Show Notes
On May 16, 2022, Great Start Collaborative Detroit/Wayne had the distinct pleasure of hosting Chelsea Clinton on a “Talking is Teaching” tour of Detroit and Wayne County. With some support from Wayne RESA’s Communications Department, Great Start Detroit/Wayne successfully planned and executed a fabulous tour of four community organizations that exemplify the mission and approach of this early childhood literacy campaign. Joining us today are Kathleen Alessandro and Carmen Colón of Great Start Detroit/Wayne, who will walk us through the exciting event that has since garnered nationwide attention to the important work with early childhood literacy in Detroit and throughout the state of Michigan.
Here is a little background of the event:
“Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing” is a community literacy campaign conceived by the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail Initiative. In 2018, Great Start Detroit/Wayne became the first “Talking is Teaching” site in Michigan. Since then, the movement has grown and expanded to dozens of community organizations.
Chelsea’s second stop on the tour was Detroit’s beloved Honey Bee Market La Colmena, which became Michigan’s first grocery store “Talking is Teaching” site on May 14, 2022. Chelsea’s visit is well documented in an article from Bridge Michigan.
Chelsea’s final stop of the day was at the headquarters of Brilliant Detroit, where she joined one of the quarterly collaborative meetings of Great Start Detroit/Wayne to share her experience of the tour throughout the day. A recording of the collaborative meeting can be found at this link.
Kathleen Alessandro is the Executive Director of Everybody Ready, the parent company of Great Start Detroit/Wayne, and Deputy Director of the latter.
Carmen Colón is the Parent Liaison of the Great Start Detroit/Wayne, and primarily responsible for Honey Bee Market’s adoption of “Talking is Teaching” among other accomplishments.
Kyle Gnagey is Wayne RESA’s Communications Coordinator.
Intro Music by Wataboi from Pixabay
Length - 49 minutes
Transcript
Kyle Gnagey: Welcome to our final episode of Getting to the Core for Season Two. We have two very special guests joining us today, and they're here to talk about a very cool event that we had here in the Detroit and Wayne County area just on May 16 and May 15 and all the weeks leading up to it. My name is Kyle Gnagey and I’m the communications coordinator Wayne RESA.
So, joining me today is Kathleen Alessandro and she is the Deputy Director of the Great Start Collaborative Detroit Wayne and the Executive Director of Everybody Ready, and Carmen Cologne, who is the parent liaison of the Great Start Collaborative Detroit Wayne. Thank you, guys, both for being here.
Carmen Colón: Thank you for having us.
Kathleen Alessandro: Yes, thank you.
Kyle Gnagey: So, I’d just like to start with a little bit of background information for our listeners to know exactly who’s the Great Start Collaborative and who is Everybody Ready, so I want to kick it off with Kathleen.
Kathleen Alessandro: Thank you, Kyle. So, Everybody Ready is a Michigan nonprofit established in 2001 focused specifically on early childhood: families with children ages zero to eight. The Great Start Detroit Wayne Collaborative is part of a network throughout the state where every county focuses on building an early childhood system. And we have an operating agreement with Wayne RESA to deliver that service locally within Detroit and Wayne County. So, we try as best we can to pull together the best information and resources for families with young children and present it to them in a way that they can take advantage of it and maximize opportunities for their families.
Kyle Gnagey: That's great, thank you for that. And I guess I would like to ask Carmen, who is the parent liaison on the Collaborative, can you tell me kind of what your years look like and your, I know, you have meetings quarterly, like; to tell us what it looks like when when you're on the ground, doing the work?
Carmen Colón: I always kind of make a joke to Kathleen and Laketa that I have the best job out of everyone. You know, basically, what I do is I am like boots on the ground; like, that's the best way to put it: like boots on the ground, taking what Kathleen said, and really finding families and connecting them. And then, also just making sure that families know about it, and if there's barriers, we can talk about it. And it's really, it's just really, I love it so much, and I feel like I never talked to anyone: parents, partners, families, that say like we need the Collaborative. Like, “This is so beneficial; you bring us together!” Like, a partner just told me, the other day, “The Collaborative brings us together,” and I think that's what's so special about what we do is bringing people together. And that's probably my favorite part and, you know, that's what the Collaborative meetings are; the quarterly Collaborative meetings are bringing people together, so we can talk about the issues in early childhood and so. And, of course, we have fun doing it, so, I mean, we just have the greatest jobs; hopefully, that explains it well.
