Outrageous Love the Podcast: Our Journeys to Responsiveness

It's July and that means it's time for the annual summer fun episode. This year, we take CLR to "dese streets." Well...almost.  At the CLR Deep Dive Institute in St. Louis, we interviewed participants about their perspectives on CLR.  We asked four questions: most impactful CLR moment, biggest CLR struggle, first impression of Dr. Hollie, and the plan to sustain CLR at your loc...

In this episode, we keep the conversation around different content areas and CLR going. We return to our beloved St. Louis and gain insight from the sage, Kristi Ponder, a high school art teacher in the Parkway Schools. Listen in as Kristi tells not only her journey to responsiveness, which is VABBulous, but also her journey to becoming an art teacher, which is fascinating. What is notable as well...

Welcome to season 5, episode 2 and the start of a new series, I Teach X Content Area AND I am CLR. There are far too many instances of teachers saying,  "I teach science or math or art or robotics or physical education, so I cannot do cultural and linguistic responsiveness (CLR)." This 3-part series will feature educators who debunk that thought. Each of them has made CLR a part of their...

Dr. Hollie's riff on celebrating 5 years! Learn more about CLR and Dr. Hollie at www.culturallyresponsive.org and Twitter @validateaffirm

In April 2020, we launched the first episode of Outrageous Love the Podcast. We had no idea that 4 years and over 25,000 downloads later,  we we would be still launching. Thank you VABB nation! This episode celebrates 5 years of outrageous love and the over 40 educators who have shared their journeys to responsiveness with us. Thanks to all the previous guests. Your stories have been inspirational...

We continue our PRIDE series, celebrating educators who are LGBTQA+ and PROUD, serving as models and advocates for their students. In this final installment, we meet Theresa Hopkins. LGBTQA+ Advocate. Arts Teacher. Artist. Awesome. Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Theresa is a long time educator, who has been validating and affirming her students since the first day she walked into the classroom,...

We continue the highlighting and celebration of LGBTQIA+ CLR educators with Tsedale Forbes from the Ithaca City Schools. Tsedale identifies as non-binary (she/they) in an open, courageous, and inspiring way. Listen to Tsedale's journey from the Bronx, where the importance and value of advocacy was learned in a transformational way, to Ithaca where now as an educator she is empowering students...

Part of being CLR is that we don't wait on designated months to celebrate culture. We believe that culture should be celebrated 365, 24/7 and we encourage "random acts" of cultural celebration. This episode we celebrate PRIDE and our  LGBTQIA+ community. Authentically representing is Ana Bialsky from city of Lowell, Massachusetts near Boston. But what started out as a celebration be...

Our December episode traditionally features a "non-educator" educator, meaning that we hear journeys of folks who are serving as educators outside of the system or in a different career. Have you ever walked into your job and just quit? Have you ever thought about "leaving the system" because you realize that nothing to little is going to change? You decide to fight another way...

We round out the series, "Don't Call Me Karen," with Melissa Scadina, a CLR educator originally from San Jose, California. Melissa has been rolling with Dr. Hollie for over 15 years. Wherever she goes to teach, she has brought CLR with her, including her current stint in Brooklyn. Her story is an actual journey, not only metaphorical. If anybody embodies the spirit and purpose of CL...

Meet Carrie Eicher, seasoned CLR educator and she is not a so-called Karen. Carrie Eicher's journey takes us from Minnesota to Great Britain back to Minnesota. In addition to international flavor, Eicher discusses her angle on the "Karen" phenomenon. As a white woman in education, she has had many vantage points that has led her to be insightful about her privilege and yet being a w...

We end the "make up series" by going back to the random audience participant series in May and June. Our very special random audience participant is Jessica Waters from Providence, Rhode Island. Jessica has an incredible and very engaging journey to responsiveness. Her story is so fascinating that we don't want to give anything away. We promise that you will be moved and inspired by...

We are going back to go forward. Back to the Sizzling Hot CLR Educators series from earlier this year. What a better way to start the year than with a model example of the CLR mindset and skillset. Kaila Dickey from Taos, New Mexico via Texas is our featured guest.  We missed Kaila in January and February so we decided to try again.  Join Kaila on her journey to responsiveness, which mixes rock cl...

