S05E09 - Using Storytelling to Foster Trust and Community Support | Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross, Ypsilanti Community Schools

In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross, Superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan. She has decades of experience at public K-12 and charter schools of all sizes, including serving as Superintendent for Okemos Public Schools and for the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System. She is a sought-after professional speaker, educational consultant, and leadership development coach as well as a church pastor.

Some Questions We Ask:

• Can you tell us more about your career and your current role? (01:23)
• What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? (02:10)
• What can you say about the RAND research, and how you are able to cope with stress? (03:03)
• How do you think scrutiny of the superintendency has changed over the years? (04:32)
• How do you unify people to build community within your school district? (05:32)
• How much do you think your experiences align with those of superintendents in your state or across the country? (07:11)
• How are you sharing stories to bring people together? (08:33)
• What advice can you give to other superintendents with regards to cultivating engagement? (10:34)
• What makes people forget that superintendents are real people, and how can we demonstrate that you are solving challenging issues to give K-12 students the best education possible? (12:35)
• How can a community advocate for superintendents? (14:06)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• All about Dr. Zachery-Ross’ educational career (01:31)
• Rewarding aspects throughout her career (02:19)
• Her take on coping with stress (03:26)
• Scrutiny of the superintendency through the years (04:54)
• Unifying the community (05:47)
• Her personal experiences as a superintendent compared with others’ (07:26)
• Sharing stories to unify people (08:50)
• Dr. Zachery-Ross’ advice to other school leaders (10:49)
• Treating superintendents as individuals and not robots (12:55)
• Advocating for superintendents (14:44)

Quotes:

“During my time as superintendent in two different districts, I've been able to take students to Ghana, Africa, on educational journeys, and watching them has been the best joy. It's been life-changing for those groups of students. It was phenomenal to see them return as transformed people and as transformed learners.”

“We all want to make a difference in our students’ lives. We all want to see academic growth. We all want to support our staff and families and make an impact on our community.”

“A smile goes a long way—and it's up to us to be personal. It's up to us to make that connection.”

Stay in touch with Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross:

Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross Website

Ypsilanti Community Schools Website

LinkedIn

Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn

Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn

About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Sarah, hello and welcome to Build Momentum for Education, a Podcast where we explore thought leadership and education. I'm Sarah Williamson, the founder of SWPR Group, an agency that supports public relations, communication strategies and thought leadership support for school districts, education companies and nonprofit organizations,

Chad Bolser: 0:23

and I'm Chad Bolser. Chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana. This season, we explore a particularly unique perspective in K 12 thought leadership, humanizing the role of the superintendent.

Sarah Williamson: 0:36

Throughout the many conversations we continue to have with superintendents, a clear theme has emerged about the need to bring more humanity into the role of the superintendency. In this special series, we interview current and former superintendents and researchers to pursue the core question, how can we better see superintendents as real people navigating complex challenges to provide the best possible education for K 12 students?

Chad Bolser: 0:58

We dig deeper into how this important work can help build community, invite collaboration and increase widespread engagement.

Sarah Williamson: 1:08

We can't wait to get started, so let's dive in. We're so lucky today to have Dr Alina Zachary Ross on the show with us. Welcome Alina. We're happy to have you.

Alena Zachery-Ross: 1:20

Thank you for having me. I'm just so honored to be a guest. Great. So will you start by telling us about your career in education and your role as a superintendent at Ypsilanti community schools? Yes, you know, it's just been such a pleasure to be an educator in the Michigan Public Schools for 29 years. I've been in education since 1995 and just privileged to be able to work across the entire state of Michigan, from the east side of the state to the west side. And I served in lots of roles, from the classroom to school psychologists, elementary, middle and high school principal, assistant superintendent, and then fortunate enough to be the superintendent in three different districts in a superintendent for over 13 years. So it's been a pleasure.

Chad Bolser: 2:09

So what have you found to be the most rewarding aspect of serving as superintendent, and what has brought you the most joy?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 2:19

Well, you know, it's just so rewarding. And I know most educators talk about this, but seeing my students just grow into just prosperous individuals throughout through their self discovery. During my time as superintendent in two different districts, I've been able to take students to Ghana, Africa on educational journeys, and watching them, that has been the best joy. It's been life changing for those groups of students. It was phenomenal to see them return as transformed people and as transformed learners. And just the opportunity to support scholars in that way just has been the most rewarding part of my superintendency.

