Data, Meetings, and 500 Kids Later

Welcome From Jekyll Island

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Spotlight for Success with American Boat Company. I'm your host, Eric Ventozi, and we're here at the Summer Gale in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Here we have our special guest, Brooks Robinson, and he is the director of student services in Sumter County Schools. So we're so thankful to have you here today.

Why School Leaders Attend GALE

SPEAKER_00 0:23

So tell me what brings you here at Gale.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

We're here at the conference with our school system, trying to attend some, well, not trying to, but attending some sessions to learn and grow as we move into a new year. So we come basically every year. A different set of leaders come to these conference just to have a chance to attend some sessions and get gain updates, insight on different things that have changed, and to attend the breakout sessions. Awesome, awesome.

Stepping Into Student Services

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Tell me a little bit about your position as director.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

So actually, I'm leaving my position as assistant principal that I've done for almost seven years, and I'm moving into the position of director of student services, in which I will be over the intervention services for our students. Pretty much it's go MTSS, and we're looking at the academics, behavior, attendance, the well-being of all students. And we have to look at the whole child. So we want to make sure that everyone is every student is receiving what they are supposed to be receiving. Just like a prescription. When you go to the doctor, you want the doctor to prescribe you the right medicine. So we have to get it right for our students to make sure that they're going to be able to continue to learn and grow. Absolutely.

Building MTSS With Data Tools

SPEAKER_01 1:36

And what are some ways you do that? So as of right now, we are currently working on our manuals, our processes, to make sure that our teachers and our principals and our schools know the steps to go through and monitor the data pieces for behavior, academics, and the attendance piece. We work closely with our curriculum director and our consultants, and we are working with our content specialists to make sure we're delivering the correct interventions for students. We have different platforms that we're using, Amira, iReddy, the Renaissance platform, and to monitor the students. So, you know, just making sure that we're looking at the data on a consistent basis and making sure that we are aware of where our students are.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Amazing.

Lessons From Assistant Principal Work

SPEAKER_00 2:21

And uh tell me a little bit about what you did as vice principal these past seven years.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

So as the assistant principal, I was responsible for testing. I was also the testing coordinator in the building. Um we also I was also responsible for discipline, um, grades, um, report cards, making sure everything was printed, um, making sure we supported teachers and collaborative planners, attended our leadership um leadership uh meetings, um, and just looking at the supports that we have for students, you know, on a different level. Yeah. And so in the building, you're you're actually leading the work. Yeah. And now you're at the district, so now you actually see what's going on from the district lens because you're on at the school level, you only see what's going on in your building. We were um second and third grade, so you know, we had about 500 students. But it was it was good. We supported students, we supported teachers, and we were just supporting the right work. Alright, awesome. And do you have any last words for the Gale community?

The More Over The Why

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Just make sure you you you wake up every day um ready for any changes that may come, ready to do the right work and not looking at the why, but looking at the more, just like they told us in the session. Absolutely. It's all about the what the more and not the why. We we have to get it right for the kids. They they deserve it, and we are in positions to help make change, so we need to make sure we are waking up every day to do the right work. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Um thank you for coming on our podcast, Mr. Robinson. All right. Thank you. You have a good thing. Thank you. Peace out. Thank you.