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Transcript

Gelonda Zipper - Early Head Start Specialist · Look Who's Talking

• 0:00
  I'm Cameron Minter.
• 0:01
  I am your co-host and the wonderful Jessica Coffie is your host.
• 0:27
  What's going on, Jessica?
• 0:28
  Not much, Cameron.
• 0:30
  You know, just living the dream.
• 0:32
  Living the dream.
• 0:33
  Living the dream.
• 0:34
  It was all a dream.
• 0:35
  I used to read World Magazine.
• 0:37
  Look at you.
• 0:39
  You're in the mood.
• 0:40
  Okay.
• 0:41
  All right.
• 0:42
  We haven't talked about one of your favorite subjects in a minute.
• 0:45
  It's either Beyonce or food.
• 0:46
  Which one?
• 0:47
  Well, you know, I'm tired of talking about Beyonce.
• 0:49
  Oh, then it's food.
• 0:50
  We're done with her.
• 0:51
  I'm done with her.
• 0:52
  Let's talk about some food.
• 0:53
  Food.
• 0:54
  Because I'm hungry right now.
• 0:55
  Have you been to any new restaurants or have you cooked any new dishes?
• 0:59
  You know what?
• 1:00
  I had a Korean night where I cooked Korean food.
• 1:04
  You?
• 1:05
  Yes.
• 1:06
  How do you do that?
• 1:07
  So, just go to Trader Joe's and buy their stuff.
• 1:11
  I was getting so many props.
• 1:15
  You was about to get props.
• 1:17
  Yeah.
• 1:18
  So, my favorite is Korean food and they have this, it's called a seafood pancake.
• 1:25
  And the real name is Paju.
• 1:28
  You say the name when nobody can correct you, right?
• 1:34
  Yeah, because you don't know if that's the real name.
• 1:39
  Right, right.
• 1:40
  I can't correct you.
• 1:41
  So, today is going to be Paju.
• 1:42
  Somebody on the show.
• 1:44
  And it's great, Kim.
• 1:45
  It's so great.
• 1:46
  But you know what, I've been looking for turkey wings.
• 1:51
  Some raw turkey wings, not smoked turkey wings, raw.
• 1:54
  Yeah, yeah, I got some.
• 1:55
  I finally found them in my Kroger.
• 1:57
  How are you going to cook them?
• 1:59
  I'm going to do like some onions and pepper.
• 2:01
  They're going to be smothered turkey wings.
• 2:03
  So, does that mean you're baking them?
• 2:06
  Yeah.
• 2:07
  Okay.
• 2:08
  I'll bake them.
• 2:09
  I'm trying to figure out what I want to do.
• 2:11
  I think I want to put them on the grill.
• 2:12
  Why are they so hard to find?
• 2:16
  I've been looking for months.
• 2:17
  Months, Kim.
• 2:18
  You know a lot of people are using turkey meat to substitute for the pork.
• 2:23
  Yeah.
• 2:24
  So, yeah.
• 2:25
  But I would, and they were cheap too.
• 2:28
  Ain't they?
• 2:29
  Turkey cheap.
• 2:30
  They were cheap.
• 2:31
  Turkey cheap.
• 2:32
  I know.
• 2:33
  Ground turkey.
• 2:34
  Have you seen ground turkey?
• 2:35
  Yeah.
• 2:36
  Instead of getting that hamburger meat, which is crazy.
• 2:39
  Yeah, it's expensive.
• 2:40
  Oh, beef is beef.
• 2:43
  Beef is beefing.
• 2:44
  But a turkey burger?
• 2:46
  I just, the flavor of turkey.
• 2:49
  You got to over season.
• 2:52
  Well, you know what?
• 2:54
  No, it's not just the flavor.
• 2:55
  It's the texture too for me.
• 2:56
  Because where I used to meal prep, I used to use nothing but turkey.
• 3:02
  And you know how you have something for so long and you're just like, I can't do it no more.
• 3:07
  That's how I feel about turkey.
• 3:09
  And tilapia.
• 3:10
  Oh yeah, I'm done with tilapia for a minute.
