January 2015 – Bayha Group

1989: I applied for a full-time summer job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) because my uncle was a computer scientist at JPL and encouraged me to apply. Thanks to Jan Ritchie, four of us were hired that summer to hand address VIP guest invitations and prepare packets and other materials for the big two-day Voyager/Neptune Encounter event. This was a historic encounter with the planet Neptune and its satellites by the Voyager 2 Spacecraft on August 25 and 26, 1989. It was also the BEST summer job ever.

Even though I was still in high school, my colleagues at JPL treated me as a member of the team. In reflection, I learned a lot that summer. One, I was proud to earn my own paycheck. Two, I learned the importance of showing up to work on time, how to act and dress like a professional. Three, JPL is a special place with a culture that always made me feel like I mattered to the organization (which I later learned is not true for other workplaces). Plus, it was fun and people liked working there. And I made new friends, like Jill who is still a dear friend today (see photo below) and I keep in touch with Jan and a few others from that summer.

The Encounter days were a big deal. Vice President Dan Quayle came to JPL to speak and commemorate this huge accomplishment for JPL. Entertainers like Sidney Poitier and Woody Harrelson were invited and came to the celebration. After my full-time summer job ended with the Legislative Affairs Office, my contact in human resources at JPL asked if I wanted to continue working during the school year. I said yes and she found me a part-time position working for the Mechanical Systems Division. This was my senior year of high school. Every day after school, I went to work at JPL where my job was to support the administrative staff by making copies, answering the phone, and delivering time sensitive documents across the lab. Even though, I was part-time and still in high school, my supervisor gave me regular performance reviews and we had meaningful conversations about my five-year plan. The Section Manager gave everyone a pound of See’s Candies during the holidays and I was amazed he took time to deliver one to me. After high school, I went to Pasadena City College (PCC) full-time and continued working at JPL part-time. JPL encouraged people to grow and change roles within the organization. I wanted to learn and do more so was able to find a job with the Communications group. I wrote phone orders for when JPLers needed new phones or moved to different offices. This was also during JPL’s transition from analog to digital phones and the lab was replacing answering machines with voicemail so I wrote orders for those features and helped train rocket scientists (literally) on using their new phone systems. Plus, when JPL operators took lunch breaks, I stepped in to answer calls from the general public and transferred them to the appropriate people at JPL. After one year at PCC, I transferred to attend Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and my supervisor in the Communications group let me work on weekends so I had steady income my first year at CMC.

In total, I worked at JPL for about five years. At the time, I thought of JPL as just another job. But now, I see how much working there impacted how I view the world and what I value. I took for granted at the time that JPL was a place of possibilities. The people who worked there were given the space and encouragement to do the impossible every day. I recently read an essay by the current Director of JPL, Dr. Charles Elachi and it captures the culture, spirit and ethos of JPL:

l thought about how no one at JPL cares where you’re from, what color you are, what your religion is. When we need someone to analyze spectrometer data, calculate how much heat a spacecraft will encounter from the atmosphere of a distant planet, or improve our business systems, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, or whether you were born in South America, Asia, Africa, or the United States. Your mind and your ideas — those are the things that matter. I believe this uniquely American spirit of optimism, the sense that anything is possible for anyone, is a key reason our nation is the world leader in space exploration. I’ve personally seen it, for example, as the leader of the science team working with the radar instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini is an international mission that just celebrated its 10th year of exploring Saturn and its moons, including Titan. Whenever we encounter a particularly tough issue — such as a risky flyby through the plumes shooting up from Enceladus, or flying through the gaps between Saturn’s rings — our international partners have been amazed at our optimistic spirit, our can-do attitude, our firm belief that anything is possible.

To put it in current education-ese, I had a paid summer internship at JPL in 1989 and it continued for the next five years. Yes, I made a lot of copies and did many low-skill tasks along the way. But, it made me extremely empathetic to others I’ve asked to do those same tasks. JPL also taught me about how to treat people especially when times are tough. I remember when Mars Observer was lost and there were big banners at the lab that read, “MO Phone Home.” Budgets were being slashed and some people received lay-off notices. The people I met with lay-off notices were helped by the human resources folks with reassignments to different groups and offered retraining for different jobs based on their skill sets. Because of my JPL experience, I am a big advocate of young people having access to internships or other work experiences (internships are included in a grant proposal I’m working on now). I have hired summer interns who stayed on to work well past the summers. I now understand how my ‘internship’ at JPL left lasting impressions on me and was an integral part of my life journey. That is why I love and appreciate JPL! Thanks for reading.

