“Know yourself and strive to live in line with the truth, because now, with social media, you’re following everybody. Be a leader, you know what I’m saying? Don’t be so caught up in what everybody else is doing.”

Tenelle Donta

Today’s guests are Ryan Escobar and Tenelle Donta, the hosts of Souls of Liberty Podcast and Alumni of Metro High School in St. Louis. Ryan and Tenelle sit down with Staci to discuss the role of Alumni for Metro, advice for students in today’s day and age, and the pros of attending Metro.

• Introduction and K-12 experience
  • Donta is a basketball coach and athletic director at Metro High School. The Souls of Liberty podcast is a documentation of their thoughts and daily lives.
  • They both attended various schools before ending up at Metro High School. They started with kindergarten through third grade, then attended three different schools before going to McKinley, an accelerated middle school.
  • As gifted black students, they had unique experiences in accelerated programs, being told they were reading at a 12th-grade level in fourth grade.
  • Metro High School provided a different environment with off-campus lunch, smaller class sizes, and more responsibility, which they believe prepared them for the next steps in their education.
  • People downplayed their athletic achievements because they went to metro
  • “Where at Metro, it’s like you’re under a microscope, for better or for worse, you know what I mean? But I feel like it prepares you for the responsibility of the next step of school. I can’t say necessarily all the way for life, but if you wanted to continue and go to college or a junior college or even a technical school, I feel like the time management and the social academic pressure at Metro prepares you for that for sure.”
    
• Where are they at now
  • “So I realized how important Metro is and how we need to help the next generation because we’re gifted adults now, you know what I mean? And these gifted children need us. It’s like Harry Potter. You know what I’m saying? If Dumbledore don’t come back and mess with the young wizards, how that next generation going to be able to do what they need to do? And so that’s the space we in now.”
    
• What do you think is the role that the alumni and the community play in the success of a school?
  • They started a GoFundMe to raise $20,000 to fix our gym floor because it’s like warped right now. 
  • “But if you don’t give, just so people know, like, Metro could die. It turned 50 years old last year or whatever, so it’s only in its 1st 50 years, and we see in schools all over the place dying.”
    
• What advice do you have for kids that are really struggling with how do I balance social media and sports and influencers and school and home and mental health and physical health and all of these things that are coming at them?
  • Chase what you’re passionate about
  • “Know yourself and strive to live in line with the truth, because now, social media, you’re following everybody. Be a leader, you know what I’m saying? Don’t be so caught up in what everybody else is doing.”
    
• As a person who’s working in an actual school building, interacting with kids on a day to day, what do you think parents should consider as they’re preparing the kids to apply for a school like Metro or to get ready to take that next step into middle and high school?
  • Be in tune with your child’s needs and where you’re trying to get them to go.
  • Let children fail
  • Be honest
  • You don’t have to be anything, it’s your story.
  • Trust your kids
    
• What gives you hope about the future of education and the young people in St. Louis? Or you can say what you think parents should really take into consideration if they want to apply to Metro.
  • Be proficient, no extreme behavioural problems, and a B average or above
• So what do you guys think is the biggest change that you’ve observed in the community, the students, the curriculum, XYZ at Metro from your time versus now being adults that work there and volunteer? 
  • The mental health aspect has changed.
  • When they were in school, if you got an F, it was more like, “go cry, whatever”
  • We’re glad that they’re able to voice their opinion now
  • These kids went through Covid
  • We experienced 9-11, but it’s different to have the world stop for a few years. So the kids are still getting used to being back to school.
  • The temperament of our city and just culture is just different
  • The social media aspect, too, has changed everything. For young developing minds, it can be distracting.
    
• What advice do you have for kids that are really struggling with how do I balance social media and sports and influencers and school and home and mental health and physical health and all of these things that are coming at them?
  • Chase your passions and have discipline, because there is always something to pull you away.
  • Kids know when they need to go to bed. They know when they’re doing right and wrong.
  • Know yourself and strive to live in line with the truth, because now, social media, you following everybody. Be a leader. Don’t be so caught up in what everyone else is doing.
  • We didn’t get to watch Jay Z or Beyonce 24/7. We just saw them when we did see her. Now it’s like, oh, what’s her makeup routine?
    
• What do you think parents should consider as they’re preparing the kids to apply for a school like Metro or to get ready to take that next step?
  • Be in tune with your child’s needs and where you’re trying to get them to go.
  • Don’t chase names – Do YOU want your kids to go to Harvard or is that what’s right for them?
  • Don’t helicopter parent. Let them fail and make mistakes.
  • Being honest with yourself and with your kids, everything is not for everybody
  • And trust your kids. They’ll let you know what’s going to work for them and what’s not.
    
• What gives you hope about the future of education and the young people in St. Louis? 
  • If your child is up for the challenge, it’s easier than it’s ever been, really.
  • You just have to be proficient.
  • Don’t have any extreme behavioral problems
  • Have a B average or above
  • Kids still have that youthful creative energy. So it gives me hope that they’re still energetic when they live in a world that can be draining to be in.