Kyle Gnagey: Absolutely, can you give us just maybe a general sense of what types of things you talk about? You say the issues in early childhood, what would be like an example or two of that and how you approach it?
Carmen Colón: I mean one of them for sure is literacy, obviously, which big part of the events that will be talking about later. You know, preschool, like getting access to free preschool for families: that could look like home visiting services that can look like developmental screenings. I mean, that's just the tip of the iceberg. We are constantly looking for the best of the best to give to our people, that is, in this realm of work.
Kyle Gnagey: That's great, I appreciate that very much. So, if we are going to talk more about the literacy objectives of the Collaborative, we obviously need to talk about Talking is Teaching. I’m wondering, Kathleen, if you can tell us a little bit about how Talking is Teaching became part of what the Collaborative was administering and examining and you know growing in the Detroit Wayne County area?
Kathleen Alessandro: We never want to miss an opportunity to talk about Talking is Teaching, because we really find it exciting and innovative. First of all, thanks, Carmen, for reminding me to say that our Collaborative meet quarterly. These are 60 leaders and parents and community representatives who are focused on early childhood. And during many of these discussions, there has been a concern about the expectation that children are reading at third-grade level. We like to say reading confidently at the third-grade level rather than referencing a test. And so our mantra on this issue became reading confidently in third grade is an eight-year process beginning at birth. So, in looking for the right resources to share with families, we engaged our educational leader Elaine Koons who's a speech and language pathologist and early childhood educator who researched a wide range of initiatives regarding early literacy and language development throughout the nation. And she identified Talking is Teaching, which is part of the Too Small to Fail National Initiative. Talking is Teaching focuses on building language among children ages zero to five and therefore their brain connections. And language, as we all know, is the basis of early literacy. So, this became our focus of sharing it with parents and community leaders, which I’ll let Carmen talk about, but overall, what we have found is that this is a simple, doable activity that parents can incorporate into their daily lives in their homes, and therefore it's been received such tremendous engagement and success that Carmen will share, that it's really been the one of the most helpful initiatives we've been part of.
Carmen, I’m gonna let you share how it impacts family lives.
Carmen Colón: Yeah. So, I mean, I can't…Talking is Teaching, goodness gracious, is what…it's so much… it's revolves around all the work that we do. And I can't help, like, just a personal perspective, I can't help but feel like a better parent by just doing the training. So that impact is happening on me someone who repeats this every single day, can you imagine how it's impacting the families around Wayne County? The impact is really immeasurable. It is…parents are so bogged down with so many things in life. I mean, we… you can think of those right now. You can think of what weighs you down and stresses you out. And what Talking is Teaching does is really just pulls out of the parents: you have everything that you need, you are enough, you are capable, and by just talking, reading, and singing every day to your children, it can drastically change the trajectory of their life. And so, that's really impactful. And I actually just was talking to a Wayne RESA COSA that we are doing trainings with the other day, and she goes, “You know, I’m educated, I know this stuff, I’ve talked to families, but this is impacted me as a parent!” So, to them, this initiative is just so much more than literacy. It's really uplifting parents all across Wayne County and bringing us together, which is just a really big deal.
Kathleen Alessandro: And if I can add to that. We've been doing this now for five, close to six years. It is also an initiative, we have only received positive feedback on; we've got no negative kickback whatsoever on this, because people relate to it and find it really valuable in their daily lives. There are two comments, and we get this is the kind of comment that we get from parents every time there is a training session and we share Talking is Teaching methodology. A mom said, “I didn't know this was important, but I can do this and I will do this.” And, as we know, as overwhelmed as families are nowadays when a parent can say, “This piece I can handle. This piece, I can do. It doesn't require money, doesn't require advanced learning, it doesn't require equipment; it just requires your voice.” And another mom, and again, this is a common feedback that we received shared that as a mother of three she always feels overwhelmed and just doing too much, but not doing it well enough, and she said after one hour of Talking is Teaching training, “I realized I am enough.” So, if we can get to the point where parents can feel competent and confident in their role as their child's first teacher, that's all we can ask. And that's the basis of building language and brain development that takes a child, all the way through their future.
Kyle Gnagey: That's really inspiring to hear, and I remember your telling that, you know, that parent feedback essentially that: that the parent felt like they were enough. For that and just, you know, that's really a very heartwarming and very empowering thing to hear. And I just am very overwhelmed by what I’ve seen in a much shorter time, obviously. Because, as you know, I was called into this process, this event sort of very recently, and I would agree. I mean, in just a little bit I’ve seen the passion, the dedication from the various types of people that comprise the Collaborative Meeting, and on all the partners and all of the community sites that have been involved is extremely inspiring and it does feel very much like the Community is coming together. And that makes sense because this Talking is Teaching is meant to be a community campaign and it requires that sort of grassroots effort to spread and to proliferate, essentially, you know, throughout the community and the community sites that that are around in your area.
