The Grey Area
We want to educate, encourage and empower students to get answers to all of life's "grey areas". We know TV, movies and music are painting a picture of what the "good life" looks like, but what does research have to say about what leads to the happiest, healthiest, most successful life? In our podcast "The Grey Area" we will discuss topics like relationships, leadership, mental health and other "grey areas" and give you factual insight so you have the knowledge and skills to thrive in whatever season of life you are in.
The Grey Area
True North in Action: A Principal Perspective
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In this episode of The Grey Area Podcast, Hannah sits down with Chelsea Matthews Franklin, a former Gadsden County principal and current program advocate for Live the Life.
Chelsea reflects on what brought True North into her school, what the program looked like in practice, and the changes she saw over time in her students, her staff, and her building's culture.
Welcome to the Gray Area Podcast. I'm Hannah Hendry and I am with guest Kelsey Matthew Franklin. Did I get it that right?
SPEAKER_03Matthews at an S on the end.
SPEAKER_00Matthews Franklin. Yeah. Okay, we got there. We got there. Um it's so nice to have you on. I'm so excited to talk to you about your experience with students and the True North program and Little Life as a whole. Um, but before we start, let me ask you a question. Where do you rate your heart today on a one to ten? My answer would be a solid six. How about you?
SPEAKER_03Um, I would say today I would rate my heart an eight.
SPEAKER_00Awesome.
SPEAKER_03How lovely. Room for improvement, but feeling lots of love and gratitude.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. I'm so happy to hear that. We're gonna hold on to that number and come back to it later. But let's get to know you. Chelsea, do you have any family? What do you do for work? Tell us about you.
SPEAKER_03For sure. So I am actually a native of Jacksonville, Florida, born and raised. And that is where my journey in education started. So after I graduated from high school in Jacksonville, I went to Florida AM University to pursue a public relations degree. And I was recruited through Teach for America my senior year to go back into my hometown to teach for two years. So it was a two-year commitment, and I um excitedly, um with lots of enthusiasm, decided to teach reading, sixth grade reading at Northwestern Middle School. And after that first um year in the classroom, I knew that that was the path that God was taking me on. So I taught for four years, um, went up north to Columbia University, got my master's in education, came back and served as an assistant principal for five years in Jacksonville. Um then I had the opportunity to lead my first school, Fletcher Middle School in Jack's Beaches. Um and then COVID happened and I also got engaged. So um during that time, I then transitioned to living in Tallahassee with my husband. And then I became the principal of Gaston County High School, which is where I was first introduced to Live the Life. Um Doug Stevens at the time was um signing schools up to partner with um Live the Life for the True North Project. And so when he came into my office, um he brought a sense of peace with him. Um he also introduced me to Abdul, who led the program, and I enjoyed every second he spent in my building. Um, just as a leader, it made a difference in the the tone of the day. Um he would come in and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. They would pray with me, or he'd bring me a donut, or he'll bring me a check. And so anytime I saw Doug coming, it was a everything paused for at least two minutes. Um, let me see how we can partner, how we can support students. So um after I transitioned from being a full-time principal at Gaston High for three years, I decided decided to resign so I can finish up my doctorate degree and just really have time to pour back into my family. And so that's when I started to be a program advocate with Live the Life. Um, when sessions in, I'm at the Capitol. And so it's been a great journey. I'm still a Teach for America, very much so tied have ties to Teach for America as a proud alumni. And I'm just loving um this chapter phase of my life where I can work from a space of passion and peace, and it has been quite rewarding.
SPEAKER_00That is awesome. I'm so glad to hear that you were able to get in connection with the Truner Pro program and that it was so helpful to you personally, like not just your school and your students, but that it was an encouragement to your day. It was. It really was good to hear. And Abdul is amazing. Yes, he is. It's fantastic. Um, I'm hoping to get to shadow him a little bit this fall semester. I think that's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_03You will thoroughly enjoy being in Gaston. It's very country, it's quaint, it's rural. Yeah, but the students and the team and the people there are absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. And what's your doctorate in?
SPEAKER_03Education leadership.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Have you finished that or are you still? I'm all done. I finished um December 2024. So I got that behind me. And it was uh research based around COVID and graduation rates in rural areas. And so I was very invested and still am about how we can use community allies to increase graduation rates and student proficiency, specifically in the state of Florida.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. That's very, very interesting. That seems like some really interesting um research and findings that are actually very helpful to the community at large. That's so awesome. So schools are approached all the time, right, by programs and different people trying to get in and support. What made Live the Lives and the True North programs um approach different than others? Why did you choose that opposed to other options?
