Build Momentum for Education - K-12 Superintendent Series

S05E12 - Leading with Vision and Vulnerability: What Schools Really Need | Dr. Buddy Berry, Eminence Independent Schools

• Sarah Williamson and Chad Bolser • Season 5 • Episode 12

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In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Dr. Buddy Berry, the superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Kentucky. He founded the innovative model “School on FIRE” (Framework of Innovation for Reinventing Education). He was recognized by the Obama Administration as one of the top 100 School Superintendents in America for his district’s implementation of digital learning and invited to the ConnectED Superintendents Summit at the White House. 

Some Questions We Ask:

  • Please tell us about your career as a superintendent. (01:13)
  • What is the most rewarding aspect of being a superintendent? (04:53)
  • What can you say about the 2023 RAND study and how do you cope with the stress your career brings? (06:06)
  • How has scrutiny of the superintendency changed over the years? (07:41)
  • Do your experiences represent other school administrators' experiences across the nation? (09:21)
  • How do you bring the community to see your vision? (11:02)
  • What are the core values or core metrics that you focused on to change the community’s view of the education system? (16:52)
  • What is your advice to other district leaders for building a community? (23:55)
  • What is your take on humanizing the role of superintendents and how can the community benefit from it? (26:48)
  • What advice can you give supporters of K-12 education about advocating for district leaders? (28:45)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • About Dr. Buddy Berry (01:39)
  • Rewarding aspects of being a superintendent (05:02)
  • His take on the 2023 RAND Study and coping with stress (06:33)
  • Scrutiny of the superintendency (07:46)
  • Comparison of his personal experiences to other administrators’ (09:30)
  • Building a community with one vision (11:17)
  • Establishing core values across a district  (17:24)
  • Advice for district leaders (24:18)
  • Humanizing the role of superintendents (26:56)
  • Advice to those advocating for superintendents and district leaders (29:13)

Quotes:

“Enrollment has doubled in the last decade. Test scores have gone from the eighth percentile to hovering around the 80s. We started the first early college high school program in Kentucky that's on a college campus. … We've had 500 kids go through that program, and 498 have earned a degree or are college right now. Crazy results from a population that's, you know, 70% free and reduced lunch, 18% homeless, and the vast majority first-generation college.”

“I'm a big believer that your teachers live in the community. They're the people that are mostly talking to everybody at the grocery. And so if you can win your teachers over to your vision and your thinking and what you're doing, they'll sell it for you.”

“You can't win everybody over in one day. So it's about that consistency and that transparency and just being real to them—that I think eventually does win everybody over.”

Stay in touch with Dr. Buddy Berry:
School on F.I.R.E
School on Fire Innovating Instruction 

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

Sarah Williamson:

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:

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:

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:

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

Sarah Williamson:

We can't wait to get started. So let's dive in.

Chad Bolser:

We're here on our next episode of Build Momentum for Education with Dr. Buddy Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent schools in Kentucky, and so we're thrilled to have you here, and we'll start off the podcast with telling us a little bit about your career as a superintendent and your work to reinvent education through your school is on fire initiative.

Dr. Buddy Berry:

Yeah, no, it's so as hard as it is to believe 15 years as a superintendent, which are dog years, right? And so, you know, it's been a fun ride. I had hair when we started, so that was, you know, that's something. And so, yeah, I was the youngest superintendent in Kentucky, I guess maybe ever. Our district was going through some tough times. We had had six superintendents in the five years preceding my hiring. And so I was from here. I was teaching here, and so I basically went from high school math teacher to Superintendent, which was not a career path that I had ever anticipated. It did want to be in leadership at some point, but really thought principal was kind of the goal, but they were desperate, and I was passionate. I wouldn't have hired me to be the football coach, let alone the superintendent. And so, but they gave me a shot. And so then once I got in here, you know, it was that I have no formal admin experience, so none. I mean, I had been a guidance counselor for two years, which was enough to justify them giving me my license. And so, you know what I'll say is, is we said, why not create the school that you could dream up rather than you know what it is now, and so I didn't realize it at the time, but we had taken on really a transformative change, as opposed to an incremental change, because I didn't know any better. So I truly wonder that, if I'd started this job 15 years later, like right now, would I have ever done the things that I did then, out of naivety, right? Like out of passion. And so we did so we just said, we're going to start a brand new model. We want to create the school that we want to send our kids to. And so we thought it needed an identity bigger than just saying, hey, school is going to be better. So we call it the School on FIRE, the Framework of Innovation for Reinventing Education. And really it's kind of our back symbol, right? Like it's our beacon call. And so we were the first district in Kentucky to go one to 1k 12. We invented the Wi Fi school bus. We want learning to be totally personalized, tech integrated, you know? We also want to be the disney world of education. We want to make school so much fun that kids don't want to go home at the end of the day, and so that's been the journey that we've been on. Seen tremendous results. Enrollment has doubled in the last decade. Test scores have gone from the eighth percentile to hovering around the 80s. We started the first early college high school program in Kentucky that's on the college campus. And so every kid at Eminence, regardless of a CT, has a chance of earning 50 hours of college from a prestigious Catholic institution. And so we've had 500 kids go through that program, and 498 so have earned a degree or in college right now. So crazy results from a population that's, you know, 70% free and reduced lunch, 18% homeless, and the vast majority first generation college. So again, I mean, I threw a lot at you, but I mean, it's been a fun ride, right? So it's 15 years feels like yesterday.

Sarah Williamson:

That is so impressive. You're making so much progress, and you've also been recognized as one of the top 100 school superintendents in the country, and you were invited to the White House twice to share your work, right? What is this?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

By the way, it was at least one of the Presidents you all would have liked, right? Like, so it was for two people. Everybody in America had to have like one of them. So, I mean,

Sarah Williamson:

That's funny. What have you found to be the most rewarding aspects of serving as a school district superintendent? Sounds like there's many things. But if you had to narrow them down,

Dr. Buddy Berry:

I definitely have one thing that I didn't even realize, like was inside of me necessarily, like, you know, upon reflection, you see it, I realized that my drug is fixing things that are broken. So I have a passion for finding things that like a tinkerer, right? Like something's not running as efficiently or as you know, and I like problem solving. I like fixing broken stuff or making things better. And so the thing about the superintendency that I think is the reason why it's like I was born to do it, and I love it, like I couldn't imagine another job. And I miss teaching, but it's a position where you have enough authority to fix anything you run into, right? Like there's nothing that you can run into that you don't have the ability or the authority to tackle. And so, you know, even principals, which I think is the hardest job on Earth, they're still mid management in a way, like, if they have a vision for transforming their school, and they don't have the support of the superintendent, they really can't do it, right? So again, I think that's probably the thing that has stood out the most for me.

Chad Bolser:

Well, you just referenced the principle and that it's a tough job. And so one of our questions that we've been asking throughout this series, a 2023 RAND study found that superintendents have one of the most stressful jobs in America. So we've been asking all of the superintendents who join us their thoughts about these findings. Do you feel like this rings true for you? How have you been able to cope with the stress that your role as a superintendent brings?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

I definitely think it's probably one of the most stress filled jobs that you could ever find. You know, there's worse things, right? Like, I couldn't imagine a doctor where every day it's, you know, you're holding somebody's life in their hands, right? But that's sort of how I view this job, right? Is that every decision we make affects the life of every kid that's in our building, right? And so the very thing that makes it so attractive to me, like you have the authority to fix things that are broken also means that basically, everything that ever is wrong is your fault. I mean from sidewalks, and again, I'm in a small district, but like from just in the last 24 hours, from a classroom not being warm enough, from a sidewalk not being shoveled, from a teacher making a bad decision and maybe not doing the most positive stance to a kid that's being disrupted, right? Like all of that ultimately, is your fault, or at least it is on Facebook and so, you know, but it does the same thing that gives you the good of being able to fix stuff is the very thing that you get blank for everything, kind of, especially when you're from this town in this area and, you know, in so, I don't know if that makes sense, but yes, I think it's a highly stressful job.

