She was sitting at the back of the Spinnaker Room at the Waterfront Hotel, in Oakland, California, observing, making notes, and perhaps contemplating the journey ahead.
Today, a team of educators would visit her campus (she would join a different team) to observe learners’ growth and development through the student-centered assessment, called the Warrior Intellectual Portfolio Defense. These student-centered assessments focus on the ways youth shine throughout their high-school career. Students reflect and present select artifacts from their careers that coincide with how they see themselves. Via essential questions, core values, the 5 C’s (critical thinking, critical consciousness, communication, collaboration, and community transformation), and future plans and goals, youth present with alacrity and auspiciousness to an audience of their peers and instructors their personal work and accomplishments.
When we arrived at the ARISE campus, I immediately observed the open, outdoor courtyard that led to an open, outdoor staircase. That staircase arose out of the center of the courtyard, leading to the main entrance of the school. Students were everywhere, no obvious dress codes, no apparent restrictions.
Upon entering the building, I immediately observed that the front office counters had no vacant space as students sat on them, chatting, unmoved by our presence, there and gone, now and then, like poured Coca-Cola softly overflows then recedes without a trace. The walls were filled too! Masses of student-project wall art peaked everywhere. This wall art was the only standard decor. Little blank space was left, and so the story goes: Students are the focus. Assessments are fun. Achievement, expected. All, are displayed.
What struck me the most about this entire two-day learning event:
Oakland
Lilis/Lilys/lilies were in bloom.
She was sitting at the back of the Spinnaker Room at the Waterfront Hotel, in Oakland, California, observing, making notes, and perhaps contemplating the journey ahead. We struck up a conversation about who we were, where we were from, and why we came. Lili was from Oakland. Lili had been a teacher at ARISE for 13 years. Lili’s curly dark hair framed her animated face, and her vibrant personality reminded me of the power of youth – the power of youthful educators.
Later, after the convening, I thought about the eponymous nature of her name and the way her personality matched the vibrant genus, lily.
Although vivid and soft, the sun and its rays, the soil and its minerals, make the genus lily strong. The delicate nature of the lily’s petals disguise its powerful buoyancy in wind and rain. Lili reminded me how connected our names are to our identity. Simply put: Lili is a lily. This Oakland Lili is a treasure!
One might mis-take Lili …
Don’t!
“I love to argue! I love to fight!” These were some of the first words I recall Lili uttering.
What struck me the most about this Lili was her stark honesty. She believes in justice and dedication. She believes in her students and tells them the truth. She won’t sugar coat it if the work isn’t sweet. She holds her students accountable to themselves. She’s accountable to them, too.
And so, her story goes: Lili guides with strength, her calm tone leading learners to answer complex questions about personal identity and culture – about trauma and triumph – about academic struggles and success.
These were the last words I recall Lili telling me: “Perhaps I should go to a tougher school. I‘ve been at ARISE my entire career. ARISE fights for its students! Maybe I need to go to a school where I can fight! Fight for those who have nobody fighting for them!”
What struck me about this allusion: Every student needs a Lili and the powerful yet gentle nature of her genius. Lili is perfectly poised like the genus lily. It lies between family and species in the animal kingdom’s taxonomy. Lili resides in that third space between two aspects of youth development and community participation. She is an educator and a learner; she is a fighter and an advocate. Like the genus lily, she appears integral to the nature of the ARISE ecosystem.
Stay, Lili!
Sway … Lili
… just a bit longer in the Oakland Bay wind, Lili!
Storyteller
Teresa Marie Sena
Teacher Effectiveness Coach
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy & Instruction
Teresa Marie Sena is an English language and literature studies educator and former Associated Press (AP) newswoman. She began her career in Denver, Colorado with Denver Public Schools. She believes that to disrupt social injustice we must provide opportunities for youth to engage in student-led learning opportunities and alternative assessment practices such as YPAR (youth participatory action research) that gives students voice and empowers them to take action and to incorporate music, art, science, math, and history into their daily learning events through a cognitive science approach to learning that focuses on critical consciousness and social-emotional learning. Currently, in her role as a Teacher Effectiveness Coach for Tucson Unified School District, Sena supports teachers in their development as culturally responsive practitioners in Tucson, Arizona where she has lived for the past seven years.
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