And so, help me understand. From what I’ve gathered from my experience with this is that this Talking is Teaching began from an initiative of the Clinton Foundation and the initiative is called Too Small to Fail. And I believe, but what I remember Chelsea Clinton saying was that Too Small to Fail began under Secretary Hillary Clinton. And that she, Chelsea now, as the Vice Chair of the foundation is able to continue that work. So, Kathleen, can you talk a little bit more, you mentioned that Elaine Koons was the one who found the Talking is Teaching campaign and what was it like to, you know, adopt that, and, you know, was it just a smooth…did it just fit perfectly with what you were already doing? And then, how did you sort of then circle back with Too Small to Fail and the Clinton Foundation, that they were aware that you were doing this?
Kathleen Alessandro: So, as you know, the Clinton Foundation has been involved in brain development and early childhood literacy for a while and focused…developed the Too Small to Fail campaign to house all of this work. Well, first of all, when we came across the phrase Too Small to Fail, how can you not love that? That right there, you know, you had us at Too Small to Fail. That garnered our attention. And then, one of the ways that they billed their initiatives on this is through the specific Talking is Teaching materials. And what that provides for communities is when we contacted them, they said first, you have to do a community campaign which we did, incorporating and talking to several people about implementing Talking is Teaching. What is then provided to us locally or all the collateral materials that we can share, all the graphics are done so that we can localize that for Detroit and Wayne County and for all the different activities, so that you'll find an amazing array of. prompts and videos and graphic work that we can then just share within the community; supporting families who talk, read, and sing to their children every day. And that's our mantra: talk, read, and sing every day. So that builds the social emotional development, that builds language development and early literacy. So we chose Talking is Teaching because it was able to just accommodate and support all of those components of a child's development in a simple clean way that we've been able to ramp this up in over 100 locations throughout Detroit and Wayne County. So, you'll see us in laundromats, in WIC offices, at the diaper bank, at faith centers and more to come. I mean Carmen has permission to take over Detroit and Wayne County, and there will be a Too Small to Fail Talking is Teaching site everywhere we can plant one, because again it works so well, it's supportive of parents and families in their own space and it's incredibly powerful.
Carmen Colón: Yeah, so if you're listening to this and you want something in your place, let us know, because we are trying to take over Wayne County.
Kyle Gnagey: That's awesome. Carmen tell us more about what it's like to bring those materials to the sites and not, I know, I saw you run around with, you know, not just the Honeybee Market, which we'll talk about here a little bit, but laundromats and, you know, all sorts of community sites. What's that like?
Carmen Colón: It's really awesome. It's great to have an initiative that you can bring in a d feel really proud of. And so, when we can explain them just, for instance, like the Honeybee initiative that we'll talk about later, the owners, like, they're just excited to be community partners because it's just, it's quality research, it’s quality materials, and it's just great messaging. And so, I mean, that's the response with everyone. Like, of course, we want to have we want to partner with you this, this is amazing. And so, they really make it, Too Small to Fail, to such a great job to help us partner with other organizations and community partners.
Kyle Gnagey: That’s great. Let's actually jump to talking about the Honeybee Market and, you know, officially on May 15, which is a Saturday, they became the first grocery store Talking is Teaching site in Detroit and Wayne County. And, I know that a lot of work went into, you know, transforming it into a Talking is Teaching site and then you guys did some really awesome things for that sort of kickoff ribbon cutting ceremony, that I was in attendance, with my family. Can you just tell me, you know, what was it like to have the owners adopt it, and then I saw the all the installations throughout Honeybee Market, they were fantastic. I know that they're receiving training that was involved to the employees of the store as well. And then we should talk about you know what that celebration is like.
