13. Empowering the Next Generation: Gerry Correa on Innovation, Resilience, and Leadership, Part 1

Once a skeptic, now a believer, Gerry Correa joins us to unveil the remarkable impact AI has had on his life and career in education. His story, from navigating language barriers and stereotypes to becoming the principal of Carr Intermediate School, strikes at the heart of perseverance. Together, we unearth the power of technology, as Gerry recounts how ChatGPT transformed his approach to writing accreditation reports—proving that AI can indeed be a formidable ally in the realm of education.

Our conversation takes an emotional turn as Gerry shares the story of the teacher who saw a spark in a young boy, misconstrued by many as just another troublemaker. This act of faith redefined his trajectory, leading him to academic success and significant school involvement. It's a narrative that celebrates the undeniable influence educators possess, and how their belief can ignite students' potential, reminding us all that mentorship can pave the path to unimaginable heights.

Navigating the ebbs and flows of school administration, Gerry opens up about the 'bruising effects' of his journey in educational leadership, the resilience it demands, and the solace found in support networks. His candid reflection on the loneliness that can accompany leadership positions underscores the courage and dedication needed to steer a school towards success. Tune in and be inspired by Gerry's unwavering commitment to education and the human spirit that drives innovation and growth within our schools.

Visit us at our Buzzsprout site for more ways to listen, links to our social media sites and any referenced materials, and complete transcripts of our full-length episodes: https://bit.ly/SAUSDAmplifyingLeadership

Transcript

Bianca Barquin: 0:08

Welcome back to SAUSD's Amplifying Leadership, where we dive into the hearts and minds shaping our educational landscape. I'm your host, Bianca Barquin, and today we have a truly inspiring episode for you. Joining us is Gerry Correa, the innovative and resilient principal of Carr Intermediate School. Gerry's story is one of overcoming self-doubt, embracing challenges and continuously expanding his knowledge. Today, we're not just talking about innovation in education, but we're also uncovering the human spirit behind the leadership. So, Gerry, I know you and I have been having conversations lately about immersive technology and innovation in general, so I want to jump right in. You've mentioned that AI has recently become a significant part of your journey. Can you share more about your initial skepticism and what led to the shift in your perception?

Gerry Correa: 1:07

Yeah. Well, like a lot of new technology, there's always going to be a lot of doubt or wonder. How is this going to affect my life, how is it going to impact my work? And, given a lot of the different things that we know about artificial intelligence, I was very worried. Is this going to be something that's going to replace me? Is this going to be something that I no longer will be useful for, for my job? But when I started hearing more about it, and I want to highlight in particularly Jerry Almendarez who talked to us about embracing this, not having the fear of the technology, but seeing where can it fit in your life. And so as I started dwelling into it and kind of seeing, okay, what is this chat GPT, what does it do, how can it really help me in my work? It wasn't until I recently did a WASC visit.

Gerry Correa: 1:49

I've done WASC for quite a few years now.

Gerry Correa: 1:51

I really enjoy the work and I'm a chairperson and when I saw the benefit of incorporating AI and Chat GPT in particular, in helping support the writing of a report, it blew my mind.

Gerry Correa: 2:03

I would spend hours upon hours writing these reports, reviewing data, analyzing, summarizing and now, with this tool, and having an idea of how to best use it really helped me understand the benefit, and so now I'm really excited. I'm really thinking about what else can I apply this to? What other aspects of my life, what other aspects of my job can I start using this using this to really benefit me? And I don't necessarily see it as a fear anymore, I really am embracing it. And now I'm left with wondering what else can I do with this? Where else can we start incorporating this element, this technology? How soon can we get this in the hands of our kids? Because it's a tool at the end of the day, and I think once people start to recognize that, there's going to be more acceptance and more of an embracing of it.

Bianca Barquin: 2:48

I agree with you, and I know that our superintendent has talked about AI a lot. For me, it's not just about generative AI. We've had AI for a long time, right, but generative AI is important. But you and I have had many conversations just about innovation in general, but this is one aspect of it. For our listeners, I think it's really important: when AI, or when ChatGPT in particular, generated the report for you, helping you with the analytics and everything else, you did and you were, I'm sure, with your team able to review it, and you still had to go in and make it more nuanced and personalized, but it saved a ton of time. Is that true?

Gerry Correa: 3:33

That is absolutely correct.

Gerry Correa: 3:35

And one thing, I kind of played a trick on my team, on my visiting committee, because I knew this technology was out there and it was actually something that WASC supported, but I didn't tell them or I didn't specify to them to do it.

