INTRO: My guest this week holds a special place in my professional life. I met him during his first campaign for the school board in Oakland, CA. In the second part of the show, my guest, Dr. Gary Yee, describes what has got to be one of the most difficult experiences of any superintendent – the vandalizing of his home, navigating a hunger strike of two teachers, and community members occupying a school, all in response to proposed school closures.

Other Topics Discussed:

• Superintendent Tenures
• Community Engagement
• Superintendent/Board Relations
• Dr. Marcus Foster
• Hunger Strike
•  Hartford, Connecticut Case Study

I'm Peter Stiepleman and this is An Imperfect Leader.

BIO: Dr. Gary Yee is a special guest because his life and work as a learner and a leader have taken place all in one spot, the Bay Area. Born to Chinese working-class immigrant parents, Gary attended Oakland’s public schools. He graduated from UC Berkeley, joined the US Air Force (as 2^nd LT) and returned to Oakland in 1972 to be a teacher and then a principal. He completed his doctorate at Stanford University and began a career as a professor and then Dean to the Vice Chancellor at Peralta Community College.

Gary’s service to the Oakland Public Schools extended beyond the classroom and the building. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the school board, left the board in 2013, but was appointed to become the Interim Superintendent, for a year, because the superintendent left, and was subsequently re-elected to the Board in 2018, and served there until 2023. Gary worked with 9 superintendents during his 20 years of board service.

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An Imperfect Leader is sponsored by Yondr. 

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

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NEW EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

"What do we want to create together?" 

So proud to have co-written the foreword with Zach Taylor to this essential book on Human-Centered School Transformation. If you're a school leader looking to make sense of what you know to be true about schools, check it out. If you're a corporate leader, you will find a pathway to better results in every page.

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AN IMPERFECT LEADER IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

My book,  An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available at Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com to order a copy. 

This episode features Ozzy Johnson, a student in the ninth grade in OUSD. He is one of more than 1500 ninth graders taking Ethnic Studies this year. As someone who has spent close to a decade organizing for Ethnic Studies, developing curriculum, and supporting Ethnic Studies teachers in OUSD, I really wanted to hear what students had to say about the class. In this episode, Ozzy gives his take on Ethnic Studies, politics in general, and the upcoming presidential election.

In recognition of Labor Day and all of our teachers, I caught up with Jah-Yee Woo — long time Oakland teacher and Oakland teacher of the year in 2018-19. We’ve worked together over the years on various initiatives in the district from civic engagement to Ethnic Studies to the graduate capstone. Sit back and listen to her story: how she became a teacher, why she’s passionate about centering youth voice, how she continues to learn and grow, and finally what her dreams are for changing public education. Through her journey, she reminds us that students and teachers alike are not empty vessels. 

Check out our back to school episode! In this episode, we meet Midori Butler - a student in the Media Academy at Fremont High School in Oakland, California. She helps us contemplate the importance of teaching in the lives of students, particularly those who have faced many challenges in their lives. Midori has overcome a lot in her life to get to where she is. She's put herself on a fast track to graduation by taking a college class this summer, which allowed her to skip her junior year of high school. But getting to this point in high school wasn't a walk in the park. For much of her life, Midori was on her own and raising herself. Her experiences have given her a critical perspective on what qualities are important in a teacher, particularly those who work with students who have faced a lot of trauma in their lives. Through Oakland Unified's summer internship program, Midori worked with the Talent Division to develop a teacher candidate screening form that reflects her perspective as a student on what makes a good teacher. Take a listen to Midori's story - A Rose in Oakland's Concrete.