You asked for it. You got it. This episode was your chance to call-in and ask those burning questions about CLR, VABB, race, or whatever was on your mind. Dr. Hollie takes 5 calls from educators from across the country and gives what he considers to be patented responses to commonly asked questions. The answers to these questions bear repeating again and again because many folks are thinking the s...

OTLP is kicking off the official start of summer with a hot episode. We are continuing the "Random" CLR Participant series. This time, we hear the journey of Dana Perez, Connecticut's Assistant Principal of the Year.  Dana was brave enough to step up and volunteer to be our guest and we are honored to have her join us. She shares two compelling stories in her walk that will not only...

This episode takes OTLP to a place it has not gone before. Dr. Hollie, your host, asked for volunteers to be guests on the podcast during a recent presentation New York with the Transfer Schools. Two random folks in the audience took him up on the offer. These are first timers to the VABB approach and they only had 2 days of learning with Dr. Hollie. The first brave person is Jazmin Rivera-Polanco...

Welcome to our 4th year of honoring and sharing outrageous love to CLR educators and their journeys to responsiveness. We begin season four with Dr. Hollie's annual personal episode, where you get a quick look into the personal life of your host. This time, Dr. Hollie is celebrating 45 years of friendship with Gerald Luke. They have been friends since 4th grade! What a blessing! Part of the c...

This episode culminates the "Sizzling Hot" series with an educator from Minnesota. Ashley Acosta, newly appointed Supervisor of DEI in the South Washington County Schools, tells us her journey to responsiveness from the perspective of a Mexican American who grew up in area where there were very few people who looked like her. Ashley also provides insight on the importance of being studen...

Our Outrageous Love "balloon" lands in the "Show Me" state, Missouri.  Parkway Schools in St. Louis to be exact. And what we see are two sizzling hot CLR educators. Elize Meyers and Toni Dwiggins, who share a lot in common - both teachers in Parkway, both Missourians, both had similar light bulbs moments in relation to the murder of Michael Brown, and both passionate about thei...

We are taking the journey to responsiveness to the Pacific Northwest in Everett, Washington specifically. There, we meet two "sizzling hot" CLR cadre members (educators). What is a CLR cadre member? Listen in and find out. The first cadre member is Jennifer Caione who serves as an instructional coach and is bringing her passion for students and equity work together in her CLRness.  The s...

This episode will bring a little joy, cheer, wisdom, and inspiration to the end of your year. Renowned expert and author, Dr. Cruz takes us to Ecuador, Pico Union, Lucky Grocery store, and the work of Shel Silverstein. All of that on top of a keen, wise perspective as it applies to what makes for fearless leadership. Luis offers us insight from his best selling text,  Time For Change: Four Essenti...

We have another first for Outrageous Love the Podcast. Our first double feature - two episodes in one.  We have two fearless CLR leaders. Both from St. Louis. Both original educators (30 years or more). Both elementary school leaders. Both from the same district - The Schools of University City. Up first is Dorlita Adams whose journey will take us from her days as an law enforcement officer to a c...

With it being October, we have a treat for you. The journey of Isabelle St. Onge, director of Vista Grande High School in Taos, New Mexico, is like no other. Isabelle takes us on a geographic journey from Minnesota to Montana to Wyoming to New Mexico.  She takes us on a religious journey with a look at Catholicism, sort of.  We experience the down and dirty early years of special education in the...

Meet and love Lisa Sahasrabudhe, current elementary school principal and a true advocate for equity and cultural responsiveness.  We continue our 4 episode focus on fearless leaders of CLR. This time we go to Ithaca NY with stops in India and New York city. In these places we hear about Lisa's incredible and interesting journey, which can be summed up with the adage,  never judge a book by it...

End of summer brings a new series to Outrageous Love the Podcast. "Fearless CLR Leaders" will focus on 5 building leaders who have successfully implemented CLR in their schools. These episodes will not be an how to on successful implementation but an "into" their insightful and eventful journeys to responsiveness. The first fearless leader is Patty Hand, principal of Fridley Hi...