00;00;00;24 - 00;00;34;05 Lisa Vahey It's also a really healthy respect for the idea that students can handle complicated, even difficult ideas. When we build community in our classrooms, when we create the kind of classroom where we might set agreements, we might decide that we're going to create a brave space. We have protocols for when we disagree with each other. When we live in that space, we can handle learning things that might be new information, or relearning, or even heart achingly sad. 00;00;34;07 - 00;00;48;14 Molly Buckley Marudas Welcome to Chalk Talk with CLEteaching. We're coming to you live from Cleveland State University. I am Molly Buckley Marudas, co-host of Chalk Talk and associate professor of adolescent and young adult literacy in the Levine College of Public Affairs and Education. 00;00;48;16 - 00;01;08;02 Shelley Rose And I'm Shelly Rose, professor of history and director of social studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cleveland State University. Chalk talk is a production of the Cleveland Teaching Collaborative. We founded the collaborative in May 2020, and it is now an award winning working group for research, reflection and support for pre-kindergarten through higher education instructors in Northeast Ohio. 00;01;08;10 - 00;01;20;02 Molly Buckley Marudas In this episode, Together We Are Stronger. We sit down with a fierce advocate for education who is working tirelessly to address pressing educational issues in Ohio. 00;01;20;04 - 00;01;37;14 Shelley Rose Let's introduce today's guest with us. Today is Lisa Vahey Lisa Vahey is the co-founder of honesty for Ohio Education, a Nonpartizan statewide coalition. Since its inception in 2021, honesty for Ohio Education has grown to an over 70 organization coalition. 00;01;37;16 - 00;01;44;12 Molly Buckley Marudas You're going to love this conversation. 00;01;44;15 - 00;01;57;00 Shelley Rose Thank you so much for joining us today, Lisa, and your pitch for the podcast. You mentioned the importance of being an upstander in your role as an educator. Can you tell us and our listeners what it means to you to be an upstander and how you arrived here? 00;01;57;02 - 00;03;18;27 Lisa Vahey Sure. And thank you both. And to your sponsor for having me today. I'm thrilled to be here. So when I became a new teacher, my school was connected with an international nonprofit called Facing History and ourselves. And part of that training, and part of what I brought to my students from being a part of Facing History, was what it meant to be an upstander. When faced with a challenge, it could be a challenge on the playground or a challenging way to think about history. And so I've carried that idea of being an upstander into my work as a mom, into my work as a community member, and to my work as a leader in schools. And so when I have the opportunity to choose, will I be a bystander or will I be an upstander? I try and step into that space. And many of us might remember this phrase that comes from, a painful historical moment in the United States. But this idea that we after September 11th, many of us saw signs everywhere that said, when you see something, say something. And that's a little bit about what being an Upstander is. It's making sure you're ready to use your words and your actions when you see something that doesn't feel comfortable and might need to be disrupted. So that's upstanding in a in a nutshell. 00;03;18;29 - 00;03;22;07 Molly Buckley Marudas Were you involved with Facing History here in Cleveland? 00;03;22;09 - 00;05;49;22 Lisa Vahey Yes. I'm so lucky. We're so lucky in Cleveland to have facing history here. And that's a little bit of honesty for Ohio Story. So I was a board member of Facing History and ourselves as one of the local board members. And you mentioned we were founded in spring of 2021. And at that time in Columbus, some local legislators had filed bills in Ohio. Language. We call those HB House bills or Senate bills PSBs. So House Bill 322 and 327 and 616 were filed. And those bills were attempting to stop the honest and complete teaching of history in Ohio schools, and also preventing the teaching of especially LGBTQ identities. We often call those the don't say gay or the anti CRT bills, although we've moved our language from that, in more recent years. And so when I found out about those bills from a mazing advocate friend, I immediately called some other board members from Facing History and ourselves and said, friends, we have a really a media opportunity to be an upstander, but I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. And so we hopped on a couple calls with the amazing folks at the League of Women Voters who have experience in this space. A friend of a friend of a friend who was at the ACLU. And, and some really amazing folks from Policy Matters, Ohio and decided we were seeing something and we needed to say something. We needed to fight back against these bills. So on one of those zooms, remember when we just did everything via zoom on, you know, on one of those weekly zooms, we bought about ten domain names and one of them was honesty for Ohio education. And that is how we birthed from a zoom call to an email list to an actual website where folks could gather resources and accurate information and also learn how to take action. Really starting at the statehouse. And that was the first few months of our now very big organization. But that's our inception story. 