Empowering Student Success Beyond High School: A Conversation with Jade Valdez and Ben Richardson
The Hispanic Development Fund (HDF), a community affiliate of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, was founded in 1983 to improve the quality of life of Latino families in Greater Kansas City by engaging the Latino community in philanthropy to build stronger communities through grantmaking and scholarship support. Today, HDF oversees several successful community programs and in 2020 alone awarded $680,000 in scholarships to more than 300 high school, college and graduate students in the Kansas City metro. Additionally, HDF partners with Kansas City’s largest Hispanic-serving high schools through its Family College Prep Program to remove barriers to post-secondary education and empower families in the college admissions and financial aid processes.
HDF’s Director of Programs and Development, John Kearney, connected with recent East High School graduate and HDF scholarship recipient Jade Valdez and East High School Vice Principal Ben Richardson to discuss current challenges that students and administrators face in pursuing post-secondary education, the importance of qualified mentors, creating individualized post-graduation plans for all students, and much more.
Below you’ll find the conversation.
Authored by: Ashley Hawkins, Content Specialist
Interview Highlights
The following exchange has been edited for length and clarity.
John Kearney:
Jade, if you wouldn’t mind sharing with us a little bit about your personal and educational journey to get us started, that’d be terrific.
Jade Valdez:
Hi, my name is Jade Valdez, and I was born in California. I moved to KC when I was 15. As you said, I graduated, but I’m going to be the first generation in my family to go to college, and I will start college in the fall at Avila University.
John Kearney:
And Jade, could you tell us a little bit about the transition from California to Kansas City? What brought your family to Kansas City?
Jade Valdez:
So, we always had financial problems over there, and one day we were just like, you know what, since we have family over here in KC, we were just like, why don’t we just move? And we could be all together and not struggle as much.
John Kearney:
Well, we are certainly glad that you made the move so that Mr. Richardson and I had the opportunity to get to know you. Ben, would you mind sharing a little bit about your personal journey as well as your professional career?
Ben Richardson:
Yeah, absolutely. I’m a Baltimore native, and I moved to Kansas City back in 2012, right out of college. I earned an undergraduate degree in education at a small school in Tennessee. So, I kept making my way west and landed here. I landed at East High School in 2012 as a first-year teacher. I taught social studies, American government, and a wide range of classes beyond that. I coached the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams here at East High School. During that time, it was an incredible five-year journey for me. I thought it was going to be a much longer time in the classroom. I had seen myself as someone who might be in a classroom for 10, 15, 20, 25 years. Truly, I loved it so much.
Ben Richardson:
However, during my fourth and fifth years in the classroom, I was also pursuing a master’s degree in school administration. And I had had a lot of encouragement from my administrators at the school during that time, from some other folks in my life, some mentors in the field who felt like they saw that in me. And so, I decided that I believed them and I pursued that thinking I’d keep it in my back pocket. And pretty surprisingly for me, an opportunity opened itself after my fifth year of teaching to jump into school administration here at the same school I taught at. And that’s exactly what I did. I decided to make that transition. And so for the last four years, I’ve been a vice principal at East High School.
Ben Richardson:
My first year as a vice principal was Jade’s freshman year. And so, I had the pleasure of working with Jade’s graduating class for all four years of their time at East High School. Following them through their careers and seeing them grow and develop was just an amazing experience for me. Very different from a classroom, but an incredible journey. And so that’s what I’ve been doing. So next year will be my 10th year at East. And I’ll be a vice principal, continuing to support the next group of students that I’ll be hanging around with for a few years.
John Kearney:
What a terrific class to start with Ben at East. Jade and her classmates were just so impressive to work with this year. So that’s pretty cool to hear.
Ben Richardson:
They absolutely blew me away, John. It was incredible.
