Culture is sometimes hard to define. It's all around us, and often if we aren't careful,
it's easy to take it for granted. But when mindful of culture, it has the potential to connect
us to the best of what Levitt strives to be. This is Living Levitt, stories from the Riverbank.
I'm Jessica Sant, Chief Engagement Officer at the Levitt School. On today's episode,
you'll meet Dr. Tommy Welch, Levitt's Chief of Culture and Community.
A newly designed role, Dr. Welch's job could seem slightly all encompassing,
but in fact, his goals and objectives are more defined. Listen in as Dr. Welch shares his
insights on building inclusive school cultures, the challenges and opportunities of diversity,
and how we can support students from all backgrounds. Pay special attention to his own story,
and how his journey has created the lens through which he approaches his work on behalf of Levitt
every day. We are so excited to have Dr. Tommy Welch, our Head of Culture and Community on today.
Thank you, Tommy, for being here. Thank you for having me.
I have wanted to really have you on the show since you started back in August, but I thought it would
be humane to let you get to know this a little bit more before we brought you on. But really,
I think the intention behind this episode is for our community to get to know who you are,
and what really drives you to be a part of Levitt. I think it's most obvious to start from the
beginning with you, and just hear a little bit about your story. I know you are from Buffalo,
New York. We have New York and Common, UND. You're from the most northern part of the state,
and I'm from the most southern part. But would love to hear what brought you to Atlanta
and to education too? Yeah, as you said, you know, I'm from Buffalo, New York. Born and raised,
did my early childhood education there, and then moved to a place in fifth grade called Grand Island,
which sits between Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York. That's where I finished up my
academic, my secondary academic career there at a place called Grand Island High School.
Very unique place, as you can imagine, an island. Literally, you could get in a boat and end up in
Canada, as we frequently did. Very often, we spent a lot of time on the river, whether it was the
winter time or not. But it was a great place to live, a great place to grow up. And then I went to the
University of Buffalo, which was not far away from home and finished up my undergraduate studies,
as well as my master's studies. And I knew once I finished that, I realized that people make a
decision to where they live. And I no longer wanted to reside in snow for a majority.
Well, I made the decision that I wanted to move somewhere that had a longer summer, per se.
And one of the locations that I was considering was Georgia. Georgia at the time was growing
tremendously. It was after the Olympics. It was a great place to be. It was vibrant. I had a lot
of different cultures represented. It was a place that excited me. I, in 2003, we relocated to
Atlanta. And there I started my career, I guess you could say, as a professional.
In graduate studies, I did teach while I was doing my graduate studies. I did have the pleasure of
working for student affairs and multiple capacities. My journey took me to a place where I became
the director of multicultural affairs. The president of the University wanted me to stay,
but I said that I would probably never get my PhD in that I wanted to move somewhere a little
bit warmer. So I thought that I would remain in secondary ed. So I went back and said, okay, I want
to be a teacher. I want to make an impact on children before they reach to the collegiate level
and do it there. I became a high school teacher. Lo and behold, I ended up getting my PhD later.
Yeah, never say never, right?
You ended up getting that and I did end up becoming a college professor,
be doing adjunct professors, you know, here and there in the Georgia area. It's funny how
things happen, but it was a great experience. And it really molded me in who I am today.
That really provided the foundation for my experience in the space of culture and community,
because as you know, on a large campus, you work student affairs, or some people call it
student life. Your responsibility really is to ensure that the experience on campus and for
alumni and parents who come on is the best experience ever, that it's supportive and
enriches the academic environment. Working hands-on in that environment at a very large
university, the largest SUNY school system in the state of New York, it provided me an opportunity
to learn at a very high level of how student life impacts student achievement and the experiences
that people have while they are learning at very high levels. I took all of those experiences
and transferred them over to that of a high school teacher. It later became a high school
principal, and I'm sure we'll talk more about what I did after that. Absolutely, yes. I definitely
want to get there, but I am curious to just hear why you were drawn to education in the first place.
