Tracy Chambers, Assistant Superintendent of Education Support Services

Tracy comes to us at SBCSS from Hemet Unified, where she was the Assistant Superintendent of educational services for six years. The 10 years before that she held all sorts of leadership roles from assistant principal to principal to Director of Professional Development. Prior to her time with Hemet Unified she was an elementary school teacher and site based instructional coach in Palm Springs Unified. Tracy brings such a passion for students and an incredible wealth of knowledge to her position. One of the things that our team first notice about her is that she has a definite love for all things AVID. The second thing we notice is that she has a pretty fantastic sense of humor. We are absolutely thrilled to have Tracy as our guest today. And we know after this episode, you will understand why the RIME AVID team is so crazy about this new addition to the county superintendents office. 

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Transcript

Tracy  00:00

And I hope that my legacy helps people to see that this is really systems work with people at the heart of it

Stephanie  00:16

Hey, AVID family, this is Stephanie Downy.

Kelli  00:16 

And I'm Kelly Hogan-Flowers from RIMS AVID

Stephanie  00:19

and you're listening to the RIMS AVID Roundtable, the podcast where we discuss all things AVID. Twice each month on this podcast, we get together with special guests to talk about their AVID journey. They will tell their story and explain what makes them an AVID Rockstar. They will share their ideas, best practices, and strategies that they've learned along the way.

Kelli  00:37

The RIMS AVID team works under the umbrella of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools office. We are so lucky to have the full support of Superintendent Ted Alejandre and the entire county office. Steph and I are so pleased to be joined today by Tracy Chambers, the Assistant Superintendent of Education Support Services for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Tracy comes to us at SBCSS from Hemet Unified, where she was the Assistant Superintendent of educational services for six years. The 10 years before that she held all sorts of leadership roles from assistant principal to principal to Director of Professional Development. Prior to her time with Hemet Unified she was an elementary school teacher and site based instructional coach in Palm Springs unified. Tracy brings such a passion for students and an incredible wealth of knowledge to her position. One of the things that our team first notice about her is that she has a definite love for all things AVID. The second thing we notice is that she has a pretty fantastic sense of humor. We are absolutely thrilled to have Tracy as our guest today. And we know after this episode, you will understand why the rooms RIMS AVID is so crazy about this new addition to the county superintendents office. Welcome to the podcast. Tracy, we're excited to learn what you're bringing to the table. 

Tracy  01:53

Well, thank you both for having me. I'm excited to be here. 

Kelli  01:56

Awesome. So we start off with the same question for all of our guests just to kind of break the ice and get things going. So our question is, where did you go to school? And what do you have in common with your college mascot? So the example I gave is that I went to Cal State Fullerton and the mascot is a Titan or an elephant. And what we have in common is that elephants are formidable opponents. And like me, they're slow to anger. But once they're mad, watch out. So how about for you? Where did you go? And what do you have in common with your school's mascot?

Tracy  02:32

All right. Well, I went to school at Point Loma Nazarene University. In San Diego. I was really at a tough time I had an ocean view room my first two years. Yeah, it was. It was really rough. The mascot is no longer the mascot. So at that time, the mascot were the Crusaders. Okay. And so that has since changed. I think it's a sea lion now or something along those lines, I should probably look into that. But I would say what I have in common with the mascot at the time was just, I was on a mission to get through school and get it in the rearview mirror.

Kelli  03:09

I think Crusader works for you. I think that's that's a great way to describe you actually.

Stephanie  03:15

Yeah. So at one of our workshops, you shared a great story about your history with AVID, can you share how and when you were introduced to AVID?

Tracy  03:22

Sure. So I entered into the role of director of professional development. And what was great about that role is it served preschool through high school. But at that time, my experience really was in elementary school. And so when I stepped into the role of professional development, I learned that AVID was going to be a part of my roles and responsibilities. And so I had to very quickly figure out what does AVID and and this was prior to AVID elementary really being a priority or a focus in the world of AVID. And so it was predominantly, you know, a secondary thing. So I had the opportunity to do visits across campuses. And so that was part of my role. And my first real introduction to AVID was on a site visit, and I'll share the story and that AVID was a lifesaver during that visit. So I was on a visit, I was with my superintendent and colleagues. And we were going around to take a look at the instruction that was happening inside of classrooms. And unfortunately, the first couple of classrooms that we went into, left us wanting for more. We didn't see the engagement. We didn't see the rigor we didn't see the critical thinking that I would have hoped to have seen in classrooms and I was actually quite concerned that about the instructional program. But once we got to the rotation where we got to go into classrooms that were integrating WICOR strategies, classrooms that actually got to see a tutorial process and hear kids talk about their point of confusion. In their lesson, I had a lot of hope and admiration for the work that AVID was leading. So that was really my first window into the systems that AVID schools and AVID classrooms put into place. That really made me a believer from the beginning.

