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Kesha Richardson - The Importance of Attendance · Look Who's Talking

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You are listening to Look Who's Talking.
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It's a podcast dedicated to Head Start.
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I am your co-host Cameron Minter and our host is Jessica Coffey.
0:34
How y'all doing?
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Good day, madam.
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Good day.
0:38
Good day, Kim.
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What is going on with you?
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Not much.
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I'm just here living the best life since I'm here in the studio with you.
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All right.
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Look at that.
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Look at that.
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Just put it in there.
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Sauce.
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Sauce.
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Hey, but what people don't know.
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What does sauce mean?
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It just means that I brought whatever that was, I brought it to you.
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OK.
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I'm the juice.
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You know, I'm trying to get.
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I thought I was the cool.
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Well, hold on.
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See, now look, you're not looking for an official one for me, right?
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Official definition?
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I'm old.
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Yes, I'm old.
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That's my interpretation.
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What I have discovered is I'm not as young as I thought I was.
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Exactly.
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See, Simone be correcting me all the time.
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Listen, with my niece and nephew, specifically my niece,
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like I'll say words that I've just learned like per.
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That's a new thing that I do.
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See, I don't.
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And she's like, that is so old.
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However, I just learned about it.
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So you're going to get what you get.
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Right, right, right.
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I understand.
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I understand because I'll be like, what is this?
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What does this have to do?
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And you know, Simone should be correct to me.
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Yes.
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OK.
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That's a lie.
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No cap.
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That's a lie.
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I did look that up.
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But you know what helps me is the Urban Dictionary.
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You ever looked that up?
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Oh, uh-huh.
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Yeah.
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I thought they closed it, but it's still up.
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No, you could Google in Urban Dictionary.
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The Urban Dictionary is a lifesaver for me.
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Now, I'll look it up.
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I understand what's being said, but I won't use it.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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See, you're doing too much when you start using it.
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I think.
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Nope, stop.
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No, you're auntie now.
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You're officially auntie.
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When you become auntie, that means you're older.
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Older.
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Auntie means that you down with the kids.
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Yeah, yeah, you the cool one, but you older.
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So you know.
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Yeah.
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But are there any cool aunties who have kids?
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Can you still be the cool auntie who have children?
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You have to be.
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Why?
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Because I just don't think it's the same dynamic, though.
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Oh, god.
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What do you mean?
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Because me being the auntie with no kids.
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Yes.
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Like, I'm way more fun than the auntie with kids.
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Exactly, exactly.
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That is the definition right there.
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That's what it is, because you can relate to the kids
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better than mama can.
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Oh, that is.
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See what I'm saying?
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So now you are that auntie.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it's a whole flavor.
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So, Cam, I just went home to Paducah.
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I haven't been home since Christmas.
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Charge it to my head and to my heart.
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And I went for our basketball or football homecoming.
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I saw that, yeah.
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And my niece was queen.
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I saw that.
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She's your queen to be.
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Stop it, stop it, stop it.
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Listen, when I say I was in those stands, like,
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all over the place, they were like, oh, my gosh.
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I embarrassed her.
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I'm sure you did.
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Oh, my god.
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I'm sure you did, but I got a question.
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Uh-huh.
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Bruh.
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Why was you in the sparkling pants?
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Listen, what had happened was my sister said.
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This is why I like the video, because now I'm
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going to go get that picture, and I'm
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going to put it with the video.
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Go ahead.
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Yes, OK.
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So my sister had said, oh, her dress is silver this year.
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I said, oh, that would be so amazing against the football
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stadium lights.
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And she said, oh, we got shirts made,
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and on your shirt it says, Auntie Crew.
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I said, oh, what color is it?
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And she said, the shirt is black,
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and the writing is in silver.
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Say less, because I'm about to match my niece in this silver.
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What?
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So I purposely got those silver, shiny pants to match her.
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Because guess what?
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We color coordinating everywhere.
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We go.
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If I'm your auntie, we color coordinating.
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In other words, you just stole the shine.
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You went to the wedding in the white dress.
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That's what you just did.
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Listen, I would never.
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No!
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I would never.
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Do you know people do that?
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I think that's so disrespectful.
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You're right.
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You're right about it.
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Even if the bride isn't wearing white,
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unless there's a wedding and they say, everyone wear white,
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you do not.