And I wonder if there was teacher or some sort of educator in your life who really inspired
that decision for you. Yeah, I would say it was multiple goals. I would say inspired the love for
education. When I was in college in my undergrad studies, I had the opportunity of becoming a
orientation aide that started my journey into student life. Orientation aides are responsible
for welcoming newcomers to the campus, learning more about them, but in that experience, I also was
responsible for teaching entry level class for students to the university experience. And I begin
to see that the students come with various skills based upon where they came from. And I learned very
quickly that the importance of the K through 12 experience is essential to providing the foundation
for them as they move into the college world and into real life. That inspired me to get into
teaching. One, I just loved watching the aha moment of students when they learn. That really excited me.
When someone would learn something or experience something that they never had done before and
watch them internalize it, but also it becomes a part of them and could change your life.
That excited me. So that's why we came a teacher. I would say the person who had the largest influence
on me was the president of the university, William Griner. He really took me underneath his wing and
began to show me not only the personal interaction between individuals that has a dramatic impact on
a student's ability to learn, but the systemic approach and how you build a world class organization
to not only provide a great learning environment, but to sustain that for years to come.
But then also that administrative side, you have to support those that are closest to the work,
that they have the autonomy and the resources to do what they know is best for the children.
So I went into my graduate studies and really went deep into the studying of not just education
and the history because you have to go and pick a major, but I really started to study the structure
of education, the history of education, how it came to be and the importance of it to our American
system that we have and how it's moved us forward as a nation. That's where the passion comes from.
But I would say if you had to pick two things, one would be the student's student interaction.
The other thing would be one of my mentors, William Griner, had a huge impact on maybe coming
a an educator. I think it's fascinating. It sounds like you were so involved in a variety of different
aspects on campus during your undergraduate and graduate years. What you haven't shared yet is
that you were also a division one athlete and I think a lot of kids think this is just an
interesting sidebar, but a lot of kids think especially if you're going to play a sport with
a division one program that that's your job on a campus, that you have to be consumed by that.
And what you just described was this really wonderful experience that had something to do
with athletics, but had so many other aspects to it. I'm curious to know when you reflect back on
that time, how you balanced all of that. The expectations of being a student, the expectations
of being a leader on campus, and also the expectations of being an athlete on a field too.
I was fortunate enough growing up on Grand Island to have interaction with a lot of professional
athletes. And I learned from them that being an athlete is more than just playing the sport as
you're an ambassador. And in Buffalo, they became really ambassadors for the city. As I became a
Buffalo Bowl, which is the mascot for the University at Buffalo, I learned and knew that it was not
just about playing the sport, is that I was an ambassador for the university. We spent just as
much time off campus in the city working with students as we did on the field. I took that portion
of being an athlete very seriously of giving back. The athletes like Jim Kelly, Thurmond Thomas,
Andre Reed, who were superstars, Cornelius Bennett, who were superstars for the Buffalo
Bills, we had frequent interaction with them. And they would take us to their foundations
and show us the importance of giving back to the community. That was ingrained in me as just a
person as it no matter where you walk in life, it's your responsibility to uplift others and to
give back. Jim Brown, who was not a Buffalo Bill, but he was always in Buffalo. He walked the walk.
He would talk to students frequently. He would take us into neighborhoods and we would give back
to the community, take the lunches or dinners and things of that. So when I became a division
when an athlete, I took that part of community service very seriously. Much so that I think the
university president, he wanted me to engage more on a formal level doing that. I remained
engaged academically and in community service as much as possible because I realized that
I was an ambassador for not just a sport, but for the university. I had a responsibility to give
back and that can carry over to you when you become a professional and to realize that whatever your
title may be, you serve a larger purpose on this earth and to remain connected to that as an individual.
Yeah, I think that's a powerful message for our kids to hear. And again, as a former college
counselor, often when I was working with kids who were thinking about athletics on a college
campus, one of the things that maybe even discouraged some of those kids from pursuing Division I
athletics was this perception that you only can travel in one lane and what you just described,
I think is just the opposite of that. That you saw it as a responsibility to your community,
but you also made it happen. And I think that that's incredibly powerful. So there's clearly a
pattern here. We're a highly involved high schooler. You are a highly involved college student.
You have worn many, many professional hats. What led you to love it? Why this position and why?