Sarah Williamson:

How do you think that's changed over the last few years? Has the scrutiny increased? Do you think?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

No doubt, like, I mean, absolutely post COVID even. I mean, I really think it started with the masking mandates that led to some of the discussions with DEI, which then led to, you know, like the future of what school looks even a virtual instruction, you know, when it's cold weather, which then triggers a lot of people from the response to being at home for six months during COVID. Hey, you know? And yes, so we would go years with nobody at a board meeting, right? And so, but since 2020 I haven't had a board meeting without the community there. Now I view it as a positive, because we're very transparent, and so having people there allows them to see that authentic discussions are going on and things aren't just being ramrod through, and the board is being thoughtful in their considerations. And so I really view the public increasing their awareness and scrutiny, as you put it, like at our meetings, and being involved, for me as a guy that I feel like is making the best. Have I made mistakes? Yes, but I've never made one intentionally, right like so I think that they see the integrity behind the decisions more. So I think actually, the increased scrutiny has actually led to an even better like standing in the community because of the transparency in which we've operated, which for me, I mean, again, it's not fun to have that scrutiny, but it's easier to not have it right. But I think the scrutiny has really allowed everybody to say, you know, they're doing the best they can. That doesn't mean they always agree with this, but they also know that it's not just a rubber stamp decision, and there is thoughtfulness going behind them.

Chad Bolser:

How representative do you think your own experiences are compared to other school administrators in your area, in your state, and even across the nation?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

You mean in terms of that scrutiny, or just in terms of the general role of,

Chad Bolser:

Yeah, I think the general overall role,

Dr. Buddy Berry:

You know, I've had the privilege of doing a ton of consulting work, and the job is similar everywhere, right? And again, that's true for big districts. It's true for little districts. Like there is the scrutiny, the level of you know, being having the spotlight shine on you for every decision. That's true everywhere, the headaches, the like, it's still a people centered business and people. Aren't perfect. And so you know, you're dealing with the same headaches. I think that the headaches look differently depending on the size of the district. So like here, if somebody's cussing you out, you might have to sit with them at church, right? And so that, you know, in a small community, you know the names of the people that are upset, right? And if you're at a large district, you have a bigger scale of issues, but at the same time, you have a bigger team. Those are also not always names with faces, right? Like it's just they're mad at me. You know, we're big in basketball in Kentucky, and so the last couple years with Coach Cal, I feel like, you know, he is one of the biggest spotlights in the world to be the head basketball coach at UK, but you know, he really didn't feel it because he didn't know the names of the fans, like it was just the fans, right? And so really, I don't think it bothered him as bad, because it's not like being in a high school coaching role where you see the people that are yelling at you and you know exactly who they are, right? So again, I think all of that changes the problems and what you face, but at the same time, there are similar problems everywhere.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah. So I'm curious about beyond the problems, how do you, this is really proactively combating the problems is thinking about how you bring people together to see your vision for the district, or even working collaboratively to build that vision together. How do you do that?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

