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‘You are making a difference’

Joyce Abbott Conversation at Amplify 2024
Watch: "Joyce Abbott Conversation at Amplify 2024" | 42:52

Joyce Abbott, educator, veteran, and inspiration behind hit TV series, “Abbott Elementary” addresses educators of color in Kansas City.

Written by Julie Scheidegger

“I’m always happy and honored and love to be in the company of educators who are doing the darn thing and shaping the world and holding it down,” said Joyce Abbott, award-winning educator, veteran, and public speaker to the Amplify conference crowd.

Joyce Abbott
Joyce Abbott speaks to educators of color at the Amplify conference in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 9.

Amplify, hosted annually by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, welcomed more than 200 educators of color to this year’s conference around the theme “RECHARGE, RE-ENERGIZE, and REIMAGINE” on Nov. 8-9 at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center.

The Amplify conference supports educators of color in the Kansas City metro area. During the event, educators, education leaders, and practitioners from across the country and the Kansas City region come together to learn from one another.

More than 30 speakers presented Saturday culminating in a closing keynote with Abbott. Since her former student Quinta Brunson honored her by naming the award-winning hit television series “Abbott Elementary” after her, Abbott’s name is familiar inside and outside of the education space. Toriano Porter, of The Kansas City Star, facilitated the conversation.

Continue to encourage yourself and understand your why. Look in the mirror every day and say, ‘Today, I’m going to make a difference,’ and you are making a difference. And you go out there and change the world, one student at a time.

— Joyce Abbott
Keynote speaker, Amplify 2024

“This work is definitely not easy, but I’m going to tell you something: It’s really one of the most rewarding professions,” Abbott said. “… Getting the accolades from my students – I was getting way before Abbott Elementary – like ‘Ms. Abbott, you really changed my life.’ That just means so much more than a paycheck to me, you know what I mean? It just really does.

“Although we know we need our paychecks; we gotta pay the bills but at the end of the day, it means so much. So, keep on what you’re doing and knowing that you are making a difference. Because sometimes you may not get accolades or the compliments from your peers.

“Continue to encourage yourself and understand your why,” she said. “Look in the mirror every day and say, ‘Today, I’m going to make a difference,’ and you are making a difference. And you go out there and change the world, one student at a time. And I’m proud of all of you in this world.”

Nearly half of our nation’s students are not white, yet less than a quarter of teachers are people of color, according to the American Community Survey. Research continues to show that when a teacher’s race/ethnicity match their students, that academic success and outcomes improve.

Amplify convenes Kansas City-area educators of color in a space that allows for growth, professional development, and connection; by doing so, we’re also supporting Kansas City-area students and the teacher pipeline. Workforce development is one of the Foundation’s strategic pillars. We believe when people have access to training, support, and the opportunity to achieve and progress on a career path, they can attain an equitable living wage setting generations of people on the path to prosperity.

Brown v. Board, 70 years later

Seventy years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education changed the trajectory of public education and sparked the end of segregated schools.

Amplify attendees at the Brown v. Board Museum in Topeka, KS.
Amplify attendees visit the Brown v. Board National Historical Park in Topeka, Kansas.

To commemorate the anniversary of the landmark case, a group of Amplify attendees visited the Brown v. Board National Historical Park Nov. 8 to gain a deeper understanding of the historical significance of the case and its ongoing relevance today.

Gerard Robinson, professor of practice at the University of Virginia, travelled with the group and presented on the topic. He also penned an op-ed published in The Kansas City Star the week leading up to the event.

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