337 Magazine Clay's Keys to Success: Education and Heart

Clay's Keys to Success: Education and Heart

By Abby Meaux Conques

W

e recently got to speak with local educator and community trailblazer, Brandi Clay. Clay wears a lot of different hats, and our area gets to reap the good fortune of her valiant efforts. Recently, she made buzz in the news by taking it upon herself to set up a PPE drive for students and educators in the area ahead of the anticipated start of an unprecedented 2020 school year, but her endeavors go beyond that drive. Clay’s knowledge of what’s needed to fill the gaps in our education system and her drive to help others succeed sets a high bar for community and educational advocates.

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cator of 8 years, a doctoral candidate at Baylor University with a focus on Instruction and Curriculum and a concentration in Organizational Change, she’s in this year’s class of Leadership Lafayette, a youth advocate and he’s also a blogger.

Here’s an abbreviated list of Clay’s work these days:

In short, (like many educators in our area) aside from jumping through hoops and taking extra precautionary measures to keep her own classroom safe at Northside High School, she utilizes her time outside of those mammoth expectations to breathe life into efforts to help a community rise, when most in the area are downright fatigued with everything 2020 has hurled at us so far.

She’s the director of The Educational Dreamer nonprofit organization and the Ed.D. Series, LLC (her educational consulting firm), she serves on the board to bring the Lafayette Science Museum back greater than ever, an edu-

Broken down, her organization and her firm stand alone in their own rights.

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The Educational Dreamer Nonprofit aims to engage students to promote individual successes. Clay’s goal is to eliminate education inequalities by providing the services such as rigorous academics to develop students’ academic skills, community workshops to promote stakeholder engagement, identify and reduce achievement gaps among minority students, and promote policies that help raise students’ achievement levels and increase culture improvements to support racial and cultural diversity. The objective is to have students branch out from post-secondary institutions and to be employed in the area, stay in the area, and enrich the community, passing on knowledge on how to do so. Clay’s stance is one of “the more educational opportunities available in the area lead to more economic success in the area.”

The EdD Series works alongside schools, districts, state departments of education and education foundations with the goal of increased teacher retention, accountability services, instructional design and support, a quality review of the school system, and support of leadership. The EdD Series aims to strengthen the goals, priorities, and vision of school systems and educational leaders. She envisions doing so by evening out educational playing fields and interrupting poverty and illiteracy that our area faces.

What lends Clay credit in how to alleviate current educational shortfalls? Teaching in a district very different from the ones here in our community.

Upon her completion at Dillard University, she taught in Houston’s notable school system for three years before returning here. “When you’re removed from our system and come back from a Texas system, it’s clear to see what we’re missing here,” Clay explained. “I saw the gap in enriching programs; instead of complaining about it and with my will to gain more skills, I realized I had to be the building block in between and be an active part of the solution.”

Clay went to work personally funding programs and seeking out community projects like the 24 Hour Citizen project that funded GOT IT, (Graduate On Time With Individualized Teaching) a program geared to increase the high school graduation rate at Northside and Carencro High Schools. She reached out to community members and businesses to help get the HBCU College fair off the ground in order to get free educational resources for graduates and parents. “A lot of the attendees (over 100 in attendance) were the first to graduate in their families, and their parents were just looking for a place to help with the next steps, whether it be college, military, or employment,” she explained. Clay gathered ACT prep materials and FAFSA processing instructions to help new-graduV O L U M E 6 ISS U E 4

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ate families. Though the programs are in their respective infancies with their starts in 2019, Clay is off finding resources for funding and isn’t letting the pandemic slow her down.

In respect to the late John Lewis, Clay has been associated with the hashtag #makegoodtrouble. “I know I’ve ruffled some feathers by doing different programs...that’s okay... and some people don’t need the resources, but not everyone has the same educational opportunities,” she said.

Clay’s efforts are gaining traction, and she’s recently been on the panels of various community Q&A forums, and has been the guest on the I’m Making Moves podcast as well as the Say It With Your Breasts podcast.

We think you need to keep an eye on this local community advocate, she’s definitely making some good trouble.

Get information on her supportive educational organizations at www.theeddseries.com.

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