Episode 17: Tammy Haddad - Blending Beauty As A Navajo-LGBTQ-School Teacher

0:07 Hello, beautiful humans. Welcome to role models. GC conversations with beautiful humans. I'm Jennifer Norman founder of the human Beauty movement and your host. This lovely lady sitting across from me is Tiny heads, add Tammy is a proud member of the Navajo Nation and member of the lgbtq community. She's also a modern-day third-generation educator. He's kind of like mr. Rogers with a hot pink scrunchie, so I'm excited for our conversation. Welcome to a me. Hi, it's so nice to be talking with you today. I'm so glad you're here now, I am such a big proponent of intersection lism, and you come from all these wonderful parts of your backgrounds?

0:49 I would love for you. To tell us a little bit about your story. Oh, great! Yeah. So my mom is actually the one. She is Navajo, Native American. So she brought me up as Actually grew up on the reservation and then moved here to Las Vegas to be with my dad. They met in college and my mom worked really, really hard to leave the reservation and get her degree. And then, you know, she kind of started working with my dad and stuff and then they decided to birth me and I have three other siblings. So we are all half Navajo and enrolled in the tribe. It's definitely a very interesting background to have because growing Growing up. I never actually met anybody who is Navajo that I wasn't related to pretty much until I went to college and I met maybe like 55 other.

1:43 Wow. So what is it? Like imagining that your mom probably kept some of the traditions in your family upbringing was there anything specific but you can share my favorite. Part of my Navajo culture is the food. I think a lot of people like the food in any culture, Because it's something so easily that we can all Bond over. My mom, makes a Navajo Tacos. It's kind of like fry bread. It's just fried bread. I don't know how else to describe it. Somebody I had one of my friends try it one time and she told me it's kind of like a sopapillas and you put like chili beans in there and kind of make it into like a Chili Taco with like or cheese, toppings and lettuce, and that kind of stuff. So it sounds amazing.

2:27 You're making me happy. Yeah. Yeah and then also just visiting the reservation to I think is a really interesting experience that I didn't really realize that I was seeing something that not a lot of people get to see and their day-to-day life when I would visit my mom's family on the reservation because there's very few roads and my great grandma lived in it's called a hoe gone and so it's kind of like mud hut. I don't want to call it a mud hut because that sounds bad. But It's a natural type of home and she didn't have running water or anything like that, she passed away when I was a teenager. So and she was so old. Nobody actually knew how old she was because she didn't have a birth certificate, right?

3:13 Because she's born on the reservation and she was all this one. Wow, how amazing? And that's really just a love of nature, isn't there? Oh, definitely I think on the reservation so if you've heard of the Navajo long walk the Then why Native American people ended up on the reservation? The reservation is a very desolate kind of area. I guess he should could say and it's not all reservations. I'm talking about the one that my grandparents live at, which is in the Navajo Nation, it can be very dry there but there are these absolutely beautiful rocks. And, you know, I grew up really far away from that because I live in a big city, so I grew up very far away from all of that. So, visiting, and kind of taking the time to hear what true. Sounds like because there's nobody around for miles and miles.

4:03 I am very thankful for that experience as well. And being able to see the stars on the reservation because there's no light pollution, really incredible. That is a beautiful thing. Wow. And what about any kinds of rituals or Traditions that you might have held in your family? Oh yeah, my grandpa is actually a medicine man. So he does different types of Ceremonies for different people. I had a few when I was growing up. I remember they have them for kids sometimes, like when you go through certain Milestones of your life, so similar to like a quinceañera or oh, I can't think of any other, you know, like that for that, or trying to heal different issues, but I'm not a medicine man, but my grandpa is so he would be much more qualified to talk on that.

4:53 Yeah, no, that is so fascinating. So then you're growing up and you decide. That you wanted to go into education, right? Yeah, I always loved school. Okay. I was always a very good student and I was good at learning stuff, good at writing and I liked reading. So in college, I actually was really into music. I was playing the flute, that was what I did. I was doing it pretty seriously. And so my first year of college, I was actually in music education, but I was kind of thinking like, you know, I want a job, I want to give you all to get a job when I leave as so, I Was thinking about, you know, things I'm interested in and there's definitely always a need for teachers and the way I saw the world working you know with all robots coming around and doing that for us like so much is automated. Yeah.