Love it is a great school. It has a great reputation. I've lived in Atlanta since 2003. I've
always resided downtown. Love it has provided a great opportunity to provide a whole child
education for our students. And that really compelled me. That was something that always
been interested in. And when the opportunity came available for me to take the skills and
the resources that I have gathered over time and add value to love it in this space of
culture and community, I thought that it was a perfect marriage. You heard me explain some of
those things that are near and dear to my heart of supporting the community. And when I saw that
some of our flagship programs around community engagement, giving back to not just our community
of Atlanta, but taking our students abroad and having learning experiences that enrich
learning that happens in class, that was exciting to me. And I wanted to not only be a part of it,
but help elevate that to a level that all of Georgia could see, but our nation, as well as the world,
can see us as a flagship and really providing a whole child learning experience for students.
So you just described what you expected love it to be. And as I've mentioned before, you've
been here now since August, what have you found love it to be? It's a great community. Some places
are schools. They're institutions that people go to and it's very transactional. They go there,
they learn, they get the plume on, and they go out and they do great things, and they're happy
they went there. But it was a transaction. Love it is a community. It is very obvious that it's a
community. And it's one of those things that people would say, well, how do you know? What are some
things? How do you have to feel it? When you walk on that campus, it's not just that people are nice.
They're genuine in their approach. The people care about each other here in a way that is beyond
an obligation. It is a commitment that they've made to supporting the whole child. Not only do they
support the students who are here, they support the families as well and the staff, all staff. And
if you're directly or indirectly associated with the love it community, you can feel it. Community
is one thing that I think is a word that I would use to describe love it. And to move it
beyond a community, I would say there's a strong sense of family here. One that in the love it
community, we support each other through good times at the bad. We uplift each other when we're
doing things that are great. We support each other when we're in times of need. That's what
family is about. And we learn from each other. Of course, we have great education system. We
have great teachers who are doing great things in the classrooms. And they're taking our students
to levels in which they're stretching them and providing them not only the rigor, the academic
rigor, but the nurture that's needed for them to be successful. As I traveled throughout the state
and across the nation, you don't typically find that very delicate balance in a very high academic
setting. You usually see one compromised for the other and love it has made it their business to
provide a very balanced approach to supporting the whole student while ensuring that the academic
rigor is present. Let all students have an opportunity to become the best version of themselves.
What about opportunities to grow and evolve as a community? What do you see as some of the more
pressing issues that we as a community, students, parents, faculty, staff, trustees, all of us,
could positively impact? I think as the world has changed, it has continued to change. The question
would be for any organization, have we evolved with the changing world. And that takes work.
And in any community, you have to have systems and processes that allow you to be nimble and
stay true to your core values, but also to adjusting to the needs of your students and your families.
Let's say that, you know, the question would be when we have this family, it is everyone in the
family feel supported and valued and hurt. I only have three siblings, but we have a very large
extended family. And in that extended family, we're all very different in our needs and what we
bring to the table. And the question would be, you know, for me, as I reflect on my family,
it takes work for us to ensure that every person is seen and heard and feel and feel
that they're valued. It doesn't come, you know, natural. We have to work on it. We have to make
adjustments. We need to be nimble. And with an organization, especially one that's coming up on
100 year anniversary, have we made space at the table for everyone? Are we nimble enough
to adjust with all of our family members and ensure that they're all valued and heard and
they have a sense of belonging? That's something that I think any organization can work on. Our
sense of belonging, how do you quantify that? How do you create some actions that people can
exercise on a daily basis? When we talk about love, that our core values, as we say, you know,
love is one of those things that we say, but it can look different to everyone. How do we quantify
that? How do we teach it? How do you teach that? How do you make sure that, you know, it's happening
throughout the campus and it's not isolated experiences. It is something that lives and
breathes throughout our community. And when people come here, it's very clear on what we do and what
we're about. I think those are some opportunities for us. And of course, the opportunities for everyone.
When you say quantify a value, like, whoa, what do you mean by that?
Yeah. One thing that I learned a long time ago is that things that we value, we quantify because
we want to get better at them. And so to quantify something means that you have a way to measure it.