Carmen Colón: Okay, perfect. So in January, we were plotting to find the first grocery store that was going to be launching this new initiative and Honeybee…what's amazing about Honeybee is there's so many great community markets all over Detroit, but Honeybee is really known throughout the county. Like people travel to get the Honeybee. It's clean, it has foods that no one else has, it's just it's just such a great market. And so I’m in January I just walked in, and I was like, “Hey you know. Would you be interested in this?” And then, you know, got to show some images and they were like, “Yeah, we're interested!” And then I set up a meeting with the owners and kind of told them all the research and the facts and all the things for our county and they were completely blown away, you know. When people find out what our rates are, but they can also help our literacy rates are, but they can also partner with us and help make a change, they were just completely blown away. And so they were like, “We are all on board for this,” and we said, “Well, you know, we can train cashiers, we can train, you know, the produce section whoever encounters families and they said, “No, where we want to train the whole store. Like, we want our whole store trained; we're going to invite all of them.”
And so, they have about a 30-plus staff and we had 27 in attendance in April 2022 for the training. You know, sometimes people can't make it, but I mean that is a very high percentage of the staff on that got trained. And I can say I’ve done many Talking is Teaching trainings, and this was hands down one of my favorite trainings. When we were talking about singing we had all of the grocery store workers, creating songs about produce and vegetables and they were you know just it was such a delight. But what was more…having the grocery store workers just click for them. And I’ll just tell this quick story to sum it up, but one of the meat department guys, he said, “Wow! This all makes sense,” as I was talking about brain connections and our children build on the brain connections and he goes, “I had a child come up to my seafood counter and said wow this looks like an aquarium,” and it was just like everyone laughed and we realize like how they were like wow, now we understand why he thinks that he sees the little fish and shrimp and all these things. And he's building off that connection. So, it was really a lightbulb moment and, I mean, everyone in the store it was just so excited to just be able to be a partner in bringing this message out. And so it was such a delight to be a part of that.
Kathleen Alessandro: The energy at that grand opening on May 15 was over the top, it was just amazing. And I really want to support and share with Honeybee Market. Very often, public and private partnerships are tough; it's tough to have a private sector business want to be part of a public initiative, because they aren’t quite sure how it's going to work and rollout and the like. So, props to Honeybee Market for understanding the message and engaging with it.
And also, I think props to us for being respectful of their space. Now, this is a little detail, but I want to shout this out to schools and community organizations that are trying to connect with private sector. You have to really be respectful of their space and place. Our team worked with them, we have signage throughout the store, but we worked with the grocery store sign maker so that the signs and the prompts that we have throughout the store align with the signage of the grocery store and of that business, so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, but it embeds with their normal walk through and work and we value their position. They’re a grocery store in the community and their job is to provide goods and services to people in a way, and make a profit. So, we want to be part of supporting that, and I think all of us in the nonprofit or public space that want to engage with private sector need to understand that and work with it because it became… it was very successful for us, and I think my team for being that respectful and astute in lining that up.
Carmen Colón: You talked about the energy Kathleen. So I just wanted to throw out that the owner, we were scheduled to be there till 12, and the owner made a note that we could stay till 7pm if we wanted to. It was just like, you know, he just thought it was that great. And so, even after doing the training and stuff, he was still just so blown away by the actual event and he's like, “Wait. You do this like around the county?” and I was like, “Yeah, we do.”
Kathleen Alessandro: And he was proud of being part of this, you know, and that meant a lot.
Carmen Colón: It did. Yeah it was a great day to celebrate, you know, all of the work that we had put into everything.
Kyle Gnagey: And it really was a celebration. I mean, I was there; you guys had, like, a hot dog vendor and you had tents, and you were giving away really awesome, like, insulated grocery bags that people could take into the store and buy some things and keep it a little cool and, you know, when I left the store after going through with my family, there was a book reading happening outside. And there were you know community members and kids present just listening. And this was all after the very formal ribbon cutting which I thought was super cool and I’m just so glad that Dr. Colbert on the Superintendent of Wayne RESA could be there to say a few words, and that the owners were there, and were able to cut the ribbon and all of the, you know, I saw so many people that I know are part of the Collaborative were there. They were volunteering their time, or they were attending as guests. And it really was a very, very cool event, and it really felt like the community coming together, and I was, I was very impressed and really grateful for the opportunity to bring my kids and my wife.
And so, I just thought it was a fantastic thing, fantastic spectacle I could really see as you're saying that the owners were very pleased to see their community come around them and celebrate them. And so, I’m not surprised to hear that they asked you to stay because you had right quite an installation in that parking lot, and it was open for business. I mean, cars are still coming in and people were going to the store and it was like, “What's this?” and they'd stop and they'd listen for a little bit, and they learn about what Talking is Teaching is, and so it was just it was really very cool.