Sarah Williamson: 3:04

That's incredible. So you know about this study that came out in 2023 in the RAND researchers, they found that district leaders have one of the most stressful jobs in America, and they cited the intrusion of political issues and opinions as a source of that stress. What do you think about this research, and how are you able to cope with stress in your role as a superintendent?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 3:26

You know, I agree this is one of the most That's really great. And as we think about it, and as we've stressful jobs. We are just inundated with so many political issues that come into our school district and that impact our students, staff and families alike. And you know, I find myself surrounding being in environments and surrounding myself with trusted colleagues in my district and outside the district and like roles across the country. That's why I'm a member of IEI, and I'm able to just be able to call my colleagues talk about my real emotions, because oftentimes people don't see your real emotions, but I'm able to talk to them honestly, and they give me opportunities to strategize and navigate through these stressful times. And then once I'm able to connect with them, I find that it's a lot less stressful, and I'm able to make great decisions that impact how the political atmosphere will or will not come into our district. engaged with superintendents throughout this series, I think we've been struck by how difficult the job is, and not that we don't know that. I think we know it from just our view. But how do you think the scrutiny of the superintendency has changed over the past few years? Oh, wow. The scrutiny has certainly increased with the heightened political atmosphere, as well as the heightened use of social media. They used to always talk about, we're living in a fish bowl, but it's become even more of a challenge because of those reasons, and I see people now being very verbal about what they think the role of the superintendent is, what they want in terms of policy and so more and more this scrutiny comes up in newspapers, on the media and certainly within our communities.

Sarah Williamson: 5:32

Yeah, and how are you, Alina, how are you working to help build community within your school district? I mean, how are you working to help bring people together, even when you may have high conflict situations or contentious situations, are you able to unify them in a positive way?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 5:47

Oh, my goodness, you know, I think that is one of those pieces about the superintendency that we have to have knowledge of how to do this under our belts to be successful. For me, I attend as many community events as possible. We host, even in the event of conflict, we had a safety issue that last month, we hosted a town hall. We brought them in for systems training with our law enforcement. We have opportunities for open house. We have something called a face conference, the family and community empowerment conference, where we learn together, just like with that safety incident, we had an Alice training for the community, and we went to the training with them. And then I think for me, the biggest thing that has really helped me to bring the district together is something we call boots on the ground. We go out and visit throughout the spring and summer to parks and other places where our community is already located. We pass out information about the district, and we listen and learn from them, and then we bring things that will galvanize them to participate, like ice cream. We might bring a DJ, so that it's fun, but there's also an opportunity to be right where they are, so we can let them know that we see them, hear them, value them and respect them.

Chad Bolser: 7:11

We know that every superintendent is unique and every district is unique, but how representative do you think your own experiences are compared to other superintendents in your local area, the state, maybe even nationally.

Alena Zachery-Ross: 7:26

Well, you use the word unique, and I definitely feel like my experience has been unique because of who I am as an African American female superintendent, especially serving for 13 years. Typically, I see women, especially women of color. They serve a very short time periods, usually three years or less. And so I find myself in most spaces, the only person like me, yet, I gotta say, I think similarly are the challenges that superintendents face. We all want to make a difference in our students lives. We all want to see academic growth. We all want to support our staff and families and make an impact on our community. It's a tall task when we're faced with so much with the political pieces of do we have flags? Do we you know, what books do we have in our libraries? How the teacher shortage and so all of those things seem to be similar, no matter who the superintendent is or where they live.

Sarah Williamson: 8:33

Yeah. And how are you using storytelling? Alina, I know you have so much to say. You shared your story on a national level, I see you speak. You're so passionate, you're great speaker. How are you telling your story, particularly with your community, or telling the stories of your students to bring people together?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 8:50

Yeah, you know, talking about students, we try to do so much by putting things number one on social media. We know that our parents are on social media. Our parents really use that sometimes as their news. So we engage in social media. We also really go out to our community and are involved in groups, like talking to the Kiwanis Club, talking to the rotary clubs. We make sure that my board and I just presented at the State Conference, as well as the cube conference in Las Vegas, because we know we've got to go outside of the community and tell people about its Atlantic community schools. And so we go and we speak. I go to speak at our local churches, because that's where our students are, and that's where our families are, and they have a trusted environment, and so going to those places, also sitting back and serving on boards and being on advisory committees, it forced me the opportunity to contribute, but also learn from others, and they all allow me to connect in a broad way. And it seems. Like our families, as long as we go to them, to our community, they really are more receptive when we engage with them in multiple ways, not just the typical school district events.

Sarah Williamson: 10:14

Yeah, that's such a good point. Alena, I think that it's easy to think, well, you know, we shared that on social media, or we put that on our newsletter, but parents, particularly that are busy that are I mean, I have a hard time reading our newsletter and keeping up with it. I do communications in PR, so I think you just have to hit people over the head with it over and over. So nicely done.

