Celebrations and Transitions: Director Update

Celebrations 🥳

PIE was born over a decade ago by Detroit educators and teaching artists under the name Detroit Future Schools and the idea that student-led media making could transform classrooms and learning. Since then, the project has continued to evolve based on our collective reflections and learnings. Our commitment to growth and transformation allows us to shape our role in the ever changing context and experiment with new offerings that are rooted in our frameworks and humanizing practices. 

Over the past few years, PIE has been in a moment of deep intentional change and expansion. As the Director, I am overwhelmed with pride and gratitude for what the PIE Team has accomplished (within the context of a pandemic no less!). The list of accomplishments to celebrate is long, including: 

• Reimagining our AIR program into the afterschool PIE MEDIA LAB for young Detroiters 

• Expanding our adult trainings from moving RIDA online to creating Radical Wellness for Education Leaders  

• Training up PIE Facilitators and creating a new coaching framework rooted in “Loving Accountability”

• Creating new resource offerings and youth-led media projects

• Partnering with 482Forward, Healing By Choice!, Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute, The James and Grace Lee Boggs School and UNI among others 

• Investing in and learning from our facilitation and teaching artist fellows: Kiarra Ambrose, Sheena Crenshaw and salyem celeste 

In the last three years we have worked with over 70 youth, 46 educators, created four new resources and three new program offerings and expanded leadership with two facilitation fellows and a new teaching artist fellow. Yet what makes me most proud isn't captured by the numbers but how we got here. We navigated the past few years of this dangerous and urgent context by caring for each other and ourselves, taking breaks, asking questions and seeking to be more responsive than reactive to shape the change around us in an aligned and thoughtful way. By doing this, we created new pathways for folks to enter into the PIE playground to practice new ways of being to move towards more humanizing learning environments for all. 

Transitions: 

I will be stepping down as the Director of PIE in August. As I make my transition, I’m filled with joy, pride and gratitude. I came to PIE to support the decentralization of leadership and evolution of programming. As you can see from the accomplishments outline above I’m happy to report that PIE is in very different place. I am also very different person. In relationship with the PIE Team and folks we have worked with I have transformed in many ways. I am leaving my directorship with a deeper commitment to slowing down, sitting in discomfort and honoring the power of intentional practice in the name of transformation. These learnings continue to aid me in all aspects of life including my newest journey of motherhood.  

What’s Next?

PIE is taking an extended break for the month of August for a much needed rest, reset and reflection. Nate Mullen, former PIE Director and current Special Advisor, will be acting as the Interim Leader with support from our wonderful advisory board. He will help lead restructuring the leadership team into a shape that matches our values and latest evolution. I will be near to support programming and larger transitions while I tend to and honor my new phase of life. PIE will continue to offer radical programming offerings that center humanizing practices so stay tuned for more to come! 

Thank you to everyone who made my time at PIE incredibly magical 🪄

With immense gratitude,

Siobhan

Healing over Hustling: Reflection from Radical Wellness for Education Leaders

“Fulfilling and so affirming. It’s helped me redefine where I see myself within the organization I’m in. I’ve truly enjoyed my time with this group.”- Radical Wellness participant

Radical Wellness Group at the First In Person Retreat

Healing Over Hustling: 

Back in December we gathered our inaugural cohort of Detroit based education leaders for our new Radical Wellness program. Under the facilitation of Siobhan O’Laoire and Sheena Crenshaw, a group of nine incredible women from all different positions, environments and generations co-created a magical learning environment rooted in reflection and curiosity. Together they explored getting to the root of what we mean by “wellness” and what leaders can do to support wellness. Over seven months, folks connected, learned and shared with each other in beautiful ways through a series of workshops both in person and online. Additionally, the PIE team supported participants with individual coaching sessions during the program. It was a transformative and healing space for education leaders that supported their development of more human-centered workplaces and lives. By exploring concepts like power, healing systems and systems leadership, participants deepen their leadership practice at the intersection of individual and collective wellness while interrogating systemic conditions and personal context. There were many take-a-ways and awakenings throughout the program. Aquan Grant, Director of School Quality at National Heritage Academies shared her new mantra “Healing Over Hustling '' that serves as a reminder to slow down and choose healing. She even designed the mantra onto a shirt as a visual reminder which we of course had made for everyone!