John Kearney:
Well today, we’re talking about fostering success in post-secondary journeys. Some of the challenges that students have shared with us include talking about being the first in their family to go to college and everything that entails. Family obligations. FAFSA eligibility, academic readiness. Expenses and the complex nature of the financial aid process. Today, we’ll be exploring some of these challenges. How students and support systems overcome them, and how our community at large can help students pursue their educational dreams. So, Jade, I’d like to start with you and rewind to September 2020. Can you tell us a little bit about where you were in your life at that point and about your college-going identity at that time, and how it evolved over the past year?
Jade Valdez:
At that time, it was the beginning of my senior year, and all my classes were mostly online. And since I was struggling with most of the classes, I didn’t even consider college. I always thought the classes were hard online. And so, I thought, ‘Imagine college classes online.’ And not only that, but my family was also struggling financially around that time. So, I didn’t want to put something else on their plate. I just knew that not many people where I’m from or where I lived get the chance to go to college.
John Kearney:
So what I’m hearing is that a couple of challenges or barriers for you were COVID in itself and online learning. The financial component of college. And then a little bit about the identity component. Could you tell me a little bit more about that? You said that maybe where you’re from, there are some folks who maybe aren’t going to college or don’t see themselves going to college. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?
Jade Valdez:
So it wasn’t really the people that I hung out with at school, but it’s just the people that are like low-income families, they just don’t even think of the idea of college, or I’m just stuck in the same boat. And just the idea of college is just like, no, that’s too expensive. Why would you even think that? And even for community college, I would think that I wouldn’t have the money for it, or I’m not smart enough for it. And I always had that mentality.
John Kearney:
So Ben, from an administrative perspective, what are you seeing in students’ college-going identities at East High School?
Ben Richardson:
Yeah, well, I think that Jade really did a nice job of kind of leading me into that question, John, because what I see in the students, first of all, before I can speak about their identities, what I see as an educator who also knows what it takes to be at the college level to succeed in college, what I see in Jade and in the majority of her classmates at East High School is the ability to be successful in college. And I think that all of the teachers at East would agree with that about Jade and about many of her classmates. And so, what Jade was describing, though, is that fear of is that really for me? And I think that what I see in students is a similar trepidation, fear about whether this is something that is really for me. Do I have what it takes? And I think that that’s just something that is consistent with what many students, especially first-generation college students, are going to feel.
Ben Richardson:
But coupled with that question, the inner question being asked by many of our students is also an eagerness to want to go. So, when I ask students at East High School and parents at East High School, Do you want to go to college? Do you want your child to go to college? The answer is yes. The huge majority of the time. Yes. And then, from there, we have to help them move from ‘okay, I want to go’ to ‘I believe I can go and be successful.’ And so that’s the journey. We have to take that desire and turn it into an orientation towards action to get there and to stick with it. And so I think that’s the journey of the school, but the eagerness is there. The earnestness is there. There’s also validation needed by the adults to say, “Hey, no, you’ve got this Jade. You are a college student.” You need to look in the mirror and say that. And I think that’s where we come into play.
John Kearney:
So, Jade, from the student perspective, is that what you’re seeing at East? Was your experience at East that the majority of classmates wanted to go to college, but we were just missing that crucial factor? About that confidence, or I guess the belief, or the know-how to go to college and be successful.
Jade Valdez:
Yeah. As Mr. Richardson explained, I want to go to college, then the staff pushes us to keep going to start us off and do our best. It’s one thing to want to go to college and another thing to actually believe that you’re going to college. And not college but also trade school or whatever.
John Kearney:
Do you both identify that as the number one challenge or barrier in this topic at East High School? In terms of barriers to post-secondary education?
Jade Valdez:
No, that would be the second most. Because I feel like the first one would be expenses. So you would automatically have that mentality of I can’t do it because I don’t have the money, neither does my mom nor my parents. And the second one would be this, because not many people have the inspiration to go to college. Most of the communities out here just work. You need to work. You need to have money. It’s not really about the whole college thing. And I think we need to change that. Maybe in some families it is. But most of what I’ve seen is just work and work.
John Kearney:
How about you, Ben?