“Our goal is to show kids that being a professional nerd can be cool and exciting.” – Brent Bushnell, CEO and Roustabout of Two Bit Circus

I went to a meeting last month to help dream up ways to make Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math (aka STEAM) engaging, FUN, and even COOL for kids and that’s where I met Brent Bushnell. I am fired up about what he and his team at Two Bit Circus are doing with the STEAM Carnival, “circus of the future” filled with lasers, fire and robots.

“We have an opportunity to rebrand what it means to be an engineer. We can show kids that it can be awesome,” Bushnell shared with WIRED.

I am sad I missed the inaugural STEAM Carnival that happened last October 25 and 26 at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles. From what I’ve read and heard from Brent, it was an unforgettable experience. I’ll keep you posted on when the next STEAM Carnival is happening and where. I’m definitely bringing my kids (11 and 9 years old) and my proud-to-be-a-nerd husband.

If you are interested in reading more about Brent, Two Bit Circus and even his dad Nolan (founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese), check out articles: “Two Bit Circus: The Science of Fun” by Whitney Vendt in C-Suite Quarterly and “Ring Master of the Nerd Circus” by Michelle Woo in Narratively.

I’m reading Anya Kamenetz’s new book The Test: Why Our Schools areObsessed with Standardized Testing – But You Don’t Have to Be. For one, I’m interested in Anya’s perspective on the topic of testing in public schools because I have my opinions due to my work with schools, teachers, etc. Two, she’s written this book with parents as her intended audience. As a parent, I say, “Finally! We need more resources to help navigate what all the test scores actually mean for our children and the schools they attend.” Third, I’ve read, enjoyed and learned from Anya’s other two books: DIY U and Generation Debt.

Here is short description about The Test from the inside cover. When I read this, I found myself nodding in agreement and giddy to read the book. I am so excited I had to share:

Your child is more than a score. But in the last twenty years, schools have dramatically increased standardized testing, sacrificing hours of classroom time. What is the cost to students, teachers, and families? How do we preserve space for self-directed learning and development–especially when we still want all children to hit the mark?
The Test explores all sides of this problem–where these tests came from, their limitations and flaws, and ultimately what parents, teachers, and concerned citizens can do. It recounts the shocking history and tempestuous politics of testing and borrows strategies from fields as diverse as games, neuroscience, and ancient philosophy to help children cope. It presents the stories of families, teachers, and schools maneuvering within and beyond the existing educational system, playing and winning the testing game. And it offers a glimpse into a future of better tests. With an expert’s depth, a writer’s flair, and a hacker’s creativity, Anya Kamenetz has written an essential book for any parent who has wondered: what do I do with all these tests?

I am going to end tonight’s post so I can read The Test before bed. If you are also reading The Test, please let me know. I welcome your thoughts about testing in schools. Thanks!

I was lost when I got to Crescenta Valley High School as a 9th grader. My friends from junior high wanted to be popular. They soon realized hanging out with me was not going to get them there. I didn’t have any real friends, only girls I stood next to during snack and ate with during lunch so I would not feel like a loner. My grades suffered. I got my first and only D in typing (yes, typing was a class in the late 1980s) because I was chronically tardy. I was not connected to anyone at school and drifting into invisibility.

Then journalism happened my junior year. Because I thought I needed an extracurricular activity for college applications, I applied and was accepted to be part of the journalism staff. It was a yearlong class and every two weeks, we wrote all the articles and literally cut and pasted together the school newspaper. My life changed after joining journalism.

Yam (short for Ms. Yamaguchi) set high standards for good writing and she treated us like people…not teenagers. She told us stories about her life and she knew each of our stories as individuals. If there was a love crisis or family drama, we told Yam. I ate lunch in the journalism room, I stayed hours and hours after school in that room especially if we were under deadline. I was part of a team. Many classmates became good friends, and together we produced a real product every two weeks. I learned to appreciate working hard and feeling proud of what we accomplished.

Today, I am still proud of this 2-page center newspaper spread (see photo) focused on drug use prevention, a topic I chose, researched, and wrote by myself. It was the first time I conducted interviews with adults outside of school, like Brian a recovering drug addict. I interviewed Brian at his house while my mom waited outside in the car. I remember feeling nervous and scared to cold call, schedule and conduct an interview with the director of the St. Joseph Drug Rehabilitation Center for my story. These newspaper pages are from 1989 and I keep them as a reminder of feeling challenged by an assignment, facing fears, and gaining self confidence as a result.

