proportions through away that's going to engage students. i'll give you an example. people with small feet, do they pay too much for shoes? and what would happen if nike charged by weight? or how long would it take to burn off a big mac at mcdonald's and what would happen if they rewrote their menu in terms of exercise. we were speaking earlier teaching seventh grade math you have to teach pro pourses bun usain bolt have an unfair height advantage and what would happen if he had to run farther than everyone else, when students walk in and the teacher says we are going to explore that thing, this real thing, should you ever buy apple care, or how a video game consoles have changed overtime and use that to teach those standards, but really open up conversations that we think can really redefine what math class really is. >> gabriel, let me come to you. let me read this statistic first. during these tough economic times, increasing graduation

rates would also help the economy, for example, with the drop outs from the class of 2011 had graduated, they would have earned over $154 billion. that's more consumer spending and tax revenue, and by increasing the male graduation rate, by only 5%, we would save $4.9 billion in crime-related costs. hip hop literacy. >> right. >> you are making it relatable. you are making it interesting. you are keeping the kids in school. and glued to the topic at hand. tell me how it all works. >> well, the hip hop educational literacy program itself started in about -- we started that in 2006. and i created it just out of seeing as a teacher, seeing students who were 13 to maybe 18 years of age who were realin ren a second, third, fourth grade

level and seeing how the reading dideficiency compounded so many other issues for them in classrooms, so i wanted to as a hip hop artist and as as a teach i wanted to make something that tied the two together. i feel like, you know, i came up under an era of hip hop where i feel like hip hop taught me a lot. and so i wanted to kind of pay it forward, but pull out the teachable moments in current hip hop to, you know, to expand their vocabulary, expand their awareness around global issues. so it's not just a literacy good, it's in line with the standards and what have you it talks about poverty and conflict, diamonds and how we use water around the world and women's rights, so tackling social justice issues but it's kind of slid in there with the content of artists like kanye, ghost face, lauren hill. >> this is what the kids are in

to anyway. >> right. right. so it's literally taking that dialogue and opening it up and having to really dissect it. when we talk about metaphor aura lit raise or hyperbole or what have you, we can find real examples in the texts that these artists are saying but then also tie it to shakespeare or find the pair pa al jazerra legals between the two. so it's really trying to find that intersection and do it quick. >> tell me about what you are saying as an assistant, program assistant. wonderful bilingual charter school and what we need to see more of. >> all right, so we are work in kind of bridging the gap between the creative side and the academic side of one's education. >> yeah. >> and something that we realize

is that anyone works with youth and kids in general realizes that motivation a tough part. everybody wants to express themselves. so finding the means of expression, exposing youth to it and really training them how to hone that skill, we know will help them both academically and professionally. >> give me an example of what you are doing right now? >> okay. so, for example, we've got a partnership in the works with a local high school and part of their senior thesis, if you will, their senior presentation, is just that, giving a presentation. showing what they work odd and what they learned. and the school doesn't necessarily have the resources to teach them how to use certain types of software or, you know, digital media, to really show what they have learned and express it in a professional way. in a way that is impressive. you know, rather than sitting

there with a paper reading mumbling your lines, figuring out how to make yourself -- how to make yourself something worth paying attention to. the but also really discovering how you like to best express yourself. and that really gets everybody motivated. everybody would like to talk about what's on their mind. and even if our youth sometimes don't like to be as enthusiastic as we would like them to be, these are the kind of things that really get them to put themselves out there. so part of showing them how to express themselves is hopefully giving them the confidence and enthusiasm it takes to really learn and succeed in life. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> yolanda, we love teachers. we love passionate teachers. and you grew up in d.c. you went to d.c. public schools. >> yes. >> and had some challenges. but overcame those challenges and you are now in the classroom. lack of resources, it's something that is a reality for

teachers. >> uh-huh. >> tell me what you are doing to get over that and focus on teaching. >> okay. well, i have built a network over the years of not only just teachers, but just supporters and people who support me in everything that i do. so when i find that i am out of a resource or something something that i need i first go to the internet to look it up, see if there is something that i can order, maybe there is a website online i can send my kids to, things like that. at my school i love that we have so many different resources, we have coaches, we have at minute straight i havadministrative tet team that works hard to get funds and resources and grants so we can get all different kind of things whether it's text books ipads for the kids to use, lap tons, boards, things of that nature. >> finding a way to make it all work and make it happen. now we are going to talk about math and science, but first we want you to watch this is video of president obama visiting with the next generation of female

scientists and engineers. >> the belief that we belong on the cutting edge of innovation, that's when ideas as old as america itself. it's in our dna. we know that what these young people are going, that is what is going to make a difference in this country over the long haul. >> i created a nano particle that's like eye swiss army knife of camp treatment. >> i uv lunch box that kills bacteria off fruits and food. >> building a detection method for buried land mines. >> the natural colors versus the white jeans in sheep genetics. >> blue tooth enabled heart monitor to detect a medical emergency and notify, contact where you are, what happened, what going on, where they can find you. >> we created a a an adaptive hd device for a girl in georgia. >> did you play it or design the game? >> i design it had.