“This was an amazing experience. So often as leaders we focus on the wellness of others. It was nice to be the one being cared for”

Healing in Community: 

Creating an intentional healing and care centered space was a key to the program design. We had help from our friends at Healing By Choice! who provided powerful healing justice practice spaces both online and in person under the guidance of practitioners Yexenia Vanegas and Amanda Hill. For our first inperson gathering, we were nourished by GUERRILLA FOOD  whose motto “Food as Medicine” ensured healing was weaved into every part of the day.  We reinforced the idea of radical self-care with special care kits that included Earthseed Detroit tea, Scentimental Candle Co. candles, FlowerPress prints, and other goodies. Moreover, we had the wisdom of our Lead Teaching Artist, Cyrah Dardas who tapped into the power of art-based healing modalities and collaborative art making. She led us in a practice of collaborative fiber art making that resulted in a collective quilted pillow to reflect back the relationship between the individual and collective in our work towards healing, transformation and liberation. We closed out our time together with a celebratory brunch at Coriander Kitchen and Farm surrounded by the healing sounds of the water while enjoying delicious food and each other's energy. 

“This has been an enlightening experience with some amazing women in the educational arena. I am grateful to have a seat at the table and a voice in the chorus. I have discovered many truths about myself and how I lead and sometimes follow in life. This includes personal and professional experiences. So thankful for this journey.”

We heard clearly from the participants that this program is needed and look forward to offering more opportunities for healing in the future!

A special thank you to the Skillman Foundation for supporting this program!

Making Space for Grief in Organizing: Tending to the needs of youth organizers

“Aware of our collective burnout and disillusionment, we decided to pivot towards each other and ourselves ”

-Cyrah Dardas 

Centering Care in Activism: 

Older folks look to young people to change the future but aren't holding space for them to cope, process and decompress from the taxing nature of organizing.  While our previous 482Forward partnerships focused on activating research through art, the overwhelm, exhaustion and trauma experienced over the last two years demanded prioritizing a more living and breathing response to the plight they were facing. At the start of summer, Lead Teaching Artist Cryah Dardas and the young people named the burn out they were enduring from organizing and seeing no change while adjusting to the ever changing transitions of COVID schooling. After naming the burn out they decided to turn towards one another. Cyrah, joined by guest teaching artist saylem celeste, focused on pouring into the young people in the way they have selflessly poured into their communities by carefully creating space to process and curating special care kits for the youth organizers.

Communal recharge through care kits and art making: 

The assembling of the care kits itself was a communal effort. Groups such as Earthkin Herbal, Flower Press and 313 Liberation Zone contributed essential care items to the kits. Each kit included herbal tinctures and tea blends, manifestation cards, zines, and stickers and coloring books for the revolution. This kit was then woven together with beautiful hand dyed fabrics dyed with naturally handmade dyes with materials graciously gifted by Arts & Scraps. What makes this project so special is it fostered exactly what Cyrah sensed the young people really required, community. From the building of the kits, to gifting of them and their impact, this year's project fostered communal support while still providing the artistic space to heal and explore. The youth were able to reshape the way they engage with their activism and reframe organizer culture by pouring into themselves while engaging in activism efforts.

The gifting on the care kits included a communal dinner and of course a reflective art making offering. Over nourishing food and art making, youth enjoyed space to connect as humans, in person- something that has been dearly missing. By recognizing and tending to the youth organizers' need to decompress they pushed back on urgency culture. It nurtured those who needed it the most and provided them with the community and connection they’ve been deprived of over the last two years due to COVID. This year was a practice in ‘being the change we want to see” in our schools not only advocating for the healthy and healing schools youth deserve.