Gerry Correa: 3:46

I said do the reporting your own, as we are used to doing it, and then when we got to the visit, I introduced it to them. They went back to their hotels and they did it. And they came back super excited the next day because they said this was very close to what I wrote and I did it within a matter of seconds and it was exciting to see them now feel what I felt when I uncovered this tool and then start talking about well, I can use this in this element, or I can use this in this area of my job. And I just thought see, this is it right? As long as we present people with the idea of what's possible and, more importantly, give them a real life example of how this is going to benefit them, people are going to be more open to using it.

Bianca Barquin: 4:31

Awesome. I think that's a wonderful, wonderful example of just how powerful this tool can be in helping us with our everyday work. Now I want to shift gears a little bit. I am fascinated, Gerry, by your personal story, especially the part where you mentioned your struggles with self-doubt. How did these experiences shape your approach to leadership and education?

Gerry Correa: 4:51

Self-doubt has always been a problem for me because, like a lot of us, you know, this idea of imposter syndrome exists and for a person like me, first generation background, there was a lot of things that were defined for me early on as a kid and, as we know, when adults tell students or kids something, those things tend to be ingrained. And for me, having multiple adults try to define me as a immigrant or a second language learner and really kind of putting me in a box really did a number on my psyche because despite whatever successes I had in life, whatever I was able to accomplish in school or whatever I was able just to do, I always had those thoughts of self-doubt. And one thing that I remember telling you a while back that really hit home for me you know you were very complimentary on some of the things that I had highlighted doing at Carr or that I was doing you know my personal life and I had a hard time with your compliments on that because I said I still see this nine-year-old little boy who's sitting in the principal's office waiting for his parents to pick him up after getting in trouble, even standing on stage and talking to, you know, students or parents or addressing people at a leadership conference, I still see this nine-year-old little boy who struggled to speak English and was wondering like, what am I doing? Like where's my place in life? And so, as I've advanced myself through my career and through other different opportunities of volunteering to help students, it's something that I've always kept close to me, not because I feel like I'm less than the person I am, but to remind myself that the people that I'm looking at in the audience probably feel, a lot of them feel a lot like me, right? There's a nine-year-old boy there, even though I'm staring at a grown professional. We all deal with these things that have affected us in our life.

Gerry Correa: 6:43

For me, the challenge has really been not to let that negative self-talk dominate the space in my head when I'm trying to really think about what I'm doing, or if I'm trying to get to a decision or come to a conclusion on something, to really think okay, this is the guy that, or this is the person that you're working from, but it's not the person you are today. So you know it's been a struggle to this day, still, I will-- I won't lie to you. It's still moments where I I wonder, like, what am I doing? Am I really the person that people think I am? But I think, after all this time, and especially having you know great mentors like yourself and others like it's really reinforced the fact that I am this person.

Gerry Correa: 7:21

But I don't want to lose that thought though, because, again, I don't know where people are in their journey. I don't know where, you know, a professional or a student might be thinking, hey, I'm here, but I'm not really here. And I think being able to connect with them with my story and talk about some of the challenges I've had growing up really humanizes the struggle and allows for them to say, well, what you know, he kind of did it and I can relate to him, and I think that's kind of the beauty and the privilege I have at working at Carr. I feel I'm one of the students, I feel like parents there are my parents, like there's so much there that I relate to that every day

Gerry Correa: 7:59

I just can't help but smile and can't believe that I'm the principal at Carr, because I came from where they came from. I am what they are and it just it's such a privilege to be able to represent them and to be able to advocate for them and to be able to stand up and make sure that they're doing things that are going to benefit their future, whether it's a student or a parent or a family, right? So it's really something that I try to use, from a negative to a positive, to reinforce the work and to really, you know, think on the daily as to who I'm serving and where they might be, you know, in their life's journey and how I might be able to support them with some words of positivity or encouragement, or just to be an ear to listen to some of the stuff they're going through.

Bianca Barquin: 8:39

I so appreciate you and I meant exactly what I said: your optimism, your resilience--y ou are an amazing leader and I am super happy that you feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable with our listeners, because nobody would ever be able to tell unless you share your story with us. I see what you do every single day and I don't see that nine-year-old little boy that you are talking about, right? We see this amazing, strong leader who's so connected to his students, his school, his teachers, his families, so super helpful, I think, for everybody, because I think everybody can relate to exactly what you're saying. We all feel that in one way or another, but we mask it and we've kind of grown, right? So thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate it. Now you shared a little bit, but can you take us back to a moment in your childhood that defined your path? How does that moment resonate with your work today?

