POV: Power Walk (4.21.25)

[00:00:00] Happy Monday. [00:00:02] And it's time for another power walk. Yes, indeed. And here we are in the woods to talk about this. So the block is high. Let me put the receipt here for Ron and Dion and Casey, because there's more questions about Hope Florida. Huh? Where this money coming from, huh? How are you serving the people? Huh? Ciao. A lot of questions I'm glad people are asking, because what in the entire hell? [00:00:27] Okay? And you, too, should have questions, because these are people that have a responsibility to answer these questions with accountability, transparency, and integrity. Amen. Let's move forward. So the next thing on the docket is the Navigator Academy in Valrico, Tampa, Florida. So there have been complaints that have came across the desk of Teaching for the Culture. And the investigative reporter is getting ready to make sure that we document and we ask the questions because that school, school needs to provide accountability, transparency, and integrity for some of the complaints that have come through, because it is clearly identified to us, based on what we have received, that there's a climate and culture issue. And that climate and culture issue is impacting not only the educators that have spoken out, but also the parents that have spoken out and the students ultimately, who are the most important in all of this. The children. Okay, so I made a post the other day, and I had shared that this was going to be one of the next cases, and if anyone had any type of questions or wanted to submit their story to reach out, and boy, oh, boy, did that happen. I am still actively processing all of the messages that I have received via DM email, and just messages that somehow just made it across my phone. So with that being stated, I can't wait to give y'all updates as it relates to this matter because I want to interview the school administrative staff. What is happening and how can we help, because ultimately, this is impacting children. And so when we talk about following the money, we got to follow the money. And a lot of the money is flowing to these charter schools and private schools. The next thing on this docket, I need folks to really check their child's cell phone. I don't know how else to say it. And if I could be honest, some of y'all need to check your spouse's cell phones, too. Anywho, you can go to check the cellphone.com and you can see some of the presentations that have been done. Partnered with Hillsborough County Public Schools, the third largest school district in the state of Florida and the seventh largest school district in the United States. So Please subscribe to checkthecelphone.com. it's really important that we have these conversations about social media. It's really important that we have conversations about what our children have access to. With everything that's going on. I'm praying for peace. I'm praying for grace. I'm praying for accountability. I'm praying that more of us can be transparent and exhibit the principles of having integrity and not in a way of being perfect because we're human, but just being the best person that you can be. The headlines and the things that are being said, I mean, this is what our President of the United States said for Easter. This was his message. What do you do with that? What do you do with that? The time is now. That's continuing to be the message. The light has been lit up under me with this health scare that I had as it relates to my pacemaker. And when I tell you I'm lit and as much as some people will want me to be quiet because it benefits them, I'm not. I'm not here to benefit you. I'm not here to benefit the so called reputation that you think you have and the illusions and the disillusions that exist in that. Like I said in my last video, I might be wrong, but that's why it's important to get your receipts. Because people, our receipts don't. I just had to take a moment in this power walk to just breathe because the next thing on my docket is just really Sad. So a 15 year old student at Durant High School in Plant City, Florida was violently attacked and is now suffering from a concussion. The incident was recorded on Instagram and I have some of the video footage. It was really heartbreaking to see. It was also heartbreaking to see the lack of supervision that was occurring in that area, which I know that that's the case because I also know where the defunding of public education, what you think is going to happen Also, back when I was a public school educator, I had very strict boundaries as it relates to breaking up fights because if I were injured and breaking up said fight, workers comp insurance would not protect me because I would be outside of the duties of my job. Fights that existed between the boys on campus, that was a hard no for me. But there were some times where in that hallway, in the elective hallway, I would be one of the only teachers that would try to divide the students and have some type of order. And then you got the children going back to cell phones that would be so quick to pull out their phone to record footage for Instagram and for Snapchat and for some of these other apps that parents you don't know about. And parents I can't stress enough, you really need to know all the apps that are on your children's phone. You need to know what that app does, what permissions it gives, and how it works. There's been some real dark stuff that's been going on in the app Discord. And if you ask most parents what the app Discord is, they'll say, oh, it's an app for gaming. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's a lot more than gaming that takes place in Discord, which is why it's important that you are aware, making sure that you are aware of all the groups and the channels that your children are connected to in Discord, because it's not just about gaming. Knowing every single app that is on your child's phone and have them explain it to you, there's an app that looks like a calculator. You put a pin code in there, and voila, you got hidden photos and videos and screenshots that are not on the camera roll. And I've talked about it before, it's called a ghost app. And you can find information [email protected] it's really important that we are intentional with how we use these devices, because it's more than a phone now. It's bigger than that. And unfortunately, we have children that have so much access to technology. And last night I was producing a podcast for diversity equity in education. You should go check it out on YouTube. On the teaching for the Culture Network. A reading specialist, a reading educator who has been in this work for so long, helping children being able to move to the next level, which they teach seventh grade. So their goal is to get them ready so that they can be at the eighth grade level. Well, you have some students that come to her classroom, 12, 13, 14 years old, and they are reading on a third grade reading level. I want that. I want that to sit for a moment. You have teenage children that are coming to reading class after being pushed through fourth grade, fifth grade, six, sixth grade, and they are reading on a third grade reading level. And then. And then are expected to be proficient in activities that are well above their grade level. And so while our children have the newest iPhones and the newest AirPod Pros and the Beats and all of those different technological gadgets, I can't stress enough how we have to have reading literature that is in front of them. You know what I found interesting is that in some of the high schools you have some students that are sports betting in their classrooms, which some of their policies, meaning the sports betting platforms, they require you to be a certain age. But of course you gotta read the terms of service in order to comply and understand because usually you have to check that. I've read the terms and conditions and I'll be honest, there's several of you. Hell, there's sometimes I don't fully read with intention the terms and conditions. So you have these terms of service that are put in place and the students are bypassing all of that and they are sports betting and having a parlay picks in the middle of class. And some of them have been very successful at it. So much so that they don't feel that school is valuable because they're making more than the person that's standing in front of them educating them. So we need to reimagine what school looks like, particularly in the state of Florida, because you have the Florida legislators that are actively defunding public education and some of its course op and some of its course offerings. This concludes my power walk for today. Have an amazing day with intention and with purpose. It's a lot going on out here. It's a lot going on out here. And that's all I got by.