I'll be honest. That is, you can't. You know, we've been known for innovation and really pushing the envelope about what the future of schools are, but you can't do any of that without the right culture, right and so it really comes to building a team that is all driving for the same goals. And so we've done that. You know, it looks differently at the school level versus the community level. At the school level, I think it's crucial to as you have openings, is to hire the right people, right, like and so we do dispositional hiring, right? We're looking at hiring people that are flexible and creative and they're passionate and they love kids, right? And so our interviews look very differently than other interviews from other districts. I honestly could care less about their pedagogy. I can make them a great teacher via training. I cannot make them flexible and liking kids and believe that all kids can learn at high levels. And so I need to find that person, and then I'll give them the strategies that I need in order to make them the best version of themselves that they can be, and then also selling that vision of where you're going and where you're heading, and making it so clear, I've never had to fire a person ever because of the fact that the vision was so clear. They either saw that they could be a part of that vision, or they said, You know what? You know, I like you. We can shake hands and be friends, but this isn't the vision for me. But then setting that clear vision also allowed people to say, I want to be a part of that, right? So now there's this opening, well, I've heard about what Eminence is doing. I believe in that. And so they come over. We call it polar bears, and penguins, the polar bears kind of being the ones that aren't as motivated, and the penguins, you know, willing to do whatever. And the one thing that I've realized is is penguins are friends with penguins. And so if you hire penguins. They will tell their penguin friends from wherever they've come from. Hey, this place is awesome. They're pro teacher. They believe in us, they believe in kids, and then they find other penguins. And so we've, you know, it didn't happen overnight, but, I mean, we even like actually name and claim polar bears and penguins. And so when I was first here, we were probably in the low 90 percentile polar bears. And now I would argue we are about 6% polar bears, right? And again, that may not sound, you know, impressive, but I mean, the polar bears are those culture killers, right, like, and so you say, Well, why do you have 6% because there's a teacher shortage. And so now, you know, there is, right? And so, like, you might have to hire a couple of polar bears and really try to surround them with penguins, to try to minimize the impact of the culture, but, you know, and again, that's just a reality. As far as the community, it's for me, I am a storyteller. So it is, and again, it's not stories, it's testimonies, right? Like, I'm a huge believer in being able to share the testimonies of the change lives, because that's what we're out to do, right? Like we're in it to set kids on a course for a future that they could have only dreamed about. And so I've got 100 testimonies. If you were to schedule a five hour call with me, I could stay on the call for the whole five hours telling you testimonies of kids and the difference that Eminence schools made in their lives, and that's something that's irrefutable, right? Like, that's not a test score. That's not saying we didn't go, Okay, we went down 10% in seventh grade English proficiency this year. Well, let me tell you about 25 kids that this year did blank, right? Let me tell you about these kids like, right this second, I've got a 25 year old that was Aaron Rogers agent out of a town of 1800 before he was 25 years old. And again, he used our model, our principles, to do that, and will give us credit for that, of how to sell himself, of how to be professional, of how to think differently, of how to approach. Colleges, and he would give us 100% credit for shaping him into being in a position to be at now he's 32 and he's the number one NFL agent in America, and he came from Eminence, town of 1800 right? And so that's one story. I've got kids building bridges in San Diego, first one to graduate from Princeton, from an Ivy League University. I've got another kid, first generation college student, African American female, and she's a NASA astrophysicist, right, that went to MIT and has a doctorate from MIT, and that's, she's only 34 years old, I mean. And again, part of this model, one of our early graduates, I mean, those are the things that you can't refute, right, like, and again, we've got another kid that texts me literally about every day, and he's 32 but he went graduated high school, probably an IQ of about a 45 He's held two jobs, he works at McDonald's, and he's a dishwasher at a restaurant. He's got his own apartment, he's got his own car. And again, I'm as proud of that young man as I am the kid that is the NFL agent, right? Like and so it's, again, it's giving them these life skills to be successful. I think Eminence is strength is we've changed the metric of what success looks like in our town. So our town, when the test scores come out, I don't even know if people read them anymore. And when I first got hired here, when the test scores came out, I would have 15 people in my office for the next five days that were griping about like third grade reading proficiency. And again, 20, 10, 11, was high stakes accountability, as high as it gets, but that was my week right now, the test scores come out. I don't know if people read them, because the thing that they're looking at, how many kids are going on to college? What is the percentage of cleaning? How many are getting a trade or a career that they're earning, and then how are they being successful post secondary completion, right? And so we've changed the real metric of what it means to be successful in the public system.

Chad Bolser:

So what's interesting is the very next question that we thought about is about storytelling, which seems so inadequate for you in particular as you tell story after story. So I'm going to adjust that a little bit and say, if you were going to like, what do you think those core values or core metrics that you focused on in your district that allows for you to have all of those things where you can literally change a community's view of the educational system?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