00;05;49;24 - 00;06;01;08 Molly Buckley Marudas Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much. And it's great to see some how all those pieces come together, which I think is so often the case. And for sharing more about how honesty for Ohio education came to be. 00;06;01;16 - 00;06;12;04 Shelley Rose Yeah, it's really neat, actually, to hear how we're also interconnected because our sponsors actually Cyrus Eaton Foundation, where some of the early supporters for facing history in Cleveland. And here we are. 00;06;12;04 - 00;06;27;01 Lisa Vahey Well, that really also plays to the theme of coexistence, this idea that we are stronger when we know each other stories and can move through the world together. Using that as a foundation for goodness. So I love that. 00;06;27;08 - 00;06;31;05 Molly Buckley Marudas Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 00;06;31;08 - 00;06;36;17 Shelley Rose Thank you so much. In your own words, how would you define honest education? 00;06;36;19 - 00;10;34;05 Lisa Vahey Well, I often do. Like, you could wake me up in the middle of the night and I would say it's not honest and complete teaching of history. Right. But I I've thought a little bit more about how I might talk about this, especially for your audience, who I think are pre-service teachers and current educators and education adjacent folks and I also hope principals and parents and school board members, folks who are passionate about what we can do in Northeast Ohio to create this sense of together, we are stronger together. When we are in community, good things happen for us. And so, yes, it's the honest and complete teaching of history. But it means that educators are willing to think about diverse perspectives. So that might mean a history teacher looking for primary sources. Let's do another shout out for Facing History, the ways they help us do that work. It might also mean a math teacher making sure that they dial their understanding of mathematical processes and procedures all the way back to African leaders, African mathematicians, and not sort of plop us right into, you know, the white male dominant narrative of where math comes from. It's also a really healthy respect for the idea that students can handle complicated, even difficult ideas when we build community. So I'm going to take that peaceful coexistence and talk about it being in our classrooms, right? When we build community in our classrooms, when we create the kind of classroom where we might set agreements, we might decide that we're going to create a brave space. We have protocols for when we disagree with each other, or what we do when we need to cool off. When we live in that space, we can handle learning things that might be new information, or relearning or even heart achingly sad. I bet everyone listening can think about a moment where they were in in school, or maybe someplace else, and the first time they learned an honest piece of history that disrupted their own understanding of what they thought the world was like. And I just want to really shout out teachers, because teachers are so key to this space. Teachers find credible sources. They design curriculum, they know their students well, they plan and replan, and they really lean in to what does it mean to create the kind of classroom where we can talk about difficult topics? And I think a piece that really has come to life for me as honesty's grown and matured, is the relevancy of the honest and complete teaching of history. The idea that 21st century students need and want to know the stories of our past, and they want to use those stories as fuel and energy and inspiration and momentum to disrupt, to create, to make our world a better place for them. And so I really think about the curriculum, our educators, the students, and sort of that working definition. So if you woke me up, I would still say the honest and complete teaching of history. But I think when I dig a little deeper, it's much more nuanced, more complex vision. And I really do want to name that. Those are the pieces that help us create voters and citizens and community members who are ready for a multiracial, multiethnic democracy, which is what America is all about. And so I want to connect it to our bigger picture of our country and why this feels so relevant always. But maybe, perhaps right now, in 2025, when we're struggling with our own country's identity. 