SPEAKER_03That is a very good question. So, number one, as a principal, you are bombarded with emails throughout the day. And so it did make a difference that I would get a quick email from Live the Life and then a pop-in. And some principles don't like pop-ins, but I rather take two minutes of face-to-face than five minutes to read the email and respond to the email or 10 minutes for a phone call. So I could always say, Hey, give me five minutes. Then they come in for two and I'm able to hear what they offer. I'm able to say yes or no and move on about my day. Um, live the Life was an easy yes for me because again, the presence, the peace, the um value added that Live the Life brought, and also the return on investment. So it's like a guest, it's like a guest speaker series. So you're giving them permission to come and speak to your kids about topics that matter. Um, and they brought the real essentials topics to me. And I thought it was aligned to my school's mission and vision. And I didn't have to get outside approval for it because it wasn't changing a course code, it wasn't um going against the state's vision for what we should be teaching students. It was more so like relationship one-on-one. And for a high school principal, I had students coming to me all the time that did not come from a two-parent household. Um, I my mom was a single parent. She married my stepdad when I was five. And so I saw also personally how this demographic could benefit from hey, let's pause for a minute and let you know something that we don't want to assume that you're getting from home or at school or at church. And so it was an easy yes on me, yes for me to have them, number one, come into the building. And then number two, um, to retain them to be an ongoing visit for, you know, each group of students or each each cohort, graduation cohort, to get it, not just okay, catch the freshman this year, and then maybe in three years you come back and it's uh the same group of students. But I wanted it to be intentional. So it's like a guest speak speaker series. And I say that because sometimes if you're not in education, you may see it as a barrier, like how many hoops do I have to jump through to get um these folks here with me? And it's like you get to decide. So they actually go into like a PE health class or an elective. I did very creative scheduling as a school principal. So I um filtered live the life through health classes. And if there was a sub um on the Dave's there was a sub, which days we would spend a lot of times like helping subs. Yeah, I would schedule live the life like, hey, I know I got this PE Health teacher that's gonna be out for six weeks. It's planned, it's scheduled. That would be a perfect time for you all to come into the classroom with the sub and talk about topics that matter, so it's an intentional use of time. Or um the PE Health Teacher one year was there full time and it was just the value added to what that um PE Health teacher was already teaching. Um, I didn't uh use the hope year for for that particular class because um hope is a required um state of Florida course. So we didn't touch the hope. We did team sports, we did individual sports, had them come in. Um, but you can use other electives that are um have more flexibility. So it's up to the the principal's discretion on which course or which class you go through. Um, but it is just it was a priority for me. Yeah. Um you see a decrease in pregnancy rates, um, a decrease in um relationship confusion when you give students the tools to communicate how they're feeling, when you give them or expose them to the sequence of success. And I think sometimes we assume that students know or that someone told them again at church, a neighbor, a family member. Um, and for those who've never heard of the sequence of success, the seas the sequence of success talk about the importance of um you want to start with an education first. Yes, then you want to get married, and then you can talk about a job and then kids. Well, most people they blur those lines or they remix it. Yeah. And if they remix it, it's okay. It doesn't make it wrong, it doesn't mean the world is ending or your life is over, but it's like if you if you do get it out of order, you still have time to get it right because you have community members and resources that can help you anyway and you can succeed anyway. I know plenty of successful people that did not follow that track. However, if you do follow that track, research shows that you decrease the chance of being in poverty if you follow the sequence of success. Well, when you go into poverty-stricken neighborhoods and looking at Gaston specifically, um, Gaston County is the poorest county in Florida. Really? So when you look at an organization like Live the Life, who's offering this opportunity to expose students to this information for free, um, then it's like, how do you say no? Yeah. Um, and so when I ask my students, what what are this, what is the sequence of success? And they can say education and they can say job and they can say marriage, and they can say kids last. And then it is like the light bulb went off. Um, that is the aha moment you want every child to have. So even if you get off track, at least you know where to go back to. Yeah. Um, and so I'm hoping that this next generation, our Gen Z population, that this spreads like wildfire fire and that uh God will give Live the Life the resources and the support that they need so that every child can understand um what that means and why it's important.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um so I know I said a lot, but I'm very thankful that I met Doug um when I was serving at Gaston High. And I'm thankful that Live the Life is not just in Tallahassee. We're in Jacksonville, we're in Orlando. Um Live the Life is all over Florida and and outside of Florida. So Colorado and growing in uh Wichita and all these other places, and it's just a testament to God's glory that the growth is there because the need is there.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely. I I loved a lot of what you just said. And if I if I heard you correctly, one of the reasons why you kind of had a no-brainer for the True North program was because of how aligned it was and easy it was for the curriculum to fit in.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00And how supportive they were to the way you wanted to run your school and what you felt was best for your students. Is that right?
