investigation. the special prosecutor that was appointed all walked to determine nothing improper happened. >> it is 2007 and you weathered a good bit of that. then the director testimony then late summer 2007 a decision was made it had gotten to the point you're having difficulty being effective as of us to permit to justice and you resigned. that was the shock to the system after being involved all these years then in some

ways it was radioactive? >> the term came from the terms that were used. it was a very tough time. hundred miles an hour down and o. the cabinet secretary had been involved in all these issues. it was the tough time to find that legal work. but even though was atop to about with a harvard law degree as supreme court justice counsel to the president but yet they felt at the time it just wasn't

right. with those stories wanted to take advantage to john ashcroft or the decision relating to torture. that was nothing improper or the u.s. attorney all of these combined that i was radioactive and there was too much baggage. so it was tough on my family and it is important to wonder stand all of these jobs are on the family. i tried not to read any belated press about me but she read every word in there really hurt her. and the way they mistreated

me and experiences. >> deerfield -- do you feel she took this harder than you have wet. >> no question. she read it all and she knows how critical how mean and how cruel. i knew i was criticized by was not fully aware of what was said or being abandoned by friends berger she was aware. she wanted me to leave but she knew i wanted to stay. i knew i had done nothing wrong but just say hang in there. that is what i tried to do. was hard to leave after going through all of the criticism to get to that

point late 2007 with the decision made that basically they're going after you again on perjury. honestly i think he was tired. >> you say people say one of the lessons to close to president bush you cannot have somebody in that role that is that close but you reject this? >> i really do. having that relationship gives you freedom and power to tell the president you cannot do this. this is wrong. and puts you in a powerful place. also with the attorneys want

to do something to have that relationship with the president and to be so candid to say that is wrong. we cannot do that. i totally reject that. even though my critics used it as an excuse to be critical of my service. >> i am curious it is clear you had a close relationship with of president but what is it like with him today? you say towards the end that he has kept up with your career moves through government service. what is your relationship like today? >> we don't talk and see like we used to go.

i have of a great deal of respect for the man. he gave me several once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to change the trajectory of my life. i feel privileged to play a part in his industry shin in texas and washington d.c.. i have the highest regard for him. >> thank you for talking about your book and your time in the white house.

on behalf of the entire staff is up pleasure to have huge year and to post nadia lopez her book "the bridge to briliance" how one principal in a tough community is inspiring the world." please silents yourself so she will discuss the book about 30 minutes and then take as many questions that she can use this microphone. after the questions it is a help if you fold up your chair to place against the bookshelf and get your books signed. nadia lopez bounding

principle of the academy committed to creating an environment where students staff work together it tells her story can the school from her own middle school days to her efforts for her own students to find a place of caring and support. [applause] >> good evening thanks for having me. i should start off by explaining why i wrote the book in the first place and really came down that it was about the community that i served in brooklyn. i may brooklyn girl and i am proud of was born and raised

. bet growing up by had to deal with gangs and the crack era. and my parents separating, but i was able to succeed literally because my parents prior to separating had come from guatemala and honduras we believe in the power of education. when they come to this country was not with lock they met each other on the dance floor in the bronx. once i came to the world my mother felt the only thing she could provide for me was a solid education. in new york city weir's owned by districts so my mom was clever and decided the district we lived in would not provide me with an excellent education she thought would give me the path to success.

she went to labor three blocks away and asked him if it was possible to ever seek to place me in the school across the street because of her relentless pursuit to get to a good elementary school i was then one of the top of schools than the top high-school for gifted and talented and fairly near the projects and one of the specialized high-school actually the of of one of the most notorious gangs. imam was not concerned about the violence just if i would get a quality education. i caught on the train at the age of 11 and i made sure that i was able to learn,