Chad Bolser: 10:34

And you certainly seem like you have a plan and have figured kind of that out. But what advice do you give to other superintendents who are struggling to cultivate engagement with divisive communities?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 10:49

Yeah, you know, my advice is to be open. Those are people and the communities you've got to reach out to. So if there's events in those areas of the community and which you're hoping to connect to, they should reach out to the organizer, express an interest in coming to or participating in the event. They also might want to go and talk to that group and ask if they can partner with them to host an event with them, so that they can bring their members to participate and get to hear about what it is that they are concerned about, and how is it that you can connect around a common thing? And I know this might sound simple, and it seems without to go without saying, but truly smiling, even when those persons like we know that they are saying negative things, perhaps, or being divisive. A smile goes a long way, and it's up to us to be personal. It's up to us to make that connection, because ultimately, most of us are serving the same folks is that student, and if we keep that student in the center, then we have to decide to figure out how to make that be the common thread, and what's best for that student is always the answer.

Sarah Williamson: 12:09

That's such a good response. I appreciate that. Alena, so one of the reasons we did this podcast series, we were interviewing different superintendents, including yourself, for a book in defense of the superintendency. And one thing that kept coming up throughout those conversations is we're not robots. People need to remember we're human beings, and we are often doing our best. Very often we're working harder than anyone else to try to support our students. How important is? Is it? Do you think that our communities, parents, families, even students, see superintendents as human beings. How do we illuminate the humanity of this role, and why do you think it's important for them to really understand that you're navigating complex challenges to provide the best education for K 12 students?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 12:55

Yeah, I think that it's important that they see us as humans. Number one is because they put their full trust in us and the decisions that we have to make every single day. And so I think that if the community sees us as a human person, just a person, a human, just like they are, they will understand that we are trying to look out for their child, their best commodity, the number one thing that they care and love for. And so we talk a lot in my district about presuming positive intentions, and we bring that to our parents, and when they can trust us, they then connect with us. They then allow their child to have less anxiety about school, they then help us to understand how their student learns and best and in what environments are best for them. And so when they contribute, it makes for a great learning environment. So the more they know us on a personal level and have trust in us, I think they also bring their very best, and we can work collaboratively to support the student.

Chad Bolser: 14:06

That's such a good answer, I almost don't want to ask a follow up question, because that kind of was a mic drop moment for me. But we, you know, as community college folks and as a parent myself, I want to advocate for the superintendency, I want to be supported. How can we do that as community members and parents and folks who really want to see our school systems do well, and we want our superintendents to be long lasting and really great leaders. How do we go about being good advocates and supporting your positions.

Alena Zachery-Ross: 14:44

You know, I think by really just being involved in their child's education, and if they have children in school, secondly, saying positive things about their school district. There's so many events that people are. 10, there's so many games that they come to. There's even simply that their child was transported home every day safely for an entire school year. There's so many great stories, yet we hear that one negative one, that one decision that that someone didn't agree with there on social media. And so if we spread the Good News and contribute to the message that our K 12 districts are doing well, it's helpful. And then if the superintendent asks for people to give advice, to be on committees, join that committee. Do whatever it is that you can, if it's not something large, if you don't have a lot of time, that's okay. Just that little bit of support just reaffirms and reignites us as superintendents, because again, as you talked about earlier, we're just simply people, and people want to be seen and valued, and it's just the little things. It doesn't take a huge amount, but those little things do matter.

Chad Bolser: 16:00

Oh no. I was questioning whether I should jump on the strategic planning committee for my local K 12, and I was hesitating a little bit, and now I feel a sense of guilt, and I'm going to make sure and get there you have changed the course of my next couple of weeks.

Sarah Williamson: 16:18

Nice work. Alna, I love it. So this has been a really wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for your time. Where can our listeners hear more about you or connect with you or learn more about you?

Alena Zachery-Ross: 16:30

Well, thank you again for having me. It's just been such a pleasure. They can come go on our Schools website, ycschools.us They can see me at azr leads, or alenazacheryross.com I'm just so grateful to be able to share and contribute, and I just enjoy serving as a superintendent. I know people hear about education and wonder, Where is education going? I want people to know you're in good hands. There's some great superintendents all over this nation, and they love their students and they love their staff and community. And so thank you for being an advocate for public education and for our educators across this nation.

Chad Bolser: 17:14

Thanks for tuning into the Build Momentum for Education podcast. If you enjoyed listening today, we would love to hear your feedback, and we'd be grateful if you could leave us a review.

Sarah Williamson: 17:25

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