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Listen, folks, you do not wear white to someone's wedding,
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unless it's requested.
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Say it.
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Say it.
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Now that burns me up.
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You got that off your chest?
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Yes.
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That burns me up.
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Oh my goodness.
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But yeah, I'm coming color coordinated.
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I see.
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I see.
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Well, now that you got that out your spirit, let us go
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and have a coffee break.
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For today's coffee break, I would
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like to encourage all of you that on your hardest times
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or during your hardest times often lead to the greatest
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moments of your life.
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Keep going.
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Tough situations build strong people in the end.
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You feel that?
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I feel that.
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Have you had a moment where.
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Girl, don't do it.
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Don't do it.
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Don't do it.
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We might need to test them out.
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I'm just saying, in particular, I'm a pastor.
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So I look at things a little spiritually.
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But we've been going through a lot of trials, physical health
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trials.
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And it is our pain is getting us ready for our promotion.
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So it's important to not give up, not get tired, not
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throw in the towel.
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Because this pain is setting you up for your promotion.
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So I feel that.
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I feel that a thousand times.
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Listen, I like reading that often.
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I know, right?
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Because there are situations in my life
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where I thought something else was better for me.
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However, when I got what was meant for me,
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it was way better than what I expected.
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You're turning into the church of husbands.
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OK, hallelujah.
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But you write about it.
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I think about people that I thought I just had to have,
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I had to be with.
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And God said, no, you don't need that.
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That part.
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You don't need that.
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And when I look back and look at the wisdom
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that I did not have, I'm just thankful.
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That's why I'm out here, walking through
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and holding my own hand.
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I'm thankful I didn't get what I wanted, but what I needed.
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Say that.
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All right.
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What we got on the show today, we have a wonderful guest
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today.
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Listen.
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Come on.
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Today on our show is my very own Ursiya director, Keshia Maria.
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Ooh.
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She is on the show today.
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So what's in the Head Start world, Ursiya or Ursiya,
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depending on where you from, you're
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going to pronounce it some type of way.
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Right.
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These are some.
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Just say it with some respect.
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Just say it with some respect.
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I know that's right.
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And Ursi, spelled E-R-S-E-A, stands for eligibility,
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retention, recruitment.
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I was going to say, you being bold today.
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You said just let it alone, but no, let's take this home.
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I got to tell the people.
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Eligibility, recruitment, the S stands for, hold on.
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Don't say it.
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Two hours later.
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Selection.
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Selection criteria.
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Then enrollment and attendance.
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There you go.
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Well, see, that's why I don't be trying.
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I don't try.
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I knew it this morning.
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I probably did.
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I knew it this morning.
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But we are going to be talking about just some of the things
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that Keshia does for the program and attendance
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and how important children coming to school is
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and some of the effects that we possibly can see for them not
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coming.
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Absolutely.
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Now, before we do that, can I just say,
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because I was sitting here listening to y'all,
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and I was having such a good time.
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But I just want to say Jessica is
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in the role of the rich auntie.
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Because she don't have the money.
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See?
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Yes.
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That's what it is.
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That's what it all is.
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She pull up with gifts.
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Yep.
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It doesn't mean I'm rich.
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It just means I let them spend my money.
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See?
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That's exactly because all they know is that's the rich auntie.
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When she show up, it's on.
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I just had to get that out of my throat.
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But the thing is, I guess I'm gullible.
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They look at you with them mopped eyes.
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Because one of them came to me.
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So I have my niece and my nephews.
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But I also have niece and nephews of people I'm close to.
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And when I go home to Paducah, I just spoil everyone.
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So it was a barbecue festival.
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We were going to go.
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Every time I come home, I take them on a horse ride downtown.
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So we couldn't do that because it was a barbecue festival.
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So one of them came to me and was like,
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would you give me some Jordans?
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Whoa.
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And I said, some Jordans?
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Who do I look like?
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And he said, I was thinking if we got the same pair,
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then we can take pictures together.
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Really?
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Really?
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And I said, oh.
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Go.
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What size you were?
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That's what I said.
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You don't think it was so you could take pictures with me?
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Wow.
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What size you were?
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What size shoe you were?
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Rich, Auntie.
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Gullible.