understand what i was learning because my mother made it clear when i got called she could not help me . so why it is going to high-school that is also challenging neighborhood in harlem but an excellent education that led me to wagner college. i take it that pathway because i am example of a child from a community underserved and parents are immigrants that education was my solid foundation and excellent teachers. not all were perfect i'll never forget my math teacher in 11th grade before trigonometry told me i would not make it to college and called my mother and said to her you are wasting your time. save your money she will never make it. and i became angry because

she never asked what is going on at home or never took time to tell me that everything would be okay. so instead she placed me in a box and almost made me feel become as of that the could not be anything successful. but u.s. history teacher, whose class a was feeling said you seem to know what about u.s. history and our good about talking politics but you never do my work. what is going on? in that moment i literally fell into desires because somebody finally cared. it happened when my parents separated so i knew there were teachers that cared but in that instance realized that i listened to the math teacher i could ahmadabad

trajectory and never went to college but mr. pearson still held me accountable even i had to go to summer school i ended up at wagner college getting a b.s. in nursing that is not the easiest dirty but i loved nursing first. when i had my daughter and was working average rise in the u. think you know, what you want to do but then you revise. that case free and opportunity to figure out what i wanted to do with my life and essentially came out looking at my daughter to realize the most important thing that could never give me purpose is to touch the lives of children and i will have to trust someone with my precious gift.

hook could insure their repeat that teacher that as that child if they are okay? so that i decided i would become a teacher and in turn your city. went to the parking for one of the most challenging schools in brooklyn. where children were dealing with parents who were on crack, abandoned them somewhere raped by the grandparents. administrators who did not truly believe in the children. and then wanted summers off for those who showed up just to educate the poor children

of the neighborhood so i was inspired by this teachers and children of the honest when i first went to make teaching experience at came from a gifted and talented schools life felt they should appreciate education and they didn't because they were just trying to survive many came to school just to eat a:00 -- 8:00 in the morning 33:00 p.m.. i was an actress. every single day we performed a play. so if we didn't have materials i purchased it.

to do research and then the assistant principal ran down bohol way because they were working together in groups. to 30 about the declaration of independence are all men created equal? through the notion of hurricane katrina with the state of new orleans let's look at how this community reflects your community and education with those demographics. talk about what was done to avoid this disaster from happening.

and they can't understand this. and said why don't you sit in the classroom and ask them? and from there there are people in positions tour hired to run power and inspire our children but they become jaded by the process. and i stated that school three years than i had the opportunity to become a teacher of the old girl's school and i took it because as much as i touched the lives of children i also needed to grow myself to get the experience of one dislike to create a new school of girls of color the

outside of technology engineering and math that is underrepresented of individuals of color. and it is a phenomenal experience to bill a culture to brand a school and recruit teachers because i was the first founding teachers. and to see hope in their eyes. did during those two years the principals had their own children so they left me in charge. ironically. i was responsible for pta meetings, developing programs, recruiting students, teachers, as though i knew how to run the

school and open the school and i was prepared for the next chapter of my life. with those aspiring principals and i took advantage of the opportunity with the organization became the resident principal and i was honest was so against it. also to have insight. that you have no idea to understand their vision. and i had a phenomenal mentor.

by understood they didn't excellent job with data with those relationships that were built with parents and young men of color, and just being able to develop programs out of academics. but my background only - - maybe look from the perspective of look beyond the diagnoses. i took those experiences and found less educators to open the school and it opened two years after i presented my proposal to the department of education. prior to that the was a

principal of the same district i am now and i realized that community was struggling that someone allowed that to happen. and is hard to understand the way community in new york city could have a community that is so pour and lacked resources. after you read the new york times or the "new york post" and is hard to find something positive. for all the children better feeling -- failing. i was in a kindergarten or eighth grade school no one

had ever spoken to them about college or what college looks like. that was hard for me to understand. , not going to college. you have that opportunity. and not going to college. luckily there was a unman the disbanding time in prison he was with the wrong friends and made the wrong

decision lesser tenures and through this time incarcerated while i was that the first leg told him i don't lawyer time to be spent in vain so i need you to communicate to my kids and explain when they should never end up in jail. because your story is more powerful than me telling them they should not go there. said they would write him letters and read them and he would write back to create correspondents. marvin came out 2008. and also expected to be at my school in their 25 young men who came every week to

get 25 young people back to college girls and boys. that tells you the of power to show you the lessons but if you just put it children in the places that you see that they can change their trajectory. that is the first time some of them ever went to a college because they graduate high-school. here are the statistics. thirty-two% of the residents have a high-school diploma. fourteen% have a bachelor's 3% of a master's.