• 3:14
  Tilapia tastes like a dirty eraser.
• 3:18
  Okay, if you say so.
• 3:22
  It tastes like a dirty eraser.
• 3:24
  That's terrible.
• 3:25
  I mean, it's a good meat instead of your little fatty meats.
• 3:30
  I'll keep on talking about food.
• 3:32
  So, where are we going next?
• 3:33
  Because I'll keep on talking about some food.
• 3:36
  It's good.
• 3:37
  It's good to talk about some food.
• 3:39
  Oh, I went to LA.
• 3:42
  I went to a conference.
• 3:43
  Oh yes.
• 3:45
  And I had In-N-Out Burger.
• 3:47
  Yes, talk about it.
• 3:49
  So.
• 3:50
  Talk about it.
• 3:51
  I was looking on TikTok for at least four weeks.
• 3:56
  All about In-N-Out Burger.
• 3:58
  How to order like the secret menu.
• 4:03
  Okay.
• 4:04
  And I went up and I said,
• 4:07
  can I have a flying Dutchman?
• 4:14
  Extra grilled onions.
• 4:17
  Double animal style fry.
• 4:20
  Like I did it how they.
• 4:22
  Oh my, my, my.
• 4:24
  And everyone was like, did it taste?
• 4:28
  Is it all worth the hype?
• 4:30
  And I think that it is.
• 4:32
  Really?
• 4:33
  You wouldn't starstruck.
• 4:35
  Because it's just a hamburger and some fries, right?
• 4:38
  It's just a hamburger.
• 4:39
  Hey, they cheaper than McDonald's.
• 4:41
  What?
• 4:42
  Yeah.
• 4:43
  I had a whole double burger with everything on it.
• 4:48
  Like cheese fries with other stuff on it.
• 4:53
  And a drink for $14.
• 4:58
  That's cheaper than McDonald's.
• 4:59
  Is it?
• 5:00
  Yeah.
• 5:01
  That's going to help out.
• 5:03
  The burger was $5.
• 5:05
  Wow.
• 5:06
  Five.
• 5:07
  Yeah.
• 5:08
  $5.
• 5:09
  I'm sick of McDonald's.
• 5:10
  First of all, McDonald's make me sick.
• 5:12
  Yeah.
• 5:13
  Yeah.
• 5:14
  But they expensive.
• 5:15
  How is McDonald's going to be?
• 5:17
  McDonald's was the last one on the totem pole.
• 5:20
  Now how are they going to be expensive?
• 5:21
  Listen, you know now they're coming out this summer with a value menu.
• 5:27
  Just a double cheeseburger, fries, and a drink for $6.
• 5:31
  I don't know that, but I know that.
• 5:33
  Yeah, I know that too.
• 5:35
  Have you tried Little Caesars Crazy Puffs?
• 5:42
  No.
• 5:43
  Try it.
• 5:44
  $5.
• 5:45
  Really?
• 5:46
  $5.
• 5:48
  Also, there's, did you see, what's it, Arby's came out with a burger?
• 5:56
  No, don't do it.
• 5:57
  Why would you?
• 5:58
  Don't do it.
• 5:59
  Don't do it.
• 6:00
  Oh, yeah.
• 6:01
  Don't do it.
• 6:02
  Let's take a Coffie break.
• 6:16
  Okay.
• 6:17
  For today's Coffie break, I just want to say every next level of your life will demand a
• 6:25
  different version of you.
• 6:26
  So, so Cam, when it comes to you going to the next level, it's going to require another
• 6:33
  level of yourself.
• 6:34
  That's true.
• 6:35
  So because we're always evolving, we're always trying to, at least I hope, that we're always
• 6:43
  trying to do our best and, you know, go for the gold.
• 6:47
  So just remember in the evolution of yourself that will take you on a different level.
• 6:54
  Yeah, people always want to go to the next level, but don't want to leave the level mentality
• 7:01
  that they're at.
• 7:02
  You can't go to the next level doing the same stuff you've been doing back there.
• 7:06
  You got to have a new level mentality.