The best thing that we've done. And again, it's not what we did first, but it's what I would do first if I ever had to start over, right? Like if I went to a new district, which I hope they'll give me my last contract on Monday and I can retire from Eminence. But if they don't and I have to start over, I will say that we created a grad profile back in 2011 which was everything else right, like it was the, you know, we still believe in, you have to be proficient in Math, English, Science, inaudible. We care about it. We teach it hard every day. But like we think kids also need to be able to work well with others and show empathy and persevere through tough times. And, you know, have high SEL and so, like, how do you teach that, along with English, Math, Science, inaudible. We had a grad profile. We were one of the first 2% of adopters of a grad profile in America. That's great. After about a year, we realized that, hold it, this isn't enough. And so, you know, I went in one of the polar bear classrooms, and they said, Come watch the lesson. You're going to love it. And it was, she said, this is world class collaboration, right? And again, she was coming from a good place, like I say, at polar bear, but like she was letting me into her room. She was taking a risk, right? It was two kids working on the same worksheet, and in her mind, this was the first time anybody had ever collaborated in her classroom in 25 years, right? And so for her, it was like, she was proud, right? And so I didn't bash it, I didn't but then I realized, like, I got a problem. And the problem is we have to define what world class collaboration looks like, because it looks differently for everybody, right? Think about Disney. When Disney is animating a caricature, right? There's 30 artists that will be making that same caricature, right? And so then there is no artistic freedom. You say, This is what Mickey Mouse looks like. And you say, here's the parameters in drawing him. And so then that way all 30 artists draw Mickey the same way. Is it a creative industry? Sure it is. You're animating for Disney. But even in the most creative industry on Earth, you have guidelines and parameters to make sure that the product is replicable everywhere, right? And so what we did was we created the first set of standards to go with the grad profile in America. So we said, in kindergarten, you're going to do these standards to measure those outcomes. And so we said, this is what world class collaboration looks like for a five year old. This is what and again, was it perfect? No, because nobody was doing it. But after 15 years, it's gotten pretty good, and we've gotten it to where, you know, with just a few standards, you can ensure that high quality collaborations occurring. Perseverance, you know, how do you give because people gripe all the time. Teachers want to gripe. Educators want to gripe. Adults want to gripe. Kids give up. Too easy, right? Like there's no. Grit to them. Okay, well, then how do you teach perseverance? You give them the opportunity to persevere. So then you go and you say, well, we're going to have this hard project, and it's going to, you know, and it makes it tougher, and you do it all the way through. So like in kindergarten at Eminence, you have to go and speak to 100 people publicly at least three times. And you're five years old, you're on a stage with a microphone 100 people. You're doing Photoshop, you're doing AutoCAD, you're getting these you have hundreds of micro credentials you're going to earn before fifth grade, right? And some of them are for jobs that we don't even know exist, right? And you say, well, Buddy, why are you teaching Photoshop? I believe it's a lifelong skill. I believe my daughter, of all things, the job, she's got a part time gig. She's a senior in college. She wants to be a math teacher, and she went and is now a social media marketer. And that sounds fancy, she's making Tiktok videos, and they're paying her 10 grand a year to work three hours a week to make Tiktok videos. I mean, again, all because Eminence gave her the skills to do video editing when she went here, right? And so, so again, and how to be creative and how to sell it. And she got the easiest college side gig on Earth, right? And so don't tell her employers that. But again, it, you know, it is what it is. And so we then define levels of completion of those exemplars. So there's a red level, white level, blue level. Red level, you have to reach or you don't pass. So you can have all A's in eighth grade core subjects, but if you don't pass the minimum competencies on your exemplars or the standards that go with the grad profile, you fail, you repeat eighth grade, or you go back to summer school, right? Like that's how serious we take those other things. Now we would give you the classes you need core wise, but we would retain you in the grade that you are in in order to until you completed those exemplars. It's never happened. A couple times we've had kids go to summer school. The other thing that I will say is, is that the white and blue level, though, we've rewarded the fire out of those in terms of extrinsic motivation, field trips, hoodies, gear privileges, where to sit in the cafeteria, and then we honor the fire out of them in May, at the end of the year ceremonies, right? Like huge deal. This is a true story. And I know I'm a talker, so I apologize I'm monopolizing the conversation, but here's what I would say. The first time that I knew that we had changed the metric of success, this is true story. And again, another story, right? And so we were at home. It was after honors night, the big assembly school wide, everybody's in the gym, and my principal calls me, and she goes, Buddy, have you been on Facebook? And I said, you know, I don't have a Facebook account. I'm a superintendent. I was like, I had over on Twitter, right? And so I'm not on Facebook. And she said, Well, you need to get log into your wife's account, they are blasting us online. And I said, What are you talking about? And she said, well, a kid earned a white like we gave them a white level reward on the exemplars, and the mom is saying she's a blue level reward, and she's got all the evidence. She goes, the teachers have messed up. She goes, the mom's right, but she said, the mom is lighting us up, and now everybody's piling on, talking about how awful and how and I said, that's the best thing I've ever been told my life. I said, you literally just made my night. And she goes, What are you talking about? I said, Angie, we've now made the community care enough about something that doesn't matter anywhere on Earth, and we've made them mad enough that they care enough about it, that they're mad and they're blasting us on Facebook, which means the exemplars now matter to the community, right? Like, if a mom cares enough about that reward, about that honor to mouth us, then it means something to them. And I said, we need to fix it. We'll fix it tomorrow. We'll do a special like, I'm sorry I said, but that's the best thing you ever told me. And it was when I realized it was about three or four years into it, and I was like, we're rolling like and now they do. They care more about the white and blue level distinction than they do the test score that comes out in, you know, October from the year before.