00;10;34;07 - 00;11;09;14 Molly Buckley Marudas Well, thank you for sharing all of that. And I just love the notion or the phrase you shared together we are stronger, which I think is really at the heart of what we hope is this particular season on Chalk Talk. So I'm curious, it sounds that you may have many examples. I am sure, because this has not been a quiet space lately. But from your perspective, can you think of 1 or 2 specific examples where you are seeing honesty for Ohio education, promoting peaceful coexistence? You know, in the last year for Ohio students and families? Yeah. 00;11;09;17 - 00;16;00;04 Lisa Vahey I want to share two examples. The first is I want to just shout out the really powerful affiliates of national organizations that we have here in Ohio. So we have our amazing, teachers union. So the AfD and the NEA have Ohio affiliates, the OFT and the OIE. They were early partners, and they convened their folks, as well as the Ohio Council of Social Studies as part of the national organization, a catalog which is part of and CTE for the for English teachers. And I think about the really powerful conversations that happen when educators gather and they have accurate, timely, actionable information about what's happening in the legislature, in Ohio or in their local districts. And I want to name that. If you are designing curriculum, grading papers, living your own life, tending to your own wellness, and then also attending professional development so you grow and become stronger. You are doing incredible work as an educator, and I want to name that. What honesty does is also asks you to think, what is the advocacy shawl that you can also put on, and think about how you might write a letter or deliver testimony, or get more proactive and attend your local school board meeting. And so the conversations that we're having with educators at conference is when we're tabling at events, I think that's one place where honesty really brings its mission and vision to life. I meet lots of teachers who come to our table at events because they see the picture books that we have out, they see the chapter books that we have out, and they see our awesome honesty for Ohio education sticker. We're a huge believer in the power of a pin or a sticker to help message who you are and what you're all about, but when we go deeper in a conversation, we start to head to that place of what does it mean to advocate? What does it mean to find your voice as a teacher and to join with others, to be willing to say, I have a really strong belief system about what good teaching and learning looks like and what my students and our community and our families need. So helping teachers raise their voice in that way, that's one really powerful example I want to share another example that's very different, and that's when I have the opportunity to talk to business leaders or non educators about the importance of the honest and complete teaching of history and why this matters in Ohio. So I have a great friend who works for McKinsey consulting, and she's been someone that I walk and talk with to understand what's happening in the business world. And she shared with me this incredible report that McKinsey did on what skills it takes for our graduates to be successful in the 21st century world. And many of those skills involve young people working through conflict, understanding how to be with people who are different than them, taking on divisive topics and moving teams colleagues forward, being willing to have hard conversations, thinking about limited resources or truth telling. And so when I saw that McKinsey report, I realized if we take away divisive topics from schools, then kids will not have the skills they need. Ohio students won't have the skills they need to be successful managers in the 21st century world. And so I use that talking point to remind folks that school is the place where we learn to disagree, to still move forward from our disagreement, to wrestle with the feelings that come, the discomfort that comes from knowing or not knowing something well enough. And so I really want to make that explanation available to more people, that this isn't just about creating Americans, Ohioans who all understand about the Japanese internment camps or the Holocaust, or the role of LGBTQ advocates in creating justice in our world. But it's about the ability to have difficult conversations about those things so that you are better prepared to be a productive member of our state and to do great things out in the world. Post high school situations outside of school. 00;16;00;04 - 00;16;01;16 Shelley Rose Right? 00;16;01;18 - 00;16;12;03 Molly Buckley Marudas Absolutely. Well, thank you for both of those examples. It's extremely helpful to hear some of the specific ways that you're engaging and doing this work with folks in all different sectors. 00;16;12;06 - 00;16;17;02 Shelley Rose So how can our listeners connect with honesty for Ohio education? 