SPEAKER_03Yes. And I have to say, Florida is a very strict state. So we have um very specific course codes that we have to offer to public school students. Um, we have specific books that we can and cannot use in Florida. So as a principal, um, you have the autonomy to do some things and some things you don't. Yeah. So if Live the Life said we're a year-long course or a half-year course, I couldn't touch it. I'm sorry, I can't help you. But thankfully, it wasn't that. Um, it was communication strategies and tools and real-world um opportunities and topics that teenagers uh are already going through and discussing. And to me, it increased the morale at my school and conversations that I'm able to have with students in the hallways and during lunch and also behavior reinforcement. Um, so uh commenting and elaborating on some of the things that they would discuss with their live the life um guest speaker would be hey, I see you're derailing here a little bit. I see that you're in love over here a little bit. Make sure you don't have kids before education and job and marriage. So I would just, you know, just that little soft reminder of let's implement what you've learned and let's make it a reality and let's make it generational. So pass this information down to little cousin, um, pass this information on to your neighbor and your children, right? Um, so it's the gift that keeps on giving. And I feel um convicted to share this with students and families because um I'm on that track. Education check, okay, job check, marriage check. Now we are ready to rock and roll and get get it heated and started to have kids. And I can honestly say that um that I'm ready and I have those things in order where I've already had my investments and my retirement and all of those things um rolling. So when I have children, that it could be a generation of prosperity and not a generation of poverty and struggle um based on the decisions and the seeds that have been planted before they came.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, that's awesome, really. And I think one of the other things that you were saying about hoping that Gen Z can take a lot of these skills and catch like wildfire and and really make a difference is totally true. And I think there's a lot that Gen Z is looking for in that realm of conversation about relationships and how to do life, how do you treat pu people, you know, what is the sequence of success, what matters, what doesn't. And having a course like um The Real Essentials and True North gives them I like a true north, like a direction to head towards. Exactly. And there's so many voices telling them what you should and shouldn't do, and and not just that, but like the pressure from fellow students on you know, that's not popular, that's not you know cool, if that makes sense for sure. I agree. I wanted to touch on the sequence of success. I know that you talked a lot about um like getting to see students repeat those things back to you and have conversations. Did you really only see conversations, or did you see like data from your school and then like student outcomes change?
SPEAKER_03So return on investment is huge for organizations, for schools. Um, the data drives everything. And so uh there's a slide that um the founder Richard shares um that shows two mountains and it shows a peak in pregnancy and STD rates going going out of like just through the roof during the years where Live the Life was not in partnership with the schools and not providing this information, support, and care about healthy communication and sequence of success. And then it shows a drastic decline um when Live the Life was consistent and present in schools and sharing this information. And just to be clear, Live the Life does not come in and talk about sex, it does not talk about gender, um, it does not talk about sexual preference or pronouns. It is not that um, it is all about healthy communication and relationships. And I have not met one parent or student or teacher um that did not find value in it, regardless of their background. Um, and so it gave us uh a lot of access and um very much so the green light to provide this information, but also to see the return on investment with the data. So um, for example, um, I believe it was um post-COVID where Live the Life was consistently and heavily in in Gaston County and the decline was very much so um relevant. Um I was boots on the ground um at Gaston High from 2021 to 2024. So when I first got there, there were a lot of fights. I saw a lot of students walking around pregnant. This was pre-COVID. Um, and while I was there, I didn't see a lot of you know pregnant students. We had a couple, um, a lot of students uh that were pregnant that were on the campus, but it's sowing the seeds early. You sew the seed their freshman year, you build on it, their sophomore, junior, senior year. And again, life doesn't end because you know, a student or someone um revises the order, yeah, but you do see a decline when you have that exposure. Yeah. Um, and when you have the information to make informed decisions and to decide and to to write out your path or your recipe as Live the Life uses the metaphor to do. What's your recipe for success? What's your recipe for your life trajectory? And you'd be surprised on how many people don't pause to ask themselves that question. And that direction, that loss of direction can sometimes, you know, be chaotic if you don't. And so I'm thankful that Live the Life provided that opportunity um for our students.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, that's awesome. That really is awesome. I'm so happy to hear that not only was it conversations, but also like real data that you could reference. Yes, and you could show it to the students.
