Spotted: The Mission, SF
What are you up to today?
I work at 826 Valencia. It's a youth literacy and creative writing organization.
How long have you been working there?
Almost 10 years.
How did you happen upon the organization?
Well, I'm from the South. I graduated college in Arkansas and wanted to live in San Francisco. I came out here, and within my first two weeks, I heard about this place. I walked into The Pirate Store [the proceeds from which benefit the 826 Valencia program] and it was a beautiful space. There were kids in the back having fun, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. I applied to be an intern, and I got a job eventually.
That's such an amazing store/community project. And it's great that there's offshoots in other cities.
Once a year, the staff goes to one of the chapter sites and we have a national conference. We're going to Boston in a couple of weeks for this year's conference.
What's the theme for the Boston store?
It's The Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute. So it's kind of a cryptozoology, "we exist because he exists" kind of a place, you know?
Ha! Awesome. What are some of your most favorite projects you've worked on?
I used to teach a journalism class at James Lick Middle School for 8th graders. That was really fun — we produced a lifestyle magazine by, for, and about 8th graders.
What were some of the interesting things that came out of that project?
I did it for three years, and every year similar themes would emerge: skateboarding, LeBron James, The World Cup, and there was always a mystery component. One of the students wanted to discover the history behind the school's boiler room. [It's] a door in the building — it's a beautiful building, sort of Art Deco, and it has lots of colorful tiles and stuff. But the boiler room just had a big sign in the front that said "Keep Out". So there was a lot of gossip and lore about the boiler room around the school. Like, someone died in there or that's where Mr. So-and-So lives after school. [The student] wanted to discover all the secrets of the boiler room; she did historical interviews, and she got to go inside and photograph it. That was a neat one.
What's something that's caught your interest lately?
I have a lot of friends that are teachers and work in education in San Francisco. And, because of the local economy, a lot of those folks are being priced out. I work on this project called The Teacher Salary Project, which believes that if we give the prestige to the profession that it deserves, it will attract and retain our best and most brilliant. As people choose what higher education to be a part of, or what they want to do out of college, they choose the careers that are going to be sustainable and serve them in whatever way. So teaching isn't usually high on the list. Some percentage of teachers, 50% or something, leave the profession after five years because it's not worth it for the compensation. It's really one of the most challenging and most important jobs, because education [is] not just instilling knowledge of history, math, writing, and science, but about building a person [and] creating a whole engaged adult citizen that has hope and is excited about their future.
Are there any models that you see are working in the US?
There are lots of models. There's one charter school model in New York City, where they level it out by paying the teachers the highest salaries in the school and then the administrators became more like the assistants to the teachers. So, the teachers were driving the curriculum and using their vision to set the strategy and goals of the school. And because of the starting salary, which is somewhere around $125,000, they attracted talent from all over the country, like Harvard School of Education grads and paid them to relocate and move to New York. They're having great outcomes and results. There's lots of projects, and there's also different districts in the United States where teacher salary is more on par with the cost of living. We have models, we just need to scale them.
And lastly, I wanted to ask about what you're wearing!
I'm really glad you're asking, because my friends made this shirt. They have a little clothing line in LA called Town Clothes. This is a cotton ikat — it's called a Road Trip Top. I got it yesterday in the mail and it's the first day I'm wearing it — glad you like it!
The sweater is nice too.
I got at the thrift store. And when I first got it, I wasn't that attracted to it because I thought it was just a basic acrylic sweater. But I looked at the tag and it says 100% cashmere and then I felt more attracted to it! [laughs] Then I washed it and it got so soft! And now I just want to wear it every day.
The necklace is nice and it goes well with the shirt!
I think I got this at The Painted Bird. It's right down Valencia between 24th and 25th, they do resale stuff — some vintage, some designer. I got these shoes there too.
The glasses are great too — love the clear frames.
I told someone recently it feels like I'm wearing crystals or diamonds. The same thing that attracts you to like a shiny gem.