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Yeah, he didn't do that.
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I just had to add that.
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What I'm going to do is copy a picture
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and post it to send it to them.
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But back to you.
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Yes.
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I'm pretty getting us off, Keisha.
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I know.
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I'm so sorry.
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No, no, no, no.
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So before we get into it, and we've made this statement before,
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but I think it's going to be a staple on this show
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that Head Start is not daycare.
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Right.
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And in daycare,
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And we not.
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And we not.
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There is a difference.
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There is.
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And attendance is one of those things, isn't it?
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That is one of the things of many that sets us apart.
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And I'm not sure if it was you or if it was Jessica,
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but you said attendance at school.
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What?
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The S word.
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Are they in school?
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School.
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So why would you care about attendance at school?
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Yeah, because first of all, we want
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to know that there have been studies done on the fact
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that a lot of parents do not see early childhood as school
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in the first place.
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So they don't put the importance on it.
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What they don't understand is that sets the precedence
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for later on in life, whether for the formal educational
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years after that, whether or not they're going
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to go into anything further.
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It lets, if you can start it at this level,
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showing the importance of attendance,
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then that helps carry them through,
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because that helps them to develop the precedence
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of being a team player.
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Because you know someone's counting on you,
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and you're counting on someone else,
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and you can be counted on if you're not there.
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You just said something.
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You just said something.
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You mentioned parents.
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And not only parents, when it comes
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to don't necessarily take early childhood education seriously,
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but that's the very reason that I was in DC last week
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advocating.
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Because it's not only parents that don't take it seriously.
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It's some of our congressmen and some of the people
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that we have in place saying, hey, this works.
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Well, if they don't believe that,
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then where do we go with early childhood education?
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And that is a big topic nowadays,
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because folks are not believing that children under a certain age
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or children under the age of five learn.
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And we have proof that they do.
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That early development, those neurons and everything
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connect, and all that starts at the very beginning.
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And so when we do not foster that learning,
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we don't put them in the environment
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to be engaged when we don't engage our parents.
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That's why they don't see the importance of attendance.
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So as staff, we have to make sure
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that we are doing our part by partnering with parents
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to ensure that they understand that difference,
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to understand we're not daycare.
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No shade, no disrespect.
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But that's just not who we are.
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So when we have families that when
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I get a phone call where someone wants to talk about,
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oh, I want daycare for my child, OK, let me help
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explain to you who we are.
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I can refer you to some daycares.
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Or I only want my kid to come two days a week.
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Right.
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Can I do that?
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No, ma'am.
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No, sir.
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Because this is what they are missing.
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The whole point of regular attendance
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is the fact that they get the opportunity
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to ensure that they are learning and they're
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having those cognitive lessons.
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They are doing their social emotional learning.
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The behavioral development is happening.
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All of that is in preparation of going to that next level.
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Because what we know is when they come on a regular basis,
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when we're not dealing with chronic absenteeism, which
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is only missing two days out of a month,
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you're considered chronic when you miss two days.
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And we know that when that happens,
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that's missed opportunities.
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We don't necessarily want to just look at it as just sitting
15:11
in a circle time.
15:12
This is missed opportunities.
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Exactly.
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And these kids can't get themselves here?
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No.
15:19
Hello.
15:20
Hello.
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We've got to get our parents in that mindset
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so that the habits that they're forming now will carry over.
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That's right.
15:29
I love it.
15:30
I love it.
15:30
I love it.
15:31
We are talking with Keisha Richardson.
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Hello.
15:33
Hello.
15:34
Hello.
15:34
And we're going to talk more about this attendance
15:37
after the break.
15:38
You're listening to Look Who's Talking.
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16:58
We are talking with Keisha Richardson today.
17:02
She's the EARSEA manager.
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And we've been talking about attendance
17:09
and the difference between daycare and Head Start.
17:14
Welcome to the show, Keisha.
17:15
We're glad you're here.
17:16
Hello.
17:17
Hello.
17:18
So attendance, you said you're chronically absent,
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or was it?
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Yes.
17:25
Chronically absent.
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Yes.
17:27
In two days.
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Two days a month, you are chronically absent,
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which means, as we left off, we were talking
17:33
about missed opportunities.
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So that is assessments.
17:37
Those are screenings that are missed opportunities.