Sarah Williamson:

That's an incredible story. And I love your perspective. It's so healthy. And I love, I just love that perspective so much. I'm curious, what do you tell other superintendents across the country when you're counseling them on building community? I mean, obviously they may not go into this detail within their districts and build this type of a program. What can they do? What's your advice for them?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

You know, I think they've got to be consistent and transparent. I just think, you know, you're not going to win them over overnight. I think the other thing, and you all mentioned this increased scrutiny, I think there's also increased distrust, right? I feel like that there is a us versus them mentality a little bit running across America right now, or at least Kentucky and Indiana, and some of the states that I'm in the most, right? And so I think you have to be consistent, and then you also have to be transparent. I think if I threw in a third word, it would be approachable, right? I think being able to not sit in an ivory tower. And again, that starts with your teachers. I'm a big believer your teachers live in the community. They're the people that are. Mostly talking to everybody at the grocery. And so if you can win your teachers over to your vision and your thinking and what you're doing, they'll sell it for you. They'll be your evangelist in the grocery. And you know their church or in their families, and so you know, but so many superintendents don't view the staff as that front line evangelist, and again, have them telling your stories, right? Like, if you can't win them over, you're not going to win the parents over. And so I view it as I work for my staff, right? Like I'll be the boss when I have to, but I'd really approach my job from a servant leadership perspective, where I basically have 150 bosses every day, right? And so, and, you know, I've had three calls today where it was like, there's a breaker out. Well, I mean, there's several maintenance guys that can fix that breaker. But you know what I did? I didn't call the maintenance guy because, see, the teacher called me. So I didn't say, hey, go fix this. I ran over to the school and I fixed it for him. And you do things like that for them enough, and it's like, this is he's a real guy, and he cares about us and it matters. And so I don't know if any of that kind of resonates, but I think it's just you can't win everybody over on one day. So it's about that consistency and that transparency and just being real to them that I think eventually does win everybody over.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah, I think you're right, and I love that you said approachable, too. That's one of the things we talk to our district clients about being approachable, authentic and over communicating all those things. Absolutely agree. All right, so Dr Barry, one of the reasons we wanted to host this podcast series on humanizing the superintendent is because we're helping to write a book called On the State of the Superintendency, and we just continue to hear over and over about how superintendents constantly feel like they're not treated like human beings. We see that it's a problem. I'm curious what you think about that, if you agree, and then also, how do you think it could benefit communities if they do start to see their superintendent as a human being?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