Gerry Correa: 9:49

You know, I came to this country at two years old. I didn't know English. This is back in the late 70s, early 80s, and the world was a lot different. Our education system was a lot different. I do recognize now there weren't a lot of supports for us in terms of, you know, helping second language learners. It was basically sink or swim. So not having the ability to truly learn English put me in this box, as I say, and the adults around me really started to make sure that I knew who I was by defining things about me. You don't speak English, you're not at grade level, you're hanging around the neighborhood, and so hearing this day after day after day, it started to really cement these ideas in my head that I wasn't a good student, that I was a bad boy, that I really wasn't going to amount to much, because that's what the adults in my world were telling me on a constant. And so it almost kind of became a self-fulfilling prophecy where I'm like well, if they think I'm bad, well, I guess I got to be bad and it really put me in a bad place because I got in trouble a lot at school. I got sent to a couple different programs for what we call now at- promise youth, what we used to call at- risk, and it wasn't until I was in sixth grade where I was really facing some serious consequences about whether I was going to continue in school at that particular school, or if I was going to continue in school at that particular school or if I was going to be sent somewhere else. And at that moment, my most vulnerable, it was really the make it or break it, right, for me.

Gerry Correa: 11:10

In sixth grade, at 11, 12- years old, my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. O'Connell, pulled me aside and said I don't think you're the person that everybody says you are. And it really struck me like what is this lady talking about? What do you mean? Everybody says I'm this, but you're telling me I'm not. She said no, I think you're much smarter than you give yourself credit for. I see you do a lot of things, but I also see you get away with a lot of things, so I know there's something there. And she said I believe in you. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm like what? What do you mean you believe in me? You don't even know me, lady. She says, no, I don't know you personally, but I think I know your character, right, I see things about you. And I said, yeah, well, I don't know that I believe that. And she said, no, I believe in you and I'm going to show you that you're not the person that everybody says you are.

Gerry Correa: 11:57

And it wasn't just words that she applied to me. It was the opportunity to showcase it, and, whether it was a test or whether it was a task that I was given, because of her guidance, I was able to do something different. And in short time, I thought wait a minute, she's actually right. Like, I can do these things. But for all this time, all these adults are saying I can't do it. And it was literally that moment where she said no, you're better than you realize and I actually believe that you're capable of doing so much more.

Gerry Correa: 12:30

With her help and her guidance and just everything she did for me, I literally turned my life around. I was able to then, you know, make better choices. I was able to get on the honors track, which was, people could not even believe that I was capable of doing anything higher than grade level work, right? But she gave me that chance. She made sure I was on that path and it came at a pivotal moment because at middle school, as you know, unfortunately a lot of things happen to our youth.

Gerry Correa: 12:56

They have to decide who am I, what am I gonna be, what path am I gonna follow? And if they're not strong enough in their convictions, there's a lot of influences that can shape and mold and take them in a very, very, very different place. I was thankful that I had her, because a lot of my friends did unfortunately succumb to that. You know neighborhood stuff, and we know what that is, a lot of us that are from the neighborhood. So with her I just felt like wow, like she believed enough in me. She showed me that I could do it and that gave me the confidence to continue, even though I had a lot of doubt about, you know, being in certain classes or certain spaces on campus, like, I didn't quite fit in, right? I was a little bit rough, but I continued because she said, no, you're going to do it. And before long, you know, being in high school, I got really involved with school and sports and ASB and everything else and it was like wow, she was right and it had not been for her really investing the time in me and really taking me aside and say, no, we're not going to do this, we're not going to let you continue down this path and we're going to try to change some things with you, I probably wouldn't be here. I, God,

Gerry Correa: 13:58

honestly, I really feel like my life would have been so much different, and every time I go visit my parents, you know, I get reminded of that.

Gerry Correa: 14:05

You know, and unfortunately I do see a lot of friends from the neighborhood, guys that I went to school with and different people that I grew up with that they stayed on that path and it led them somewhere different.

Gerry Correa: 14:16

I don't feel sorry for them, because everybody has their own path to follow, but I just wonder why they couldn't have a Mrs. O'Connell in their life, why couldn't they have somebody champion them to say, hey, you're more than what people tell you you are. And how that relates to me being a principal and really how I support my kids is that, despite whatever circumstances somebody has, there's always got to be hope. How little there is, how little it might appear, there's always got to be hope that there could be something different. And I really feel like, however much that person buys into that will ultimately result in that success, right? But we got to offer people the chance to think differently. We got to give them the chance to think about the possibilities that exist, because if not, they're going to be stuck in that box, they're going to be stuck with those labels and they're going to be stuck with that mindset.