Yam used to joke, “Everything you will ever need in life, you learned in journalism.” She was right. I don’t remember much of what I learned in high school, except for what I learned in journalism. Journalism taught me how to write under pressure and to take deadlines very seriously, a handy skill for grant and report writing for current my day job. Journalism taught me to spot spelling and grammatical errors without trying, which I used a lot as the final final proofer for when I worked on the Kentucky statewide test and Nevada High School Exit Exam at my day job with WestEd. Finally, journalism taught me to work in a team. An added bonus, I learned to cold call without fear. In writing this, I feel compelled to publicly thank Yam:

To Yam: I want to say thank you, Yam! I am deeply grateful you took a chance on a shy Asian girl and welcomed me into your journalism family. It wasn’t just producing a newspaper every two weeks that made journalism special. You created an environment where it was safe to be an awkward teenager and explore who I wanted to be. I felt safe to take risks and make mistakes because you always had my back. You stayed in the classroom everyday during lunch and after school so we always had a place to go where we felt at home. Thank you for transforming my public education experience. And most importantly, thank you for being my friend, my advocate and my mentor. I would not be who I am today without you.

Was there someone who made a difference when you were going to school? Please share in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

I was so happy to see Dan Thoene as the Judo Math Dude featured in this week’s San Diego Reader cover story. My daughter, in 6th grade, is learning math at her own pace thanks to Judo Math. She’s currently a yellow belt, but instead of actual belts – she has a rubber bracelet. When asked what she thought of Judo Math, she shared, “It is a fun way to learn math and build teamwork skills because we learn in groups. It also makes me feel accomplished when I pass a level in Judo Math.”

Below are key points about what is Judo Math (from their website) and what makes it noteworthy as an edtransformer:

Judo Math incorporates Judo–a form a martial arts that focuses on cooperation and working for mutual welfare. Because Judo preaches working for mutual welfare, students work with other members of their belt class to help each other advance through their belts.
Everyone starts each discipline as a white belt. They progress through each level to earn the next belt: white to yellow, then orange, blue, and finally black. Every student becomes a Black Belt in each discipline, signifying mastery of that area.It is the goal of the entire class to help everyone progress to a black belt.
Then once a student becomes a black belt, they are partnered up with another student to become their personal tutor, helping them progress through the belts. For those students with a faster pace, there is a sensei belt that can be achieved by moving past the required curriculum. They work towards becoming a Sensei, receiving a green belt. The students that reach this status become extra teachers in the classroom, running lessons on topics and helping out the most people that they can.
Moving from one level to the next is celebrated as an achievement with the presentation of belts, where each student who advanced is called up in front of the class to receive their new belt while others recognize the achievement with applause.
When the entire class finally reaches the black belt level in any discipline, there is a huge community celebration of their accomplishments, and the process starts over with the next discipline.
Judo Math motivates all students to take responsibility. There are no ability groups, just pacing groups. By the end of each discipline, everyone is a black belt rank, reinforcing the unity of the class. There is a sense of pride when moving from one belt to another.
The students’ confidence level increases throughout the year due to the marking of their achievements. Because the ultimate goal of Judo is to develop oneself to the fullest extent possible, the hope is that all students will develop this way of thinking throughout the school year, and apply it not only to math but other areas of life.

I like the tagline for Judo Math, “It’s not what you teach, it’s how you teach it.” Judo Math is not about bracelets or packets of math, it is about relationships or relationship-based learning and building a culture where learning is FUN. Judo Math allows students to learn math at their own pace. From my daughter’s experience in Judo Math, her teachers create a positive classroom environment where students build relationships with one another and with their teachers. Before going to middle school, my daughter did not feel she was good in math. Now after being in Judo Math for a semester, she likes math and sees she can master it.

I personally would love to see more students learning Judo Math instead of from traditional textbooks. How can we share Judo Math and get it into more classrooms? I welcome your thoughts and ideas. Thanks for reading!

It is almost midnight on January 1, 2015. For fun and to challenge myself, I set the intention for 2015 to write a new post as often as my schedule allows about individuals, schools, groups, communities, companies who contribute to transforming public education. These are the REAL edtransformers and I want to share them with you.

The goal is to change the conversation about public education and focus on what is making a difference for students both young and adults so they are excited to learn and gain the skills to pursue and achieve their life goals and aspirations.

As an education researcher for a nonprofit the past 20 years, I have also been a grant writer, standardized test developer, and author of reports to state policymakers along the way. My favorite part of my day job is visiting schools and listening to students, educators and others about what is working or needs improvement from their perspective in public education. And I’m mom to a 6th and 4th grader attending public charter schools.

I hope you will join me as I publicly commit to daily musings about what is transforming public education in positive ways.

Happy New Year! I’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

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