Ben Richardson:
Yeah. I definitely agree with everything Jade said. I think that it’s a little bit difficult to hone in on one big challenge for post-secondary education for all, because, for example, in one school, you’re going to have some students who are first-generation college students. And then you have others who will be in a different situation. And I think that what that highlights for me is that the biggest challenge I think, is being able to have the time and the resources as a school, to be able to create an individualized plan with every student that can then also be actionable from the school to say, okay, whatever your post-secondary plan is, here’s who we are going to connect you with. Here’s how we can help you get there. Here are the things that you’re going to do.
Ben Richardson:
And so, that’s where East High School has spent a lot of time and energy over the last four to five years, building up the infrastructure to create individualized plans for every student to have their post-secondary plans in order. I think that, to me, feels like the largest challenge, because if we can sit down with every student individually and do that time and time and time and time again, we are going to be able to hone in and craft their plan so that the student feels confident in whatever they’re going to next.
Ben Richardson:
But that is a large … A school is designed for teaching and learning. It’s designed for you to come into this classroom and get this content knowledge. And so we’re having to build scaffolds that maybe this system wasn’t even initially set up to support. And so that’s difficult, and we need partners. We need people to come and invest. And so that is where you all come into play. And I don’t want to jump the gun there, but the challenge is building these individualized plans for Jade and for every one of her almost 300 classmates who walk the stage every year at East.
John Kearney:
So, you both hit on some topics I’d like to explore further. So, Jade, I appreciated your comments on the financial component and the fear of college. But then you mentioned a bit of the cultural aspect of work, and how some students, even those coming from parents, may feel pressure or a sense that students need to work immediately. And to a certain degree, I think that makes a lot of sense considering the number of first-generation immigrants specifically at East High School. We have families that are brand new to the United States, and there’s a financial need and an immediacy to earn money. So, I think that’s a challenge in itself, and it’s an important one to acknowledge.
John Kearney:
And then, Ben, I really appreciate your comments about having the time and resources to create individual plans to support students. And how, as a system, I think from my vantage point, and it’s been a frustration in my education career, and it was also the reason I almost left education entirely, is that it felt like we were working to get students across the graduation stage. And we were focused on our content classes and them earning the credits to get the diploma. But then that was it. And to me, that I think misses the mark of the purpose of education entirely. And so that’s where I think the challenge that you bring is the individual plan for each student, so that we can support a Jade or support classmates who want to go to the military, or want to go to trade school, or enter the workforce full-time.
John Kearney:
How do we, as a school, as a system, as partners, help to meet that challenge? And so we’ll explore more into that topic as we talk about the partnership and the work that we’ve done this past year. And so Jade, I want to actually rewind with you then, going back to September 2020, you had an outstanding GPA. And I think on paper, anybody would say, Jade’s going to college and has been working towards college. And it’s interesting to hear that that wasn’t your mindset or belief at the time. So what changed? And then how did you overcome those barriers to now where you’re going to be going to Avila University in the fall?
Jade Valdez:
So I met up with Ms. Schaaf online, and she was just like, “Well, you have to fill out your FAFSA.” So I’m just like, “Well, why do I need to fill out my FAFSA, I’m not even going to go to college.” And she looked me straight in the eye, and she just said, ” You’re not going to college and just like, no. And that’s where it hit me. I’m just like, then what am I working for? And she was just telling me about my grades, not only this year, but also the past few years. Like, “You’ve always had good grades and a good GPA. Why aren’t you going to college?” And I’m just like, well. I don’t know.
Jade Valdez:
To me, I felt like there were big things, but after I met Ms. Schaaf, and then I met you and Mr. Rangel, I just met a community of people that were not only inspiring me, but also strived to do better, to keep going. And I just felt like if these people weren’t here, then what would I do? That’s why I just want to keep achieving. It doesn’t matter where I’m going, where I’m headed, because people like you guys will always support me in any way possible.
John Kearney:
Well, thank you, Jade. And so it sounds like in talking about this program that we partnered in, the HDF Family College Prep Program, you’ve identified some key adults, some key people that stepped into your life in one way or another, starting with Ms. Schaaf, who is one of the wonderful counselors at East High School this past year and Mr. Rangel, who served as a mentor in the HDF Family College Prep Program. Can you tell us a little bit more about that relationship and mentorship, and how that worked, and what Mr. Rangel helped you with this past year?