• 7:09
  So, it's important to understand where you are and be okay with leaving where you are.
• 7:16
  Too many people are just stuck.
• 7:18
  This is all I'm going to be in life.
• 7:20
  No.
• 7:21
  You settle.
• 7:22
  And you know what, that's easy, like say when you're in grade school because you're going
• 7:27
  to the next grade.
• 7:28
  Yeah.
• 7:29
  But in adulthood, there's no next grade.
• 7:32
  The next grade is whatever your next obstacle or level in life is.
• 7:38
  Level up.
• 7:39
  Yeah.
• 7:40
  I remember my grandson graduating from middle school and I love the analogy of like in middle
• 7:46
  school you're top dog, right?
• 7:47
  When you're in that, what is that, eighth grade?
• 7:50
  Well, and then ninth grade you're nobody.
• 7:53
  Fresh meat.
• 7:54
  You're nobody.
• 7:55
  You've done all this to be everybody at middle school, but then you go to high school and
• 8:00
  you are nobody.
• 8:01
  Yeah.
• 8:02
  And the same process starts all over again when you go to college.
• 8:05
  And then when you start a new job or-
• 8:07
  How about that?
• 8:08
  You know.
• 8:09
  Well, what are we talking about today on the show?
• 8:13
  So today we have a special guest, she is one of my favorite people, but don't tell anybody
• 8:20
  that, including her, because her hand might get big.
• 8:22
  Right, right, right.
• 8:23
  However, we have Jolanda Zipper with us.
• 8:26
  Welcome, Jolanda.
• 8:28
  Thank you.
• 8:29
  Jolanda is one of our early head start partnership specialists.
• 8:36
  And yeah, so we want to talk to her about the work she's doing.
• 8:40
  Now, Jolanda, I don't know if y'all heard her, she over there commenting and stuff.
• 8:44
  Her mic wasn't even on.
• 8:45
  She was in the show before the show even started.
• 8:48
  I'm sorry.
• 8:49
  No, don't be sorry.
• 8:50
  How are you doing today?
• 8:52
  I'm doing just great.
• 8:53
  Thank you for having me here today.
• 8:54
  I really appreciate your acknowledgement because obviously I'm a skilled individual.
• 9:00
  Come on.
• 9:01
  Okay, I heard that.
• 9:03
  So, Jolanda, tell everyone how long have you been with the agency and what are just some
• 9:10
  of the great things about the agency that stick out to you?
• 9:13
  I've been with the agency almost over 18 years.
• 9:16
  I enjoy everything that I do.
• 9:19
  I advocate for the agency.
• 9:21
  I'm very much involved with our families, children's development, school readiness.
• 9:28
  I enjoy doing all of that.
• 9:31
  A huge part of my position is recruitment and eligibility.
• 9:37
  Also, parent involvement partnership is huge.
• 9:42
  What I want to do is build positive relationships with our families to produce positive outcomes.
• 9:50
  And it takes a lot of work to do so.
• 9:54
  But that's what we do.
• 9:56
  We are trained to do different areas of development, whether it be itters, class, credential, training credentials.
• 10:07
  This agency has really pushed me to be forward.
• 10:11
  And that's what I enjoy.
• 10:13
  And I enjoy talking about it.
• 10:15
  Is it hard?
• 10:16
  Absolutely.
• 10:17
  But that's okay.
• 10:18
  That's what I do.
• 10:19
  I'm an advocate.
• 10:20
  I push families forward.
• 10:22
  I encourage family engagement.
• 10:25
  I encourage families to participate in family committees.
• 10:29
  Policy cancel.
• 10:30
  I recruit for that as well.
• 10:33
  Also, we do school readiness as a push.
• 10:38
  And that is one of our big things that I have to work with my families on is school readiness.
• 10:45
  Because they don't understand the concept of it.
• 10:48
  For some of our viewers, just do a brief overview of what school readiness is.
• 10:53
  School readiness is first of all being an advocate for your child.
• 10:58
  And preparing them to be ready for the next level, whether it be educational, mental health, recruitment.