SPEAKER_03That's also when they see the two mountains, like, oh my God, 40% of the people were walking around with this and that. It's like, yeah. Yeah. And then look, it decreased to single digits, and that's where you want to stay, and that's where you want to be. But a lot of times the lack of information is what is the biggest barrier. And I'm thankful that that's one of many problems that Live the Life have solved.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. So I wanted to circle back around to our heart rating that we did at the beginning. Um, so basic needs of the heart lesson is I'm gonna read this verbatim. Uh, kids rate how full their hearts are, how they feel their hearts are, one to ten and color and a graphic in their book. Then we ask, what would you from a four to a five and what's a healthy way to fill that gap versus an unhealthy way? And we ask the question, is it realistic to be a 10 every day? And obviously the answer to that is no. Um, and this is a question that's built for consistent follow-up. It's not just a one time in the moment when you know you're feeling motivated to answer the questions in the class. Um and now that, you know, we've kind of established the understanding of the lesson, do you have an updated number or are you sticking with eight? Yeah, I think it's good. Sticking with eight, absolutely. 100%. Yeah, yeah. It's interesting to have um conversations with people who are a little less uh familiar with the terminology and stuff, and they're like, okay, like a five. I don't know how to answer this question, and then you kind of explain what's going on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And they're like, oh, I see. I I can understand the connection. This is this is interesting. Um, why is no one a 10 every day? And what sort of relief does it feel, or what sort of relief do you feel when you recognize that there's not pressure to be a 10 every day?
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, that's a good question. One of my favorite quotes is life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you choose to react. And I would begin every day with an announcement to remind kids and to give children a permission to feel. Yeah. You have to check in with yourself. Um, life happens differently. People grieve differently, people process happiness differently, and people process anger and all of these other various um information and and emotions differently, right? And so giving folks permission to feel um is something that I prioritized as a principal for not just students, but also teachers. So there was a book, Permission to Feel by Mark Brackett, and that was like teachers' way of checking in with colors instead of numbers on, hey, I'm feeling blue, I'm feeling green, I'm yellow or red. And for the students through this tool, they're able to say, you know, my heart is at a five, but at the end of this, and I reflected and I took a moment to breathe and reset. Maybe now I'm a six. And it's a healthy way to move from a five to six. And giving them those tools on how to move throughout the one to ten in a healthy way. Yeah. Um, it is probably the most important thing that, or one of the most important tools that a school could introduce to students because they have testing pressure, they have graduation pressures, they have peer pressures, they have home pressures. And so there are many pressure points during your school years and post-secondary life years where we must name the emotion and communicate how we're feeling. And so there's no pressure to be a 10 every day because I can't appreciate my 10 days if I didn't have my two, three, four, and five days. But when I'm at my twos or when I'm at my threes, I remember that you know, I can be here, but I can't live here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And how I respond, how I react to how where I am today will put me in a better Better position tomorrow to press the reset button and start in a better space. And I love the the Bible verse. God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind because I repeat that over and over and over and over and over again until I go from four, five, six, oh, moving up, seven. Oh, I'm an eight. I'm on my way, you know, to that 10 place. And then once I get to 10, I can appreciate a day that is at a 10 because I remember, you know, that I was at two. I didn't live at two. And now I know if two happens again, it's not the end of the world. I know how and I have the strategies and the skills and the tools to move me out of it in a healthy, positive way.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Did you see like that that relief of being allowed to have you know rough days but reflect in your students? Like, did you see visually and verbally that sort of reaction from them?
SPEAKER_03For sure. Um, students are emotional roller coasters and so are teachers and so are principals. So I had some days when I didn't come in at a 10 and I would take a deep breath and let them know, okay, not today. Let's get to class and do what we're supposed to do. But they they appreciated being able to be their most authentic self while also striving to become the best version of themselves. So again, you can have a moment, but I need you to press the reset button quickly so that we can healthily move you into a space that's healthy, a space that's going to set you up for success so that we can move forward through any barrier and have a working relationship to help you reach your goals.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What sort of difference did you see in, you know, being able to approach a student and say, How are you? and see what sort of reaction versus, you know, people being able to have that terminology of one to ten or the colors, or you know, not as loaded of a question as how are you?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So I think uh some young people's natural responses, I'll know, I'm good. I good or, you know, that those responses are very general and broad versus when you start to condition them with the tools and the language and the skills, yeah, that shifts from, yeah, I'm at a four, but I'm working through it. Or oh, I'm at an eight. Today's a great day. My heart is my heart is full. So that definitely is rewarding and a return on investment for culture.
