That Trip To Atlanta

It's been a while since I traveled out of Florida for an event, and I am beyond happy that I did. Those of you who follow me on Instagram (@teachmstanner) know about the awesome group of Atlanta entrepreneurs (The Black Wall Street Tour) under the leadership of Sleep Is 4 Suckers Company President Mr. David Shands. They have visited my school and my classroom 4 times, and they have made a tremendous impact on our students at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, FL. I am a huge advocate for bringing guest speakers into the classroom, especially those who talk about subjects such as success and entrepreneurship. As an educator, I also care about the other parts of my students' lives. I go past teaching them how to write a paper or how to cite textual evidence.

The Black Wall Street Tour visits my classroom.

 So moving along. Mr. Shands and Mr. Mason West (CEO of Mason West Group) hosted a conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the Nation Builders Conference, which highlighted entrepreneurship and community building and covered the aspect of education. Eight of our students (some entrepreneurs) came along as well as 2 sets of parents. I'm going to be honest. I knew that it was going to be a great conference because of the host(s) and the line up of speakers. I knew that, but I was more focused on the Student Pitch Fest that would happen in the evening after the conference sessions. The trip was more so about the students, and that was perfectly fine. That's what we had been helping the students prepare for. Little did I know that the conference would make such a great impact on me.

Mr. David Shands

     
First of all, the speakers were phenomenal!!! I took the notes in my Success Journal of course!!! What I truly appreciated about this conference was we got the opportunity to work with and discuss the principles of the speakers. You know I'm a teacher at heart so that was great for me. I met other educators and youth workers and instructional coaches who were also entrepreneurs.

Mr. Mason West

     One of the biggest things about the speakers at the Nation Builders Conference was getting a chance to hear their stories and how they used their stories to help others and build brands and create products. These were some of the most amazing stories, and they each gave principles by which they live. Here are a couple of the speakers below.

Mr. Inky Johnson

Mr. Jeremy Anderson

Hearing their stories as well as others caused me to think about my own story- My Teacher Story and My Self Image story. I have always been pretty confident about teacherhood, but I thought about things on a deeper level. I thought about the challenging journey I traveled to become a teacher and how I wanted to help other educators as well. I thought about my self image journey and my Girls Are Gems program in how I wanted to take it to another level to help change the lives of many girls. As a result of that, there are a couple of projects in the making that I'm extremely excited about!!!
Another part of the conference that I will never forget is seeing the success of my students. I am very proud of their ideas and products as young entrepreneurs. Their lives were forever changed that weekend, and I am happy that I had a hand in that. As an educator, I have to now start thinking about giving my students experiences (That's another blog post). It has many rewards.

Here are seven of the eight students.

These are the owners of Layers of Love AKA The Cheesecake Girls

These bracelets are the products of the TBT (Truth Be Told) group. They are the voice for our youth.

It was also great seeing the final project created by some Atlanta youth in a detention program there. These young men made some 'not so good' choices in life. They were given another chance, and Mr. West and his team mentored and coached these kids into making their lives better than ever before.

David Shands pictured here with some of the young men who put on a fashion show/concert.

     It was just a great experience. I can tell you so much more, but I want to leave you with one last memory. My sister and I have poured into the lives of the youth for over 15 years. Between the both of us, we have worked everywhere from the youth detention centers to the classrooms to the church. We don't do it for awards or recognition. It's a part of our purpose. We would do it without anyone knowing as we have been doing. But on The Awards Ceremony night, we were surprised when were called up to the stage and celebrated for the work we have done. I have never encountered anything like that in that regards. I am the teacher motivator. I am big on celebrating other teachers. But I must say that even I had a boost in my confidence that night. It really made me think about the work of an educator and how it's almost necessary that appreciation is shown whether it's sticky note that says- Ms. Tanner, you're the best- or if it's being called on stage in Atlanta in front of a lot of people.  I am truly grateful and thankful for this conference. I walked away with many things to think about and do. My students and I were very fortunate to be a part of this, and we know that the best is yet to come!!! Stay tuned.