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Those are opportunities that we miss to just engage the children
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and have further development of their manipulative skills
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and gross and fine motor and all those things
17:51
that we're missing to do with them.
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It's also opportunities that we don't
17:57
get to talk to the parents.
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Because we have to understand that in our programming,
18:03
our parents are a major contributor.
18:07
Without our parents, our program does not work.
18:09
And so we have to ensure that our parents are here,
18:13
that they're engaged with us, and that they
18:15
are giving their input.
18:17
And so part of that is when the kids are chronically absent,
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that means the parents are chronically absent,
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because it goes hand in hand.
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Can you talk about, I think we safeguard.
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Because attendance could be a health or safety issue.
18:34
Can you talk about what we do as an agency
18:38
to ensure that attendance isn't a health and safety matter?
18:44
Yeah, so we have a process in place.
18:47
When our children are not in place,
18:50
where we expect them to be within one hour
18:53
of that instructional time, our staff
18:56
immediately have to send out a text alert.
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Because one, we want to make sure we've heard,
19:00
I know it's been a little while, but we've heard about families
19:03
that maybe they swapped duties that morning.
19:06
They didn't know, hey, I forgot.
19:08
I ran up to this meeting and I forgot.
19:10
I left little Johnny in the back seat.
19:13
So we have to make sure they know, hey,
19:15
do you know your kid is missing?
19:17
There used to be a commercial.
19:18
Sharon pulled it up for us.
19:20
You know, it used to go, have you hugged your kid today?
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Have you sent him home?
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That's lovely.
19:24
That's lovely.
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Right?
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I got that whole song memorized.
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You know that?
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I know that entire song.
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We were all on this one day and they brought it up.
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And I was like, I have no idea what you're talking about.
19:35
The whole rap at the beginning?
19:36
Yeah.
19:37
But it was impactful.
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It was something that stuck to me.
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And we started talking about it.
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I was little and I'm still singing it.
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And so yeah, so it's one of those things
19:48
that you have to, you want to make sure, hey,
19:51
do you know that your child is not here today?
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Maybe they sent them with someone else to drop off.
19:56
Because in our program, anybody can bring them.
19:59
Just anybody can pick them up.
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Because that's important for us to know
20:03
who's taking our children out.
20:04
We share those children.
20:06
So we want to make sure they're safe.
20:07
So they do the text alert.
20:09
If they don't get someone at that point,
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they need to make a phone call.
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If the phone call doesn't happen,
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then at their earliest convenience,
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they have to make a home visit.
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Because we want to make sure, do you
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know that your children, are you guys OK?
20:24
Is there something going on that we need to be a support system
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and kick it in high gear for you all?
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And I think that's great.
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Because if something did happen, worst case scenario,
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something happened.
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The kid was kidnapped or something.
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The timeline of you picking up the kid at the end of the day
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versus that first thing in the morning
20:47
really drastically cuts down some of that time.
20:49
It does.
20:50
And what folks also will be prepared for,
20:54
because all of this is a part of school readiness, all of this.
20:58
The district is going to send you an alert.
21:01
So now you'll get used to the fact
21:03
that I need to pay attention to my cell phone.
21:05
I need to pay attention to my email.
21:07
Because they are going to be expecting me
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to answer when my children don't show up.
21:13
And so then if we don't get them that way, then there's a letter.
21:16
So that we cover all facets to ensure that the children
21:20
and families are safe.
21:20
So it's not just the children.
21:22
It is also the parents.
21:24
Because we know that fathers, mothers,
21:27
they deal with domestic violence.
21:29
There's all different things that go on in a home.
21:31
And so we just have to make sure that they
21:33
know that they are just as important to us
21:35
as their children showing up every day.
21:37
Absolutely.
21:39
That's key.
21:40
And that's different than daycare.
21:43
Daycare.
21:44
Yeah.
21:44
That's different.
21:45
Yeah.
21:46
Absolutely.
21:47
And that's different than some school systems as well.
21:50
Well, I'd say that.
21:51
Yeah.
21:52
Just saying, putting that out there.
21:55
Without the collection plate right there.
21:58
So it's one of the important parts of what we do.
22:02
And all of the pieces we have are important.
22:05
Every piece of Hercia is important.
22:06
We've got to get them here.