Carmen Colón: And, you know, another note is like it wasn't just for, like, that wasn't a show. It wasn't just for the parking lot party. I just got an email literally minutes before this podcast from another literacy coach who said, “Hey, I stopped by the Honeybee Market, I saw the installations, I saw the employees wearing the stickers,” and she said, “and I even had a conversation with the employee about it.” And so, it's like, it's not it wasn't like okay we're just gonna do this for this one day; they're really being active and taking it seriously. And so, to get that email is such like such a delight to see, because, you know, it's like, wow, what it's just really making an impact and they're just…it's not only made an impact like just in that community, but on the grocery store employees’ hearts, you know. Like, one of the grocery store employees, she came up to me, she said, “I invited my nieces and nephews,” and, like all of this because she's like, “I wanted them to see this, too.” You know, so it's just like a trickle effect; it impacts so many people and that's just what's so exciting.
Kyle Gnagey: That's really wonderful. And you know, obviously, then the very next day, you also had a very big day, because I understand that… this was a three-year planning in the making, but I know that COVID slowed things down but, the Clinton Foundation was interested in seeing the work that you guys have done in Detroit and Wayne County. And specifically Chelsea Clinton the vice chair of the foundation came to visit on May 16.
So well, I know very well how that went about starting about, I don't know, about nine days before the event happened when we all got together and started to plan this and stitch this thing together. Quite a short time period to turn around such a such a big event but tell me more about, you know, how this visit came about; it was definitely a long time coming, I understand.
Kathleen Alessandro: Well, yeah. As I’ve said, we have a relationship with the Clinton Foundation and Too Small to Fail for about five or six years. But about three years ago we were contacted that Chelsea Clinton wanted to come to Detroit and see how we were implementing all their great work. And so, we plan this event three times. The first time there was a last minute scheduling conflict and then COVID hit, we know that story. So, when we got the call just a little bit ago that she was coming again we wanted to pull together. We couldn't take her to every single site where we have an installation, so we wanted to make sure we pulled together a good array of what the Clinton Foundation is supporting locally. So, we started with Starfish Family Services in Inkster where Chelsea Clinton read a book to children in a GSRP and Head Start program and then walk through the yard, where there was an installation of DJ’s Busy Day. It's a story walk around the park at the center and Starfish was incredibly gracious in opening up their arms and hearts to us to share all this beautiful work. And then we went on to Honeybee Market and we shared the great story there, but all of us who walked through this and Chelsea Clinton just went aisle by aisle seeing all of the amazing ways with posters and banners that all reflect this work. We all stopped for a moment and had some lunch and then went on to Alternatives for Girls, which is a very special… I’m actually going to leave Carmen to explain that one.
I’m gonna jump over that and she’ll handle that one, and then we ended with a Brilliant Detroit one of our great partners to have our Collaborative meeting, where, again, this body of 60-plus people who focus on early childhood were able to get a debrief from Chelsea Clinton about what she saw that day and, obviously, she was very impressed. And I think, felt really great and inspired to see the work of the Clinton Foundation reflected so well throughout our community. So let's go back to Alternatives for Girls and Carmen when you share what that's about and why that was a specifically heartwarming stop.
Carmen Colón: Yeah…So, Alternatives for Girls is a homeless shelter. They bring in teenagers and teen moms, and so we got invited to do some of their programming pre-COVID. And you know when you come into a room there's you can feel just a lot of heaviness. These girls are going through a lot. And so, when we just start unpacking what Talking is Teaching is an early just start up lifting who they are as parents, if you just feel…there's like a tangible feeling in the room and it's literally like the beginning, like set of girls is completely different from when we end the training and so I’m…the organization is great at getting these women back on their feet, going back out to get housing and support. And so we're able to introduce Talking is Teaching and then introduce them to all of the resources that Great Start has: diaper banks, finding food, needing help with the bills, finding help. And so, it's just a great way for us to do that. And COVID happened, and one of the ladies left that booked for the program. And I got a call from the new program director and she was just like, “I had to just reach out to you because the review on your program out of all of the programs,” she said, “You had to come back.” And that the way that the girls responded to Talking is Teaching was like, she's never seen it before.
And so, I remember that training. She walked us out she was like, “You have to come back. I’ve never seen the girls open up like this,” and it wasn’t… what it was is what Talking is Teaching is and how it really breaks down the walls of making parents feel like they have to do more and realizing that they already have all the things that they need. And so, we've been back quite a few times since then, and the partnership it's just been so beautiful to really just be with, you know, these women who are parenting so young, but giving them these messages and encouraging them. Because we know that they know other people in the same situations and encouraging them to do the same. And it's so impactful; I always like leave their little teary-eyed that she's so impactful.
