Denise Russell

Denise Russell Interview By Lucca Abele - Transcription

Lucca Abele: Hi my name is Lucca Abele and I am with Denise Russell my mother. This is a Bridging the Distance oral history interview. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. Denise Russell is 54 years old and we are in Montpelier Vermont at our house. So can you tell me a little bit how you became interested in doing the work you do like being a principal?

Denise Russell: I found myself in a pretty bad situation where I didn't have very much money. I knew I had an intellect and I knew that I had the desire to work really hard so I entered a graduate program to be certified as an administrator. So my initial desire was to support my children to make sure that they got to college. We had that opportunity and since then it's changed a bit and it's not unexpected but I really love the work and I feel like I'm helping a lot of kids not just my own.

Lucca Abele: And how many children attend your school?

Denise Russell: 300 and there are an additional 300 across the street at the middle school high school, that I have some opportunity to influence.

Lucca Abele: Can you tell me a little bit about when you first learned about coronavirus?

Denise Russell: I think it was through the agency of Education or the governor. Sometimes as an administrator I get a little information before the general public. And I'm pretty sure that my first exposure to the information was through my job as a principal.

Lucca Abele: When did you begin to think that coronavirus might become a problem for you and for your school and for your family?

Denise Russell: I think the first time I heard of it I knew it would be a problem. Because I oversee a building where a lot of young children interact with one another, and I know that their awareness of social distancing is very limited. It's almost impossible to do our jobs and distance socially. So I knew immediately it would be a problem.

Lucca Abele: What impact do you think it's that coronavirus has had on you personally?

Denise Russell: It's having a tremendous impact on me because I'm not able to do my job as effectively as I feel I should. I'm not able to educate the children in a manner that I think is best for them.

Lucca Abele: What impact do you think it's had on you in your professional career? And maybe you could talk a little bit about the food distribution that is still happening through the school?

Denise Russell: So I've been charged with writing a plan for the next three months to educate the children. Originally when we were given the information that we were going to be closing it was for two weeks and so I wrote a plan for what was considered maintenance. Meaning that we were to sustain existing knowledge. And now I'm charged with writing a plan for three months to plan for a continuum for a continuity of learning. And it's awesome because what I worry most about is equity and access. And I know that some students despite all my planning won't have the same access as others. You asked me to speak about the food distribution program there have been a few different plans in place. The first one, there were four spots like we mapped out all the needs in the district and for both schools, so 600 students. And we determined distribution points based on economic need, those students that qualify for free and reduced lunch and we had distribution points. But we found in the first two weeks that we were actually encouraging distribution in places, they were gathering together. And so since then we've now gone to a fleet of volunteer drivers who deliver food to people's homes. And then I'm there three days per week to distribute meals and technology and resources out of the school. I can't allow anyone else in the school at this time and so the responsibility is mine. So I'm like a robot. I just have my staff determine the need of individual students. And I run around the school and gather the resources and distribute them and if people don't show up to collect them then I deliver.

Lucca Abele: So how many students do you deliver free and reduced lunch to? Is there anyone who says "I need it" or is it...

Denise Russell: Yeah there's no there's no qualification. I don't feel like they pay me enough to ask anyone to fill out a form or qualify for anything. So anybody that asks I just deliver or arrange for delivery. It doesn't matter it's no question to ask, anyone who shows up and many of them I do know but some of them I don't recognize, they are not known families. But it doesn't matter if somebody shows up I just give them meals and if there aren't enough then I go down to kitchens and I make more.

Lucca Abele: Who are the volunteers that are driving them to the houses and how many cooks do you have?

Denise Russell: Originally there were stipulations and criteria for who could deliver because there was some interaction with students. But because I was able to eliminate the interaction with students, I just require that folks leave a bin or a cooler out and the volunteer can deliver the food. So it's anybody from the community that volunteers, so there are staff members, there are community members, there are veterans, there are senior citizens, there are young folks, it's anyone who wants to, can show up and I just deploy them to drive and deliver meals. And the number of staff in the kitchen is down to three and myself so four of us.

Lucca Abele: Okay, and what about technology? Does every student get a computer? Do you deliver computers? Do you deliver work? How does that work?