SPEAKER_00How do you think that sort of self-awareness impacts students and their outcomes?
SPEAKER_03So sometimes parents and principals and teachers think um, I am here to train you, teach you, coach you, protect you. Um but when you give someone the skills, it's like the metaphor, um, I can give you some fish or I can teach you how to fish and you'll eat for a lifetime instead of just eating today. So it's almost like I know I'm no longer their principal, right? But I have a lot of little humans out here in the world that are now adults that still say to themselves, life is 10% of what happens to me and 90%, how I choose to react. I can name my emotions. My heart is at a three right now, but I'm working healthily towards making it a seven. So it's again the gift that keeps on giving when you are able to take a moment, embrace it, transfer it, and then see, you know, six years later, hey, I remember you. Hey, Miss Matthews, hey, Miss Franklin, and it is rewarding. Yeah. Or hey, Abdul, hey, Doug. Both of them taught at Gaston High. And so we all can relate to you plant these seeds and they continue to bloom and they plant new seeds that continue to bloom. Um, that is that is definitely a rewarding part of it all.
SPEAKER_00That does sound very rewarding. I very much identify with what you were saying about teaching. I have taught music privately for like a decade now, and um, it's always been a passion of mine to make sure that the students that I have understand and can move forward without me. And it's not something that, oh, well, I didn't have my lesson this week, so I don't I don't remember what I'm supposed to do. And seeing them in the future and doing their own things and knowing that like I didn't have to orchestrate this specific performance, I was able to teach them fundamentals for them to move forward. Exactly. So I definitely identify with that.
SPEAKER_03And I so you may have taught students the notes, but then they can start to create their own music. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely. I love that. That was such a good way to say that. I really do love that. Um, how do you think you saw people? Let me rephrase this question with the rating your heart, what did you see from like the first exposure to that versus a year later, the change each week? Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_03Yes. So I would say again, culture is a big part, plays a big crucial part of a school. Um, and so when you have unregulated emotions among adults or unregulated emotions among students, it's very tense. Um so you can start the day in the cafeteria with students, and I I can't describe it to you, but I could try where it's just it's tense. Everybody is tense. Um, people are wearing pressures and emotions that you may not know about and that they may not know how to articulate.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Or sometimes it's just very solemn and it's uh it's a mood that you can feel. And so what I would say is the first year I was there versus the second and third year, um, where I had true north coming in consistently all the time, having a presence on campus, that tensity decreased significantly. And climate culture surveys, you know, increased student. We had our own survey instrument, but true north also has survey instruments that improved school culture. Um, one of the questions that's asked on the survey is do you do you have a trusted adult on campus that you can talk to? Yeah. And I know that not only was a teacher or principal or counselor one of those trusted adults, but True North Abdul was one of those adults that they were exposed to consistently. And even after he did the speaker series, he would still come in during lunch because the relationship's now there to visit students, to connect with students, come into football games, going to basketball games. So it's just a full circle benefit. Absolutely and again, return on investment when you have a partner like live the life.
SPEAKER_00Did that make it easier year by year to be like you need to be here?
SPEAKER_03Oh, absolutely. If they would have told me they weren't going to be there, I would have protested.
SPEAKER_00Fair, absolutely fair. Um, so the idea of checking in um with a number, there's also a lesson that I want to talk about that kind of gives you tools to help that number move on, and that's the whole person health or my whole self. So this lesson teaches that health isn't just physical, that it is six categories. There's physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, and financial. Um, in the lesson, the kids define each one, they discuss it and draw a symbol for it in their workbooks. And there's contrast questions that are asked throughout that are things like, what if no one ever donated to people in need? What if you couldn't read? How would that affect your day-to-day life? Um, and then they're encouraged to articulate why a category matters, not just like hear the words, um, but be able to kind of put it in their own words as to the importance of these things. What did you see out of those six categories schools get really, really well versus what just didn't have an opportunity to get touched?
SPEAKER_03So I think the category that schools get really well is social, because that's where students are gonna have the most questions. How do I approach a girl? How do I approach someone I like? What do I do when they make me mad and I want to punch them? Um and so you can easily lean into social with students because of Florida's um, I guess, sometimes gray areas of guidelines, um, the spiritual aspect we don't provide to students because we want to make sure that we um respect the boundary of students and their faith. Yeah. However, um, when you tell them right from wrong, common sense practices, um, it's a win-win.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And so that I would say the the social is the part where students are most engaged. And what I love about the series that that Abdul brought in, it appeals to the kinesthetic learner, the auditory learner, um, the visual learner, and they're able to apply it because they're drawing symbols that that correlates to their text-to-self um connection. Yeah. So text-to-self connection is a form of reading teacher, um, is when you can remember it and it's it's saved in your memory bank because it was personal. Yeah. Um, because you created the symbol that went with that feeling that matched that category. And so um, I could appreciate the teachable moments and the way that it's rolled out to students in a way they can understand and retain the information.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So does that mean that when I was doodling during class, I was actually learning?
SPEAKER_03Actually learning. Research says that you were actually learning. Now, listening to music and reading will never make sense to me. Yeah. Um, my goddaughter and I had this conversation last week. I'm like, you cannot listen to music and be reading a novel at the same time. I don't I don't know how that my brain won't let me do that. I have not evolved to that space of genius, but she has. So I support her in her journey, but she she loves to read. But I'm like, how can you read right now with music playing? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I definitely can understand the reading with music playing. I think no word music. I can do it with instrumental. Well, so I like played piano for church like for years and years and years and years. And there's always people coming up to you saying, Oh, how are you doing? You're playing so well. And I don't know if you've ever tried to play an instrument and also talk to somebody. I can't. It is very difficult. So every single Sunday, twice a day. Oh my goodness. And on Wednesday, people coming up to me, you're so pretty, you're dressing so beautiful, you're playing so well. Or where is your mama? She should be here. Why is she not at church? You know, is she in the nursery? Oh my goodness. Uh, being able to, hey, let me answer you, but also I'm trying to do this like you do. I'm working for the Lord right now. You're interrupting the flow. I think I think that gave me practice to being able to listen to the music and read at the same time or something like that. That's a different level of genius. I applaud you. It's more exposure therapy to the difficult thing. That's pretty cool. Than than than actually succeeding at the thing. Um no, absolutely. Um, where do you think without a program like True North, kids are getting the gaps filled? Like, where are they going to get these different um categories of health met when school isn't able to go there?
SPEAKER_03The sad truth is that they're turning to um the internet, yeah, and we're not able to filter what's real, what's fake, what's AI, what is entertainment, or what is substance. Yeah. And so, like after COVID, a lot of people who traditionally took their kids to camps and church or um just out to different outlets and places, especially in your rural areas, that's not happening. And so kids are finding answers to problems they have based on their own research and they haven't lived life long enough to be able to sort through what is helpful, valuable information, and what's not. So I'm thankful that Live the Life can bring that face-to-face intentional touch conversation. Um, not just, you know, lecture style, but it's engagement, it's a discussion, it's um application, it's fun, it's exciting, and they're not, you know, they have something to benchmark it against. So they're not just Googling, you know, what do I do when I'm feeling these big feelings? Or Chat GPT. Yeah, chat GPT might tell you something that isn't so positive or that could be permanently damaging. Yeah. And so, yes, we definitely need live the life to continue to be in schools, to continue to be a resource to principals and teachers and districts and parents so that our kids know um and are aware of what opportunities are there for them and that they can have these emotions and feelings and have these thoughts and ideas and have these resources right at their fingertips to set them up for success today, tomorrow, and for the next generation to come.
SPEAKER_00I I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Alabama. So I definitely identify with like how much community matters in those small towns. Um, and the going and hanging out with friends in the Walmart parking lot.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, and or asking a friend, okay, what should I do about this?