Kyle Gnagey: It was really a wonderful…I had never you know, been as privy to like the work that they do there. And like early childhood center that they have they're called Little Dreamers and, you know, all the things that you were just describing were brand new to me. And I was just in awe when they were talking about the work that they do there, and how they use Talking is Teaching for the moms and the moms to be and, obviously, the children. And I think it was just a really great stop on choice basically for Chelsea Clinton to come see how Talking is Teaching is changing lives. And, you know, like Kathleen like you said, we started out in a classroom and she read the DJ’s Busy Day to that class, which I just loved. And, I know that was featured in the in the article written by Bridge and, you know, just, I know that she… later that day to Chelsea talked about just her experience in that classroom and how special it was, and I think that was a really great kickoff to the day. And then we went outside and they did that story walk up that exact same story of DJ’s Busy Day and, you know, we were so grateful to have the support of Starfish Family Services and they were just really wonderful and hosting us there and, you know, providing the opportunity to kind of kick off our day. And then, you know, as you said, we moved on the Honeybee Market and all the great work that was happening there, the very first grocery store site. And I feel like the energy was still there that day; just carried over from the day prior where I had just started, and I know Carmen you, you know, you connected Chelsea with the owners and with an employee there, can you tell me kind of what that was like because I was, I was so busy doing other stuff that I actually didn't get to see that firsthand what was that like?
Carmen Colón: Yeah. So, I mean, I don't normally tour grocery stores and I’m going to add that to my resume… grocery store tours in Detroit. But so, yeah, I was just like, “Okay let's do this,” and so it was super easy to do because of just the organic relationship that we built with the grocery store and the grocery store workers. Like, you know, having that relationship, because even though we did the training one month, and then we set up like, we frequent the store a lot, you know, to check in and make sure, everything is good. And so I was, like, “All right, Chelsea let's do this over here,” and just showing her the signs; she just loved it, loved it. We, you know, we were able to talk about how the community is bilingual and she got to see the signs in Spanish, and how some of, you know, they’re English on one side, Spanish, on the other.
And really, just, you know, she got to bump into some employees that were just so excited to see her and honored to have her there that day to really see their store. But it was definitely an interesting experience. One of the ladies from Team Chelsea came up to me and was like, “I didn't know how you are going to do this tour but man you pulled it off; you’re a pro.” I was just like, I mean, you know, we just walked around and talked about all this stuff, but I mean, I think she really enjoyed it. Getting to see everything and talking to the employee. She really loved talking to the employee, because the employee is the manager of the meat department and she was telling Chelsea, she's like, “My whole team really loves this and, Chelsea’s like, “I wonder why?” She goes, um, she was, “Yeah it was interesting because they're all pretty younger, like, I have people on my team 16, 17, 18.” And that really probably impressed Chelsea. She goes, “Wow,” she goes, “I love that these teenagers are getting trained in this because they're knowing it sooner,” and you know, one day, you know, and she's like, “and they have siblings, and, you know, one day they might be parents.” And so, she was really impressed that it wasn't just like one range of, you know, age range of people being trained, but that there was teenagers being changed. And I think that was really exciting, for her. But she thought the store is beautiful; she loved the signage.
And yeah, it was fun. Like I said, I will, I can do grocery store tours now. I feel like a professional tour, but it was great; it was kind of interesting because you know, there was other people there to see it too, and so, you know, we're walking around and people are like, “What's going on?” and, you know, then having all these people and, but it was fun, it was it was fun.
Kyle Gnagey: It's really great. And then, as you mentioned, Kathleen, we broke for lunch, where we were hosted by Alternatives for Girls and we were able to hear more about their program. And I have to give a shout out to Patty Miller, the CEO of Too Small to Fail, who had a really great presentation on the importance of Talking is Teaching and where else in the country they had tried it and, you know, one of the things I kept hearing from her and from Chelsea all day is that they were just really impressed by Detroit, by Wayne County, and Michigan. Like, we seem to be the state that is really adopting it and the way that they had hoped and had envisioned from the start; just this grassroots community effort to just proliferate this through, you know, to every community say we literally Carmen taking over Wayne County at every site we possibly can, and I know that we got to hear about that directly from Chelsea actually at the Brilliant Detroit stop, which was the fourth stop that day. And so, you guys were having your quarterly Collaborative meeting and you had actually started before Chelsea and company arrived. But you were having your, you know, you're getting your important meeting topics out of the way and sort of, you know, the items that you needed to get through, as part of, you know, each meeting and then you were gracious enough to transform the remainder of your meeting into kind of a Q & A, where we had Mrs. Alice Thompson, who is the now retired CEO of Black Family Development was facilitating that and it was so cool; that you had that Brilliant Detroit and you had Chelsea come in, and that you were able to, you know, have Mrs. Thompson asked her a few questions about what she had seen that day. Can you guys talk about, kind of like, you know, how that came to fruition? And, you know, how that became this kind of hybrid Zoom call, where we had we had a camera on site and we were like recording it and we were broadcasting and live streaming it to Collaborative members and some of the COSA coaches and folks that Wayne RESA that support this work as well, and the early childhood folks and how did, how did that come about? Because that's such a cool idea, and it was at the end of the day, so she got to see it all.