Denise Russell: All of the above. Not only do I have devices for all students I also have the ability to coordinate with internet providers to establish Internet in any household if a child is a student. And it goes beyond the reach of Northfield because some students are co-parented and so they have a need to do their work in a second parents home. And so I can call a provider and they will establish service for any student to be able to connect with the internet. And then I can either deliver the device or they pick up the device at the technology department or teachers will help the students join the Google classroom. The real barrier has been for families who have an aversion to the internet, some people do not want to have their children on a device or don't like the Internet and so it's been very hard to provide an equitable opportunity for those folks. Because there are some restrictions that are concerns rather I should say about paper copy it doesn't exactly-- it's not equitable it's not really the same. And then some teachers have a fear of receiving work back in paper form.

Lucca Abele: What is that fear steaming from?

Denise Russell: From the coronavirus some people feel that they don't want papers that have been in somebody else's home.

Lucca Abele: How would you say you're socially affected and how are people around you socially affected by this? Maybe your teachers or your peers.

Denise Russell: One of my biggest challenges has been to keep some of the older staff out of the building. They don't feel fulfilled by the interactions that are happening electronically and they really want face-to-face. So we have many families that have children raised by grandparents and we have many staff members that are in the older age bracket and they really seem to seek this face-to-face interaction. And they really really struggle and I've had to be very direct with them in a way that wasn't so well received about staying out of the building. It's been very hard because I tried to deliver the message in a gentle way and they didn't hear it and they're continually looking for exceptions. And that's when I've had to be what is perceived as kind of mean about insisting that they stay out of the building.

Lucca Abele: How would you say you connect with those people or with your staff when you can't see them face, like they want?

Denise Russell: So the learning curve has been really hard for some people. But I have been sending messages. I have a document that I update daily call the LCD and teachers log into that daily to see all the updates. I also post screencastify videos weekly for the community that are posted on the PTO facebook, the North Elementary School Facebook, the school website, and sent out via connect five which is an automated email and phone delivery system. It's also posted on a social network front porch forum and I get a lot of reviews and so I know that I'm communicating a message. I think I've forgotten my question--I think it has to do with communication. I also make a hell of a lot of phone calls, email, texts. We have Hangouts Google Hangouts constantly, I meet with educational teams, instructional teams sometimes three times per week depending on the team. It's a big job to attend all of the meetings but I have a great staff that typically goes above and beyond to fulfill the communication needs of families, but they're all very very different so we're still learning. We have a system to color-code needs so that we make sure that we're meeting everybody's needs appropriately and not overwhelming and not underwhelming.

Lucca Abele: Can you talk a little bit about your greatest challenge either personally or professionally during this time? Is it more difficult to get technology to people, food to people, to get the correct educational resources for learning to children?

Denise Russell: I think the hardest part for me. Has been -- I think I rely very heavily on inference when I'm meeting with people. I can see them, I can feel them, I interpret expressions and it's very hard to lead when you don't have that opportunity. Because I'm trying to meet the needs of everyone, which is impossible, and so finding the middle ground is even more difficult when I don't have everyone's response. There are many staff members and community members that can't or won't access technology and even when they do it's it just has a different essence. It's hard to get the rhythm and the pulse of a community without physical interaction. It's hard to interpret meaning nuance is sometimes lost and I realize now how much I rely on that sixth sense.

Lucca Abele: Do you see this as a historic or defining event? Do you think this is gonna change the way education is run or the way you run your life?

Denise Russell: I thought about that a lot. I mean I've thought about that like when we come back to normalcy. There have been many families whose children are excelling in this environment and I wonder if we will lose families to homeschooling. Because it works really well for some kids. And then I also worry more though, about the kids who are struggling and not just academically. I think the social emotional impact of this on students that are coming from abusive or negligent homes is going to be very difficult to recover and that's what I lose sleep over.

Lucca Abele: Can you think of any other event in your lifetime or your family's lifetime that is similar to this or like put you in a similar situation or your family in a similar situation personally or professionally?

Denise Russell: can I be personal on this interview

Lucca Abele: yeah

Denise Russell: So right now I feel like my hands are tied and I'm trying to do the best I can with very limited resources and very limited connection and with very limited knowledge and -- seriously I can be personal?

