Building Partnerships: An Example 13 Years in the Making

“SEED is a partnership between students, families, and SEED staff. When our students face challenges, we all work together to morph into the support system that the student needs.”

— The SEED Foundation CEO Lesley Poole, with Tamia Spells, SEED DC ’10

The SEED Foundation’s new CEO, Lesley Poole, has seen the power of partnership between families and staff during her 18 years at SEED. Ms. Poole’s 13-year relationship with Tamia Spells is just one story of how these partnerships can make all the difference in our students’ path to college:

Part I: A Leap of Faith to SEED DC

Tamia, during a SEED-sponsored trip to India, where she volunteered at a school.

According to Tamia, Ms. Poole was “a constant, nurturing, and commanding presence.” Tamia’s family welcomed Ms. Poole into their home for an informational visit, where she convinced them to take the leap of faith in SEED and apply. After Tamia enrolled, Ms. Poole’s consistent presence on campus helped cement their confidence in SEED. And when a health crisis struck Tamia’s mom, Ms. Poole and Tamia were the first family members to reach her bedside.
“Ms. Poole didn’t have to be the one to drive me to the hospital—to coordinate with doctors, tell me what was happening with my mom, help my family with the paperwork—but she made it a priority,” says Tamia.

Ms. Poole’s motivation was simple: “Our investment in Tamia was far too important to let this tragic situation undermine it.”

Ms. Poole wasn’t just there for the tough times—she also watched Tamia grow and expand her worldview through SEED’s many opportunities, including challenging academic coursework, varsity sports, and exposure trips in India and Greece.

Part II: Becoming a Hokie...and a College Graduate

Tamia and her grandmother at her college graduation.

Numerous SEED staff members, including Ms. Poole, continued to help Tamia and her family navigate the next big phase of her life: transitioning to college at Virginia Tech. Ms. Poole witnessed Tamia mature and learn how to ask for help when needed—especially from The SEED Foundation’s College Transition & Success Team, which helped her find housing, jobs, and mentors on her campus. But their relationship was a two-way street: “[Ms. Poole] watched me grow, and I watched her grow—from a faculty member at SEED DC to advocating for the opening of SEED Miami. Seeing a black woman in a position of power was inspiring,” says Tamia.

Part III: Giving Back & Paying it Forward

Tamia’s career has brought her SEED story full circle. Not only has she devoted herself to students from underserved communities in Miami as a Teach For America corps member, but she also volunteers at the very school that Ms. Poole helped to found in 2014. Tamia helps recruit students alongside SEED Miami Head of School Kara Locke, another mentor from her time at SEED DC. As she visits with prospective parents and students in their homes, Tamia is living proof that SEED is worth their leap of faith.

Tamia confers with a SEED Miami student during an end-of-year celebration

SEED DC Educator Topher Kandik Named DC's 2016 Teacher of the Year!

State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang announced today that Topher Kandik, a nine-year teacher at The SEED School of Washington, D.C. (SEED DC), is the 2016 District of Columbia Teacher of the Year!

Over the last nine years, Mr. Kandik has stoked the passion of hundreds of SEED students in his English classes by turning the city—and the country—into his classroom. Mr. Kandik has tapped into the rich resources available in DC to integrate the arts into his curriculum. He has brought students to the White House for poetry workshops; through a partnership with the local literary advocacy organization 826DC, Mr. Kandik’s students have had their original short stories and poems published. Through the PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools program, Mr. Kandik’s students have welcomed several MacArthur Geniuses into their classroom to discuss their work. Mr. Kandik has also built partnerships in his own hallway, ensuring that his own curriculum aligns with the lessons being taught in other subjects.

A constant in Mr. Kandik’s work is the value he places on his students’ voices and opinions: “I value their voice on what they think is important. Often, students don’t value their ideas. I want them to figure out their own voice.” Mr. Kandik’s Why New Orleans Matters unit exemplifies this philosophy. After designing a curriculum to compare and contrast low-income communities in New Orleans and D.C., Mr. Kandik followed his students’ lead as they pitched school leadership for permission to plan a capstone field trip to New Orleans. Students—by their own design— researched relevant places to visit, crafted budgets, and executed fundraising plans. “It was everything I loved about education,” he later reflected.

Teaching is Mr. Kandik’s second career, but his former position as an arts fundraiser has helped him succeed in his classroom. As he says, “the experience I had fundraising has paid off in a way that makes me a better teacher. Those skills—organization, time management—all translate.”

Mr. Kandik’s teaching skills have translated to exceptional student outcomes. According to Dr. Manuel, SEED DC’s head of school, “what makes Mr. Kandik’s classroom special isn’t just that his students score above average on state assessments….it’s that his students develop a real joy for learning and intellectual engagement that will help them become not just strong students, but intelligent and engaged adults.”

Lesley Poole, CEO of The SEED Foundation, adds: “This wonderful recognition is a byproduct of Mr. Kandik’s work, his effort, and his commitment to excellence. His success means that young people in DC have the opportunity to become better students and more thoughtful people. It means that our children win.”

On behalf of every student who has learned under Mr. Kandik and every teacher who has worked alongside him, we are very, very grateful to Mr. Kandik and to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for shedding a much-deserved spotlight on this exceptional teacher.