5:43 But there's not a doubt in my mind that teaching is always going to be a career path. That is really necessary. Hmm. So yeah, and you were teaching fifth grade, right? Yeah. So I work with mostly like that pre-teenage. Oh, love them the tweens. Three teens. Yeah. So, 10 11 12. Those are most of the ages that I worked with but you know I've worked with all ages. Wow. And so gosh. There's very big experience and becoming an educator and then the exposure to kids. What do you make of kids? These days what surprises you about them? What surprises me about kids these days, okay, I'll give you one big surprise that I really wasn't expecting because so I'm not very old and that's kind of the one of the reasons why I was like oh my gosh, it's so So cool to be a teacher right now because I was in school and not too long ago when it's your first year teaching at.

6:34 So awesome. So what a my students at the beginning of this year, she raised her hand and she asked me. She said, Miss Haddad. Are we going to listen to podcasts this year? And I was like, what you want to listen to a podcast? I've never heard of such a thing. Like I never heard of a kid listening to a podcast. I never wanted. Well, not that. I never wanted to listen to a podcast when I was a kid but I just didn't know what it was. So Because of that, one student I did end up looking into some kids podcast and my students really enjoyed listening to them. It was kind of like watching a movie, except for you have to practice your listening skills and who couldn't use some more of that these days. Yeah, exactly.

7:17 Yeah. Teachers have had a really challenging couple of years. These past years with the pandemic and I give teachers so much credit for being so resilient. Aunt at a time when, you know, there were a lot of things swirling in the universe, for sure, for sure, and continue to do so. I think that's, you know, the education system has definitely had quite a, you know, a strong and formidable challenge this year and from many different aspects. If you could wave a magic wand, like what would be your greatest wish for the education system in America? My greatest wish would be to have smaller class sizes.

7:59 I I love being able to work with students one-on-one or even in a small group. There is some research that has been done and it led to a law in the State of Florida. I believe Florida where they do not have more than 21 or 23. I think it's 23 kids in the classroom. So that's the student to teacher ratio that everybody's always talking about. You know, when you go to university, one of the big selling points is the student to teacher ratio and in Cools it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I know there is some schools in the district where I am where there's up to 32 kids in a classroom. I mean, it goes up from there, and when you have that many kids in the classroom, you end up with more behavioral issues and also it's harder to meet every learner where they're at which I think is the most important part. So that's one thing I love about being able to tutor students and work with them.

8:54 One-on-one is really being able to talk to just one student and figure out where they are. It can accelerate the learning so much more than just in a regular classroom. Mmm, absolutely people thrive on that personal attention, especially these days. There's so much Divergence in the way that children are learning and the way that they're absorbing information. And so we've all recognized that the cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all, route of education is not really, you know, suiting the needs for a lot of them, is it? Yeah, I believe the inventor of Education. One of my students asked me this one time. So this is why I know a little bit about it. I think the modern education, we know it is invented by a man. His name is Horace Mann, I'm pretty sure. I'm 90% sure.

9:38 Maybe, you could fact check me on that one and it's been around since. I mean, for hundreds of years, this guy Horace Mann, he created basically like a curriculum of saying, hey this is what, all kids need to learn. And sure it's evolved as time has gone on, which I think is really cool. The state that I'm in actually just introduce computer science, learning standards for kindergarten through 12th grade. I don't know about every state. I'm just kind of detail where I am, but I think every state should do it. And when I read through them, I was actually pleasantly surprised to see how applicable they are today's world. And what I actually agree with what I think kids should be learning because I grew up on the computer. Like I was playing computer games when I was like 2 years old because my dad was a big technology person. So I just happen to grow up around that type of stuff. So yeah, I think the computer science standards are awesome. So, I actually am really amazed at some of the things that you can find online.