Stephanie  05:36

I love that. Thank you.

Kelli  05:36

I love that left you wanting more such a nice way to say that. We've all been there. And we're so happy that those were not AVID classes. Yes. So, Tracy assistant county superintendent is kind of a big deal. So can you describe your current work and tell us? How did you get here?

Tracy  05:55

Can you let my mom know that it's a big deal? She's like what do you do exactly? Well, thank you. Yeah, so this has been a great learning opportunity for me coming from a single district, we good size about 22,000 students. And I had, you know, the opportunity to support curriculum, instruction, assessment, technology, all the things that really typically live in an ed services world. So but but coming to the county, we are uniquely positioned to support 33 school districts that have very unique and differing contexts. And when I say unique and differing down from our smallest district has less than 100 students, to our largest district, it almost 50,000. And so what's been great for me is really being able to come alongside and understand that as a county office, we are really a support mechanism. And that we are able to provide expertise and guidance in all things that really live inside of ed services. So when you think about the California dashboard, and all the metrics that our districts are working hard to improve, my role is really, how do we come alongside in a meaningful way and provide a service that is relevant and relative to what districts are needing in terms of the heavy lift of meeting the needs of every kid in their district.

Stephanie  07:21

So share with us your favorite educational memory, or what your best teaching experience your greatest success story, something along those lines. 

Tracy  07:29

Oh, my goodness. I'm smiling. Because I'm thinking of different kids that I've experienced, I think some of my greatest memories or things that have stood out is, my husband is a nurse, and he works at a hospital. And one day he was having a conversation with another nurse. And they were just he happened to be talking about his wife, I'm sure all positively of course. But in that conversation, he figured out that I had taught two of his colleagues, children. And it was this great connection i

Kelli  07:36

We always do.

Tracy  07:46

n that, you know, she of course said all the lovely things like you were their favorite teacher and all of that. But I was invited to their daughter's surprise birthday party when she turned 27 years old. And I got to walk in and see my former student. And she immediately recognized me, which made me feel good, because it had been a minute. And she said to me, she remembered the letters that I had written to her over the summer, in between after she was my student and that she had saved them. And so I think that's just one of my, my favorite things in I regularly get to hear how she's doing through her mom who works with my husband. But just that full circle experience of seeing a lot I had her when she was in second grade. And she was this darling little quiet and shy student. And now this, you know, adult that has a great future ahead of her. And so that for me has been really powerful and just seeing it all come together.

Stephanie  09:16

I love that

Kelli  09:20

All right. So what would you like to be your educational legacy? When people talk about you years from now, when you're at your retirement years from now? And they're talking about just the impact that you've made? What What would you like your legacy to be?

Tracy  09:39

That's a great question. It's funny because I have two seven year old kids. So I often think about what do I want my legacy to be for my own children? I think in my work environment. A. I think I want people to say that I cared about them as a person, I think above all things was that that is really meaningful to me about how, how people are treated. So that's thing one, I want them to say, you know, she was kind, she was caring, she was thoughtful and cared about others. I think on the really technical or professional side, I'm really passionate about improvement. And I really learned a lot of lessons around leading the work that involves people. And systems have problems, people have needs. And so I really want to emphasize that there are lots of ways of going about improving, and getting into a disposition where you don't make it about people, you make it about what are the systems or the conditions that are in place to get the outcome that we desire. And I hope that my legacy helps people to see that this is really systems work with people at the heart of it.

Kelli  10:56

We've definitely done that, that kind of, you know, that kind of work together in our in our meetings. And I do appreciate that. Because, you know, for so many of us, there's that connection to people, you know, of course, as teachers, it should be people first, but it can't be people only. And I think that a lot of the time. You know, I think one of my favorite activities is we talked about not rushing in to fix, which is a hard thing to do when when you're bossy like some of the people at this table.

Tracy  11:29

She's not talking to about me.

Kelli  11:31

Me, talking about me. But that is it's hard not to not to do that. And so I appreciate that. As as a lesson, you know, for us, and just proof that you really can't teach an old dog new tricks, because I've been doing this a long time. And it was like, Oh, I could, I could step my game up a little bit. I appreciate that.