>> geez. that's pretty impressive. >> it's young people like you that make me so confident that america's best days are still to come. when you work and study and excel at what you are doing at math and science when you people, and something like this, you are not just trying win a prize today, you are getting america in shape to win the future. >> what i would say to people, especially girls who are interested in stem activities, is that you should be. >> find other people whoever similar interest and working in a team heaps lot you can bounce ideas off each other you are not alone. >> just go out there and do it. there are infinite possibilities you can do anything you want. just being a woman doesn't hold you back from anything. >> i feel like i can make a difference. and develop technologies that will help people. >> as a kid i asked a lot of why questions and i found that science and math usually were the answers. the coolest answers to all of my why questions.

>> by knowing that your ideas might change the future, it's something that i like. >> i mean, it's a great feel for everybody. and there is nothing, there is nothing that should hold women back or put men in front of us. >> don't give up on the first thing that doesn't work out. keep going, keep trying until you succeed. and after you succeed, keep going and going. >> don't be shy. try your hardest to do what you can do because sometimes if you try hard enough, you can make it come true. >> that math and science so very critical. and i love that there is this emphasis or out reach effort, kareem, to really draw in girls. because for so many years, girls were told, you know, math and science, engineering, that's for the guys. that's a boy thing. but now we are not doing that so much anymore. but we have to bring in and reel in our minority girls to make it much more interesting. >> right.

>> and how do we start? >> well, i think that's a great question. you know, i think a lot of it goes back to sort of how we have come to define what math is. >> uh-huh. >> you and i were talking earlier, i remember -- i was in eighth grade and i certainly thought of math as a bunch of random skills to memorize and regurgitate. this series of steps that i was supposed to go through. that's not what math s what mathematics is is it's a tool that we have create today make sense of the world and answer interesting questions. and that word interesting is i think very apropos because the world is actually an interesting place. right? what are the odds of finding life on other planets? should nike charge by weight? should you buy apple care? how has the ipod depreciated overtime? what's the deal with credit card debt and how does it work? there are so many interesting questions to ask and these cut across in a associates your economic barriers or gender distinctions the interest, the

inherent interestingness is i think a plungabl applicable to . one of the things in video that inspired me is just the team working. >> yeah. >> you know what i mean, we think of mathematics as this individual pursuit, but it really is just a vehicle through which we can, you know, work on interesting problems together and have interesting conversations together. again, i think that is just even. >> doesn't to jump in there? >> yeah, i was going say when we talk about 21st century skills development, that's essentially what we are asking students to do is know more just information gather, how do we synthesize the information, how do we problem solve, how do we create solutions to these issues, these problems that we find and you know, i remember speaking to a dean of an engineering school, and he was saying that engineering is no science -- it is a science, but he said people hear the world engineering and they think it's this big daunting subject and it's just trying too figure out how things

work, get to this nuts and bolts of how things work and you know, you find that our youth are very curious as to how things work and you know, i mean, even my own children, they break things apart to figure out how to put them back. so, you know, mine, it's just something that i think that's another -- i think that's just another way for us to tap in and to create a space for them to learn by presenting problems, presenting things that need solutions, instead of just, trying to have them memorize this concept. >> sabbath lights. but i think that the big challenge for our kids, often happens at home. and even before kindergarten. that education gap is formed before they go to school. thethere are challenges in the homes. we are talking about children who go to school hungry. who are not well nourished. who are not getting enough sleep. who are being burdened by adult problems ca and challenges.

gobble how are you guys dealing with that reality? >> we have a safe place with a lot o of resource, kids don't he to go home directly after school. make home isn't an easy place to get homework done. and it's very much like you guys were talking about, making the stuff accessible. giving it a context that is interesting to kids. as you saw in this video that we just watched, a lot of it -- a lot of what these young women were able to do wouldn't have been possible if they didn't have the accessibility to those resources, the one girl who made an app, the other girl with the u.v. light that killed bacteria, not everybody has that kind of -- those kind of resources, especially in the i d.c. area as you know. >> yeah. >> we hope to give a place, a refuge after school, you know. >> talk to me about the bilingual education and why that was so very important to you. your personal story, speaking

spanish at home. but speaking english at school and how you made that work and what were the challenges in the education system and what's working now. >> okay, so it's based in columbia heights, which is down the road here from howard. but they also have campuses spread throughout the d.c. area, one everyone in maryland and that has to do with the fact that it started in columbia heights which is historically a pretty latino neighborhood. that being said, in order to bring in the kids and the families, you know, it has to be spanish friendly. and so everything that is done there is done bilingually, there is a lot of code switching in your head, you have to think of who you are talking to. it's important, especially for youth who are first generation in this country to have somewhere where they can realize that the spanish is not something to be ashamed of. it's something to, you know,