You can monitor your progress. You can monitor, you know, the effectiveness of what you're doing
to ensure that it's moving forward. When I say quantify the ability to measure the success
of whatever is taking place, you know, I think about it all the time with my children, when you
want to quantify, when you do not quantify something, it's hard for them to understand and put their
fingers on exactly what you're talking about, especially if you want them to get better. So,
you know, when you think about the simple thing of reading to a child, you want your son or daughter
to read more, you can't just say, I need you to read more. You have to maybe give them a certain
number of minutes that you want them to read. And you might say, we'll start off with three minutes,
and then we're going to try to grow to five minutes and then to 10 minutes. And then you
stop counting the minutes because you realize that maybe they're just staring, they're looking at a
page, then you dig a little deeper and you say, well, let me quantify the number of pages that you
read. And you begin to get a little bit deeper. But my point behind that is when you quantify
something, it becomes a little bit more meaningful and challenging to the individual who's doing it,
but also it gives them more meaning in their actions. They know specifically what we're asking for.
And then you can look at that data and begin to help the person grow. It's the same thing with love
and belonging in a culture. You know, you can't say we want our culture to be better. That sounds
great. We're going to improve our culture. Well, everyone wants their culture to improve.
Every day, we probably want our culture to improve. It doesn't mean it's bad. It just means that we
want to get better each and every day. The question should be after we realize that we do want to
get better each and every day. What is it we want to improve? And then how do we know that it's improving
and the answer is typically in data. The words culture and community are in your title.
I think you and I have talked about this. You faced some questions from folks in our community
who may have been familiar with a role that was sort of tangential to your current work,
a director of multicultural services and programs. What's the difference?
When you think about culture, I like to think about these are the things that we do each and
every day, rituals that we have. We can think about the schedule that we create for our day.
We create that. You think about the actions of that day, how we begin it, how we end it.
You can think about how you begin a meeting, how you end a meeting, how we greet each other.
So rituals, consistent rituals and actions of an organization. That's the culture.
When you pull up to our love at campus and you're trying to find your way around,
how do people interact with you? What does that look like? For our students, from the time that
they start their day, what do they hear over the announcements? That's an intentional culture.
When a student makes a mistake, what is how do we deal with that mistake? What is the process,
the system that creates the outcome? When we teach, how do we teach? What is the strategy in our
approach? How do we communicate with our parents? What is the method that we use that is our culture?
Those are things that you do every day, systems, processes, rituals that we have.
We have chapel here. We have opening chapel, closing chapel. Those are rituals. Those are
things that set our culture. That's when you think about culture in a very textbook definition.
Rituals that consistently happen throughout an organization. It's culture. I'll give you an
example of one. This is not an advertisement for Chick-fil-A, but they have a culture there.
They want you to experience it. When you go to Chick-fil-A and you get something,
or you ask a question and they give it to you, they typically say something and return.
It's not just one person that has done it. That is a part of their ritual. That's a part of who they
are. They make sure that their employees know it. They say it's my pleasure. There are things that
take place in systems that are rituals that speak to the culture. I can go on and on about
different businesses and how they handle problems. If a customer is not happy, they have a standard
of how they address it that speaks to their culture. That may be different from another
customer that may be different from another company, but it speaks to their core values of who
they are. They've created these rituals and systems to ensure that it's embedded within their
culture each and every day. The community, I talked about the systems and the structures and the
rituals that are there at an organization. The community is how the people gather in interaction
and communicate in that space. You think about the rituals that we create, how do people get together
in that environment? When you think about community in our environment, let's think about something,
let's think about before a football game. How do people gather in large spaces to fellowship
and enjoy each other and support each other in an environment? Those things are not typically
scripted, but they are a large part of your culture. Those things can happen off campus.
Those things can happen online. Those things can happen on accidents. Those things can happen
just out of the goodness of people's heart. That is the essence of a community. When you have true
community, it is a living, breathing opportunity for people to join at any point in time. Feel welcome
and have a larger than the organization has established formally. In the love it community,
you are a part of love it, even if you are not enrolled. You can be a parent, you can be a alum,
you can be the grandparent, that is the community. How do they get together and share
and extend those core values of the organization? Some organizations strategically do it,
some communities have been on accident. Research has shown us that if you provide the opportunity
to strategically design your community, it can be a true extension and support of your organization.