Stephanie  11:53

One. And we've talked about this, because we just had our our one on one, but I'm just how much I feel like I've grown as a leader, learning those things, right. And looking through those lenses instead of whatever lens I was looking through before. And I was just thinking to a relates back to even when we think about AVID systems, with our coordinators that they're not always going to stay. But so fixing some of those systems and getting some really great systems in place is what makes a great app because people move education, people are always changing and moving and leadership and coordinators. And so creating those solid systems makes such a difference in keeping a program moving along when there is so much movement and education. 

Tracy  12:32

Yeah, I think back like to early in my career, I was much more focused on people being the issue. And I think just through I've been very fortunate to have just a number of leaders and opportunities that have really shaped my thinking around that. And just the value of thinking about it from a systems perspective. And I do think that's why AVID is so powerful, because it is about building a sustainable system. And yes, there are great people that serve in different roles. But we don't want to play the lottery with our kids education, you know, we want to ensure that they are in an environment where systems are built and designed to meet their needs. And that's why I think AVID is one of the assets to what we provide to our community and that it's building a system around our kids education, rather than being dependent on individuals. And again, I've learned that over time, and I think that doesn't necessarily come naturally. But that's a skill that we can all learn because we do want to fix the problem that's right in front of us. But we really want to work to how do we solve this so that no one's child is in a position where they can experience what's best for them.

Stephanie  13:45

So good. All right. So AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. How do you demonstrate your Individual Determination?

Tracy  13:56

My Individual Determination? Well, I've shared so I have twins. I have a great husband, partner. I got three dogs and a duck. And so

Stephanie  14:08

she's like me.

Tracy  14:09

So you just do it, you just, you know, I try to do well, in all aspects of my life. Don't do it all the time. And in fact, pretty regularly. Pretty sure I screw a number of things up. But I think I'm goal orientated in terms of I know what I want to get accomplished. And I just do what it takes to get there. So that is I would say I have a number of systems in place actually to help me to overcome I just did a presentation the other day. So right now I'm failing at planning nutritious meals for my children. And you know, that's just I've accepted that as a mom, like, that's not my strength, but I'm really good at monitoring their screen time and making sure I read with them every night. So it's really just balancing the priorities and what is okay to let go of, I am going to work on the nutritious meal thing because I think it's going to catch up to all of us at some point. But just really trying to have a goal and working towards that and just kind of doing whatever it takes.

Stephanie  15:15

To be honest that the meal thing is probably the hardest thing ever. Like, I don't know that any of us have ever actually, like conquered that. Because whenever we think we've made something that they love, and like, Oh, this is a good one. This is gonna go on the rotation. They're like, Oh, no, like this anymore. Okay, great. Okay, I'm glad it's no, no, it's not. Yeah. And I do. Yeah. And my kids all like the opposite things. So they never like the same thing. So it's really fun to try to figure out how to feed them when one loves this, and one hates it, and the other one loves it. And this Okay, guys, I feel so I feel like that's, I think my biggest struggle as well as figuring out how to feed these children while being busy. And they're busy. 

Kelli  15:51

And it's a one day it's like, oh, baked chicken is my favorite thing in the world. And so it's like, I make it again, the next week, eew

Stephanie  15:57

chicken for all the bananas on the counter, because they eat 15 of them the day before. And now they're like, oh, nine like bananas.

Tracy  16:04

We feel good. I'm feeling Yeah, me. Yeah, that's just the mom. So I'm determined to keep trying. But the struggle is definitely real. 

Stephanie  16:11

Yeah, we definitely shouldn be trying to feed them, but they don't make it easy.

Kelli  16:17

So if you weren't doing this work, what do you think you'd be doing? 

Tracy  16:22

I fantasized about this a lot. already. I don't know that I could earn a substantial enough living to survive. Although some people have made it. I am obsessed with organizing it. I was cool. I was doing this before. It was cool. Before there were books and home edits, and all the things. I think you cannot control a lot of things in life, but you can control stuff. So I really enjoy controlling stuff. So organizing, decorating, streamlining things, you know, my husband's always like, where is the pizza cutter? Why have you moved it? I'm like, it's in a more functional location. And it's in a cute little tub, and you're gonna like it. So I think if I wasn't doing this, it brings me a lot of joy to do organizing. And I would love to help other people do that. So maybe when I retire some day, but my kids and my husband definitely experienced moms need to organize everything. 

Stephanie  17:19

That's so AVID.

Kelli  17:20

it really is. So you're one of those people that watches those videos when they're organizing the refrigerator or organizing the doors on tic toc.

