I know what you’ve been thinking: I hope someone else starts another podcast!
That may not be what you’ve been thinking, but nevertheless… I’m starting a podcast.
The first episode came out today.
The name of the podcast is Paying Attention.
The title comes from a Mary Oliver poem that includes this passage:
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention. Be present. Notice. Be awake.
Be astonished. The world is full of wonder. And so are the people in it. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” So, let’s be curious. Let’s be astonished by what we see.
Tell about it. Don’t just keep what you see and feel inside. Tell about it. Share. Express. Write. Talk.
That’s what we are going to do on this podcast:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
The podcast is oriented towards education and education related topics in Fort Worth. But broader than that, I want us to pay attention to interesting Fort Worth people who are doing interesting and good things in the world. Upcoming episodes will include conversations with Trenace Dorsey-Hollins, leader of Parent Shield, FWISD Superintendent Karen Molinar, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, and Pete Geren, President of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.
Our first episode is being released today and features a conversation with my colleague Leila Santillán in which we talk about FWEP’s latest report: High School and Beyond. For the past five years, we at FWEP have used state test results measuring the number of students meeting grade level to inform parents and the public about how students are doing in school. With the High School and Beyond report, we take it a step further. We look beyond the test to measure real-life outcomes—whether students graduate high school, enroll in higher education, and ultimately earn a degree.
As I often say, it’s not about the test. It’s about what the test tells us about students’ lives. And we know that a young adult who does not earn a two-or four-year degree has only a 12% chance of earning a living wage.
This new report and the conversation Leila and I have on the podcast about it add a new perspective to our community’s conversation about public education, and we hope it helps leaders, educators, and families better understand the challenges and opportunities facing our students.
I hope you’ll listen to the first episode of Paying Attention. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel by to watch the podcast and follow along.
Together, let’s pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it.