Jade Valdez:
Well, originally, the plan was for him to help me with my HDF essay, be a mentor, and read over my essay and see how it sounds. But I think we built a more relationship that was more than a mentor, part of a family member. And I just felt like it was a relationship-building, and we went out, and I met his wife, and he met my mom. I just feel that the relationship will continue to grow as I progress through college and graduate.
John Kearney:
That’s amazing. So, Jade, credit to you because it’s sometimes not easy to raise your hand and volunteer or ask for help. And I would say that this past year, maybe there was some trepidation or doubt or disbelief at first, but once you decided to raise your hand and say, ‘Yes, I want to participate,’ You really took advantage of every opportunity from the Family College Prep Program. From the college rep visits that Mr. Richardson would host for East High School seniors. The FAFSA support and the mentorship, which eventually led to you earning the HDF scholarship. So, congratulations to you on that. I truly feel that you took full advantage of all the different aspects of the program. And so I guess, where did you get that confidence, or what made you want to do that? What made you say yes, I want help or I need support in this area?
Jade Valdez:
So I wasn’t really confident about the whole college thing. I’m just like, yeah, I’m going, but I’m going to need help. And I need a mentor or something. That’s where I stepped in to raise my hand for the mentorship program, where I could get help from someone not only with my essay, but also to discuss things going on in my life and those of my mentor. And I think I grew more confident in learning about my mentor as he was learning about me. And not only Mr. Rangel, but you, Mr. Kearney, helped me.
John Kearney:
Ben, to piggyback off that. Can you tell us how you see success in your students through our partnership between East High School and HDF?
Ben Richardson:
Yes, I think it goes back to what I was saying about our greatest challenges in ensuring that we have the time, resources, and staff needed to not only create an individualized plan but also follow up on it regularly and frequently. And I think that is the need. That is the space that HDF came into this past school year because with these students like Jade, HDF was able to fill in and pour into students through the HDF network. That was extremely valuable for us. Jade has teachers, a counselor, and an administrator who do that. But we’re all also doing that for 300. And so, the check-ins are happening, but not as frequently as probably would be desirable.
Ben Richardson:
So yeah, HDF was able to come in and give Jade a mentor and connect Jade in with colleges and time to work on scholarships and help to work on scholarships. And all of that resulted in a much more confident student. A student who felt okay, yes, I’ve got this, because I have so many people from the school, from HDF, who are here with me, walking me through it. And so it’s really, I think, what all the resources that HDF poured into East High School students meant was an increased belief for students and increased exposure of our students to college and to scholarships. And then that resulted in greater scholarship numbers. Jade’s class finished with over $5 million in combined scholarships, which was two and a half million more than any previous graduating class. And that was a COVID class. It’s crazy, it’s wild.
Ben Richardson:
And a big piece of that puzzle was HDF. And we saw that, in college, the diversification of the number of colleges to which kids applied and were accepted increased with Jade’s graduating class. So, yeah, we’re building a lot of things to create a culture of post-secondary success at East High School. It has taken a huge step forward this past year, and Jade and her classmates are the reason for that. They took these risks, and they took advantage of these opportunities. And the future groups at East see that and like, okay, I can do it too. I’ve got this.
John Kearney:
Well, I appreciate the sentiments, Ben, and I think you hit the nail on the head. First and foremost, it started with Jade in this class, in this group of students who overcame so much and for them to be as engaged and to continue on with the fight to achieve their post-secondary goals and dreams was just remarkable. And then for the partnerships that took place and, Ben, you and your staff were absolutely tremendous. And the amount of time and the reliability. I think that as an educator, one of the nicest compliments an educator can receive is when a student says, ‘Mr. Richardson, you were always there for me.’ You were somebody I could rely on; if I reached out to you, you would respond in a timely manner. And I saw that on a daily, weekly basis from you and your staff. So yeah, it took a village, but I’m very proud of everybody’s role in the success we saw this year. So, Ben, what would your message be to the larger community? What can the larger community do to support schools and students?