Tracy  17:28

Yeah, the before and afters. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kelli  17:33

I like watching those, you know, like, I've been doing them. Yeah, the fridge is still a mess. But, man, but it would be like to have it. But

Stephanie  17:42

I feel like though it's one of those things where you do it. And then the next few weeks, you're like, it doesn't look like that anymore. Like do their fridges always look like that? Yeah, no, probably not. Because I just redid the whole Tupperware cupboard, and it looked beautiful. And I looked at it today. And I was like, doesn't look like this. It doesn't look good anymore.

Tracy  17:58

So in my refrigerator, I have these cute little plastic bins. And they're labeled. And so I have one that says dairy for the milk. My husband's like, I refuse to put the milk in your little container like so he intentionally doesn't put it in there. But you know.

Kelli  18:18

fight the battles you can win. That's not one. 

Tracy  18:21

Yeah, not winning that one.

Stephanie  18:24

Alright, so it's very obvious. You have a real passion for education. We've seen in our meetings we've seen just in conversations with you. Can you tell us where that comes from and how it affects your work?

Tracy  18:33

Yeah, so growing up, my dad was a teacher. And he taught for I think, 37, 38 years. So from from the get go, I had this modeling of the impact of serving kids. And my mom was actually the secretary at my middle school. So I also had that fun perspective. And that's really where I gained a lot of lens into the administrative side of the house because she talked a lot about supporting her principal, and you know what that look like? But my dad, our our home, our physical home, and this was, you know, a long time ago, but our front yard, my parents took out all of the grass and concreted the front yard so that we could have a basketball court. And my dad coached basketball for 27 years. And players would come over and my mom would make spaghetti and this was a regular memory that I had of just the relationship that he had with his students and the power of that. And I remember being at home and the doorbell ringing and it would be a former player that just came by to say hi a former student that just came by to say hi. My dad was recently inducted into the coaching Hall of Fame for Palm Springs unified. And it was adorable to see his players show up that I remember, as a little girl. So I think for me, the passion really comes from seeing the profound impact that my dad had on his students and his players, and wanting a sense of a job that really influenced the lives of kids. And I've just always grown up with this modeling from both my parents around service to others. So that's where it comes from for me.

Kelli  20:31

That's, that's fantastic. And, and shout out to the coach's daughters because you know, I'm, I'm a coach's daughter. So I understand. I understand what that's like. Alright, so our last question, we and we always end up the same we want to know, you know, what advice do you have for our listeners? So if we're talking about educational advice, so if you're gonna say, to be successful in your education, you need to do this one thing? What's the one thing or two things?

Tracy  21:03

All right, one or two things? Let me see. I think coming from the coaching background, that and seeing the impact that that had both growing up and then serving as an instructional coach, I think my advice is to always be in a disposition or a stance to be a learner. The times are, as we all know, radically changing and shifting. And I say this to my folks all the time, the skills that got you into the position or not the skills that are going to keep you in your position. And so I'd say for anyone in education to be successful, if you feel like you have arrived, it's your it's probably time to go. It's more about our How can you get into a stance where you really see yourself as a learner, and never lose that? That would be my, my, my two cents. 

Kelli  21:59

That's your one. 

Stephanie  22:00

That's a good one's very good. Is there anything else you'd like to add or talk about? 

Tracy  22:05

I want to say I appreciate the opportunity. And I think that for people that are listening that don't know a lot about AVID, or have people that they work with that don't I think that systems approach is really important to emphasize. And that it's not about a program. It's about building an infrastructure and a system that ensures that our kids learn and receive what they need at high levels. And so tell a friend, tell a friend or two at SBCSS, we really are here to advocate and support those that are in that learning stance that want to learn what can we do to improve the systems that we have to support kids. So thank you both for your time. It was fun as my first podcast. And hopefully not the last. Maybe I'll be back again.

Stephanie  22:53

we'd love to get you back in again and talk about some other stuff. So that's it for this episode of The RIMS, AVID Roundtable. I'm Stephanie

Kelli  

and I'm Kelly. 

Stephanie  

If you have questions, feedback on today's episode or an idea for a future show, please tweet us @RIMSAVID or email RIMSAVID@abcss.net. We'd love to hear from you. And be sure to check out our website RIMSAVID.org For all the latest news and events and something new for our students. We now have an Instagram account just for AVID high school students follow us @RIMS_AVID for important information giveaways, shout outs and more.

Kelli  23:17

And thank you to Tracy for taking time out of your insanely busy schedule to come hang out with us today and to share your AVID excellence. And like it or not, you are now part of the RIMS AVID family. And we're all pretty happy about it. And thank all of you for listening. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss a single episode. Join us next time for more RIMS AVID Roundtable, we'll save you a seat