00;16;17;04 - 00;19;32;22 Lisa Vahey Well, obviously we want everyone to go to our website, right. Honesty for Ohio education.org. But I'm going to go a little bit deeper. I think it's fraught to think about saying and follow us on social media these days, because I know to do advocacy work well, you also have to think about how you filter your social media intake. But one of the things that honesty is doing is that, and I think this will appeal to both of you, is that every Friday we put out a great reading list of inspirational books and texts and think podcasts, and I had to make sure this one lands on it. A things that make you think. And so that honesty reads feature ensures that not just hate and harm is going into your feed. If you follow us on social, we're on Instagram and Facebook and I'm sure we are still on X, and that may change by the time you're listening to this, but you'll see all the icons at the bottom of our website so you can follow us there and know that you won't just get all of the bad things happening, but also joy and momentum and energy. I also want to mention that we have a youth advisory team, and so if you work with young people who are thinking about how to get involved in justice in the world, point them to our youth advisory team. If you're listening and you're a school board member, we have a school board group that meets regularly. We also have events, tons of great content that you can download and listen to, that you can watch. We've started podcasting as well, so you can listen to our podcast. So thinking about all the ways that you can get content and I do want a name that understanding how local school boards work and how the state legislature works might be new information for you. So you can also go to the honesty website and get some of those explainers to build your skills for attending or speaking up at a local school board meeting or writing testimony, writing a letter to the editor or an opinion piece, and also having us come to your classroom. I love when I get to come to classrooms and talk with students about the work that we do, so we really try to be present in the world, and I want to name that. Also that our incredible partners are very present in the world. So when you sign up for the honesty newsletter, which comes out once a week, you also get to hear about what the incredible work that honesty partners are doing, including faith based organizations, big nonprofits, small beginning nonprofits. It's really important to know that there are a lot of Ohioans working together to make Ohio strong. In fact, to help us cultivate this coexistence across difference. Whether that difference is race or gender identity or faith, home language, immigration status. And so being willing to learn from others is a real piece of our work. And we invite folks who follow us to also do that work as well. 00;19;32;24 - 00;19;40;03 Molly Buckley Marudas That's great. And I know you I think you mentioned you've come to Cleveland State before to Angela Davis class, who we both work closely with. 00;19;40;03 - 00;20;11;21 Lisa Vahey So yes, hopefully, if you're a professor listening, if you're a teacher listening and you want to know more, hit the contact us button. And we're there to answer questions to connect with students. I also want to mention that lots of educators might be hosting clubs of all kinds in their schools, after school or before school. And so we're really willing to connect with you in whatever way we can. So contact us, hit the button, and let us know that you're interested in learning more. 00;20;11;24 - 00;20;21;06 Molly Buckley Marudas Oh that's great. Thanks, Lisa. So before our chalk and roll, which is our rapid fire, is there anything else you would like to share with our listeners today? 00;20;21;09 - 00;21;38;22 Lisa Vahey I do, and I want to make sure that folks realize that when there are threats to the honest and complete teaching of history, there are actions we can take. It may feel like we are far away from what's happening at the federal level, or what the state at the state level, but in fact, having concrete actions and taking those actions in community is incredibly impactful. There have been a lot of local wins and legislative wins in Ohio that have helped ensure that our teachers, our kids, and our families know that no matter what their identity is, they are not alone, and that there's thousands of other Ohioans who want to make sure that they're having a great experience in our schools. So if you're listening and you feel overwhelmed or paralyzed or really down in this space, finding community and knowing that there are small and big actions you can take, I think is part of that personal peacefulness. Knowing that there's something you can do is so important. So I just want to put that hope and wish for peaceful coexistence out into the world. 00;21;38;24 - 00;22;00;07 Molly Buckley Marudas Thank you know, and it's a huge part the sense of community and and hearing you talk about the value and importance, I mean, the inception of this collaborative, we came to life for that reason during Covid because teachers felt alone. And so let's try to navigate these spaces together, which I hear so powerfully. And what you're saying. 00;22;00;09 - 00;22;17;27 Shelley Rose Excellent. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experience and expertise with us. I'm really compelled to hear about creating spaces for peaceful coexistence in this way. We are now going to transition to a rapid question and answer segment that we are calling chalk and roll. So are we ready to rock and roll? 00;22;17;28 - 00;22;25;15 Lisa Vahey Yes. So has come to this. This is your certainly lighter. 