Lucca Abele: If you want to

Denise Russell: The only thing I can liken it to is when my husband depleted our bank account and left me with two children. I felt very powerless and I feel very powerless now because there are many many children that I would very much like to be able to help and families that I would like to be able to help more than I am. And personally at that time I felt like I was powerless to help my own children and now I feel so compelled to help these other children. Not all of them, some of them are very well, in fact thriving. But there are some who I know are very desperate right now because people are losing jobs and domestic violence is compounded and magnified by this situation and there are children that are suffering and it's the same sort of feeling. I feel very compelled to help and I have the feeling that everything about everything that's happening and all the need. But a lot of it is unknown, but I'm sure of it in my soul, but I don't know it enough to call DCF (Department of Child and Family Services), I don't know it enough to get the police to finally, cooperate with me, to do a well-child visit. So I go and I stand in the middle of trailer parks and I yell for somebody's name because I don't know which trailer belongs to them. And, when I give over you technology devices I don't know that they're going to give them to the children. I'm not sure they're not just going to sell them or use them for their own gain. I don't know, some people just don't care about children and they have them. So I could liken it to the experience of being married to somebody who had children that didn't care about them and the responsibility was all mine and I was grateful for that opportunity. It's just my hands were tied then as they are now. I just worry about kids and I know my job is educational, but there's another part of that. There's another component of that. That is my responsibility as well and that's the health and wellness of families and that's where I feel overwhelmed.

Lucca Abele: What lasting impact do you think this will have on people either through these situations or your teachers or students not coming back, because of homeschooling?

Denise Russell: The last thing impacted you mean lesson learned? Is that what that means?

Lucca Abele: Yeah or the way people behave in the future or the way you--

Denise Russell: I think I might be going beyond the question but I feel like this happened for a reason. I think that this is a giant kick in the ass from the universe telling us to pay attention and care for one another. And I worry very very much that if we don't get this message then this problem isn't going to go away so what I hope comes out of this is an appreciation for one another. I hope that we will learn to appreciate teachers, we will learn to appreciate families, and we will learn to appreciate children. Because I don't think we're doing a very good job of caring for one another I think the real victims in all of this, are certainly you know our older generation, our immune compromised folks. And if we have an opportunity right now to spend some time with our families and our children and our neighbors and improve the quality of life that we have and the relationships that we have. Then we should probably take that opportunity because it might be all we have for a while so we should do right by our children and by our families and our neighbors and anybody that we can. And if people don't see that opportunity then then I'm right we deserve this.

Lucca Abele: How do you think you have been transformed as a result of the situation and different responses like social distancing?

Denise Russell: How have I been, what?

Lucca Abele: Transformed, as like a person

Denise Russell: It's so early I'm not sure I've made any transformation yet. I mean I'm aspiring to be proficient in technology, I'm aspiring to be patient with folks that are not. You know it's very hard for me when people won't try it. I have members of my staff that won't try to be proficient. That's really frustrating, because I feel like it's a job requirement. So early for that question, you know. I mean I'm not good at any of it yet I'm just trying. I mean I wouldn't say that I'm behind or not meeting the mark. But

Lucca Abele: I guess I'm more trying to ask, do you think you will have a new or different appreciation for in person class or the children coming to school? Not that you don't already but

Denise Russell: I would say no to those but the appreciation that I have right now is for the collaboration, for the partnership. Because right now the families of Northfield elementary school students are my staff they are my paras, they are my you know right hand and my left hand. I'm asking them to do what my staff does to support their students. So I mean the greatest outcome would be this to simplify this partnership I mean it has never been more imperative or important that families and the school work together. I mean we've always said it, but it's never really been measured or tested. So if we have an opportunity here it is to actually realize and experience the community. And without both the school and the families the children won't thrive and they won't learn. So the greatest outcome would be to value that partnership, like in a really tangible way. I mean before it was like you know bake sale right, you know our fundraiser, that was what the collaboration meant, that was the participation that was required. Now it's you know can you actually be an elbow partner for you know a second grader during their OG lesson. Because they need this and you might not even understand it yet but can you try and trust us to go through the lessons and learn how to support your child. It's a totally different definition of partnership and it's much more than I think was ever anticipated. So that's what I hope for.

Lucca Abele: Is there anything that we haven't spoken about that you would like to talk about?

Denise Russell: Yes, the hardest thing for me personally not professionally has been watching opportunities passed by my children. Because my kids have set themselves up for success and they work for it and to have to watch those opportunities be lost, and not be able to make them up or recover them, has been very hard for me because the reason that I work the way that I do is run by those opportunities for them. And to have these situations, this situation, diminish those opportunities for my kids it's very hard. Because I can't make them up and I don't know when those opportunities will present themselves again.