Beyond the walls, beyond the time of the operation of your organization, and it can be a system in
which can inform your practice, provide you an opportunity for a two-way communication to receive
feedback, but also to spread the great word of the culture that you have. But also, the community
can move the organization forward. There are ways in which the community can help move forward
an organization. The difference between culture and community are to me pretty clear. The organization
is responsible for the culture. What are the rituals that they have that support the core values?
The community is one that is an extension of the culture, but is less formal. It is an opportunity
where people can gather whether they're directly or indirectly involved with that organization.
You just described some pretty large aspects. The central aspects of what this place, who
this place is and why it is, what it is. As you think about a role that didn't exist before you,
you've talked about your 180-day plan and much of those early days for you have been about listening,
hearing folks who have been here longer than you, just hearing about other people's experiences on
this campus. What do you see as emerging priorities for your office as you look even to next year?
What are the one, two, or three things that you really feel like you need to tackle first?
If anything about culture and community, if not cultivated and strategic,
and they can become dangerous, they can threat to the organization's core values,
if not provided the nurture and support and guidance that's necessary. You talk about the
significance of my position and what I see is an opportunity to move forward a culture that has
been present, but to move it forward strategically in a way that we can quantify its success and
its alignment to the core values of who we are is love it, to intentionally create a culture that
drives forward our in-goal outcomes for our students and our families. Our immediate students, our
alumni, our culture, and our community, they can clearly understand the return on investment.
With that in mind, I think it's important when you're onboarded to any organization,
is you have to understand and embody that culture. My first 90 days was, you know, I knew you have to
live it. You have to live and breathe the culture and not from a judgment standpoint.
You know, one of the first things you learn in leadership is that you really have to understand
why people are doing the things that they're doing before you try to create change.
You have to determine if change is even needed. Sometimes change is not needed. Communication is
what's needed. In my first 90 days, it was incumbent upon me to get to learn and love it
and not just from a high level calling people and interviewing them. I didn't get it on the ground.
So, you know, I went to every event I possibly could. I think the last count was 300 and some odd
interactions that I've logged. Did we have 300 events in the fall?
Interactions. How interactions? Okay, you went out for interactions.
Yeah, interactions. But, you know, there were over 175 events. You know, when you think about all
the different levels of events, then you got the lower school, upper school, middle school events,
and then you have the athletic events. And don't forget the practices that take place,
because that's where this culture really takes place. Me being involved in all of those events
provided an opportunity for me to hear and listen about the culture of love it from multiple perspectives,
but also to experience it. Shout out employees, whether they were teaching, whether they were
someone who are delivering items or delivering food, it provided an opportunity for me to see
love it from multiple perspectives, because that all makes up our culture and who we are. That
really provided that opportunity, but it also allowed me to create a lens which is necessary
to do this work. Empathy is something that you have to have when you work in culture. And it's
because you have to understand multiple people's perspective. I'll tell a short story about the
moving the trash can. It's a story about in leadership, when you go into spaces, you know, there was a
story about a leader who went into a space and there was a trash can in the middle of the hallway.
And the leader first thing they walked in, they said, well, why is that trash can in the middle
of the hallway? You know, we definitely need to move it. People need to get by, it just made sense.
The trash can, and notice that the space underneath the trash can looked like it hadn't been cleaned in
a while. The person demanded that the floor be cleaned. And the next day, you know, a lot of the
employees were upset and the community was in an uproar and they demanded the person's resignation.
And the person said, you know, I just moved a trash can out of the middle of the hallway. I would
think that you all would be very excited about that. The trash can was there for multiple purposes.
One, that ground that they moved the trash can from was sacred ground. There was a statue that
was placed there that was being cleaned at the time. The trash can was there to make sure that
no one walked on that space for that organization. And the space that he had cleaned was there and
it was intentionally dirty to the traumatic incident that had occurred there for that organization.
