are making and producing things rather than just being passive consumers. Our students did research and learned-- I think it's some stunning fact, like 90% of the content on YouTube is produced by such a small percentage of users of YouTube. So there's a huge opportunity there.
And then the other thing we're really focusing on is literacy and how to make sure that our students are graduating as strong readers and writers and also strong with numeracy skills. So many of our students start high school well below grade level. And we want to get them to be proficient in a way that's not drill and kill, but creative ways. So as a whole faculty, we're working on shared literacy strategies in every subject area, not just in English class.
Melissa Milner 18:58
It's overwhelming to me to think of all the things that need to be put into place to have a well running high school. You could think just about the curriculum. But then there's all these other pieces we've talked about. I would love to hear just a little bit more. I'm sure the listeners would love to hear a little bit more about the maker work that your students do.
Kerry Tuttlebee 19:19
Sure. And I'd just like to add one thing. When you talked about being overwhelmed, and certainly I have my moments of being overwhelmed. But one of our other key elements here is shared leadership, not just with students, as I talked about, but the faculty. So this is a true team high school. I don't do it alone.
We just have an amazing group here, and everybody wears many hats. And they come to 360 because they care about teaching and learning obviously, but also because they see opportunities here to grow and to develop. And we have very creative faculty. That's another cool thing about the maker focus. And that's recently, in the last few years we've really honed in on that, like who are we? What's our identity as a new school? And so that's coming from our students and faculty.
So one of my English teachers is an incredible artist. And you wouldn't have known that if we didn't have this program when we first started that offered teachers a chance to teach a short term course in any subject.
Melissa Milner 20:16
Oh, fun.
Kerry Tuttlebee 20:17
So he decided to teach drawing. And he puts up his art in his room, and he draws with students. And those are some examples of just ways that you can bring in different disciplines to different subject areas. And then right now, I would say some of the other interesting focus areas are just trying to create pathways within the school so that kids have the maker opportunity at every grade level. Like what does that actually look like?
We have an actual maker space, but we don't think of making as confined to just that space. So we have to figure out with our students, what does that mean? How do we do that? We have a lot of great ideas here. But the challenge is operationalizing it. So there's a system.
And so in our maker space, we have 3D printers and laser cutters and fabric stuff. And I can't even tell you all the technical terms. It's pretty cool. We want students identifying a need or a problem in the community to solve for and using some of those tools to help create solutions.
Melissa Milner 21:21
That's amazing. Have you looked into the Roots & Shoots program?
Kerry Tuttlebee 21:25
I've heard of it. I don't know much about it. Tell me more.
Melissa Milner 21:29
I was trained in it in an online training course a few years ago. I highly recommend it. It's Jane Goodall's program, and it's not a big training. I think it was free training if I remember correctly. I did it for a couple years. I did it as an after school club. And it's all about starting local. We can't change the world until we change what's right around us. And I just would definitely recommend checking into it. Very, very cool.
You start with mapping. So you map your community. And then you start saying, what have I noticed in these areas? I noticed a lot of litter and trash. I noticed we don't have a dog park, all these different things. Well, what could we do about this?
Kerry Tuttlebee 22:12
I love it.
Melissa Milner 22:12
Roots & Shoots. Now I have to ask you the really tough question. What's your favorite movie, and why?
Kerry Tuttlebee 22:20
I actually can tell you. And it's the film version of a play from the 60s called A Thousand Clowns. Do you know it?
Melissa Milner 22:29
I have heard of it. But I don't think I ever saw the movie.
Kerry Tuttlebee 22:33
It starred Jason Robards. It's in black and white. And it's about conformity and nonconformity. It's an interesting family story on top of that, like asking yourself questions. What will I do to fit in versus live by my values?
Melissa Milner 22:53
I'm gonna watch that.
Kerry Tuttlebee 22:54
It's hard to find. It's so funny. The only copy I have is VHS. I haven't checked though. It might be streamable.
Melissa Milner 23:02
I'll have to look that up. That sounds amazing. Jason Robards is very good. He was amazing. He was in that Day After. Remember the TV movie The Day After about the--?
Kerry Tuttlebee 23:16
Was that about a natural disaster?
Melissa Milner 23:17
It was about the bomb.
Kerry Tuttlebee 23:19
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Melissa Milner 23:21
OMG, that horrified me when I was a kid.
Kerry Tuttlebee 23:26
Well, at our age, there was a lot of growing up with the threat of nuclear war all the time.
Melissa Milner 23:32
Yes.
Kerry Tuttlebee 23:33
My first march on Washington was a no nukes anti-apartheid march.
Melissa Milner 23:37
Oh my gosh. All right. This was great.
Kerry Tuttlebee 23:41
Well, you do a great podcast. This was cool.
Melissa Milner
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I am sending a special thanks to Linda and Lester Fleishman, my mom and dad, for being so supportive. They are the voices you hear in the Zooming In soundbite. And my dad composed and performed the background music you are listening to right now. My intro music was "Upbeat Party" by Scott Holmes.
So what are you zooming in on? I would love to hear from you. My hope is that we all share what we are doing in the classroom in order to teach, remind, affirm and inspire each other. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap!