The final segment of a two-episode interview with educator Anjelika Riano. Anjelika extends her story–one that started in the former Soviet Union and is now playing out in Chattanooga, Tennessee–as she shares with us her vision for newcomers to our United States. Anjelika eloquently emphasizes the tremendous talent that teachers tirelessly leverage on behalf of their students, in the service of learning, and highlights a few examples of the success resulting from such an investment of effort, caring, and compassion.
David:
What matters most in learning? The challenge, the thrill, the benefits, interacting with other people or something else entirely. What is the connection between leading and learning? Does change drive learning, or does learning drive change? What's more important, teaching or learning? Is everyone a leader, a learner, a teacher. Want answers? Listen in, as we address these intriguing issues through commentary and with guests who share their thinking and tell us their stories. Lead, learn, change.
Anjelika:
The doors can open in an unbelievable way. Can you imagine you just went with somebody to wait for them until they finish interview and you ended up getting job. And I remember thinking that I'm like, okay, what can I learn from this? Oh boy, did I ever learn? When you're having less resources, you can become creative. We didn't call it Summer School, because Summer School is like, "Okay. You fail, you go to Summer School." The work of our students got all the way to another nation in Switzerland. Maybe you're here not for yourself at that point. Maybe you're here for some greater mission.
David:
Welcome back to Hope and Vision in a New World, part two. If you missed part one, I encourage you to listen and learn about Anjelika's childhood in the Soviet Union, and the amazing circumstances surrounding her immigration to the United States. Today, we pick up the conversation as Anjelika describes her work as a teacher of second language learners, a visionary catalyst for community change, and a leader who gives hope to everyone whose life she touches.
Anjelika:
Even though I finished Business Degree, my story with Dalton was remarkable. I went with somebody, Dalton public schools. I went with someone for their interview, just to wait on them and go for lunch after that, and I was sitting in central office. And the chair person was passing by, started talking to me. Next thing you know, the gentleman talks to me, who is the Vice Coordinator. Basically was doing what I'm doing right now. And that person, Phil Jones, is just there about to open the center and they need people with the skills like mine and experiences like mine. But I have the International Business Degree, so they work with me and through North GA RESA. So they let me finish certifications, stuff like that. And that's how my situation started here in America. I'm talking about helping immigrants. So, since that moment, the doors can open in an unbelievable way. Can you imagine you just went with somebody to wait for them, until they finish interview and you ended up getting job.
Anjelika:
I was not looking at an Education job in America. I was not. I was working for an Immigration Attorney as a trilingual Marketing Advisor. I would work with Spanish population, Slavic, Russian population, former Soviet Union. And I was fine. So that's how I get there. And they begged me, They say, "Can you just please give us a couple of months?" I walk in the classroom and my childhood, and my family, my dad has met with minister. His background kicks in, and I feel like I'm on the missionary field, and people pay me for that. So you're going to be happier. That's how my education started. And it just went from there.
Anjelika:
I have an accent, but I felt like my strong part was to work with those teenagers, and preteens and teenagers, and give them vision. Because where there's no vision, people perish. And that's what I see happening. I can speak for immigrant views. I can speak for the new... the kids I'm working with. And when there's no vision, but there's nobody. There's no doubt in their life to give, to mentor them and give them the vision. So I feel my strong part is not only provide professional skills and get that into their heads, and get forward in language, but also build them for life and give them the division. When I was in that hard situation, I remember I met an immigrant who been here since 1940s after World War Two, and she knew my situation and she looked at me and she said, let me tell you, you feel stressed and you feel oldest hardship in a new country, but let me tell you, maybe you hear a note for yourself at that point.
Anjelika:
Maybe you're here for some greater mission. And maybe you are here for the better future for your daughter. So don't think about yourself. Don't feel sorry for yourself. And I remember thinking that I'm like, okay, what can I learn from this? Oh boy did I ever learn. So now when I communicate with families, I know exactly where they're standing, I know what a deep situational depression feels like. I know how it feels to not even have energy wake up in the morning. I know how it feels when you even is that all that hope for better life, but because of the hardships and lack of sleep and everything you end up through, you feel like you're spiraling down and understanding them helps me to be better educator, helps me train educators and helps me to reach out to those students, which we've been doing pretty successful for over 20 years now.
David:
I remember something You said to me, when we spoke a few years Back, don't throw money, throw talent. Does that ring a bell With you? Because it sounds like you said to me, that's where you're going to make the impact. It's not necessarily money. So talk to us about that phrase and how it connects to the impact that you see yourself making.
Anjelika:
All it was believed that of course, we need electricity. We need some buildings, that all requires money. But from what I experienced generally in America, it's they come through miracles, look at the look at the old grants they gave him like 21st century was one, $1.2 billion. It's money everywhere and the research of the research shows, it's a very little impact if you don't really combine this with talent, right? So I also know that the best schools don't have the best buildings. They may not have the best technology, they do not have best technology. And some of the classrooms, most successful classrooms around the world that I observed, they may have much fewer resources than we have here. And maybe just the board, the marker and the teacher. So, but when you have the talent they can ignite that passion in another educator.
Anjelika:
You have talented teacher and who can reach that student and who goes to make the connection all kinds of different ways. And that leader who can surround the child and their learning community with the same vision, and mission, the miracles can happen. But throwing talent, your staff is everything. You know, if you give me somebody who is not, maybe knows how to get it through their head, how to teach them English really well, but they positive, that spark of light and the willing to learn, And they love students, And they talented educators in any all and other areas. Give me five of those, and throwing talent works.
Anjelika:
You may have less people, but if they're in the same mission and they willing to learn and progress together, you're going to see results. You can not provide language learning programs with the headphones and the state of art computers and just sit and give it to the child. They're not going to get it to him because it requires the human approach. It requires the teacher who makes life connections, stimulates human brain and it requires a vision. Absolutely. It requires a vision because without vision, we're going to be walking in circles year after year, after year investing more money and more money and more money. So talent comes first, support by financial. It's very, very important, but it goes after talent every single time, at least in my experience. And by some resources, diversity.
David:
If I remember correctly, you also mentioned Some leadership development processes that you were engaged in, is that correct?
Anjelika:
Yes. We always engage in all kinds of ways to reaching community. when the time to reach community, you involve any sources you have, your involvement in vigil interactions. You also bring on board like in our city, you bring on board mayor, you bring on board to media. For several years, we had a page in the most popular Spanish media was a newspaper, Spanish, traditional major newspaper here. And I personally brought 85 articles. That's how we communicate and respond and also using radio using everybody bilingual staff members at school, using those resources, not just those who work with English learners, because when you are a foreigner, every person you get in contact with becoming your teacher and the whole school is working with the teachers, work in this all kinds of different community organizations, but organizing again, using people talents when you don't have enough resources.
Anjelika:
And a lot of times having resources like in our personal life too, it makes us very comfortable. When you're having less resources, you can become creative. You start reaching out for all kinds of different things in the community. You look how you can tap into resources your community already has, but public libraries, how to get our families there, we talk to them. They hire bilingual staff, they register every child who lives in this area. So we work with parents to get them there. It's all kind of different. Everybody's saying it takes a village. It literally takes everybody, but it also takes talent and tact for those people help and not make immigrants feel the charity cases.
Anjelika:
When Immigrants come here, They don't want to feel like charity cases. They want to contribute. So they think you has a void in there, you charity case. They helping you. You can not contribute at all. And I have tons of experience of that too. And they see it a lot, is untapped potential, with our immigrant population. their families, when you approach them right way, we have thousands of them. We do events. we have standing room only. When you start looking through traditional points, how it's originally done, we send invitation, we send flyer, it's an connect call. We invite them to school. They'd being far. They sit right there. It may not work to accomplish what you want to accomplish. And what is the goal of every educator of English language learner, it's a full assimilation and acculturation, we know who we are, We keep our identities, but we are part of this community.
Anjelika:
So if we know teaching kids to become part of the community, not integrating family instead of doing our job. So that's why traditional methods are great, but it's 10%. So we engage all the families and they become part of the community. Because at the end of the day, those are the people who drive in the same roads, those are the people who eat next to you in the restaurants. Those are the people who you see at stores when you go shopping and you want them to be successful, you want to build your community. So traditional is great. People need to know that, people need to be proficient in that, but it's only gets you 10% of results. Everything else is your talents, creativity, and non-traditional approach, like in everything in life.
David:
Talk About the international pen pal work that you're doing, because that has had some incredible success As I understand it, and tell us what that is and what the current status of that work is.
Anjelika:
Okay. That international pen pals actually came across later. A couple of days ago, I got an email from the person who is a chapter leader here at international pen pals, And she sent me an email telling that program is nominated for Nobel prize. I was thrilled, but let me take a couple of steps back. You mentioned that I initiated extended learning academies. Yes, we always had, after school activities, to a certain degree in Hamilton County schools, but when it came under my job responsibilities, I felt like, okay, what would I do if I would have to do it for my child? And so what we did is that we created the dynamite program, that included all kinds of activities. We got tons of connections through YMCA and different private schools. So when our afterschool and summer schools came, they were literally, state of art.
Anjelika:
We had private school teachers, the most expensive private schools in town. Teachers, teaching in our programs along this, our best teachers, I would interview every single teacher. Then we brought just few dimensions, we created full knowledge in Spanish language camps. We created with them archery, with an international pen pals, which is a program. They come to you and they work with the students. They build their social studies skills, learning around the world, learning about Nobel prize winners and the way they lead you through that. So you create pieces of artwork. And unfortunately, I didn't get to keep any of those pieces because they seal them and seal envelope literally. And they send them somewhere overseas. I think where Nobel prize is, and then I got the mail saying, congratulations to two of your schools, work of the two students and the top being there.
Anjelika:
Can you imagine, you afterschool in public school program? It's in the top being right there presented in Switzerland. And we of course were thrilled. Then they realized there's only 90 pieces of work were selected from all around the world. And two of them from Hamilton County. So it tells you, again, don't throw money. Of course there's needed to money, but throw talent. So we've done everything, we've done music camps, we've done the immigrant children, we had researched somewhere the immigrant children, disproportion amount of drowning because the teenagers just because they never swam. They live in complete poverty, live in the small areas and they live in Chattanooga. Some of them, we have a river here. So we had swimming classes, which with the YMCAs, they also provided all food for our summer camps. We create whole economies.
Anjelika:
They were learning Mandarin Chinese and culture. Of course, in the summer, you can learn language fluently, but we had the teachers who were teaching them that, and they were preparing food and doing all kinds of stuff. In addition to STEM curriculum and deep academics, we had the local companies, musical companies that are organizations called Chattanooga, it's a famous African-American music, which, because we live here in the city, rich culture, African American culture. So we made sure everybody is exposed to the inner city Children exposed to foreign language. They're all different sophisticated sayings and suburb area kids exposed to all the African-American culture through music, through arts, it was magnificent, and I'm very proud of this work that we were doing with that, even little amount of money.
Anjelika:
But once you start doing the work, and other people chip in and they add you additional funds. So summer school, that's why they call it the economist. We didn't call it summer school because summer school is like, okay, you fail. You go to summer school. So they call it the economist. And still, until now the private school teachers call me say, okay, when next time they can work. And I hope it continues. And the same now I've been assigned this important work to develop newcomer center. In a sense, I miss that work, but I have big plans for our new immigrant students. What we can do for them.
Anjelika:
International pen-pal it really stands out. Can you imagine we had it in Hamilton County? And now the whole program is nominated for a Nobel prize. It's a great honor to offer the quality services to all our students. It does require your people, your counties and your district work hard, their new partnership to be stronger and using outside of the box saying can not just hear the comments here with the goal and using local talent. Because what we throw at our kids is a lot of local talent. And you will be surprised who is working for you, who the teachers are in your district. We have opera singers, there are all kinds of people. We identified that. And we provided for our students in Hamilton County. So it goes back to that, bringing in the best services, creative planning, and bring in talent.
David:
You've almost touched on the last question I wanted to ask you. And that is what are you thinking about doing next? So above and beyond the newcomer center and providing those opportunities that you just described, do you have anything in the back of your mind that you are hoping might happen after that?