SPEAKER_00And then making up something on the spot to say, oh, you just mix some water with shampoo and but there's also like you know, ant shaving that we always go and make cookies with on every Saturday, like being able to talk to that person, limited perspectives, exactly. And I I can't imagine not engaging with any of those people and pretty much just staying home and searching in the internet for those answers. Like there's so much that I learned from community members in those small town in that small town, yeah, and not having access to them sounds like it would be really difficult and not set me up for success. Um, so I definitely agree with you having something like True North in the schools, especially for those people, like especially for the kid that I was, seems um super beneficial and and life-changing for for some students. Absolutely. Um what was it like to see students shift from health being PE class to all of these different categories that make up their whole self?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so um that would be hard to put in words. Yeah. Um, but I would say um there was no perfect scenario. However, it was a process that I trusted. So a lot of times we hear trust the process, you know, trust the process. And anytime you are doing a daily walk or journey with young people, you don't see it, it's nothing immediate. Okay. You know, it's a relationship, an ongoing relationship that you have to nurture, that you have to be consistent with. And so I would say from the time we started to the time we ended, um, they evolved into becoming better students, better humans, better citizens. And that is still a work in progress because now they have to continue to feed and nurture what they've learned in order for it to be sustainable, right? So waking up every day has to be a conscious decision that I don't want to live in poverty. Yeah. I have to save, I have to invest, I have to make wise fiscal decisions, I have to earn my education, I have to earn my diploma, I have to go after for my bachelor's, I have to wake up earlier, go to sleep later than everybody else to make the sacrifice to be in a position that everybody else isn't in. And so I always encourage my students, life is going to give you what you put in. So if you do not want to struggle and if you don't want to be in poverty, then I guess you better, you know, pull up your pull up your sleeves and get to work and make good decisions. And so I'm very proud of the students that I saw that decided to take advantage of dual enrollment, um, who started thinking very deeply about, oh, let me really lean into the education part because I don't want to be in poverty. Um I don't want to stay in this one county. I want to like go and leave and then come back, and which is great. Um, so yes, I would say I saw um an increase in graduation rates, an increase in the amount of students that graduated with their AA through dual enrollment programs, which is free um classes that you can earn, free college credit you can earn while you're in high school. Um, a lot of students deciding to go in the military. So we had three tracks college, um, college career or technical. Um, college career or military, I'm sorry. Okay. And so we had a lot of students that went on to armed forces, which was very positive because they're putting their education first and their job first before they decide that they want to get married and and commit seriously to someone and have their own income and have practice fiscal responsibility before even jumping into a marriage. Yeah. Um, so I I was very proud of them for that.
SPEAKER_00Definitely. And it sounds too like the the whole self-lesson gives additional tools and additional language to be self-aware, to be able to move from that four to a five. And when you're moving forward, you're accomplishing things, like you said, you're able to be self-aware and set yourself up for success to be able to do those, you know, other classes or pursue something so that you can get into a career and follow that sequence of success and succeed. That's really, really cool. And I I really do think the combination of all of the lessons and um like discussions that happen through the True North program very much teach students how to self-assess. Absolutely. How to when not just not just self-assess, because I think that that definitely is like, well, how are you feeling? Let's talk about feelings. Let's like, oh, that's not fair, or let's all be upset that that's not fair, as like Gen Z and students in general. It's very um, I'm mad, so I'm gonna stay mad.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm sad, so I'm gonna stay sad. And you can't tell me otherwise.
SPEAKER_03You can be there for a moment, you can name it, and we can map out a plan on how we're going to exit.
SPEAKER_00And I like the map out of plan because that's that's kind of what I see TMP doing is it's providing them with those tools to map out the plan. And not just, hey, I'm gonna teach you how to map out the plan of this one thing, but like you said, being able to go forward in life and reuse that that um that same skill, that same self-awareness, that same terminology language to continue to succeed, not just when you have Abdul visiting you on a Tuesday. Exactly. You know, that's transferable skills. Yes, very, very well said. Yes, absolutely. Um I did want to ask, what do you see is a difference between Live the Life's approach and like true noise approach to relationship skills versus another program that you've seen be brought into schools?
SPEAKER_03So I have not seen um a program that is unique as Live the Life. I think you live the life has a very unique strategic and intentional focus to reach students and at the middle and high school ages. Um again, like I mentioned earlier, Florida does have like standards for health and wellness, but it doesn't go into the real-world practicality of the now and later approach of okay, what will this um look like for students when they graduate? Or what will this look like for this community when they become 21, 25, 30, 35? And so I think um live the life is very unique in that regard. Um, other programs, it's just embedded curriculum in a school. And teachers and principals have the autonomy to invite guest speakers in. So you can invite a counselor from um somewhere, you know, in the within the community or from a hospital or from the library or someone, um, an entrepreneur that may speak about something and they may be a different person every year. I think Live the Life have established their brand and their longevity to a point where we know that they've been around um since the 90s and they're not going anywhere. Yes. So you can actually uh track data, trends, return on investment. Um, you can track data in the form of student surveys and student satisfaction. You can look at poverty rates, you can look at data as far as STD and pregnancy rates in high schools, um, when the program is implemented and when it's not. So there is no other organization that has done that that I know of in Florida.
SPEAKER_00Especially as long as they have. Exactly. That's one thing that I was really impressed with and gave me a lot of confidence when I came to live the life for my own relationship issues and whatnot, was the fact that there's such a long-term presence. Like for someone who was born in the 90s, knowing that a program was around before I was born, yeah, is like it gives me a lot of confidence to see. You're a 90s baby. Okay, I'm an 80s baby, but don't tell it. Of course, of course.