That was a lesson to that leader of, why didn't you ask why the trash can was there? Why didn't you
communicate with the people who had been there for a while, they could explain to you why things
are the way they are. And from an outsider's perspective, you may have another view or some
suggestions, but it's important to get to know the people, the place where you are and learn why
things are the way they are before you begin to make suggestions. What I'm doing is essentially
doing that. I'm taking the time to get to learn why things are the way they are, to have respect
for why they are, to internalize that respect, to begin to love the organization, of love it for
what it has done for our community and our state, for the students who have come and who would like
to come. And then want to provide an opportunity in my final phase to provide an opportunity for
us to take a reflection, reflect a moment of reflection, to say, is this the love that we want
to be? Is this the love that we are? And where do we want to go from here as a community? Not my words
or where we want to go, but through my interactions with individuals, through my interviews,
taking the people who love and have been it, love it for them to express and tell me the
culture that they inspire us for it to be. And once we have taken a look at the mirror of where we are,
who we are, and learned about where we would like to go and agreed on where we would like to go,
my job is to help build that map, to co-create that map or co-create, I would like to call it
maybe a navigation system, not a map of how to get there. I want to be very specific
of why it's not a map or plan because culture changes. And if you have a navigation system or
you have a compass, the direction you want to go, your route may change. You may slow down,
you may divert people, sometimes get stuck on the plan in this work, but when working with culture,
three years our culture can change or the environment that we're in, the economy we're in,
the needs, it can change and we have to be nimble enough to do that. A compass or a navigation
system is more important than a stagnant plan. And that will take some growing for us to do as a
community and as an organization because people typically want step one, step two, step three,
step four, okay, we checked it off the box, let's go. But if we really want to be the best at what
we do, a navigation system or compass is what we really need, that's the goal. And when I complete
this journey this year, as we move into May and June, my goal is to provide that for us as a community
and to have a discussion, a commitment is that is this what we want to do. And if we're going to do
that, are we willing to take the steps to get there? I'm a big fan of a three year plan,
six year plan, nine year plan, 12 year plan. And it has to be very strategic.
You kind of took the words on my mouse, it just happens to be that three years from now,
love it will celebrate its 100th birthday. And I think you just really just answered the question,
but I wonder if there's anything else to add three years from now.
Who do you hope love it is? Love it as a community. When you look out on that horizon.
I hope that in three years, the community that we have inspired to be where we value belonging
for a diverse community, and where all members feel connected, included,
supported and respected, we can quantify that. And we're beacon of light and hope
for all who aspire to do that work. We're a place that does it well. Our community knows it.
They can feel it. They can quantify it. And then it can also share and teach others how to do that.
Hope that we are a faith based organization that has clearly defined that who we are
as an organization and the role that faith plays in love and belonging, no matter what your faith
may be, but that it plays a role in who we are. And that no matter your faith, you have a space
here at Love it where you can celebrate that and share that with others.
I think you just captured something that I think is also worth teasing out. And it's the words
reference the words diversity. And you just reference the sentiment of inclusion. And I think
you have a really relatable way of sharing what diversity and equity and inclusion me. And you
sort of started to go down this road a little bit earlier in the conversation. But can you tell
the story from your family perspective, how you think about the words diversity, equity and inclusion?
Yes, those are buzz words right now. So people have weaponized them, but they've always been around.
And I think that the sentiment of those words have always been in existence, which is how it
used these words. Well, I think about my family, you know, I have three wonderful children.
They're all very different. I have a nine year old, I have a three year old, a two year old,
Harper is my nine year old. She is very, very outspoken. She loves the arts. She loves to speak
up for herself and others. And then my three year old, his name is William, he's very active.
He likes to learn by doing. He's still discovering who he is, but he's okay with telling people who
they are. Then there's my two year old, she's finding her voice. She's, I don't know yet, but
she's, she's going to make me lose my hair. But we love her. But they're all very different.
My children, they have different learning styles. If any of you have multiple children,
they're the different ways that you can motivate your children. You can say one thing to one child.
And if you use the exact same phrase with the other child, it may not resonate the same and
it lets you, when talking to one, you can be a little bit more firm than you are with the other.