22:07
We've got to make sure we enroll them correctly.
22:09
We have to make sure the documentation is in place.
22:12
We want to engage them.
22:13
But part of that family engagement
22:15
is making sure that our families are safe,
22:18
that our children are learning, that our parents are learning.
22:21
That's why we call it a two-generational approach.
22:24
Because we want to make sure that everybody
22:26
is on the same page.
22:28
This can be part of goal setting.
22:29
When I was family staff a zillion years ago,
22:33
I had one parent that she was chronically late.
22:37
The child would come, but she was always late.
22:39
And so we sat down, and we had that conversation
22:41
because I was engaged with her.
22:43
So I felt comfortable having that conversation.
22:46
And she felt comfortable dialoguing back with me.
22:49
And we wound up making that a goal
22:51
because her child was going to kindergarten.
22:53
And I had to make sure she understood, hey,
22:56
you can't be late like this.
22:58
So let's practice now.
23:00
Let's see what we can do to ensure
23:02
that we can get you where you need to be when she starts.
23:05
And by the end of the program year, they were on time.
23:08
She was engaged.
23:09
And it just made a difference.
23:11
And the next year after that, she was like,
23:13
you were right.
23:14
I watched those other parents in the office
23:16
trying to get a tardy slip, and that's not me.
23:19
And what just stood out to me is you had a hard conversation
23:22
with a parent.
23:23
And didn't shy away from a hard conversation.
23:27
It wasn't disrespectful.
23:28
It's just, hey, this is what we need from you.
23:32
And not just for our benefit, but for your child's.
23:35
For your child's benefit.
23:37
And it's because it's a partnership.
23:39
That's the other thing that sets us apart from daycare.
23:42
We have a partnership with our families.
23:45
We have to be able to do that.
23:48
And it benefits them just as much as it benefits us.
23:51
We get to learn our families.
23:53
We get to learn about how they, their cultures,
23:56
their dynamics, so we can make sure, one,
23:58
that we're respectful to how their families operate.
24:03
And then the other thing is just it's so much easier
24:07
to stay in compliance and to support your families when
24:11
you can have that relationship and when you have that bonding
24:14
experience and when you are partners.
24:16
Yeah.
24:17
Yeah.
24:18
So the compliance part is something
24:20
that most people really don't really pay attention to.
24:23
But there are expectations.
24:25
There are.
24:25
There is.
24:26
Yeah.
24:26
And being in attendance and being
24:30
able to do those things that are necessary for that child's
24:34
development is a part of it.
24:36
And that's something that I love about our program.
24:38
And they'll feel better by the end of the day.
24:40
When they are having their graduation
24:42
and they get to look at them, they
24:44
will know that, hey, that's me down there.
24:47
Right.
24:48
I helped do that.
24:49
I started investing now.
24:50
I invested in where my child's going to go later on in life.
24:55
Yeah.
24:56
Yeah.
24:56
That's beautiful.
24:57
And speaking of our Head Start graduation,
25:00
which I don't know any other place that does it
25:02
like the way we do it.
25:05
We all let the baggage in.
25:06
Right.
25:06
We really put a big emphasis on it.
25:09
And it's something that has grown.
25:11
I remember the first year we did it,
25:13
we weren't sure what the turnout was going to be
25:15
or how whatever it was going to be.
25:18
But it was huge.
25:20
More than what we expected.
25:22
It was huge.
25:23
And we outgrew the first place the first day.
25:27
Yeah.
25:28
Yes.
25:28
The first day, it was like, oh my goodness.
25:33
We found out how big it was going
25:34
to be when someone was circulating a Head Start
25:37
graduation invitation on Facebook.
25:40
Yes.
25:41
It was part of their church announcements, too.
25:43
They're not playing.
25:44
They're not playing.
25:45
They did church announcements.
25:46
And I'm like, what?
25:47
They're not playing.
25:48
And you know what?
25:48
I can't talk about graduation without thinking
25:52
of one of our staff members who recently passed away
25:56
who was on Keisha's team, Laura Langdram.
25:58
I want this show to be in memory of Laura
26:01
because of just the great work that she did
26:05
and her focus on communicating with the family.
26:10
Attendance was important to her, too.
26:12
And then the whole aspect of being
26:15
able to communicate with families,
26:17
being able to just share opportunities.