10:34 And on YouTube, for example, I have a son who loves to watch the. I think it's like, Ted for kids and like it's almost like tedx kids and it's brilliant, and it really makes learning fun. And there's a lot of really great creators that are doing, wonderful, you know, Wonderful videos that show, you know, different fun ways of learning science, or physics or things that would otherwise be really worried. The item, that's the, I feel the exact same way where I'm like, you know, kids have this Natural Curiosity, they want to learn. I would even say, not just kids, all people naturally, kind of want to learn. Now, if you're being stuck in a room with fluorescent lighting or you're being glued your buds glued to a computer, see and you have to sit in front of a camera for eight hours while you're on Zoom school. That's not fun.

11:23 I don't think that's fun. If my greatest dream were to come true and you were in a classroom where you had Oh, I don't know what like eight students. If you're just working with eight of your friends and a teacher who you love and Trust, I'm sure amazing things would happen. Yeah. You know, and I can even recall by me, I'm not quite a bit older, but I remembered the professors, and the teachers that made learning fun. We're the ones that were absolute the standout everybody loved them. They were our favorites and it was because they really related and understood what was going to keep our attention and, you know, help us to process. Information. So that like, I still remember like, you know, different things that people would put music to even learning by music.

12:06 I remember that amino acids are the substances that are the building blocks of protein, you know, it's like just really something like that. Stick with you because you were able to engage and learn in a different way. Yeah, I have the same thing. I think, you know, everybody has their favorite teacher story and I'm sure every person who attended school in America, probably has at least one song that they will just know forever because they are teacher made them. Sing it or whatever. And I definitely had a couple songs like that in this last year with my classroom. So really what I think you're getting to is the power of listening is so important and we do we all need to practice that a little bit more listening to your teachers. Listen to parents or Guardians, it's true. I know a lot of times people are just to like longing and waiting for their next opportunity to speak and they're too focused on, you know, what's going to come out of their mouths, rather than, like seeking to understand first and say, You're exactly right.

13:00 That's a really powerful lesson. Wow. So then again, I know that we were talking about, you know, school and whatnot. And with your upbringing you had mentioned that you're a member of the lgbtq community. And I just wanted to see, you know, what was that? Like kind of intersecting with your Navajo upbringing or being an educator? It seems like it had come quite naturally. Your experience was largely positive. Is that right? Oh, yeah, I have or had had and have a great time, being a member of the LGBT community. I came out when I was 16. And a lot of people think, you know, about kids being gay or whatever some people say, like, it started to become more mainstream and mainstream media, right?

13:44 Like I believe was the Buzz Lightyear movie, there was a gay kiss or something and you know, there's lots of people talking about it and saying, I don't want my kids to turn gay, whatever, blah blah blah and of course, that's not true. That's not going to happen. I knew that I was gay by the And I was probably like 13. So I think that now it's a lot easier for kids to kind of come to terms with who they are, whether that's their gender, or you know, who they romantically, might be interested in because of the exposure that's in the media and just queer people or trans people, whatever kind of people you know can be kind of like in this podcast, what you're doing where you put different types of people out on screen on the internet where anybody can kind of see Be like, hey, you know, all people look different.

14:31 It's not always the same type of person. So, everybody has different experiences, but I had a very fun and safe time. I came out when I was 16, and my parents were like cool, and I was like cool. And then I went to college and continued on about my life, but I do feel proud of myself in a classroom in educational contexts. Because so quote, the name of your podcast, I feel like a role model when I'm able to stand up in front of a bunch of kids and, you know, Not have a professor or a teacher who was Native American ever until I was in college and it was one class and she taught Multicultural education and my jaw was on the floor.

15:11 When I realized that she was Navajo. Like I think she said something in Navajo and I was like, oh my goodness, I have never met anybody from My Tribe before who wasn't my family member so that is so cool. And so for me to think that I am not person in the classroom or, you know, it could be Even with being gay. I mean I don't announce that to my students or anything, right? But it's not something I try to hide, you know, I try to pick out diverse books with different types of main characters. For that reason, I've had students who came out to me and it means so much to me that my students have been able to share that with me that I'm not coming off as like a threatening person or that they know that they can come to me and just truthful about who they are and kind of, like, test out the waters to write. Because I think now, That pre-teenage. They tend to be experimenting.