Bianca Barquin: 15:09

I love it and I think what you just said is key: mindset. It's all about mindset-- that teacher having an open mindset and a growth mindset and believing in you, which is a perfect segueway into our next question. So thank you for sharing that. Moving into your professional journey, what has been the biggest challenge in integrating things like generative AI or other innovative technologies at Carr Intermediate School?

Gerry Correa: 15:33

I just talked about possibilities, right, and that's something I really try to use. Whenever we're talking about something new. I think human nature in us is always going to be to doubt something, to have fear about something new. Right, and educators are no different. Whether it's a new platform, a new approach, a new strategy, there's always going to be doubt. So what I try to do and the way that I really try to embrace and incorporate new technologies and different things that we can start using is I start to ask what can we do? What do you think might be possible?

Gerry Correa: 16:05

Let's not look at the negative and let's not be so quick to cut something off because we have the fear of it, but let's examine it, let's make sense of it and then after that let's see where it's applicable. For some people it's going to be very applicable and they're going to be able to draw a lot from it, but from others it's going to be a little bit. But the idea is that there's something of value there. And right now I will tell you, I know that's a lot of conversation that we're having at our site and other educators are talking about, like, what does this mean for me, what harm will this do for me, and I get it.

Gerry Correa: 16:38

There's a lot of fear, right? This will replace us, this will do different things to supplant the different things that we do within our job. But if we stop and actually think about the possibilities, what can this do for me? What's the benefit of utilizing this new technology or this new platform in my instruction and, better yet, how will my students benefit from this new technology? Because the reality I think a lot of our educators have to face is that since COVID, we've entered a new world and the technology there isn't something to be feared, but rather to be examined and then to be applied.

Bianca Barquin: 17:13

Wow, your answer really exemplifies for me both leadership and empathy, right, all in the same breath and that open and growth mindset that's necessary so you can do exactly what you said, imagine possibilities. Now, you've spoken about your transition from being seen as a bad kid to becoming a mentor and a leader and I know that mentorship is so important to you. Can you describe that transition and the impact it has on how you mentor students and teachers?

Gerry Correa: 17:48

Yeah, I've been lucky because I've had some amazing people come into my life. I mentioned my sixth grade teacher, but when I was in high school I had a great ASB advisor, Diane Zykwcia, who connected me with the leadership conference called the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project. This is in 1994. And if anybody has any recollection of 1994 politics, you might remember something called Proposition 187. I had this awakening when I had a chance to attend this conference. It was a high school leadership conference in Sacramento. I learned all about not just how to be a leader, but I learned how to apply my leadership, how to incorporate that in the work that I do to serve my community and really to develop that thought, right, that it's not just about becoming a leader for the benefit of myself, but really looking at how this leadership plays into benefiting my community, my family. And, given the climate at the time, I couldn't help but to get involved because I was an immigrant and, given some of the resources and training that I was provided, it empowered me. It made me realize that, despite being 17 years old, that I could do a lot, I could influence a lot. It started with, you know, really educating my friends about the law and the proposition that was going to affect us, because a lot of us were immigrants. But it sent me on this journey to understand that I had a bigger responsibility with what I was given, and none of the people that were at this conference knew who I was before I got there. But they selected me, they gave me a chance to learn and develop and evolve. I felt that it was my duty, my responsibility, to take that and to apply it, the most immediate being my school. But then it was really about my community. How can I use these things that I got, that others didn't, to really help them, whether it be just sharing knowledge or just actually spending time with people talking through problems, especially youth, and that's been my life's work. I really feel that that experience benefited me both personally-- I grew as a person, as a leader, but it benefited my family because that political awakening, if you will, really motivated my family to become more engaged in the civic process. My mom, since 1995, has not missed one election, local, city, state or national. She became a citizen, she learned English, and other family members because of this action did the same, and I recognize the power of doing this kind of stuff, right, investing in your community, using these tools to then serve, and that's how I see myself as a leader.

Gerry Correa: 20:16

I serve. I'm at the front of the table a lot of times, but I'm there to serve, I'm there to help, I'm there to say, hey, I got something, but I don't want to hold onto it. I want to use it to benefit others, and so, whether it's my own direct students, whether it's high school students or different things that I'm working on, I'm always thinking about how I can use what I have to give back, because I feel so blessed. Given the experiences and the different people who've helped me, how could I not pay it back? Because this means such an impact on my life that I know that if I can just do a little bit, it might do the same for others.

