Controversial documentary opens dialogue for 'Courageous Community Conversations'

Educators across the board agree – ‘highly-qualified’ teachers make the difference in the education of successful students. At least that’s what educators who recently participated in a focus group said during the private viewing of the newly released documentary movie entitled “Waiting for Superman.”

Invited by the “Can you Hear Me Now?” Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR) Leadership Quest class of 2010 Project Team, several teachers, administrators and school board members from across the Richmond region participated in the forum dubbed “Courageous Community Conversations.

The discussions focused on the film “Waiting for Superman” as well as addressing the education achievement gap in the region.

“Waiting for Superman” examines the public education crisis in the United States through multiple interlocking stories from a handful of students, their families, and educators as well as those who are trying to reform the educational system with lasting solutions.

The “Can You Hear Me Now?” project team is a microcosm of the Richmond area.

The group is a very diverse set of community leaders from varying backgrounds. Group members include: Ram Bhagat, Bennett Fidlow, Steve Malone, Kate Lim, Daniel Herr, Vilma Seymour and Mark Gordon. Courtney Malveaux serves as the project team coach. The group represents African American, Asian, Caucasian, male, female, LGBT, and live north and south of the James River – a reflection of the region. Their goal is to create a new paradigm for dialogue that crosses racial, social, and political divisions within the metropolitan area

Led by Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center CEO, Mark Gordon, interactive discussions were facilitated by project team members where each posed poignant questions to stimulate conversation.

“We’re in different places on almost everything, but what seemed to be a theme throughout all of our [internal] conversations is ‘how do you build regional capacity?’ and ‘What keeps us from really maximizing our potential for regional cooperation?” said Gordon.

“The potential of our area is not being realized because there are lots of unheard voices … people that don’t get to the table for whatever reason … It could be because of class, gender, or racial issues or historical divisions between areas of our region that we don’t have good conversations with one another.”

Kate Lim, who serves as Senior Leader of Quality Management at HCA Hospital, explained,“Our team wants to bring all people to the table.”

“We decided to have forums to start a discussion … to have people thinking and talking with different people in the community to help improve relations,” she said.

Lim is a member of the Asian American Society of Central Virginia. The Midlothian resident had worked at Sheltering Arms Rehabilitation Hospital, until recently, when she accepted a position with HCA at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.

Gordon added, “We have no agenda. We don’t want any certain outcome. We’re just saying, you know, there are things that we need to talk about.”

“We seek cooperation no matter what our issue may be. Let’s have conversations where we become comfortable talking about any issue and have very transparent discussions in saying, ‘even though you don’t like what someone has to say, you still have an obligation to bring them to the table’.”

The Leadership Metro Richmond experience exposed participants to regional areas of concern such as education, transportation, crime and safety, and housing. “Can You Hear Me Now?” chose to address the issue of education through the viewing and discussion of “Waiting for Superman.”

Team members Ram Bhagat, a Richmond Public Schools educator and Bennett Fidlow, an entertainment attorney, collaborated to bring the idea to fruition.

In the future, “Can You Hear Me Now?” intends to actively work with a diverse team of community partners to present a series of “Courageous Community Conversations.” The conversations will focus on developing a mutual respect for one another – in a safe environment- regardless of race, ethnicity and cultural differences that do not readily occur across the region.