"It's necessary to need each other." This month Omar Marquez continues exploring Interdependence - this time outside of the classroom setting as he sits down with Community Change's Regional Director of State Power Building Ben Hanna and Electoral Data Manager Gilbert Nuñez to discover how their interdependence practices have changed the way they lead. The ways they hold space, give and receive feedback, and ask for support are some of the ways they are replacing rugged individualism with interdependence. Hanna and Nuñez are part of Community Change's inaugural Leadership for Staff development program, and are part of the shifting leadership towards a bold collective effort to benefit the sustainability and success of our organizing work. Together we can move from fear and isolation to leadership that is daring and actionable. (And a special thank you to Community Change Leadership Development Program Manager Aida Cuadrado Bozzo and Sr. Leadership & Capacity Development Strategist Bethel Tsegaye for originally bringing the Interdependence practices to the Leadership for Staff program!)

This month, ChangeWire Fellow Omar Marquez sits down with his former 7th grade English teacher, Alexandra (Ale) Checka, winner of the 2018 Fort Worth ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year award, to reflect on how their years-long connectivity has not only guided his career, but improved outcomes for students too.

Tune in as the two educators, who became co-workers mid-pandemic at the middle school Marquez attended himself, share what has surprised them the most in their journeys as teachers and coaches. They also explore what they notice when it comes to the narratives and decisions around getting public schools and the families they serve what they need, specifically in Texas.

"It's truly shocking to me that the American public is having a debate about books," says Checka, referring to the spreading of book-banning laws that have taken effect in the past few years. "And like a big chunk of the debate is that kids just read too much."

Checka describes how she, somewhat reluctantly, got into teaching - and what happened when she was assigned to substitute a Home Economics class in the district she herself was a student in.

And through the experiences Marquez and Checka share, we are invited to answer "And How Are the Children?" - and decide how we will strengthen relationships with our peers for the success of ourselves and the children in our lives.

ON THE HORIZON: Next month Marquez will bring in the perspective of Community Change organizers as they practice interdependence for the second part of this interconnectivity exploration.

If you think back to your childhood... Who cared for you? What kind of attention and learning did you receive in the years before you went to school (and maybe even after?)? Was it someone you'll always remember? Or maybe there wasn't a consistent caregiver available for your family...

Care comes in lots of forms and happens in lots of spaces. And we know childcare it is essential to keeping our families together and our economy afloat.

This month as we ask the question, "And How Are The Children?" host and public school educator Omar Marquez digs into urgent childcare stories with business owners, educators, and parents as they prepare for a national day of action, A Day Without Childcare, on May 13, 2024.

In its third year, the national Day Without Childcare is helping bring together all of us who see the brink our communities are being pushed to, and want to speak up and do something about it. Learn more and take the pledge at www.daywithoutchildcare.org.

Thank you to our leaders from Texas, California, Ohio, and New Mexico:

Anjanette Gautier Castro, Go Austin! Vamos Austin!

Domanica Ede, The CEO Project

Juliana Kalipeni-Brown, Family Values at Work

Olga Marquez, Mrs. Olga's Daycare

Tessie Ragan, Family Child Care Educator