really relish it, something to really hold onto and use it. it can be used to their advantage professionally, academically, and in -- >> and then having a place where you can embrace that language, helps the child to thrive because obviously you need english, but being bilingual is so much more beneficial. >> definitely. >> in society in general. perfect. let me move onto this. the number of d.c. public school students who rated proficient or advanced in math at the secondary level increased 6% in four years. however, that proficiency rate is still under 50%. that is a reality for you, yo yolanda as a teacher if the classroom right now. tell me about how you bring your personal experiences, the challenges that you overcame in d.c. in to the classroom today

as a teacher to help these youngsters. >> okay. well, a lot of the times as you say before it stems from home. so at my school we have after school hours, the students are allowed to stay after school to work, and talk to us about percentage things it doesn't have to be math related. also during their lunchtime, there are various activities, groups and clubs that they can attend. we have extra -- not extracurricular, but elective courses that they can take so their p.e., dance chances, things to help them express themselves and release the stress that might be cause bide the course that his they don't understand. with me in math, i tell me students that you know, growing up i wasn't really that great in math. it wasn't until i went to college that i fell in love with it. so i talk about never give up. just because you don't understand it today, doesn't mean you won't get it when you go home and do your homework or you won't get to tomorrowful i keep telling them to keep trying, keep pushing, i am here for you. your parents support you they wouldn't put new school if they don't.

letting them know that they have cheerleaders to support them. >> absolutely. kareem, the challenge that you have with your program, with math alicious, is helping the teacher who has to teach these concepts to really go outside the box to help that young child who feels math is not my thing, i am stupid when it comes to math. you know, how do i overcome this thing. >> yeah, we do have this weird kind of fascination with our own disdain for math in this country. >> yes. >> right. i mean, it's committee common for people to say, oh, i don't do mathis not my thing and no one would say that about read, i don't do reading. i think you are really putting your finger on it. for us there is a lot happening right now in math education, learning systems aura dap tiff learning things going trait to the individual. what we are trying to do is again, providing resources for classroom teachers. very much in the vein of sock t.

wsocrates. we have school and teachers and that is argue bit most incredible technology that we, as humans, have invented. but for those teachers to be successful in their classroom and for them to help close the achievement gap and really push kids far beyond proficiency and straight up genius and intelligence. >> right. >> then there does need to be a lot of support to help those people who are oftentimes struggling. it's a classroom teacher i struggled to engage my students i was teaching multiple preps. i was first, second year teacher myself and maybe i was only six or seven years older than my students. and that is a very difficult situation. and you know, to be able to provide resources to those teachers that help them do their jobs differently, and to teach in the way that they envisioned. >> yeah. >> which they came in, to really inspire them to think differently, you know, the teacher support piece is

fundamental as is the teacher is fundamental. >> we don't want the ten, why yn to the profession, because it surely wasn't the money. >> well, and this is what we are seeing, we are see attrition rates are unsustainbly high. i think i heard a statistic that 50%, think about it this, 50% of teachers in the united states, are going to be new within the next 10 years smrg like that. that's half of teach nurse this country will have never taught before. that can be incredibly intimidating. but it's also an unbelievable opportunity. >> yeah. >> to get in there and help redefine what it means to teach. >> there are two sides. yeah. >> and obviously we are approaching it for math. but you are approaching it from ela and arts as well. >> absolutely. here is another quote for secretary education secretary arnie duncan once again, quote, all students, 100 percent should

have access to arts instruction. all children should have arts-rich schools. that is your program. hip hop literacy. and the impact, arts, music, that's the first to get cut. >> yes. >> and we are trying to get it back in. >> right. >> it's very important that the president has talked about it. but the fact of the matter is, it is still a challenge. >> it is. >> and i want to you tell me why we have to be passionate, why parents, why educators have to advocate for making sure that arts programs and everything surrounding that has to be in there. >> yeah, i mean, well, you know before we started the hip hop educational literacy program, the -- originally we started an organization called gorilla arts. gorilla arts was made out of the no child left behind laws that cut arts and p.e. and music from a lot of schools. so once that happened, we -- i was working with a lot of the

schools who felt like, you know, we don't have an art teacher. we don't have a music teacher but need some type of instruction here. so what i did was i tapped in to the local arts community and recruited and trained them, gave them p. do thousand engage students and then sent them out to the schools. so we had schools all over the city where we had muralists and painters and singers and poets, we would match a poet with an english teacher and have them there for six weeks to create. out of that i realized there is a big need for this. even today we have sites now with work with d.c. housing authority, howard university we host thread hundred students at howard here this summer with the d.c. achievers program and covered 15 different arts offerings to supplement the academics that they were doing every day. so i feel like, you know, the arts instruction is the piece that again, when we talk about