16:03 I guess maybe with whether identity is. Yeah, but they come out to you before their parents, see them. Yeah, so I had it when I was teaching a sixth grade and then fifth grade and I had a couple students and fifth grade who had told me something along those lines. But I know my sixth graders. That was the year that we were online on Zoom. So it was definitely hard. You're right. Because everybody says the most important part of teaching is making and shipped with your student now making a relationship with a kid over a webcam. I mean, that was a challenge in and of itself. I couldn't believe, I still had students who chose to come out to me, and, you know, and then there's whole other things you have to do with that, right?

16:44 Like to the kid, you know, I'm kind of like, well, do you want me to tell your parents about your pronouns? Do you want me to tell the other teachers about your pronouns? Like how do you want me to address? You know? And so just navigating it like that and being careful. But yeah, it's definitely an honor and it's Cool to be the cool teacher. Oh my gosh. That is one thing to celebrate, what a wonderful time that we do live in where there are communities. There are schools. There are places where people can feel comfortable being themselves and more now so than ever before, I really feel that the fact that we've been able to all come out of the closet, so to speak is like, it's very refreshing.

17:26 It's very liberating, I can imagine how much so So many men and women, what they had gone through in order to feel comfortable enough to come out of the closet to some of their parents. And so their family and friends, that would not have been so accepting if it hadn't become so mainstream. You know, or I remember the legalization of gay marriage. I don't know if this is one of those things where like everybody says, they remember where they were, I was in high school and I was having a sleepover with some of my friends, and I remember, like, waking up in the morning, and my friend was like, hey, they legalize gay marriage. I was like, oh, And how privileged of me that I mean I wasn't really thinking about getting married or anything like that in high school, but I never worried like, oh my God, I'm not going to be able to get married if I wanted to marry somebody of the same gender is me.

18:12 No, I never had that worry. Good for me and good for us as a society. Yeah. Yeah. Let's end. We're all keeping, you know, the hope alive that it stays that way. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Now, I'm really excited because I was just asked to do a gay wedding. I Actually I became an ordained minister so that I could actually marry a beautiful gay couple who are very near and dear to my heart and so that's going to be next year and I am so excited. I just can't wait. Yeah, I don't know. I would be so happy. Yeah, it's absolutely thrilling. So moving on to some of your other things that you love. I know that you said that you're into gaming and I know nothing about gaming.

18:58 I mean, I every once in a while Might do like Eye Candy Crush is a game and see everyone. That's the extent of it, but tell me what you're into, what are the kids into these days? What are the kids into these days? Well, I have a little sister who's in high school and she's obsessed with this game called Valor ants. I just got a gaming PC, which is what everybody is buying now. You know, there's a big shortage of computer parts. Yes, for some reason, I don't really know that much about it. My little brother, I grew up in a family this is really what it is. Is my family is really into technology, so my dad owned like a video editing business. So he always had these computers around and stuff. So then he had me and he got me this typing game when I was like one or two years old. So I'm like, really fast at typing because I've been doing it since I was a baby and then he had my other brother. And then I have side two brothers, and one of them, he likes to build PCS and my sister, she's really into gaming and stuff like that.

19:54 And she's studying architecture, so games that kids are into, I like to play for it now. Have you had a family? I've heard a fortnight. Yes, I am not afraid what I had, but I know that it's probably one of the most popular ones. Yeah, I think it is, too. So that's one of the big ones that I play right now, especially like when I think of kid friendly games, like, the games that kids are playing, I just had a parent, asked me if his student. I mean, his son, he's my student. The parent asked me, if his son should play Fortnight, this is like an 11 year old. I think he was basically asking me like if it's safe for kids because he was like, oh yeah, he said that, you play I was like, oh yeah I play Fortnight and I think it's a better shooting game for kids.

