Already beat the bell and grab a seat.
Y'all ain't ready.
You'll notice something special.
Not now. You ain't ready
in this Spanaway middle school classroom.
Alright now y'all ready.
Who's got attendance for me today?
My student during COVID, he goes Mr.
Young I ain't trying to be racist
or rude or anything but you're
my first black teacher ever and I
kind of just was shocked that but
I also thought about I was like
well I've been an issues so it's.
It makes sense you know you remember
having any black teachers none.
African American.
What do you think is gonna be ask
around today and that's still
a pretty common answer.
I've never had any black cheap
African male teachers in my life.
One yeah just touch on I've never
had any black male teachers
other than coach young. According
to the Black Teacher collaborative black
educators make up just one point 3% of
all educators in Washington and U.S.
Department of Education data
shows that's far below the 7%.
National average of black
teachers nationwide.
It just shows that, you know,
there's not very many of us
and then when they do run
across some of us.
We can make an impact.
Teacher Hakeem Young says that lack
of representation means many kids
never consider education as a career.
I see athletes, the rappers,
music, musicians, that's what
we see a lot of growing up,
and that's where we kind of
flock to one times, excuse me, 3.
So when they say being educator,
it's hard to envision that sometimes.
Once a parole officer working
in the prison system this way,
Ty, you gotta keep it up.
David Watson is now the principal of
Rainier Valley Leadership Academy. For
me, I never want to go into education.
It just wasn't.
I didn't think it was my calling.
But what made it my calling is when
I went back and you started thinking
about the school to prison pipeline
and how you're a part of that
principal. Watson realized early
intervention was key after hearing the
same regrets from countless felons.
And so I'd asked them some
of the the same questions.
So the individuals that were on my caseload.
Like how did you get to this point?
How did you get here?
You know, Watson father found someone
who took me under their wing when I
was in middle school or high school.
I wouldn't even be here.
And I really stood out to me
because that's exactly how I was.
I was one of those kids that was at risk.
I was in trouble.
I was on probation before
I even hit the 8th grade.
And I had some teachers who
took me under their way and got
me on the right track.
Principal Watson still remembers
the impact his first black
teacher had on him in 11th grade.
She miss caston.
I remember we were reading some books.
I remember telling her, Miss Caston,
why are we reading these books?
I don't wanna read them.
I can't relate to anyone
in these books whatsoever.
And then the next thing you know,
she started bringing me some book,
blew Asahi Sula, these different
books written by Tony Morrison,
you know, The Color Purple.
And I'm reading these books and I'm like,
you know, Alice Walker?
I'm like, wow,
these are about people that look like me.
According to the National
Bureau of Economic Research,
Black students who have one
black teacher by the 3rd grade.
7% more likely to graduate high school
and 13% more likely to enroll in college.
After having two black teachers,
the likelihood of enrolling in college
for black students increases to 32%.
Research also suggests the lived
experience that comes with being a person
of color also helps white students
learn about bias and social justice.
There's been more programs for
individuals to really step into
these spaces because we are missing.
The back when we do not include like
so many different members of the global
majority within the educational system
that gets Spanaway. Middle
school this spell.
Yeah, these are bad man transforms.
Happy birthday to you.
Boom, there we go.
That's another great one.
Time to go to work,
to coach Young. Let's go.
My students get the privilege of.
They see me in 6th grade,
7th grade, 8th grade.
Well, now they go to high school.
All they see me for is sports.
So I'm still on their case about great
diagnose. See, let's go handing
out life lessons at the 50 yard
line. And that's how we earn everything.
Where we around here we don't
get nothing unless it's earned.
And preparing his students to
meet what challenges may come.
Just listen. That's the biggest
thing is when you got people
who are willing to listen to
them first before trying to tell
them what they have to do.
What is my equation?
That's where the real connection
for facing race. I'm PJ randhawa.
In our earlier version of this story,
we identified Hakim Young as the only black
teacher in the Bethel School District.
The district tells us 2.2% of its teachers
identify as black or African American.