Anjelika:
You know, once you discover something you really want to share with another counties who are searching for ways and integrate educators who need help. I would like for newcomer center to prosper, I would like for that to become a hub that really trains and changes vision of the new immigrants, I really would like to do that. Also, another thing that just let us have in my heart is those children, students, adults, teenagers, you name them those 17, almost 18 year olds with this significant lack of previous education. Maybe they don't have a platform on the base of public school for them to be successful, just because of they come to you at 17. And the last time they'd been in school, they were in third grade.
Anjelika:
This really the chances for them to graduate, successful and continue. But the laws have to change in the state level when we can offer them alternative education based on the trade, so they can do something and learn profession while they're learning academic skills. That's something I would like to explore more and it's always in the back of my head because I see the students and I can inspire them as much as they want, but we have to realize also that reality is 17 and your math skills in third grade level and they put you in the regular American high school. So that's another thing, of course, finishing the book that my daughter and I have started. So that probably will come next.
Anjelika:
For now, I'm invested into this newcomer vision. I'm invested into making life of the people, much better, life of the families and life of the human soul who is in front of us. When people ask me, what do you think about immigration, it really doesn't matter what I think, because nobody asked me how to run that. And you know, it doesn't really matter. We all have our opinions, but when the human soul is staying in front of you and you have to educate and you have to do the best of your ability. So the life of the human being who lives in the same time in history as you, and you can make difference in their life and they need you. So you do everything possible that their life on this earth would be much better because of the skills and talents and education, then anything I've given you.
Anjelika:
So that's how I look at that. I'm not asking questions. All our teachers in the newcomer center, they have the same vision. Those are the kids, they in front of us, and we're going to do our best to this world that they enter our community will be the better place. And I believe if we start this ourselves and make a difference, whenever we are right now, we generalize. And as a nation, the will jump much further than we are. We are the greatest country in the world. We can continue that and be even better. And this world can be much better place. American education will be much better. It's been a journey, educating America and coming from different parts of the world and teaching in different continents. It's been a journey that I would not change for anything else. It's my life experiences in this earth.
David:
There's nothing else I can ask that's going to provide a richer response than those closing comments. Anything else you'd like to share at all, along these lead, learn, change related topics. We've touched on all of them, very eloquently. So is there anything else that you would like to add?
Anjelika:
You know, we have limited time. From top of my head, I'm talking about change. Of course, change. It's kind of, when you say change, it depends what kind of change, but change is a part of life and part of life of every single person. And you know how we say, today you're on the course tomorrow, you may be under the course. So that's what we're telling our educators. We say, listen, you never know in life, it's your life and your children. And so when you do something, this world and this education do from best to your ability.
David:
Where can people find you or find out about you to learn about your work, if they want to learn a little bit more?
Anjelika:
Yes, I'm official employed, by Hamilton County schools. That's in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I also own a consultant group. It's called Altum group, A L T U M group. We consult how to raise funds, language acquisition, how you organize community, how you reach particular population, how you reach particular organizations, which organizations then we provide a roadmap and get all this information with data. So look for Anjelika Riano and Altum group. There'll be coming online very, very soon, that the work in the community, I help as much as I can. I do presentations. I do all kinds of different speeches and workshops, trainings, helping to set up programs and even just advice. I'm on social media. It's under the chapter international and they can always reach me under that, Anjelika Riano and it's Anjelika.Riano@Gmail.com and it's also Riano_A@HCD.Org.
David:
And you're on LinkedIn as well, correct?
Anjelika:
Yes, absolutely on LinkedIn. And I keep only professional connections there.
David:
Thank you for sharing your experiences, your stories, and your wisdom and insights with us today. It was a pleasure having you on the podcast.
Anjelika:
Thank you, David.
David:
This is your host, David Reynolds, inviting you to subscribe to lead, learn change. Leave a review and or a rating and tell a friend or colleague about the podcast. You can also share ideas and comments and via an email message sent to leadLearnchange@icloud.com. Music for lead learn Change is sweet adrenaline by delicate beats. Thanks for listening until next time. Go lead, go learn, go make a change. Go.