Kathleen Alessandro: Well, as we mentioned, we meet four times, this large group, and we normally meet at nine o'clock in the morning. Well, obviously the dance between setting up all of these sites and all the logistics that go with that it was determined that we really need to move this Collaborative meeting to the afternoon at three o'clock. So luckily, Laketa Thompson, the Director of Great Start, and this is Alice Thompson, the Chair, were gracious enough to work with us and say we can do this in the afternoon and actually it became our first hybrid in person zoom meeting post-COVID event, so that became first of all, another interesting dance as I’m sure everyone can understand. Because it wasn't just a regular Zoom meeting and needed to be streamed and set up in a way that, technically, we could focus on speakers and share that sort of via a webinar focus and I…kudos to everyone at Wayne RESA who supported us and helped us with technology and with the planning and everything that went with that, because the meeting came across smooth as silk. And even though we were all a bit nervous, thanks to Kyle and his team, it really, really came off well. And I, I also want to just make a note that Talking is Teaching, our Detroit-Wayne County community campaign was the first in the state of Michigan. But right now, thanks to the support of Rachel Pritchard at the Michigan Department of Education, there is a Talking is Teaching initiative at 70-some of the 83 counties in Michigan. And we have been pleased and proud to share what we can with our colleagues throughout the state. But you'll see as you travel through Michigan, those of you who do, it's very likely that you'll find Talking is Teaching messaging throughout the State of Michigan as you travel. So that's how, again, powerful this has been, and we were really excited to be, you know, the first step, the first and Michigan but partnering with all of our other colleagues.
Carmen Colón: It really felt like a great end to the day, too, you know, it just felt like the icing on the cake getting to come together and do that we, you know, the parent usually have a time to speak in the Collaborative and so that was able to be where Chelsea and Alice were able to do their interview. And so, for us, I mean Talking is Teaching as the heart of our parent work, you know, that's really become the heart of what our Great Start Parent Coalition does, and out of that flows all the other things because when you do Talking is Teaching you become a trusted messenger. And when you're trusted it's easier to talk about some of the resources that are, you know, not so easy to talk to you when you have to go up to someone say, “Hey, do you need help paying bills?” It's not the first conversation you want to have, and so I felt like that meeting just felt really nice for all of our partners to be able to hear about the work and it was just a great ending I feel like to our day, for sure.
Kyle Gnagey: Yeah, I would definitely agree. And just to our listeners we're going to be putting up a lot of links today, particularly with the four venues that we were having, obviously the Talking is Teaching web page that's on the Great Start Collaborate website, and so forth. But pending approval what we're hoping to do is put up a recording of the part, where part of the Collaborative meeting that we're talking about when Chelsea came in and just the things that she said to the Collaborative members there that were just so, you know, uplifting and congratulatory and very encouraging. Because I agree, I think that it was a great opportunity for you guys to have this feedback from essentially the people that designed this campaign, but watch do you execute it.
I’m amazed it just, you know, the exactly the way that they had envisioned better, and in her words, better than anyone else had so far and so that was really exciting for me to watch. I mean, I know, was kind of running around making sure the camera was up and I had to put Chelsea’s water on the table and bring her in at the right time and I was just, you know, I was scattered that whole day. But that was a nice opportunity for me to actually sit down and listen for the first time and I felt very proud to be a part of that, even if it's just kind of setting that day together…certainly wasn't the work that you guys have been doing over the past few months, but I felt proud to be even just a small part of such a fantastic and successful campaign.