Ben Richardson:
Well, I’ll lead into that answer with a brief story. A couple of years ago, we had a group of community members in the building who were looking for ways to connect with us. And so they met me, our school principal, Mr. Hinojosa, and some others. And we were speaking to them, and they were talking about, they were actually in the medical field. And so they were really excited about what we were doing. And they were like, “Okay, we want to invest. We want to be here for your students. And we actually had a former student in the room where we were meeting at that time. She was actually volunteering some time at our school to help out with some community programming.
Ben Richardson:
She just happened to be there, and she stepped over into our conversation and just said, “Hey, I just want to say, first of all, thank you to you all for being here. And secondly, I graduated, and East did a lot for me, but I wanted to go into the medical field, and I wish that you all had been here when I was a student, because honestly, I needed you as a medical professional here with me to tell me I could do this, because I don’t personally know a doctor. I don’t know someone in my own circle who is a practicing doctor. And so knowing if I had that, that would’ve been so helpful,” … and she is pursuing a medical degree, and so she’s still doing it right.
Ben Richardson:
But that was a huge moment for me. And a huge moment for our principal, Mr. Hinojosa and so we’ve taken that and we’ve tried to build out a lot of things at East to basically to get people connected with our students across many different industries and career fields, because what we need, and so here’s the answer, what we need from the larger community in our schools is we need people who are willing to invest, not just financially, but invest personally into individual students. Just like Jade mentioned, one of the biggest parts of HDF for her was her mentor who has been huge for her. And so, I think that’s a massive thing that I would ask is that folks would be willing to give their time through HDF or directly to schools to be there for students. At East, we have a very organized process for career pathways, and all these are different ways that we can get people to plug in.
Ben Richardson:
And you all have the same thing, John, over at HDF. And that’s what we need. We need adults who are willing to pour some time and energy into kids to help give them the confidence that they need to know they can do it. And that they’ve got people in their corner. And if they fall to get picked back up again, but of course, we also do need the financial side, too. And certainly, your organization is doing so much and I hope you all can continue to grow and bring more people on staff to do what you’re doing because your mission is, it’s on point. But yeah, I think that would be the biggest thing. Invest time with our students. You will not be disappointed in the quality of people that you get to meet in students, in our community. They’re phenomenal people and just need more face time with more folks who have been there and done that.
John Kearney:
I think you touched on the importance of a professional network that we talk about. First-generation immigrants and first-generation college students may not have a doctor in their immediate network. Or an engineer, or some of these professional careers that students aspire to. So, I think that’s so important. If you had a magic wand, what would you wish to change in your education system regarding this conversation?
Ben Richardson:
First of all, I want to say that I love the direction we are going in education, specifically in KCPS. I love the direction we’re going. We are investing more and more resources every year into student support services, enabling us to offer a wider variety of classes that cater to student interests. Training teachers in things like project-based learning, authentic learning. So, I love where we’re going as a system in KCPS. I think that the wish list item in terms of post-secondary education goes back to the theme I’ve been saying this whole time about: we need more time, face time. Kids need more face time outside of the structured school day. What they also need is to prepare for college, the ACT, and all that entails. They need to learn, they need that 7:20 to 2:20 time every day to be focused on their content.
Ben Richardson:
But what we need help with is the before and after school time with more people who can be hands-on with our students to mentor them. And so, we need more college advisors. We need more folks in roles for the school to plug in that capacity to help the kid, help the student get to college. And so just the more people we can get to be able to be willing to invest in our schools, you’re going to see better and better outcomes for students across the city. We have kids who are doing phenomenal things across so many industries. And if we want to see this city as a whole, rise and become a place where everyone can be successful in their own future, we need more people willing to give their time and energy to our children, to our youth. That’d be my wish. We got room, we got room at East High School, man. We have plenty of rooms for after-school activities. So bring them on.
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