21st century skill building, this is how you synthesize what you learn in english class, write the poem or play or script. when you create a p.s.a. you learn technology, science, math, but you are doing it in a way that you are creating some type of context. so, you know, at the same time that we are doing the help program, and analyzing and breaking down this media, it's also very important that you empower the students to create their own media. so that they are not just force fed what they consume bustle they can actually make a song or write a scringt or make a p.s.a. or shoot a commercial or score a film or do these thing. so at the high school as director of arts integration, what i am looking to do is bring in community partners, we have brought in public media core and just a bunch of other different partners that work with us directly, critical exposure, photography group, we brought in muralists, dancers and also

helping the teachers to find ways to intersect the arts in to what they do and how they present their instructions. >> right. because sometimes the soul of the child can be saved if you just allow him or her to use that creatively. >> absolutely. >> to build their math skills or reading skills. i mean, really. >> yeah, no, really, and i -- also the therapeutic aspect of it. i mean, you know, a lot of schools don't have on-staff school psychologists or counselors or o.t.s, so sometimes you en countser students and you will be surprised when you give them the outlet to write or talk about their life, talk about something that you know typically -- you don't typically ask them about in place. [speaking at the same time] >> or they are not allowed to talk about their life or thoughts at home. >> exactly. >> there is a study that just came out, that says the u.s. is entering what will be, according to these big thinkers the longest period of economic

decline d the study was based on the population forecast. blacks and minorities, and also the baby boomers retiring and entering in to that fixed income period. but it's saying that because of the growth of minorities in it country, those usually are low wage earners. so the challenge for us in education is to make sure that our kids leave school and finish school and go on and take on those skilled jobs, the highly skilled jobs that so many -- that so many people are forecasting will be the thing of the future. i mean, we are talking about innovation, how do we get -- how do we turn that statistic around, that thinking around? >> i think arts is going towards that. how you can show what's on your mind. because somebody might be real smart up here, but have a tough time getting it out.

so give them another means, give them another way to put out their thoughts, to show everybody what they are thinking and be well rounded in that, in being able to do it in different ways. and i think that's part of success and that's part of what we try to do. >> definitely. we are going to continue with this stimulating conversation, but first we want you to watch this video about yolanda's middle school, an all-girls middle school helping girls east of the river. >> i go to the washington school for girls and i attend the fourth grade. i feel like i think a being prepared for high school because when it comes to kind of like the rules, like homework and, you know, uniform, conduct, like sometimes of course you'll complain here or there, but like it's for the good of everything. >> my job here at washington middle school for girls is not

to teach 104 students, my job is to teach the individual students in the school and i think that that's what makes our school something that could be replicate second degree because we believe that our students are individuals and when we serve the individual, then we can make them a successful student. ♪ ♪ >> currently we have a little over 100 students and actually it's fourth through eighth grades. it's been operating now for 15 years. and we decided to start the school in this area of washington, d.c., because it seemed to be one of the most under served areas in the city. >> well, we tried to do is serve a student population that is at risk of leaching school prematurely or becoming pregnant before they leave school. >> the arc is a fantastic

facility, ballet, music school and arts school. medical clinic, you know, even a boys and girls club, covenant house. i am sure i am not naming them all. the students that come to our school have all these wonderful opportunities available to them, above and i don't understand the academic day. students take art lessons, at the cock ron art reach project and they also can be part of the levine school of music you know, they may be taking piano lessons are violin lessons or in the chorus. >> our students are required to be here four days a week, three hours a day, from 3:00 to 6:00, just like they are required to be at school five days a week from 8:00 to 3:00. a lot of those active programs allow the students to build their self confidence in themselves that they gain a skill that they can display to others and they then perform it here on the stage. >> some things about the schools are that we get to do activities

after school. and that we get to do study hall to do our homework. i do ballet, african, modern and jazz. ♪ why should i feel >> i go to my voice lessons. i mostly like go in old time, like spiritual, like i like doing those things because they have so much soul and they have meaning to it. so those are my favorites but i have to say i do like poppa lot too. >> we can boast of the fact that 98% of the students who come here graduate successfully from high school. i want to emphasize successfully, because more than 80% go onto do something in addition to high school. i think what we implant in them here at the washington middle school for girls, is a desire to

be educated and to go on and get the best education possible for them. ♪ ♪ and i know he watches me ♪ >> that was a great piece. that was your school, yolanda that you attended for a short bit before going onto senior high school, one of the super successful academic schools in the city. what did that school do for you, washington middle school for girls? >> wow, watching the video definitely brought back a lot of memories. and it goes back to the exposure that i mentioned before, being at the washington middle school for girls exposed me to a lot of things, like i didn't even have a vision of going to college