Teachers And Students Of Color Conquer Stigmas At Pali High

By ALEXANDRIA BORDAS | Reporter

Part I in a Series

Tami Christopher-Hooker will never forget the day she ran into Steve Burr’s classroom crying after a student called her the ’N-word.’ Hooker recalls asking Burr through heavy sobs, “After all these years…how much longer will hate speech happen?”

On a daily basis Hooker faces two hurdles as an AP history teacher at Palisades Charter High School. “Not only am I a black teacher (one of only a few), I am also a woman. I get hit twice,” Hooker said.

Teaching at Pali High since 2003, Hooker is heavily involved with The Village Nation (TVN), a nationwide movement to educate, empower and support African-American students.

“This program (TVN) is a support for students of color, to acclimate them to our charter school and to ensure their success,” said Pamela Magee, Pali High Principal and Executive Director. “We build self-esteem and address the needs of all students through TVN.”

Hooker was one of the main driving forces in bringing TVN to Pali High in 2008, along with Pali High AP World History teacher Steve Burr, administrator Monica Iannessa and parent Patrice Fisher.

“At the time there was a big achievement gap between students of color at Pali and our goal was to close it,” said Burr, who graduated from Pali High in 1988 and has been a teacher for 17 years.

In 2007 Burr and Hooker attended a three-day TVN workshop at UCLA that enlightened educators about how a program such as TVN, which has been praised by Oprah Winfrey, could raise test scores and empower students of color.

“That workshop changed how I see education forever,” Hooker said. “As a teacher I see test scores all the time but our students don’t. We held a presentation for them to show the data and numbers so they could see how far behind they were.”

Burr said TVN gave him hope that the gap could close. Burr and Hooker presented TVN to the school board at Pali High and it was approved for the 2008 school year.

“Test scores for African-American students have gone up 88 points in five years,” Burr said. “In the first year alone they went up 20 points, so we were pretty ecstatic about that.”

TVN also focuses its efforts on empowerment through on-campus workshops.

“Beyond the test scores. we are pushing students to make better choices and we’ve seen a huge growth in them,” Burr said.

Last year Burr and Hooker hosted two workshops to help students navigate the ups and downs of attending a school such as Pali High. “Seeing as it’s located in a predominantly affluent white neighborhood,” Hooker noted.

The first workshop was called ‘The N-Bomb.’

“We discussed the use of the N-word historically so that way we removed the ignorance from it and a student was now making a conscious choice to use that word,” Burr explained.

Their second workshop was called ‘Keepin’ It Real,’ which discussed issues such as ‘acting white.’

Burr and Hooker agreed that students of color often feel pressured not to push themselves into honors classes because their peers say it would mean they are ‘acting white.’

“I only had two black students in my AP class last year and all of a sudden they became a voice for every black student on the planet,” Hooker said. “They automatically feel segregated in that regard and even more so when their peers approach them saying, ‘Oh you think you’re better than us now.’ This leads to a lack of camaraderie between other black students.”

Hooker said there needs to be more on-campus support from administration and from her fellow teachers.

“We have a lot of black students that would like to take college prep classes and AP courses but there is not enough support to get them there,” Hooker said.

Magee said Pali High is always focused on providing students with the best opportunities.

“Our charter is respectful to our students and the programs we put in place help our students be successful in and outside of Pali,” Magee said.

Hooker said she wanted to teach AP classes so students of color could see a face with a skin tone that looked like theirs so that they would feel comfortable in the classroom, less isolated.

Burr also spoke about students of color feeling uneasy in challenging classes, such as his AP World History courses.

“When we come across certain topics in class the spotlight gets turned on specific students, like black students,” Burr said. “But if you don’t take the class then you don’t have to worry about it.”

According to Burr, that isn’t a valid excuse and over the years TVN Elders have been working hard to break that stigma.

The basis of TVN is to show students of color, specifically African-American traveling students, that there are opportunities and information available to them that they may not be aware of.

“We show them how to attain these resources, thus we are empowering them,” Hooker said.

Both Hooker and Burr agree that being a traveling student at Pali High means facing challenges most students and teachers aren’t aware of and because of that students often feel disconnected.

In Part 2 in an upcoming issue, the Post will explore hurdles faced by students and teachers of color, both on and off campus. Students, teachers and administrators weigh in by using personal experiences of racism, empowerment and courage.