the average median and tom this $20,000 a year. we have the highest incident hiv aids, a teenage pregnancy or health risk risk, hypertension, diabetes risk, hypertension, diabetes , cholesterol and asthma. why do you care? but it goes back to how does the community and up this way? so when i opened up my school i already knew the numbers also those that went to college to get -- were an

example of what was possible and i remember how my mother fought for me so they would provide the same expectation . so the summer i had to open up my school could imagine if i write a proposal with no kids on my roster now have to go out in the middle of summer and walk with cupcakes begging people to sign up and go into the housing development and the of library. but i didn't have a name was an assistant principal.

had to trust of was not in a charter school. they would trust would do right by their children although they're not being done right by many people. the 24 parents trusted me and that is what we opened with. but the reputation that this principle was of little crazy and will do whatever it takes for these children by the second year we had 124 kids i could create programs and empowerment program for my girls so that they know there are women's of color to take away the

stigma that we argue and fight and tear each other down. after the fact of the reality but i will tell you the real truth. i was asking to be somebody else's keeper but nobody ever showed up for them oftentimes they thought i was asking for a commitment by all they knew was abandonment. if the fathers were incarcerated or left or ended up murdered. so they did not understand

what i was asking was simply to be a positive influence to the next generation without realizing they researching for someone to say that they matter because nobody kept reminding them them, it is easier to say because there was a one-year-old murdered around the corner because his father was in a gang so rival members came on to the block and could not find him so started to shoot the area and hit his son. he was one-year-old. so i said i don't know if they matter. did they break up?

and it kept coming up. even if society does not tell them in this day and age if we cannot travel to another country to know that we matter no one else can convince us unless we tell ourselves. but the minute we did that literally 250-0300 young men that participate and we create aerospace to talk about the concerns were the issues of law enforcement i don't want them to think to

be impositions of law and order a one them to be part of the process and become officers. and those that our fearful of. we also have a program children don't know how amazing art is. is out history or time periods and the different mediums and what culture and the location. windows that just to enjoy in learning.

and with their own documentary. beekeepers and cultivate their own honey. with and on to pershare program because i would explain average income is $28,000. i needed to know that they could make money. the thing in decapolis societies the one not push them? develop the product. so they have to pitch their idea like shark tank.

at the end they get a monetary prize and compete in the citywide program. that is me believing in them. on a lot of my children to be saved but to have access. i spoke a lot about the us dollars but didn't touch on the teachers. i have an amazing group of teachers. they don't all make it. i am tough. i have very high expectations. i work hard because i remember those who worked hard for me and i remember every single night i expect somebody to work just as hard for my daughter update think they cannot coach

another day i will sit there with them i am in the classroom every single day. i want them to know i am not here to evaluate you without knowing of your areas. if this is not the right space we have that conversation nobody is obligated to states where they are not honored working give there very best. but to demean and degrade them i think it is unfair for a child only to work until 3:00 to think they can get the work done. but great teachers or exceptional teachers understand you cannot get this done so they asked tuesday, i pay them, i

prioritize the money to make sure they are paid. i probably worked 15 hours a day every day on sundays after church igo to work. because i like the silence on sundays. but my scholars are there from 8:00 in the morning through 6:00 and on saturdays we have a mentor program between 10 and two and they are in the same space. every summer we offer a comprehensive program would divert about horticulture and understand it is important to have community gardens connected to the

