Kelsey Wright on Elevating Student Success

0:02 This podcast, Spotlight for Success, is our way of highlighting the incredible success stories happening in education right here in our home state of Georgia. Today, we're thrilled to be joined by Kelsey Wright, with the DBQ Project here at the Georgia Council of Social Studies, who has made a significant impact in the social studies field of education. We'll explore his journey, insights and the positive changes he's creating for students and teachers. So let's get started, Kelsey, tell us about your work here. What brought you to the Georgia Council of Social Studies today? Oh, wow. So I've been coming to the conference here in Georgia for quite a few years now. Okay, I've come as a teacher, I've been here as an instructional coach, I've been here as a district lead and now this year I'm here as an exhibitor with the DBQ project.

0:53 Wow, that's a lot of different roles you've held here at the Georgia Council of Social Studies. Let's go back a little bit and talk about why you chose the field of education to start with. Awesome well, education is deeply rooted inside of me. My mom was a teacher. She was an elementary school teacher right out here in Fulton County and I was at the school all day long early mornings, late evenings so all I knew was education. All I knew was schooling. Another reason why I chose education because I love to serve students. I love to serve people and I believe that education is a service field. When you get to help a student reach their potential and get to where they want to be in life, it's very heartfelt and warming.

1:39 And also when you see that student walk across that stage and graduate and the thanks and the love that they show and support, I love that. I love that. And to see them become teachers, doctors, lawyers, whatever they want to be businessmen, businesswomen I just love that. That is wonderful Kelsey. Yes sir. Tell me about your career in education, the things you've done in the school systems. Okay, awesome, awesome. So I began my teaching journey in Georgia, in Clayton County. I began teaching as a sixth grade social studies teacher and then I moved to eighth grade From there. Within about a year or so I became department chair at the school that I was at at the time, I guess because of what I've done at the school and the influence that I have with other students and teachers.

2:22 I did that for a couple years. Then I transitioned into more of a curriculum-focused role, because that's my personal love is curriculum. I love instruction and curriculum. Teaching and learning that's what I love to do. I love to write curriculum, break down standards, create strategies and activities for students, support them with different pedagogy that's what I like to do. So I began to move to take those skills into the academic coaching field. So I became an academic coach at another school and then from there I wanted to narrow my focus down to just social studies as a whole. So I began to look around and my next role was to be the district lead for social one of the district leads for social studies out in Clayton County a year or so ago, Oh wow wonderful, and so a lot of experiences there, and you had some aha moments with your students?

3:11 Yes, yes, a lot of those A lot of those. I still have students now that call and ask me for support and help in social studies, specifically writing. I love to teach students how to write. I love to teach them how to analyze documents, how to create those claims, how to support and defend their thoughts with evidence. So I still have students now saying hey, Mr. Wright, because of what you taught me in sixth grade, eighth grade, I'm able to do X, Y and Z now in my career, or X, Y and Z in college now, and I love that. That's wonderful. That's wonderful, Kelsey. Let me ask you so you mentioned documents and evidence what are you doing as far as the DBQ project, and what is the DBQ project?

3:53 So it all becomes, it all comes full circle, right? Because that's what I do in my classroom. In my classroom, my focus was students analyzing documents, being able to defend an argument with a big question, right? So that's why I'm doing the DBQ project. Our whole goal is to get kids to write better and think clearly, and that's what the project does as a whole. We use a six-step method. We break down the process into six steps in order for students to be able to achieve that goal. We give them a big question such as how did the cotton gin shape Georgia's economy? Sherman's march to the sea, was it justified? The trail of tears, watching the Cherokee be removed. Those big questions, and we take them, we break them down, we give students documents, background essays, give them everything they need in order to be successful with that writing and then at the end, they're able to write about it.

4:43 And then my favorite step within our process is called the thrash out, and that is when students actually go and debate or talk about it before they write about it. So teachers can do activities such as four corners, Socratic smackdown, Socratic seminars, traditional debates, and to hear kids talk about topics that they won't often do is second to none to me. And then taking what they wrote, what they spoke about, and putting it into writing to show their thinking love it. So being able to do that every day now create strategies, work with districts, work with schools, work with programs to get students there I'm in the perfect place.

5:23 That is wonderful. Is there anything else you'd like to share with the educational community? I would just like to say keep going, don't give up, keep going. Students are great and it's important that we never give up on them, that we always push them to the max and let them know that we love them, we care about them, and that we want them to be the best them that they can be. That is awesome. Yes sir. thank you so much Kelsey. Thank you so much This is brought to you by ABC's Spotlight for Success, Kelsey Wright with DBQ Project. Thank you so much. Thank you.