How Olivia Gardner is Fighting the School to Prison Pipeline
by Alyssa Sileo
Last week, I had the chance to interview Olivia Gardner, a recent University of Colorado — Boulder graduate and co-founder of Transformative Teach: an initiative working to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Olivia is a thoughtful, reflective, and focused individual who inspires me to think critically about how small pictures paint the big picture.
What is the school-to-prison-pipeline, you may ask? Transformative Teach describes it this way: it is “a complex process of funneling youth out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system — thus restricting intergenerational opportunity.” Students are sent to juvenile detention at alarming rates, and zero tolerance discipline policies are making schools a dangerous place for marginalized students. It’s yet another way that the state relies on punitive measures to “solve” what they deem are social and educational issues, and to especially subjugate students of color, as well as disabled students. Tolerance.org gives us the numbers here: “African-American students, for instance, are 3.5 times more likely than their white classmates to be suspended or expelled…One report found that while 8.6 percent of public school children have been identified as having disabilities that affect their ability to learn, these students make up 32 percent of youth in juvenile detention centers.”
What’s most disturbing to me about the school-to-prison-pipeline, if I may add, is how it targets young people, takes advantage of the ways they’re made vulnerable, and curtails their possibilities to live a happy and comfortable life, which is what all students should be promised during and after their schooling.
To accomplish this goal, Transformative Teach uses a variety of strategies. They raise awareness, run online courses, and provide grants for educators to take these courses. They work with teachers to disrupt the pattern of the pipeline. This makes the whole education space safer and a space for collective liberation, proving that activism can happen and needs to happen everywhere.
Olivia hails from the CU Ethnic Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and Leadership Studies departments. (Along with a group of college students/graduates), she created Transformative Teach. Since graduating in May, she’s been spending the recent weeks making the most of her time in quarantine. She is working as a contact tracer during this pandemic, and enjoying time outside (an activity we both have in common.)
I asked her to tell me the origin story of Transformative Teach. While a part of a leadership program during her junior year of college, she had the chance to research what she was passionate about when it came to social issues. Olivia saw the intersection between her interest in incarceration and her friend’s (and Transformative Teach co-founder Cam Perdido) interest in education equity. They understood that this link manifests in the school-to-prison-pipeline. Olivia had been picking up on how the school system did not promote racial equality, even down to how students of color were present or not in advanced classes. As for the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex, Olivia had a familial connection to someone who lived through that experience. Becoming a teacher was something she had thought about before, but she was moved to do the work of an educator in a different and original way: to create Transformative Teach in the name of students in American schools.
I was interested in hearing from Olivia what stands out in her memory as her organization has grown. She spoke on the need to constantly adapt, which is relevant now more than ever as education digitizes. The organization’s plans that were formulated last summer to be executed this summer must be reconsidered and reimagined, alongside a trustworthy and committed team. She shared with me how she has felt herself grow as a leader of an advocacy organization, which is a different experience and role than previous leadership positions in athletics or school clubs. She spoke of the humility, deep thinking, and confidence it takes to take action even in the face of uncertainty. She’s had to face doubt, educate herself on the financial and structural parts of organizing, and be keenly aware of the social forces that shape her view, her team’s view, and the ways in which they can make tangible change.
Upon asking her which figures past and present inspire her — artists, activists, friends and family — Olivia opted to name a few. First she shared with me a story of how she met the late John Lewis, when she was meeting state representatives in DC during the March for Our Lives movement. Her group encountered Rep. Lewis, and he told them a bit about meeting Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Olivia was amazed to meet someone as influential and as knowledgeable as him, and he even told the group of young people that they were his legacy, and that’s a moment she’ll never forget. Olivia is also moved by the work of Brittany Packnett Cunnnigham, a writer and activist. She appreciates Cunningham’s attention to the intersectional lens as well as her commitment to speaking the truth. Bryan Stevenson is another one of Olivia’s inspirations, with his “compassion, humanity, and determination.” Stevenson is certainly someone to look up to when a person is in the movement for decarceration. Olivia also made sure to mention the influence of her maternal and paternal grandmothers on her life. She thinks about them often and feels thankful for their love and support, which Olivia believes is why she can do what she does today.
I’m someone who did a lot of organized advocacy efforts in high school, and, once college came around, I carried out most of my activism in ways that were associated with larger efforts. I’ve found it difficult to carve something independent from my school and club work, so I wanted to ask Olivia for her advice she would offer to activists in college, since she’s accomplished something wonderful that she will be taking with her beyond graduation. She offered to first years that their first year may be confusing and disorienting, and that’s normal. I related with her in the sense that both of our initial transitions to college were not as smooth as we would have liked them to be. Understanding how passionate and eager both advocates and young people are, she advised that “you don’t have to know what you’re dedicated to immediately.” It’s good to have an idea of what you’re interested in, and it’s equally important to acknowledge that your focus will sharpen over time. She encourages young activists to reflect on their strengths, which will help them shape the future they want. Personal growth is just as imperative — Olivia also called it “the self love aspect of collective liberation.” I take this to mean that if one is happy and healthy (which is an oversimplification on my part on the conditions we can reach, but it’s alliterative and precise), they will help create a happy and healthy world.
What’s next on Olivia’s agenda for the next couple of weeks is working with her team to understand what Transformative Teach can do for students in the age of online learning — since the school-to-prison-pipeline can be a part of Zoom classrooms as well as in-person ones. Olivia’s work is super relevant, since, in this country, there are already calls to action to liberate students who have been survivors of discrimination and the inequalities that online schooling and the stressors of the pandemic have brought on. Recently I read that a Michigan high school student was incarcerated in juvenile detention for not completing her homework. (You read that right, for not completing her homework!) She’s also a Black student and someone with ADD. It’s more than safe to say that she was targeted for who she is. That’s why I’m so grateful Transformative Teach exists: the organization recognizes that carceral solutions are not what protect students, and is led by a team that deeply cares about young people and wishes to foster their futures.
I recommend that you check out Transformative Teach’s website at this link. You can sign up for their newsletter at the bottom of the page here. The previously linked page also has ways to get involved with the organization and support their work, including donating, reaching out for skill collaborations, and being a part of their training programs.
I’m so thankful I got to speak with Olivia and share her story here. I hope this interview inspires Matthew’s Place readers to fight for what they believe in and follow this super-needed organization.
About the Author:
Alyssa Sileo’s Thespian identity comes first and foremost in anything she carries out. As a member of the Drew University Class of 2022, she studies theatre arts, women’s and gender studies, and Spanish. She’s a proud NJ Thespian Alumni and member of their state chapter board. She is the leader of the international performances network The Laramie Project Project, which unites worldwide productions and readings of the acclaimed Tectonic Theater Project play and encourages community-based LGBTQ+ advocacy. Alyssa is humbled to serve as the 2017 Spirit of Matthew Award winner and as a Youth Ambassador for Matthew Shepard Foundation. She believes there is an advocacy platform tucked into every piece of the theatre catalogue and intends to write outreach into the canon.