Bianca Barquin: 20:51

So thank you for that very thoughtful response and I've seen it in action. I see how you mentor just by being on the campus with you and how you're talking to students and you're so relatable and you have these connections with them and you just ask probing questions. You're interested in what they're interested in. So I'm sure you deeply understand the importance of ethnic studies and I'm sure you're excited about that and how our students are actually saying they want to be part of this social justice movement and everything else. Are you making connections like that on your campus as well?

Gerry Correa: 21:31

Definitely. I think just what you mentioned is a big thing in helping students find value, right? Just knowing that somebody's interested in their world, that they have a genuine interest in how they're doing their well-being. A lot of times when I approach a student I ask, how are you doing? And they say, oh, I'm passing on my classes. I'm like, okay, that's great, but that's not what I'm concerned about. I want to know, like are you doing okay today? Like, are you feeling good? Are you feeling fine? Is there anything that's affecting you? It's interesting to see their reaction when I ask those questions, because they're like, you're really asking me this? Yes, I genuinely want to know how you're doing today.

Gerry Correa: 22:05

It's helped me build a lot of those connections. It's helped me build bonds with my kids because now I feel they think that they have somebody who's there for them and it's not just an act, it's not just a show, it's genuinely the way I feel. I really often relate it to my own kids. You know I have an eight and a nine-year-old and I don't spend as much time with them because obviously I'm serving the students here of Santa Ana, but I think about them and I think, wow, I hope that somebody can invest the time with them that I invested with my own students, because I feel that connection right, they're the same age or close to that and I give to my students what I would hope somebody would give to my own children at their school. So, even if they're not feeling the love, I want my own students to feel the love through just simple interactions.

Bianca Barquin: 22:54

And they do every single day, so thank you. Now, every leader faces setbacks. Could you share a significant challenge you've encountered in your career and how did you overcome that challenge?

Gerry Correa: 23:18

I've always been the kind of person who just tries hard, right? Like I am goal-oriented, I want to achieve things, I want to be successful, but I know that maybe I don't have the expertise or maybe I don't have certain qualities that other people have or talents that other people have. But I got effort and I'm always going to put my effort. I'm always going to try my best at whatever I do. A lot of times it's successful. Sometimes it's not, but I found that I was making my way as an administrator and I was faced with a lot of different challenges.

Gerry Correa: 23:43

And you know, people that don't serve in this capacity may not recognize the toll that it takes on you, right, if you want to do the job good, you got to invest a little bit of yourself in it. You got to wear your heart on your sleeve sometimes, and you know that's not always easy. And a lot of the different experiences I had, you know, being assistant principal had, I call, bruising effects. They were challenges, they were different things that I was like, wow, that was hard, right, man, that was a challenge, right, like that was an easy conversation or hey, I don't know how to handle that and I'm doubting myself as to whether I did the right thing. And I feel I got to a certain place in my professional career where I thought, wow, like is this really what it is? Like, this is the job? Like I don't know if I can handle this, like I want to serve but I want to know that I'm making an impact. And if all I feel like is I'm serving but I'm not having much of an impact, maybe this is not the thing that I want to do.

Gerry Correa: 24:33

And I had serious thoughts about leaving, leaving Santa Ana, leaving the profession, leaving all the things that I had really enjoyed doing to this point in my life, because I didn't know if I could continue it. Thankfully, that changed because I got some mentorships, I got some different opportunities to help me recognize that we all go through these things, that everybody takes their knocks, right, it's just about how we respond to them that will ultimately make the difference as to whether we want to continue or not. And I firmly believe, you know, like the old quote says, that without struggle there's no progress. And that was something that I had to remind myself, like, okay, it's not easy, but there will be better days, right, it's not always going to be like this, and so, thankfully, I kept the course. I got some great advice, some great mentorship and, and that's what allowed me to then refocus my energy and ultimately propelled me to want to become a principal and, you know, allowed me to get to where I'm at today.

Bianca Barquin: 25:31

Amazing. I don't think that people recognize that leadership sometimes is very lonely. So having your network and your personal "board of directors right folks that you can go to for advice and talk to about the daily challenges, is the only way that we can get through this work sometimes because it's really hard, right? So I am super happy that you stayed and your ultimate decision was different, because I can see just how happy and how our students at Carr are flourishing, so super grateful for that.

Gerry Correa: 26:08

Hey, there Amplifiers Our amazing conversation with Carr Intermediate School Principal Jerry Correa isn't over yet.

Bianca Barquin: 26:21

Join us Friday, March 12th for part two of this episode. See you then.