Nadia Lopez The Educator

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BOOK QUOTES: The Bridge to Brilliance
AUTHOR: Nadia Lopez
PUBLISHER: Viking
GENRE: Non-fiction

Nadia Lopez, is the founder and Principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA) in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. The book is about how she founded the school against all odds and her amazing staff. The kids are called scholars, not students.

Here are some quotes from this committed teacher and molder, because she has molded and continues to mold kids to bridge obstacles, and reach the other side of life.

1. I’m hard on my staff because I’m hard on everyone. I’m hard on my daughter. I’m hard on my mom. I’m especially hard on myself. That’s just how I’m built. Page 51.
2. When kids are repeatedly sent out of class because they are in trouble. I want to know the root causes of their behaviour. I decided to investigate while Jacob sat alone at a desk. P.69. (He was going to visit his dad in prison that weekend).
3. I’m always getting called in, and I can’t take any more time from work, otherwise we are going to be on the street. This is the first time anyone has said to me my child has something good. Page 96. (Antonne’s mother, who was called in because of his temper).
4. I have so many parents who say, “If I don’t understand the work, how can I help my child with it?” Page 111.
5. Yeah. When I look at y’all with your pants sagging, I’m like huh. Do that in jail and see how far you get without getting raped. Page 129. (Nadia Lopez bridges school with real life by bringing adults to talk to scholars about their experiences. A panelist, a former inmate,  said these words about lockdown rape, something young men  don’t know when they commit crime).
6. Being dedicated to talking to children, however, means investing just as much time and energy in the unpleasant conversations as you do in the positive, happy ones, if not more.” Page 143.
7. When I was a child, not only did I have a library card but the library, a friendly place, was around the corner from my house. And my parents, who bought me books regularly, had a small library of their own at home. …….. My scholars don’t have any of that. Page 172.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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