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There's been so much going on in the world
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lately that I appreciate those making a difference now
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more than ever.
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Our next guest is doing just that.
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He's an incredible principal at Bruce Elementary
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in Memphis, Tennessee.
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He is shaping young minds in this community every day,
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and he is someone we can all learn from.
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Please welcome principal Archie Moss Jr. Hi.
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Hello, Archie Moss Jr.
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How are you?
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I'm OK.
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How are you?
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I am freaking out right now.
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But other than that, I'm going to calm myself down.
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I'm making the best out of every experience
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and every moment, yes.
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Well, all right, so you work at Bruce Elementary.
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I want you to tell--
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I know about the school.
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But explain, tell everybody about the school.
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So I am the proud principal at Bruce Elementary School, which
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is located in Memphis, Tennessee.
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We are a title one school with about 600 students.
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About 80% of our students are African-American,
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90% of my staff are African-American as well.
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We also have 10% of my population
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who are temporarily displaced or homeless.
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So we know that our kids have a lot of needs.
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So we really pride ourselves on being a family
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and making sure that we provide everything for our scholars,
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so making sure that they need food.
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We provide them with the food.
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If they need clothes, we have a clothes closet.
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If they need school supplies, we provide them.
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So really, a school committee that
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works together to give our kids the best experience ever.
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Incredible.
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I want to tell everybody what an amazing person you are, OK?
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Just some of the things that you do.
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You coach the school's basketball and step teams.
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You read bedtime stories to your students every night.
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You run a mentorship program for at risk youth.
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Every parent has your number, and you accept
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calls all hours of the night.
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Yes.
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You buy students technology, clothes, food,
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basic necessities.
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I mean, since becoming principal,
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your school has gone from the bottom 10% to one
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of the top performing schools in the state.
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I mean, that is quite an accomplishment.
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That's because of you.
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I appreciate that.
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I really do.
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But I honestly will just say, this all
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came true because I have an amazing staff,
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and amazing kids, and amazing community that
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supports me in all that I do.
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Well, the kids support you, because you're awesome.
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And you know, you have earned their respect and their love
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by everything that I just mentioned.
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So you wrote a letter to your students and staff
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about everything that's going on.
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Will you share a little bit of what you wrote right now,
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and why?
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Yeah, so it's been a really rough and difficult couple
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of weeks for me dealing with everything
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that's gone in the world.
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And as a black man, first and foremost,
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I thought it was so important for me to say something
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to my community.
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I don't travel throughout the city without my work badge
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on, because I still operate in fear as a black man
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that, if I'm pulled over, something could happen to me.
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And I try to use my badge as a shield.
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And if I feel that way as an adult,
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imagine the emotions that my students are going through
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and the confusion.
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So we see when we turn on the news,
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we see the negative stereotypes, the negative images
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about black boys, black girls.
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And we have a president who's not supporting and not
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protecting them.
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I sent that letter off as a glimpse of hope for them,
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so that they can understand that I see them.
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I see them as who they are.
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They matter to me.
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Their voices matter.
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And I just want them to understand
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that we can work together to come up
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with some sense of healing, sense of understanding,
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and ultimately, make sure they know their feelings
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and emotions are validated.
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So important.
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That's so important that you did that.
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I know that your students need connection, especially
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during this time.
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You have incredible teachers who volunteered
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to help throughout summer.
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I don't know how you're going to do that right now.
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How are you going to do that?
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So that's been a very difficult challenge
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in the era of COVID-19 with social distancing.
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My staff, they're off work, you know?
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They're not required to provide any additional support
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over the summer, but myself and my school community
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knew how important it was to try to make some type of contact.
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So my teachers have agreed that they're
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going to continue doing some online learning
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with our students over the course of this pandemic.
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Well, I want to help you stay connected to your students
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during this difficult time.
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I've partnered with Box Tops for Education
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to celebrate amazing educators, like yourself.
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And they want to give Bruce Elementary School $25,000,
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so that should help.
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To help educators at your school,
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download the Box Tops for Education app on your phone.
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We will be back.
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Thank you so much for everything you do.
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You're great, and keep it up.
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And I hope to meet you in person.
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Thank you.
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And when we go back, we want to invite you
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to the show, all right?
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Yes, I would love to.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Oh my goodness.
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On behalf of everyone on my staff, thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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This is going to be so helpful to my kids.
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Thank you so much.