Belief in Kids Is Only the Start: How Teach For America Indianapolis Turns It Into Results with Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn
Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn, Executive Director of Teach For America Indianapolis, says believing in kids is only the start. The work is turning that belief into clear goals and measurable action for students.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Tenika to talk about how leaders get built in Indianapolis and why teaching may be the best training ground there is.
Tenika grew up in Farrell, Pennsylvania, a town of fewer than 5,000 people, and went to parochial school from pre-K through ninth grade. When the family could not afford private school for her and a private college for her older sister, she started tenth grade at a public school for the first time. The classes were bigger and the options fewer, but she found teachers who looked like her and believed she could accomplish anything. That is why she knew she would become a teacher.
Today she leads a chapter where alumni run schools and shape policy across the city. They do not always agree on how to get there, she says, but they all believe students deserve to win.
Mike and Tenika get into the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation and how district and charter schools will share facilities and funding. She also explains what a 2023 RAND study found about Teach For America teachers in the city, and the 2030 goal to double student outcomes in reading and math.
Tune in to hear how a student who found her calling in a public school classroom is now building the leaders Indianapolis will need next.
Chapters:
- 🏫 00:49 Meet Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn: from public school student to turnaround school leader
- 🧭 10:24 Teach For America Indianapolis develops leaders, and RAND measured the student results
- 🏛️ 16:12 The new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation takes on shared facilities and funding
- 🤝 21:43 Leaders learn the job by shadowing the people already leading it
- 🍎 28:02 Teaching is the job that prepares you for any role
- 🎯 31:54 Turn belief in kids into goals, systems, shared ownership, and measurable action
Links:
Website: teachforamerica.org/indianapolis
Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tenika-holden-flynn-ed-d-7351519a
Teach For America on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/teach-for-america
Explore Teach For America Indianapolis and connect with Tenika on LinkedIn to follow the work of building education leaders and student results in the city.
Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc
Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com
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Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com
Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org
For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org
Stay strong.