In Conversation With

 

November 2018

 

In Conversation With … features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate. 

Jessica Dueñas, 2019 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, was a special education teacher in Oldham County before she was hired to teach at Jefferson County’s new W.E.B. DuBois Academy, a school aimed at improving student achievement for boys of color. Here, Dueñas talks about her work as a teacher and her role in changing assumptions about America’s immigrant population. 

 

Q: Why did you want to teach at W.E.B. DuBois Academy?

A. In spring 2017, I was interested in a position at a school with a similar mission in Brooklyn, N.Y., where I grew up, but because I was going through a lot of transitions, I decided to stay at Oldham County. A few months later, I heard that Jefferson County had approved a school for young men of color. 

Q. Explain why your parents’ experience as immigrants made you want to teach at DuBois? 

A. I feel that my late father, a black Cuban, would have been more successful professionally if he had had a school with a curriculum that was more tailored to his needs, where he saw himself represented in the content and daily lessons. When I look at my students now, I see little versions of my father. 

Q. What does the fact that there were more applicants than spaces for the first class at DuBois tell you?

A. When you look at the data, African-American and other males of color are performing the lowest in terms of state assessments. There are many ways schools are not set up to be successful for these students. Suddenly there’s this new school with a multi-ethnic curriculum that is also Afro-centric, open to any who want to apply. It appealed to parents. 

Q. Was the teaching staff also a selling point? 

A. Yes, our principal, Robert Gunn, actively recruited strong teachers. These parents want their child in a school where the teachers have many years of experience and a history of success with these populations.

Q. Does DuBois allow educators and others to visit and observe?

A. Yes. We have open houses every month during the school day so people can pop in and see what we're doing. They can take the strategies back to their schools and maybe more will start to replicate this model.

 

Q. What is the significance of using lions as the school’s symbol?

A: Our saying is "One pride, one brotherhood." When we talk about one pride, we're talking about a pride of one lion and the brotherhood we're developing. Lions are strong, but they live in packs, they're not isolated. Lions have a royal dignity that we want students to see in themselves. 

Q. DuBois students wear coats and ties. Why? 

A. About 85 percent of our students live in poverty, which might mean they don't have access to nicer clothes. Giving them blazers, ties, khaki pants and brown or black shoes allows them to see what they can look like if they choose to be a traditional professional. Also, you feel better when you look better. Mr. Gunn wears the uniform every day with them. 

Q. And the blazers and ties are provided?

A. NBA player Rajon Rondo, a Louisville native, donated them and had an inspirational message stitched inside the jackets. 

Q. What was the first day of school like at DuBois? 

A. Like all days, we gathered in the cafeteria. After the daily announcements, we said our creed together for the first time as a school. You felt chills. Mr. Gunn told the young men that there are people who are watching us, talking about how we are one of five schools like this in the country and how some look for us to fail because they didn’t agree with the school being set up, but that we’re going to prove them wrong. I posted the video on Facebook and it went viral.

Q. Another part of the first day was getting-to-know-you activities?

A. We established relationships first, because students are not going to learn unless they're in an environment where they feel respected, cared for, loved. Our focus is character-building. After the character is there, the academics naturally fall into place. 

Q. What has surprised you so far? 

A. Anytime I have what I think is a crazy idea, Mr. Gunn says “Yes.” He insists in teaching outside the box to reach students who have historically been disengaged in curriculum that doesn't meet their needs. I knew we were going to do things differently, but we truly have license to be creative and different in our teaching styles. He has explicitly said he does not want us to teach the way we used to, because traditional teaching is exactly the reason these young men are failing. 

Q. What’s an example of out-of-the-box teaching?

A. I used hip-hop to teach students about writing. I taught the different parts of narrative and used hip-hop songs that tell stories. We annotated the lyrics and they listened to the song. They got to move if they were feeling the beat. These are special education students, and I can tell you that they have mastered understanding the parts of the narrative, telling a story and what goes into telling a story well.

Q. You are on the state's Advisory Council for Exceptional Children. Why is it important for you to serve on this council? 

A. The political climate is very anti-immigrant. As the child of immigrants, it is important for me to represent us in a positive light and show that the narrative out there is not true. My parents came here to, yes, to avoid problems in their own countries, but to build and improve, not to take away from the United States. Also, it’s important to speak up for equity. Not just for students of color, immigrants or first-generation Americans, but for students with disabilities. I feel we can serve these students better. As a special education teacher, I want to do the advocacy work to make special education better and more appealing to teachers. It is a high-need area. 

Q. Does your work in education go beyond the classroom?

A. Yes, I work with Adelante Hispanic Achievers, a nonprofit that serves Latinos from middle school up. I am a mentor for a senior who is a Mexican immigrant and is trying to go to college. His mom is overwhelmed, and he's struggling to speak English well, so I help him with the paperwork and process for college admission. As Kentucky Teacher of the Year, I am being asked to speak and I have written for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Ed Week and other publications. I will continue to speak up for equity. At the National Teacher of the Year competition next year, I plan to be the counter-narrative to what is a bad story out there that many believe about immigrants and people of color.