• 11:11
  It pushes parents forward.
• 11:13
  Because there's a lot of things that I have to share with our families about school readiness that they're not understanding.
• 11:21
  So I have to make them understand coming to school every day is extremely important.
• 11:26
  Right.
• 11:27
  We need them here.
• 11:30
  And we need you here as well.
• 11:33
  And so we do have a lot of parent meetings.
• 11:36
  Once a month we have family engagements that promote school readiness.
• 11:41
  And it kind of opens them up.
• 11:44
  Now when we do our family engagements, I put my parents to work at the engagements.
• 11:50
  We're not coming to just sit and listen.
• 11:52
  You're going to be involved.
• 11:54
  That's a part of school readiness.
• 11:56
  To have them to be involved.
• 11:59
  And it seems to work out fine.
• 12:03
  Also school readiness is if children have certain concerns, special needs, we have to get them prepared to move to the next level.
• 12:15
  Right.
• 12:16
  I'm sorry.
• 12:17
  Go ahead.
• 12:18
  So you're saying basically school readiness and a lot of people think this way is for the child.
• 12:23
  But it's not just for the child.
• 12:25
  It's for that adult too.
• 12:26
  That parent.
• 12:28
  Absolutely.
• 12:29
  Because the parent has to advocate for their child to be ready for school.
• 12:33
  So ensuring that they're there daily.
• 12:37
  We have a policy where if they're not there within a few days, we're making a phone call.
• 12:43
  Where are we today?
• 12:44
  What's going on?
• 12:45
  And I let parents know that when parents enroll their children, we have a sit down interview with the parent.
• 12:53
  And we go through all of that whole process about that.
• 12:56
  The importance of them being at school on a daily basis.
• 12:59
  Also school readiness involves health concerns.
• 13:04
  If there's a concern with the child that needs special services, we have to get them lined up to get those services for them to be ready.
• 13:12
  I think too the importance of just being involved, you know, and developing that relationship with parents.
• 13:21
  That can be hard.
• 13:24
  Like even the application process, we just don't like it.
• 13:29
  It doesn't matter what you're applying for at Community Action Council.
• 13:33
  We're going to try to get in your business to say, but is there something else that you need?
• 13:37
  Is there something else?
• 13:38
  Now, I know you're coming here for child development, but are you caught up on your bills?
• 13:44
  Are you caught up on your food?
• 13:46
  You know what I'm saying?
• 13:47
  So it takes kind of mittling.
• 13:50
  That's an easy way for me to say it.
• 13:52
  Well, I think that I just did one before I came here.
• 13:56
  And when I sit down and did that interview with the family, I always ask the family, tell me about yourself.
• 14:03
  What brought you here?
• 14:04
  And what can we do to help you?
• 14:06
  And that is key.
• 14:08
  And I told them we have a confidentiality policy.
• 14:12
  But what we discussed is between us.
• 14:17
  And that's what I need to do to see how I can help you.
• 14:21
  So I agree exactly.
• 14:22
  Creating that partnership is and building that relationship is extremely important.
• 14:29
  And it doesn't come overnight.
• 14:31
  You got to put some work in.
• 14:33
  Hey, we're talking with Jolanda.
• 14:36
  And we'll be back right after this break.
• 14:39
  You are listening, too.
• 14:41
  Look who's talking.
• 15:04
  We're talking about the
• 15:04
  community action council.
• 15:11
  We're talking about helping children at home and in person, helping parents who lost their jobs, and helping households avoid eviction.
• 15:21
  Our work at Community Action Council has never been more important than it is right now.
• 15:23
  So why not join us?
• 15:25
  We have employment opportunities requiring a range of skills from entry level to advanced.
• 15:29
  Apply online at commaction.org.
• 15:33
  And head start offers high quality early childhood education for qualifying families with children between the ages of six weeks and five years old.
• 15:40
  Spaces are limited and filling up quickly.
• 15:42
  So to help ensure your child receives the head start advantage this year, start your application today by calling 859-233-4600 or go online at commaction.org.