00;22;25;18 - 00;22;26;24 Molly Buckley Marudas Yes. 00;22;26;26 - 00;22;31;10 Shelley Rose All right. Question one. What's your favorite spot in Cleveland or northeast Ohio. 00;22;31;12 - 00;23;04;28 Lisa Vahey This is so easy. It's a perfect date night. It doesn't really matter what you eat as long as you go to Mitchell's for ice cream for dessert. And then go to an independent bookstore, maybe with a $20 bill in your pocket so that you can buy one more book to be added to your to be read stack. And we have so many great independent bookstores in, in the Cleveland area and in Ohio. It's so important to help them succeed by showing up with your money and your energy and your positivity for your literacy life. They're so Mitchell's bookstore. That's me. 00;23;05;00 - 00;23;10;09 Molly Buckley Marudas Love it. Great. What's one podcast you're loving right now? 00;23;10;11 - 00;24;24;25 Lisa Vahey Okay, I'm not going to answer podcast. Okay. Put a book down. Right. Although of course there are so many podcasts I could name. Cortez Harris used to teach in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and he wrote a book about James Baldwin's life as a young person called Go Tell It How James Baldwin Became a Writer. And this is a book that if you were a high school teacher or if you were a kindergarten teacher, you could read this book with your students and pull away lessons. But almost most importantly, and I'm sure many folks listening have heard this term, that were Dean Sims Bishop, a professor at Ohio State, renamed and really brought into our vernacular an education. And that's the idea that we as readers need books that are windows and mirrors, books that reflect our identity in books that teach us something new. That's such a big concept in the honest and complete teaching of history in schools, and there's so many window and mirror opportunities for kids and adults in Cortez's book. That's why I brought a copy for you all. So I'm leaving it here. You can't see this, friends, but it's going right in the middle of the table. And if you're a Cleveland State student, I hope this shows up in your classroom soon. Absolutely. 00;24;24;29 - 00;24;32;17 Molly Buckley Marudas Well, thank you for bringing that. And we'll put it as a reminder. We will put links to all the things you have mentioned and it and the book, in our show notes. 00;24;32;19 - 00;24;33;19 Lisa Vahey Perfect. 00;24;33;21 - 00;24;44;24 Molly Buckley Marudas And, for seasoned listeners, I think Windows and Mirrors has come up in at least one, if not two episodes with Allie and Andres in season one. So love it. You love. 00;24;44;24 - 00;24;45;29 Lisa Vahey It. 00;24;46;01 - 00;24;49;20 Shelley Rose Question three what is one resource you recommend? 00;24;49;22 - 00;26;16;25 Lisa Vahey So I'm going to shout out the Greater Good Science Center's Happiness Calendar. They are, wonderful organization in Berkeley, California, and they produce a ton of content. They have one of my favorite articles about the importance of gratitude in helping us live, happy Life and their happiness calendar is a monthly calendar, and they actually have two of them, one for the common person and one for educators, which is so perfect. We all need a dose of happiness in our lives. So if you're a teacher who teaches an advisory or does a homeroom, just wants to build a community in your classroom, downloading one of the happiness calendars will be pure inspiration for you. And even better, once you head to the website, you can also get it added to your own calendar so you don't even have to keep that piece of paper. You can just add it to your own calendar. And then every morning when you look and see what's on your to do list, you can click and find out what your happiness activity might be for that day. And so that is a way we can produce joy in the world, and so that we can sustain ourself when there is the need for energy and advocacy, when it feels like your fists are up and you're fighting all the time, you have to balance that with movement and music and ice cream and literature. And the Happiness Calendar is a great reminder how that can live in your every day. 00;26;16;28 - 00;26;32;17 Molly Buckley Marudas Oh my gosh, I will definitely check your vehicle. Yeah, I'll have to update from my paper calendar. Oh yeah. Great. Well thank you so much Lisa for joining us today. And thank you, chalk talk listeners for tuning in. 00;26;32;23 - 00;26;39;05 Shelley Rose For links related to this episode and guest bios. Visit the show notes at podcast at CLE Teaching Talk. 00;26;39;08 - 00;26;48;13 Molly Buckley Marudas We hope you'll join us for our next episode. Conflict resolution in Classroom and Community with Doctor Lana Moby Dean from Cleveland State University. 00;26;48;15 - 00;27;00;16 Shelley Rose Season two of the Chalk Talk Podcast is made possible by a grant funded by the Cyrus Eaton Foundation. If you want to learn more about the Receipt and Foundation or about the Cleveland Teaching Collaborative, please visit Kelly teaching.org.