school because i want them to wonder stand the importance of healthy living. so let me teach you the importance of the behavior that creates the health risk . my seventh graders learned justice so to take that analysis of black lives matter. but the civil-rights movement, slavery and if things change, nonviolent, how can you develop or think about injustice? that was important to me

because parents were angry. they did not know how to communicate and nobody can hear you when you were yelling. but, with facts, a passion and you want change you can engage in a dialogue that i can respect. we teach our scholars that. from my eighth graders, so many fail in elementary school that they are over age by the time they get to middle school it is germany 11 teefourteen by us dollars as old as 16 because they were held back to or three years but nobody took the responsibility to say the buck stops here how to remake sure this child is

true they prepared for the next grade. so this book shares those stories in this beautiful challenges i call them beautiful because my scholars milers -- lerner's need to be respected not as numbers but human beings. who have issues. who need support. access. this book is on behalf of so many educators. nobody ever hears our story. all we do is get criticized with the teachers of what we have not done. no one ever criticizes those

who has not helped us. nobody ever criticizes the testing companies that continue to make money over test our kids cannot pass it doesn't mean we're at a disadvantage new york city alone 40 percent are proficient including those from wealthy backgrounds. children in six grade should not irresponsible for taking exams fall of documents i had to read in college that is not the sixth grade comprehension test. year was a book of 1940. if you don't start pushing the legislators and don't start showing up or asking the questions or sitting

next to where child what did they learn today or be willing to read it to a child because for many of us how many have libraries in their homes? only 5% of my kids do. and the libraries located are in the middle of the projects of gang warfare. but yet they bring the children when dash they blamed the educators and the principal. if you want to be inspired really know what is going on with the beautiful public school system that i am a product of, i encourage you to read the book. i will open the floor for

questions. [applause] >> i am a college student here in washington d.c. area. because of my own life experience, what you think is particularly important for those considering working in education about the potential to have a positive impact for their students and why? >> are you currently? >> no. >> the thing about education

is focusing on theory and not practice. if you have the opportunity to volunteer or special education teachers to understand the dynamics of what is required because what many people fail to remember it isn't a place, it is a service. it is a dumping ground lately of the children they don't want to be bothered with they put them in there because of behavior issues, of the fis. then we create a narrative that says this child a special education but we treat it as a place so understand from your own personal experience who are those teachers that inspired you then go to the school to see what that looks like in

practice then develop your own philosophy how you can apply your services. i was a special education teacher i did not have special needs but i had to learn because i struggled with mouth. to see it from a different perspective. suggesting to do is volunteer and speak to someone and special education. thank you for your question. >> i am a proud district of columbia student.

talking about how you want to well-rounded students can you expand about standardized test and the perception that the teachers are teaching to the exams instead of well-rounded greg. >> i am not against standards borer assessments but my issued is standardized testing that every child should learn the same way and passed the same test but children tom with different rules and some of those are not even at the level of their grade. if you don't know how reworks the data we had

minister the test nobody could see it except for the testing company the administrators, create policy the testing company and the classroom teacher that administers to the kids. when you teach you were supposed to know your end result see you should know what the test looks like see you can prepare the kids as you go along with the problem is we don't know what we are preparing them for. so the teachers get so nervous and overwhelmed because at the end of the day how they are judged is based on the test so when february or everything is so focused the kids have to be reading and writing and answering questions they are not focused on anything else

for us to what happened to the process of inquiry of kids just learning and reading from my book to ask relate good questions to understand the author's purpose without feeling like a test? that is no longer in the classrooms but if you did not do on this test then you are not pretty enough and that impacts the teacher that you did not do well so now you make look like i don't know how i am teaching so we need to go back when children had time for play play, socialization of in home economics was also learning skills. boldest is given voice in the classroom because it is

about connecting with air act. does that make sense quick. >> your story is my story. >> i am looking forward to reading your book providing volunteering often on the last 24 years. and i am wondering what you think about volunteers in the schools and if you have examples if they are being helpful? i know yours are a little older but also in what ways but also rather programs aimed at the parents of very young children to help