20:34 I mean as much as you know, if you don't want your kids to see guns and don't let them play video games ever, I guess, or stick with, like Nintendo games, right? Because Nintendo games are the ones that don't have guns. But Fortnight. Yeah, it has guns but it's more of like a cartoon and there's no blood. So okay. Yeah, I'm excited. I mean I know that he was gifted a PS2 at the, you know, the animal crossing was a big craze for a while and she doesn't like the whole Mario Kart and Those sorts of things. Definitely, I do Mario Kart, I don't play it too much. That's more of like a party game. Definitely love Animal Crossing and especially with gaming, sigh, try to think of what kids are interested in, and I'd listen the power of listening. I listen to what my students say. So, for example, that girl who asked me about podcasts or a lot of my students play Fortnight and stuff. So I was like, you know, I'll give this a try so I can be hip with the cool kids and understand what they're talking about.

21:26 And then because I knew about Fortnight, I would write A fortnight themed math problems because there's math and everything. Yeah, you just have to make it a little bit more interesting for kids to be like oh my God for night math. So yeah and same thing with Animal Crossing and that's kind of like what we do on the podcast. Raised talk about on my cozy. Weibo podcast we talk about just random fun stuff and kind of secretly integrating it into an academic subject, but it's very natural because, you know, academic subjects are just integrated in life. That's We learn them. Yeah, absolutely. What are some of the biggest life lessons that you think that you've learned along the way?

22:06 Well, hmm. Okay. Take your time. Yeah. Were you ever in Girl Scouts? I was a brownie. You're a brownie. Okay. Did you ever hear that song? That Girl Scout song where they say, make new friends, but keep the old one is silver and the others gold. Okay. Yes, I remember singing that all the time. Well, okay. Not all the time, but when I was in Girl Scouts and I actually was in Girl Scouts very long. I ended up quitting but it was just, I mean it had more to do with I wasn't into camping at the time and they were going on a camping trip, but regardless the Girl Scouts songs, make new friends but keep the old that line has always kind of been stuck in my head and I never understood what it meant, but now, as I've kind of gotten older, you know, I think who doesn't love having friends, okay.

22:48 And I've had a lot of friends in my life and I've been really lucky to meet a lot of the people that I have. But unfortunately, you know, life will take us away from our friends sometimes for a variety of different reasons. You know, it doesn't even have to be something as Extreme as death. It could just be moving to a different state or a different country or even if you just get into a little debacle, a little fight with your friend. I like to just remember make new friends but keep the old. So I always stay friendly with people that I've been try to keep in touch with people from my past, but it's always important to keep making new friends as well. I absolutely agree. You know it's funny because I was just Recently messaged from woman that I was roommates with her in college, I was in the same sorority as her and she said that she was coming into town and was going to be with another sorority sister because they were going to Authority alumni convention. And could we all have lunch together? And I was like, oh my goodness, I graduated in 1992. I haven't seen them since 30 years ago, and we get together for lunch and it was like nothing changed. It was just like, of course, we had to catch. On 30 years, but it was just absolutely amazing that like some of the connections that you're making when you're young, when you're in elementary school, high school college, you name it.

24:10 I mean you're gonna have those friendships for a life if you wish for them to be independent. And it doesn't have to be as simple as like. Oh my God, this person is my best friend forever. When I we say, make new friends, and yeah, the old. So yeah, yeah. Now it's absolutely fabulous. I love that. I remember that song. Song to and are from, when I was a brownie I never made it to Girl Scouts. I will you go up in the ranks? That's right now. I don't know if I ever made it to Girl Scout material. I've got involved in other things but I also remember, gosh, this was probably the first grade we learned this song by Barry Manilow called I can't smile without you and we learned it with sign language. And I still remember how to sign the song Because of putting it all together.

24:58 Just kinetically and Zach and it's just so funny. I actually did a tick tock. Recently it today. The product back. Oh good. I'm sure you're a first. Grade teacher with love would be exciting wonder. You know, what is good at like if any of my students will come back and be like Oh yeah, I remember my old teacher what I? It's hard to imagine now but it I mean that's what happens. Yeah. When those old photos resurfaced, you know, when you're with, like, back from first grade or kindergarten, it's a very amusing and you will be in them. Well Tammy, it was an absolute pleasure to speak with you today. I'll make sure that everybody can find you in the show notes, and I really wish you a wonderful day. Thank you so much, you too.