SPEAKER_03Late 80s.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00I I just I love data and I feel a lot of confidence when I see there's a large sample size, you know. It's one thing to have a program that's and not to say that young programs aren't beneficial, but there is a lot of confidence that you can put into a program that has experience and that you know will continue to show up and not, like you said, be gone with the wind. Um what is one of the changes that you noticed in how staff and students behaved in and out of the classrooms from before True North came in and after? Like that that. Culture that you were talking about. What's one of the things that you saw that was really encouraging to you day-to-day?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I would definitely um say that culture shifted. Um, that teneness that I mentioned earlier, um, that kind of got alleviated over time, trusting the process. And so students being more approachable, adults being more approachable, students able to talk about how they're feeling with a counselor, a principal, or a trusted adult on campus, which kind of gives everyone some room to breathe. Yeah. Drop your shoulders. It's okay. We can visit this place and we have a plan on how we're going to improve. And so I think a lot of students, the word I would describe is more hopeful, yeah, and not just stuck in a place of I'm feeling this big emotion. I don't know how to name it, I don't know how to move away from it, I don't have a plan. Yeah. And so that can again lead to a lot of chaos. So less chaos over a three-year period of consistency, work, and partnership with Lived Life.
SPEAKER_00I'm curious, did you see a difference in like teachers' behaviors and attitudes having true north in the school versus not?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, culture. So you may have more behavior problems when students don't know how to name their emotions and have a plan versus the behavior problems that you see when you have more majority of students who do, and they're maturing in that space. So um we do have data that shows a decrease in referrals, a decrease in a decrease in altercations, of course. So that's a data point, looking at before the program and after. Yeah, even looking at attendance, so students feeling belonging and wanting to be at school, and so that increases their attendance when they know that it matters that I'm working towards education job and what my plans and goals are. And so students become more invested in what they personally have to do and commit to in order to meet those goals.
SPEAKER_00Do you did it seem like um like job satisfaction from teachers increased? Of course.
SPEAKER_03Anytime student behavior decreases attendance increase, the job satisfaction does improve, teacher retention improves. Um, I do, I don't, we wouldn't, I wouldn't name it as we had a great perfect culture. We had our issues, yeah, but definitely improvement from year one to year three. And even now the school is is doing well with the current principal that they have, and culture is still is still growing and they're doing really well. Um they have principal jones, and I'm proud of the work that she's doing there, and that the students have her um to be that consistent person that they can go to and be a trusted adult that they can lean into that's gonna help them get to their next step.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. That's that's really encouraging to hear for sure. So, as my final question You were once a principal that was brought the True North program and initiated that interaction. What's something that you would want to tell another principal who might be approached by True North?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I would say say yes to the um overview or conversation that you'll have or your introduction to Live the Life, you will not regret it. Um, the return on investment is not just for students, it's for your staff and for you. Um, live the life has been a big part of why I did not quit that first year and why I stayed. It was a good part. No one talks about principal morale, yeah. Um, but to have a partner where they contributed to um Teacher Appreciation Week and they were always there with any idea or challenge or or I or activity I wanted to engage or include them on, um, I don't ever remember them telling me no. And you don't find partners like that often. Um Florida specifically, um, it's principal discretion. If you want a guest speaker to come in, you get them, you know, you run their their ID and you sign them up and you choose the class, you can choose the elective that you want that person to go into. So it's a win-win across the board. Um, so I would encourage school leaders to definitely take advantage of the opportunity. Um, my former colleagues in Gaston, they're still, you know, implementing the True North North program today. My former colleagues in Duval County are implementing the program, and we're uh, of course, still growing across Florida and Seminole County, Orlando, and the surrounding areas. So there are a lot of schools in in Florida who are serving as testament that this works. And so not just me, but there's like dozens of principals in both public, private, and charter schools that have trusted the process and saw the results. So I'm excited about that and I'm looking forward to um what's going to come up this new school year and the new partners and the new schools that we'll grow into.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I've thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, Hannah. Um, truly, it's nice to hear another voice as the person who does the social media and helps with marketing for it, to hear the impact of this program, not just on you know a screen, but in real life. Oh, with real people is very encouraging for me to hear. So I really appreciate being able to talk to you about it.
SPEAKER_03Absolute pleasure. I'm happy to do it. I am love loving live the life. And again, I couldn't imagine not having it. So I'm looking forward to the growth and what what God has in store for the organization. Agreed.
SPEAKER_01Agreed. All right, thanks. Thank you.