prepare them for school and are those effective? >> you have multiple questions. getting volunteers are very helpful but it is helpful if you know what you want them to do but not assessed without a purpose that the class's can consist of the teachers tutored ratio can be a lot it is helpful to have volunteers if they are reading or writing or someone that they trust they can set and talk to. sometimes they help with snack time or go to the bathroom. with the older kids it is good to see an extra body the more that barrier but the way to make volunteers effective is they have to have a purpose because then

they feel they are vested in the children see them as an asset not just an extra person hanging around. >> about programs to prepare >> but terms of how children are prepared depends on the community that they live in. if parents really get together like mommy and me a lot of parents to drive that in disadvantaged communities the parents lack those skills so it is hard from them to learn from someone who doesn't have the skills themselves and they don't take initiative so principles find themselves trying to create programs but the most disheartening thing is that schools are considered where parents feel uncomfortable because

they haven't had a good interaction so they tended not to come in because they internalize that they are less than instead of being the best that you can be. >> but for me particularly we create programs but overall from the york city it is based off the leader and the strength and the numbers of the program people have to want to do it to create the initiative and oftentimes that is why you don't see the consistency. >> last year in the district

told their kids of the goal for the school year than they went to the speak at the memorial. twelve trees to be home economics now is to identify kids how to track them and approach them or how to assess them and the feedback if they object. >> the reality is every child will not go to college because it may not be a good fit. not everybody goes to college but i don't want to limit a child. i will take them to the ecologist put them on the steps of harvard regale

because i want them to know that they have the options. in addition in the school also give them a variety of programs that they can't get experience there would not normally get anywhere bugs. for instance we have a veterinarian program were one organization our kids go to veterinarian hospitals hospitals, the k-9 unit, they go up state to state overnight and then they do dissection because a lot of kids interested in the medical field and those are the sixth seventh and eighth graders those that decide their own clothing to create a fashion line. we want to give them as much experience as possible because then they can make decisions and choices but if we don't then they will only

do what they see if they only know the fast-food industry they said they want to work at mcdonald's there is nothing wrong with that but if that is your choice then let's talk about you becoming a manager or create your own business to create healthy food purists still there making money but i don't want to limit them. >> >> she does work with the students. >> dear mind talking about why you use the word bridges >> i pay homage to the

brooklyn bridge because i believe we are all connected when we think about a bridge and how with functions and has to be connected. if you go on the school's website those are connected to people of color the scholars or the teachers are the parents or the community and partners so if we all stand together and the community at large and the past and present and the future so why describe how we walk over the brooklyn bridge so every single year by incoming six craters sidewalk with them over the bridge to signify you left

in the past with your fifth grade year as he walked over the bridge is your pathway to the future. those that consider me the most challenging are the most fearful. because of these vibration and they cling on to you because we end up folding them. i will let you fall i will not let you feel we are connected to succeed. [applause] >> the book is for sale up front.

[inaudible conversations]

>> remember the kennedy was assassinated they november and the debt tammuz the federation of republican women i had a whole series of speeches scheduled beginning in december and it just seemed inappropriate to give this speech so i wrote a new speech how political conventions are stolen starting with december 1963 berger and i told the story of how the rockefeller establishment were

conservatives and had the domination and i realized in march 2nd put that any book to influence the convention it was a whirl went year. i was on my typewriter at night and then of course, the publisher and will take them to years to get their act together. so i had a little publisher accept to do the book. i sent it to the printer in march and 25,000 copies arrived in my garage april 30th. i typed out a one-page letter that said dear friends, please read the book today them by now

copies to send to your delegates for the convention . i had a mimeograph machine in the basement diad with my stenciled and had 100 letters. one of those was read by a friend in california who said i read it i am going to make convention this week and the republicans of california. so i voted up in the station wagon by a shipped about and we had state wide distribution in california. the california primary the first week of june we sold over half a million copies between the first of may and the first of june in california.

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