So, I can imagine what the Collaborative Members present there and those on the call felt to hear that from Chelsea and the folks at the Clinton Foundation. So it was really wonderful, and then we wrapped up that meeting, and we had a big group photo outside and then she was off and, before you knew it, that really incredibly literacy filled day and this, I don't know what I want to call it, but this just really amazing tour of Talking is Teaching in Detroit and Wayne County was over, and… but the work wasn't over because Carmen, as you're saying, it's continuing to make a difference, even right now, as we speak. So, I guess, I would ask you and Kathleen, like, what's next; what's going to happen now?
Carmen Colón: World domination. No, I just think just continuing to find amazing organizations, community partners that just see the value that we see in Talking is Teaching and see the value really what this brings to parents, and the value it brings to their children and just finding people to lock arms with us and getting these messages everywhere, like everywhere that will let us. Like, “Let's do it,” I mean, I actually already had another grocery store that wasn't on our, you know, we’re launching one in the Brightmoor area I’m here in Detroit but another one reached out and said we would be interested. So, I mean, that's the hope that, naturally, they would see the impact of this and want to join, you know, lock arms with us. But, you know, if they don't see it, they'll see me coming knocking on their doors saying, “Hey, let's do this,” but I think just getting creative, you know… the grocery store was not a normal space that you would think to go to and so just where do families go; let's find those places and let's put them with great messaging that can really make an impact; so, I mean, that's my answer.
Kathleen Alessandro: I think we also want to share, though, that along with Carmen's intent to have world domination of Talking is Teaching, which I fully support, is we're also really cognizant of maintaining quality control on this. I think, very often initiatives get dispersed throughout the community and before you know it, it's sort of like that game of telephone where what you started with is not what you end up with at the end and things get ratcheted down in terms of quality and messaging. So, first of all, as part of our community campaign, and we think, we want to just take a moment, first of all to thank Wayne RESA for its ongoing partnership in support of having us roll this out specifically over the past couple of years and giving us additional opportunities to train their staff and teachers throughout the GSRP system, because that way it really has an explosive presence. But we, to be, to implement Talking is Teaching at a site, you need to be trained by Carmen and Elaine Koons; we want a standard of training, we want a standard of material distribution that really elevates this work. So, it's highlighted in a way that is professional and important, but also; remember now, one of the pastors at one of our faith centers where we have a Talking is Teaching installation…after going through the training said, “What you have here is profound simplicity.”…profound simplicity… and I don't want to lose concept or sight of that because, again, I want to reiterate in today's world where families are overwhelmed, obsessing and worrying and trying to support a million different initiatives; I think they need to find some space where their daily lives can be simple yet powerful. And that's what this does for parents. And that homeless mother at Alternatives for Girls is equal to a mother, with a Master's degree when it comes to building her child's brain connections and supporting her social emotional development by just using the simple techniques of Talking is Teaching: talking, reading, and singing to the children every day. So, I know I get a little preachy about this at the end, but I feel passionate that helping parents do simple things better in their lives relieves their tension, empowers them as a parent, and grandparents, and just builds a healthier happier child ready to take on the world, so there.
Kyle Gnagey: That's great. I want to thank you both for taking the time to talk us through Talking is Teaching, as well as Chelsea Clinton’s visit, and I personally am looking forward to continuing to work with both of you to you know spread this work around Wayne County and support it as best we can. And I agree in sharing your special thanks to Wayne RESA and to Starfish Family Services, and Honeybee Market, Alternatives for Girls, and Brilliant Detroit for hosting Chelsea Clinton and all of us throughout the day. And a huge, huge heartfelt thanks to the Collaborative and every member of the Collaborative for the work that you do, which includes both you, and to the Wayne RESA COSAs, and that early childhood consultant who support this work as well we couldn't do it without all of you and I just and been very inspired personally. So, thanks again.
Carmen Colón: Well, and thank you to Kyle. I am, I called Kathleen yesterday, and I said I was going through my day and I realized I missed it, missed like, I haven't talked to Kathleen because we, I mean we were talking like three days…three times a day almost and like, you know, not just 30 minutes for I felt like we were doing the call and then the extended call and I just told her, I was like, just feel like I needed to talk to you because it's been a while. And so, it just reminds me to just you know getting to work with you, too, Kyle, just a great partnerships that when we all work together, like we're just so much better together, and I know that's a cliche like saying, but it's just so true. And if we could do that in Wayne County and really link arms I just, like…look what we were able to accomplish in nine days like or whatever that was. So, if we could all just come together, I think it would be great and now we're all just best friends forever… stuck together.
Kyle Gnagey: Absolutely. Take care.