• 15:55
  That's commaction.org.
• 16:25
  The head start highlight word of the day is level up.
• 16:32
  Level up.
• 16:34
  Is the head start highlight word of the day.
• 16:40
  All right.
• 16:41
  So we are back with Ms. Jolanda Zipper, who is an early head start partnership specialist.
• 16:48
  And we're talking about just, you know, families being a part of school readiness and being a part of our program.
• 16:56
  Jolanda, tell us if a family, you know, came to you and said, hey, I'm interested in your program.
• 17:03
  Can you tell me more about it and how I can get involved?
• 17:07
  How would that process go?
• 17:09
  It would go one thing that we definitely want to do when enrolling families in our program is have a sit down face to face interview and complete the application process.
• 17:23
  One of the big things throughout that process, I do believe in promoting our teachers.
• 17:30
  We have great teachers that have great background skills, have college degrees.
• 17:37
  And that ensures the family and makes them feel better.
• 17:42
  I did one today and I took the parent after the application process, a tour of the facility.
• 17:50
  Very impressed.
• 17:52
  The teachers were very respectful, very welcoming the family in.
• 17:57
  What we want to do is advocate.
• 17:59
  We advocate for the child.
• 18:01
  We advocate for the family.
• 18:03
  Any type of other services that they need, I let them be aware of the services.
• 18:08
  What we want to do is take a holistic approach and make them feel comfortable in sharing information with us.
• 18:16
  And so I think building that partnership is what is successful for our program.
• 18:23
  The application process takes a little bit if you do it the way it's supposed to be done because you need to gather information from certain areas of the families.
• 18:32
  Whether it's demographics, health, mental health.
• 18:37
  So it takes a little bit and I prepare when I set up the appointment, I prepare the families.
• 18:44
  It takes a little time, at least an hour to do so.
• 18:49
  Because I would like to gather and gain all the information I need to advocate and help them.
• 18:55
  So being here for 18 years, I'm sure there's a family, without mentioning names, a family or a situation that was very impactful for you.
• 19:07
  Is there one that you can share with us?
• 19:10
  I think that everything is impact, whether it be the family, the child or the staff.
• 19:18
  Because the teachers really enjoy the families, build that relationship through whether it be a parent conference, whether it be a home visit.
• 19:29
  The involvement is key.
• 19:32
  So you're saying you don't have a favorite family?
• 19:36
  She knew that.
• 19:40
  I don't have a favorite family. I treat them all the same.
• 19:45
  I give them a lot of respect.
• 19:47
  A memorable family?
• 19:50
  I have the family that says she wants to change her child's birth certificate because she doesn't want him to age out.
• 19:58
  That was just this week.
• 20:00
  Yeah.
• 20:02
  And she'll tell you that.
• 20:05
  But I enjoy all the children and the best thing that I like about this agency is that it's inclusive.
• 20:13
  And it's very diverse. And we serve so many different cultures in this agency.
• 20:20
  And so when you're able to tap into those different cultures, it takes a little work.
• 20:26
  Yes, absolutely. But it's worth it. And that's what we do.
• 20:31
  Because that causes you to have to be an open-minded person and be a little bit flexible with how you approach people.
• 20:41
  Because sometimes you can't, depending on who, you can't approach people the same way, depending on.
• 20:49
  So what else, Ms. Jolanda?
• 20:53
  The location that you are at.
• 20:56
  Yeah, that's what I was going to ask, too.
• 20:58
  Yes, I am at the Preppy County and Chrissie's House.
• 21:01
  We serve two counties, Fed and Scott.
• 21:04
  We have seven partnership sites within the agency.
• 21:09
  And that's what I do. I do a lot of training the teachers.
• 21:15
  I do a lot of observations and going to work with teachers that are kind of having a little bit of issues or concerns.
• 21:23
  That is my job, is to advocate, not just for families, but for the teachers as well.
• 21:27
  And to kind of let them know where we're at and where we're going.
• 21:31
  So your position is, you know, not only do you have, let's say, teachers in the classroom, but you are a person that comes in and checks and makes sure everything is going right,
• 21:43
  giving that T and T.A. or teaching and technical assistance so that they can do even better.