That's diversity. You're acknowledging the diversity. Your equity is at peace of you actually
acknowledging that you might need to, you're still trying to get to the same objective. But you
are going to do a little something different with one than you will the other. You're not going to
change your expectations for either of them, but you know, in order to get them where they need to go,
you're going to do a little something different with one than you might for the other because they
need it. I hear all the time in my house, we do things. Why does William get to do this? And I
don't get to do that. And I don't call it equity, but I have to explain to them that sometimes
William gets to do things that harper you can, or you don't need to do because you're nine years
old. Doesn't mean that I love William any less than I love you, but or more than I love you. But
we have to do things that are appropriate for William. That's equity at work in your own home.
We don't sit around and call it equity, but that's what you're doing. In the academic setting,
we also do those same things. We want to make sure that when we talk about the whole child,
we see every aspect of the child. And I think that any parent, when they drop their student off at
lovey campus, they want to make sure that we see every aspect of that child. I know that as a parent,
the first thing you want to know is that is your child comfortable where they are? Do they feel
like they're loved in the same way that they are at home? Of course, you want them to get a high
quality education, but you want to make sure that they're psychologically safe and physically safe
in their environment. And that's what that looks like. When you really pay attention to the diversity
of children and you meet them where they are to get them where they would like to go, that's a
diversity and equity taking place. Inclusion, I think about my children, you want to make
sure that they're included in the activities. And I've learned that the hard way with my children.
Remember, I said my oldest, she's nine. She's very outspoken activities. When I think about the
activities for my nine year old to my three year old to my two year old, they're paying attention
to who's included and what? I'll never forget the day I went outside to play catch with my
three year old. My oldest, who's nine, she called me on the number of times that I went out to play
catch with William, but I did not with her. And why was she not included in that? Did I think she
could not catch? Did I ask her if things interested? I mean, it was an odd moment for me. Why did I
exclude her from an activity that was so it seemed like, you know, I just didn't ask and she called
me out. You just didn't include me in it. But she would have never known that I like to throw the
ball to when we think about inclusion. You know, I think about my children as well. They all want
to be included. You know, when you get to that state of belonging, it's a have you actually
considered me so do me well enough. Have you honored my diversity? Have you paid attention to the
equity that I need to be successful, giving me the resources and the skills and the things that I
need to be successful meeting me when I where I am including me? But have you actually thought
about me before I get there? That's true diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at work to benefit
the academic environment. It's for every child, no matter the color of your skin, the religion
that you have, your socioeconomic status is for every child and every family. I think if we truly
honor that aspect here, we'll really create that environment where every child and every family can
see that their child is becoming the best version of themselves because we took the time to get to
know every aspect of that child. What about for prospective families? I think what you just described
is a really, I mean, powerful and relatable way to understand the words that you said can be
supercharged for some folks diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging. But as a family is
considering different school communities, what should they be thinking about? What should they
be asking? What should they be looking for when they're on a school campus? Yeah, you know, I think
they all stay it and families say it, but sometimes they're not explicit and I would encourage you to
be explicit in what you're asking for. I have shopped around at school as well and when you go on
every campus as a parent, you're trying to figure out is this the best place for your child? But
sometimes you don't explicitly say that. You don't say to the admissions office, is this the best place
for my child and tell me why? Because in order for the person to answer that question, they need to know
your child and it may reach a conversation where you're able to explicitly tell the admissions office
about the needs of your child. And I think that that's a great question to ask and don't be afraid
to ask about the things that keep you up at night. That sometimes when we go to a campus we're looking
for, but we won't say it because either one, we don't want to offend someone or some parents will
say, if I don't see it, then I just don't believe it's happening. But sometimes you know, on these
visits, you only get a snapshot and you have to ask those questions that you can make sure that
whatever it is needed for your child to be successful, that it's present. And if you haven't seen it,
maybe you might have to ask the question so that someone can show it to you. Very specifically,
my daughter Harper, she's an African American female student who loves the arts. She likes sports,
she doesn't like to sweat. She's made that very quick. Then you need to take her back to Buffalo.
