A Rose in Oakland's Concrete

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.