26:22
And that's what, to me, Head Start is about.
26:25
Providing opportunities to children, to families,
26:29
to the community.
26:30
And that's why I'm so proud of our program, who
26:34
is a program of excellence.
26:35
Come on, say that.
26:36
We are a program of excellence.
26:41
We were one of 11 recognized out of 1,600.
26:47
1,600?
26:48
1,600.
26:50
Head Start sent it.
26:51
For the people in the back.
26:52
1,600.
26:54
OK.
26:57
But yeah, the work that she done on a daily basis
27:02
was just extraordinary.
27:03
And her supervisor, Miss Keisha Richardson,
27:08
we have to thank her for all her wonderful training
27:11
and all the things that she does just
27:14
to ensure that we have open communications
27:17
with our families.
27:18
Absolutely.
27:20
That was a rough time in the family.
27:23
And I went to the wake.
27:26
And we were well represented.
27:29
She was well loved.
27:31
Absolutely.
27:32
She was.
27:34
When it comes to the attendance and say, kids missing,
27:43
what's the effect of that?
27:45
Let me tell you, when it comes to the impact of kids missing,
27:50
the amount of information that they
27:52
missed just in that one session can be astronomical.
27:56
Because of the fact that it's hard to get
27:59
that physical back again.
28:02
Yeah, they can pick it up maybe the next time they come.
28:05
But look at how much time has already gone by.
28:09
We also look at the fact that we missed the opportunities.
28:14
And I can't say opportunities enough,
28:16
because that's truly what it is.
28:18
It's not about us just wanting people to come to fill a seat.
28:22
It's about us wanting to be able to follow
28:25
the legacy that's been laid out in front of us
28:29
to ensure that families are ready
28:31
and that they have the opportunity
28:33
to move in society in a stronger magnitude
28:36
than they did before.
28:38
When you say legacy that has presented itself before us,
28:43
what do you mean?
28:44
I am talking about those that have walked before us.
28:48
We have parents that have laid foundation in centers.
28:54
We have parents that are coming along.
28:55
Jessica's got a story about that.
28:58
But when I talk about legacy, I'm
29:00
talking about those employees that have come before us
29:04
and that trained some of us to ensure that we
29:07
knew what we were doing so we could pick up and move forward
29:10
and train those coming behind us.
29:13
I'm talking about how some of our children
29:15
have gone on to do great things and have come back and given
29:19
back to our program.
29:21
So I'm talking about that legacy that
29:23
is that well-rounded situation that
29:26
starts from the children and goes all the way up
29:28
to the executive director position.
29:30
And that's the legacy I'm talking about.
29:32
And that is the kind of thing that
29:35
has enabled you to place the right people in positions
29:40
to be able to come up with that program of excellence.
29:44
I just came from the Fall Leadership Institute in DC.
29:47
And Senator Raphael Warnoff was a Head Start kid.
29:52
And he spoke to us.
29:54
And he said if it wasn't for Head Start
29:56
and his daily participation, he wouldn't
30:00
be where he is today, which is in the US Senate.
30:03
Wow.
30:04
And it's amazing how many other folks
30:07
are where Head Start children.
30:10
Absolutely.
30:11
So just amazing.
30:12
Just amazing.
30:13
Well, we're creating legacy over here.
30:15
Yeah.
30:16
You learn something every day over here, though.
30:17
OK.
30:18
You better.
30:20
Keisha, we appreciate you being on the show.
30:23
It was an honor.
30:24
Thank you.
30:24
Appreciate the work that you do.
30:26
Thank you.
30:27
Got the last word?
30:29
I do.
30:30
Anything you want to push home for our parents?
30:33
Yeah, I do.
30:34
I want our parents to remember that they are a VIP.
30:38
They are a very important partner in the work
30:42
that we do here at this agency.
30:43
And so please just work with us.
30:46
Allow us to be a part of your lives
30:48
and a part of what you are trying to do for your families.
30:51
That's awesome.
30:52
Can we come up with a shirt?
30:54
Come on.
30:54
You know, you the shirt queen.
30:57
We don't have a shirt.
30:59
We're all about being VIPs.
31:02
Thank you so much for being on the show.
31:04
You have been listening to Look Who's Talking.