Very clear at the age of nine. When I say to a school, I know this is a great place for children,
but this is the great place for my daughter. And if they give me the same line that they just gave
me a why I should bring a student there, then I'm going to dig a little bit deeper. Let me clarify
that. Is this the best place for my daughter Harper Ray Welch, who's an African American female
student, very comfortable in who she is. And she loves the arts at nine years old. She sings
herself to sleep. And when she wakes up, she's singing, she goes to musicals. Is there a place
for her at the love at school? And if so, tell me how you embrace that, how you support that.
That's a very intentional question. And you may have a student who loves to read,
and you want to make sure that that's cultivate. And that that's diversity. Ask that question.
My son or daughter loves to read. How will you support William and not only support that,
but encourage him to read more and give him more skills. How can William find his place
here at the love at school? You could be your faith. Hell, you can say, my faith is not Christianity,
and I see a cross here. I want to know how my child who does not have that faith, how will they be
supported here in your school? And we have answers to all those questions and be direct. I think in
any school, you should want to know how your student will be successful at that school. And if the
school cannot tell you how they have an intentional focus on doing that, maybe that's not the best
place for your child. And I think that every parent wants that and you deserve to hear the answer
to that question. But I would also encourage you that if you love that environment that you're in
and you're a current parent of any school, and maybe you feel that that question has not yet been
answered for you, I encourage you to be a part of the change that you expect to see and ask that
question for the people who are responsible for that and push them to say, I think there's a part
of my child that you have not seen. And I would like to introduce you to this aspect of my child so
that you can support my child and anyone else who may be like this in this environment. I encourage
you to do that. That's how diversity is celebrated, acknowledged, and then we can provide inclusive
measures and equity and create a community of belonging. But I encourage you all to do that. And
if you feel uncomfortable doing that, give me a call, email me, and I can assist you with that.
Whether you're a current member of the love it community or not, I encourage that. And I would
love to enter that conversation with anyone who's listening. Well, you just led me to the question
of a family, a parent, student, a mom, has an interest in connecting with you and hearing more
about your work, whether sharing them sharing their story with you. What's the best way to do that?
You can email me. That's one way at tommy.weelch at loveit.org. But you know, we're all using
phones these days. So I always encourage people to give me a call or send me a text message.
Very rarely in my office because I think it's important for me to be out and about with the
students, the staff and alumni. My cell phone number is 470-830-5157. Yes, you have that right.
I did give you my cell phone number. He just did that. 470-830-5157. You can text me,
call me, leave a voicemail. I'll get back to you. Just realize that I do have young children.
So if it's after hours on the weekends, I probably text better than I do answering the phone so that
you don't have to hear my children in the background asking me who's on the phone. Just be mindful of
that. But I want to be fully accessible to you as a community, but also as things arise and you
want me to know or you have questions, I want to make sure that I'm extremely transparent with you
all because this work is very personal. And I want you to know that I appreciate the opportunity
to do this work for the love it community. And I will honor that level of respect and dignity
that's needed to do this very personal work. Please stay in communication with me. If you ever need
me, I'm always here for you. You are the first guest to give your personal cell phone number
on Living Love It. But I wouldn't expect anything else from Dr. Welch. It's wonderful. Thank you.
So okay. Here it is. The last question. What does living love it mean to you? Tommy Welch.
Living love it means to me love and belonging. You can't have love it without L-O-V-E.
There it is.
I was short and sweet. I apologize with that.
No, I love it. That's great.
Yeah, I mean you just can't, I mean that's cheesy but hey, that's me.
That, you know. Tommy, you have been such a pleasure to visit with and I am personally so
grateful for what you are doing for Love It. Your leadership, your perspective, your expertise,
and really honored to get to be a part of this journey with you. Thank you for everything that
you're doing on behalf of our community and thank you for being on Living Love It today.
Thank you for having me. I look forward to continuing this journey with everyone who's listening but
also be Jessica. You've been a great, a great partner in this so I appreciate you all.
Thanks to Dr. Tommy Welch for being on Living Love It today. You can find Living Love It on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Connect with the Love It school on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram. All things Love It school may be found on our school website,
loveit.org. I'm Jessica Sant and until next time, I hope you've enjoyed this story from the Riverbank.
Thank you.