• 21:49
  Right, absolutely. That is one of our growths, is going in and monitor.
• 21:54
  We do a lot of classroom observations.
• 21:57
  We do a lot of conferences where we get the teachers together to kind of get them mindset on where not where we're at, where we need to be.
• 22:07
  Yes. And so that is a huge part of my position as well.
• 22:12
  Gotcha. So how would someone, how could they, do they reach out to you if they're interested in going to the Prep Academy at Chris's or how would they get in contact with you?
• 22:25
  Surely Brian is my supervisor.
• 22:29
  She is the main contact and then she will pass the information on to me.
• 22:33
  But I will tell you one thing when I do a conference with teachers, which is kind of maybe monthly, you know, I will give out my information, letting them know that they can contact me through phone, email.
• 22:48
  They can reach out to me if they have any questions or concerns.
• 22:52
  I'm very advocated for teachers.
• 22:55
  You know, it's a very kind of challenging position.
• 22:59
  You know, it really is when you're dealing with especially different diverse groups, it can be very challenging.
• 23:07
  And we have a lot of different diverse children in each classroom.
• 23:11
  So sometimes that can be stressful for them.
• 23:14
  And what I want to be is a shoulder to lean on.
• 23:18
  Call me and let me know how I can support you.
• 23:21
  What is the issue?
• 23:22
  What can I do to help you?
• 23:23
  So if a family wanted to enroll in the program, how would they go about doing that?
• 23:28
  Christmas House is a little different, is that right?
• 23:31
  It is.
• 23:32
  Yeah, it's a little different.
• 23:34
  But we could contact through email or we can contact through phone.
• 23:39
  A five nine two three three forty six hundred.
• 23:43
  And you could ask for Shirley Bryant or you could ask for myself.
• 23:46
  And we will get you situated.
• 23:50
  Sounds like a good way to get it going.
• 23:53
  All right, Jolanda, give me give me something.
• 23:56
  Give me something.
• 23:57
  Give me something about where you're working at.
• 24:02
  Tell me about your team that you're working with.
• 24:06
  I work with a very diverse group as well.
• 24:12
  I enjoy working with them.
• 24:14
  Like I said, we serve different partnership sites.
• 24:17
  And every place is so different.
• 24:21
  It very is.
• 24:22
  It is when you go in, you can see things that you don't see at other places.
• 24:26
  And sometimes you need a little help with that.
• 24:30
  And so what we need to do as a team, if one of my co-workers needs some help, we help one another.
• 24:38
  We want to ensure that we make our families successful.
• 24:42
  That is very important, especially when we're talking about school.
• 24:46
  Especially when we're talking about school readiness.
• 24:49
  Our children go through assessments, they go through screenings.
• 24:53
  Our families go through assessments as well.
• 24:58
  That is basically what our family engagements are for, is to test the parents and see how they're going to react.
• 25:05
  Because when we have family engagements, I put parents in charge.
• 25:10
  And used to be they'd say no.
• 25:13
  And they say yes.
• 25:14
  That's good.
• 25:16
  Kim, Jelonda is usually not humble.
• 25:18
  And she's usually like, we the best.
• 25:21
  Chris is half the best.
• 25:22
  But I see she's on her best behavior today.
• 25:25
  Yeah, yeah.
• 25:26
  Trying to get something out of her.
• 25:28
  She's like, oh no.
• 25:30
  The world is great.
• 25:32
  Well, Jelonda, we're so grateful for you being on the show.
• 25:36
  We thank you for your many years of service and what you do for our families.
• 25:42
  I enjoy what I do.
• 25:44
  I'm an agent.
• 25:45
  I love my families, the kids, right?
• 25:48
  Been here that long, right?
• 25:50
  Right.
• 25:52
  It's a long time.
• 25:54
  Well, thank you for being on the show.
• 25:56
  You have been listening to Look Who's Talking.
• 26:00
  Tell a friend, share the show.
• 26:02
  We'll see you in the scene.