A truer statement has never been made, right? Just last night, my daughter and her roommate, they're both seniors at the University of Kentucky, and they're both doing their student teaching, and so her best friend is like a daughter to me now, right? Like so love them both, and the other young lady that's the best friend of my daughter, they're in two different districts, and so the superintendent one day called an NTI day for extreme cold, and then the next day was colder, and they said, We're going face to face, you know? And they brought them all in, right? Like they and so the friend of my daughter, and I'm going to get to my point, but the friend of my daughter was just blasting the superintendent, and said, You know, I can't stand this guy. Like, what's he thinking? This is so stupid, right? And again, what's crazy about it is, she's never met him. She doesn't know him. And it's that, it even she is dehumanizing, right? And so my daughter was like, honestly, you need to chill out like they're saying the same things about my dad. And she's like, well, your dad's awesome. And she's like, well, you know, my dad, right? Like, the reason you're saying that, but she goes, there are people that are doing exactly to him today, what you're doing to this superintendent. And it is, it's they dehumanize it. It's a position, but it's not a person. And for me, I'm from here, they know that, like, I am a person, right? What's even crazier is they will go, I've had people do it where you're literally, they will cuss you on Facebook, and then you'll go to church with them, and they'll be like, why wasn't like, cussing you? And I'm like, Who do you think makes the decision to go and not have school? And then, by the way, just so that you're aware of it, like when you did that, you didn't mention me by name, but the 50 people below you did right, like you saw who they were blaming. But again, and so it is. There's nothing that needs to happen more than viewing the superintendent as a person.

Chad Bolser:

Well, I think throughout this series and season, it gives us so much hope and inspiration about our educational leaders. And I know Sarah thinks the same thing. We're fans of and want to be good in support of K 12 education and the educational leaders. What advice would you give us, the folks who are out there rooting for you, community members, parents, how can we be better in supporting our leaders?

Dr. Buddy Berry:

It's a really good question. You know, I will say I think that it starts from a real specific support to the superintendent. So, like, it's also, after 15 years, I don't need somebody to say well done, but you never hear well done, right? Like, it just doesn't happen. I mean, for every 1000 complaints, you might get a compliment. I mean, you might get one, right? And so I think taking the time to send that letter to the Board of Education when they make a tough call and saying, Hey, we appreciate you, right? And again, I think that's another thankless role as the board members, right? They make$75 a month right now. There are two types of board members. There are those that are running on an agenda, right? And I'm not even saying their agenda is right or wrong, but they run on an agenda, and there are others that just. Love kids, right? And they just want to make a difference in their community. I'm very fortunate to work with five of those. And so when I watch them take heat over decisions that we're making, I'm like, they make $75 a month, right? Like, what are we doing? And so they never get a compliment, right? And so I do think just being supportive means more than you would ever know. I think the other part of that is, and again, I think I appreciate it more than even a compliment, is when there's misinformation online, specifically social media, I'm so appreciative of parents that are involved, and they will say, Hey, that's not true. I've heard Dr Berry say blank or that's not true. I know for a fact, Eminence schools does this right, and that's uncomfortable, because when you do that, you could open yourself up to the tax yourself. But again, those are the ones that mean the most to me. Like that's even more important to me, because that means a we've done a good job communicating what's going on, and somebody has heard it right, and so and then them taking the courage to dispel it to other people, that, for me, is the most rewarding thing, even more so than a compliment.

Chad Bolser:

So as we wrap this up, and this has been fantastic, I literally could do and listen to you all day long. It's awesome, and we've had a great time throughout this year. But where can our listeners learn more about you and connect with you directly.

Dr. Buddy Berry:

Yeah, you can go to if you Google Buddy Berry at Eminence, it's pretty synonymous at this point. But the other thing is, I have a website at schoolonfire.org, and so we do consulting work, and so you can find out more about us there and that links you to I, I'm embarrassed to even say the title of it, but when I was 22 years old, I thought I needed a website, and so I bought buddyberry.com and so then when I got and I hate that it's my name like I hate it, but I'm also too cheap to buy another one. And so like all of my doctoral research and how to do this type work, is on there for free. So That's buddyberry.com Those are the two easiest places to get in touch.

Sarah Williamson:

Well, thank you so much. This has been an amazing conversation. It's so nice to meet you, and I look forward to staying in touch.

Dr. Buddy Berry:

That'd be awesome. It was good talking to you all too. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. You all stay warm.

Chad Bolser:

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:

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