Unpacking this edition…

-Welcome to the Ethos 108 Family..

-International Jazz Day

-Principal at Dunbar HS in Baltimore — Community Changer!

Dr. Pamela Gilchrist

Director, K-12 Programs

VA Tech Innovation Campus

Alexandria, VA

PHD - North Carolina State University

Dr. Pam generously gave my daughter (left) and her classmate work to do for Community Service hours.   They were competing to be selected for the Nat’l Jr Honors Society and needed the hours.   They were inducted last week!  yay~  WELCOME DR. PAM & THANK YOU!!

Kerra Jordan

Currently employed at Philadelphia’s City Hall:

-Working election/campaign activties.

-Working voter registration actions for pimary, general and special elections.

-Worked in Office of the City Commissioner.

**Kerra’s very much interested in relocating to the DMV…and she’s open to a virtual mentor as well anywhere in the USA…I met Kerra recently and 1st impressions —  she’s absolutely ready to expand on her experiences, presents herself very well and wants to help people. Email KerraJordan@gmail.com if you can share words of wisdom etc.  Thanks!   WELCOME KERRA!

Keanna Faircloth is entering her 20th year as a radio personality, writer, and artist advocate. From 2019-2022, she served as the host of Afternoon Jazz on WBGO 88.3 FM in Newark, NJ. While at WBGO, Keanna created and produced the widely acclaimed interview series, The Pulse. Most recently, she has signed on with Yamaha as the Artist and Media Relations Representative for jazz and classical piano.

Keanna got her start in jazz radio during her Sophomore at Howard University as an intern at WPFW, where she quickly became a regular on-air host. She would remain a fixture on the air there for 16 years.   In 2018, she created the podcast Artimacy where she has interviewed artists like Robert Glasper, Dionne Warwick, Wynton Marsalis, Melba Moore, and countless others.The culmination of her radio work led to being named a “Future African American Leader in Radio” by Radio Ink Magazine in 2019.

Keanna has amassed literally hundreds of interviews and hosts festivals both nationally and internationally-- from the DC Jazz Festival to the NYC Winter Jazz Fest, to JazzFest -Berlin.

Keanna has been featured in national publications, and has been published by WBGO, WRTI, The New York Times, and NPR Music. Keanna is also a contributor on NPR’s New Music Friday edition of All Songs Considered, and a music contributor on NPR’s Here and Now.

Rob Writes — I first heard Keanna on the mic on DC’s WPFW years ago.   When I heard her I was very impressed because the music she was playing in rotation — jazz classics like (Miles’ So What or Coletrane and a ton of others) were really good to hear but she also educated her listeners on trivia relevant to the background of the songs.  

Keanna shared that she was moving from WPFW to WBGO — I remember her mentioning to me how excited she was for this opportunity — North Jersey/New York City vibe and culture — different from here in the DMV from a jazz lens, and, perhaps most importantly, as popular wbgo.com is, it gave Keanna the opportunity to play very talented jazz artists such as Chelsey Green and Lori Williams for the WBGO audience as well (previously DC based but since moved on)…and yet other opportunities opened up for her outside of WBGO, as her bio reflects.  

Keanna Faircloth is jazz — imo, jazz comes with a historic culture of creative talent, swag, intellect, fun and a sophistication — Keanna has it all!   And I was truly honored when I shared with her that I wanted to profile her on Ethos 108 — she sent me her info real quick, and I felt her positive energy and excitement.  I’m honored!

Happy International Jazz Day Keanna!! Thank You for all you do for jazz artists in the USA and Internationally, and for educating all on jazz as well!

Shout-out to Jazz Artists on Ethos 108!

Chelsey Green

Lori Williams

George Allen — plays it all - once played trombone for the late Aretha Franklin

Brooke Alford

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Bill Jolly on Keyboards and Music Director

Claudia Rogers

Marcus Johnson on Keyboards

Brian Lenair on Sax

And for those jazz musicians on Ethos 108 that were not mentioned, email 4Ethos108@gmail.com…thanks

Changing Gears…

Big Congrats to Dr. Yetunde Reeves

Principal at Dunbar High School, Baltimore MD

Dr Reeves, uses what I call Reeves’ Rules (a pun off of Robert’s Rules of Order), with her East Paolo Alto, Cali (native) leadership style!   She shows the students, parents, teachers and staff, she is 110% engaged in their success and perhaps most importantly, she earned their Trust!

A few years ago, I stopped by her school and saw Yetunde in action…and she uses Social Media - Facebook in a perfect way - perfect strategy to market Dunbar HS and get external champions for her students!  Below are FB posts she shared recently:

We’ve had two Open Houses this year and I know next year, we have to prepare for even more people! Both have been packed! It’s a great problem to have!

From being under-enrolled four years ago to growing is something I’m proud of! We’ve worked to rebrand our school! Social media has helped, but our families sharing their experiences is definitely making a difference!

I’m still on cloud nine and seeing how excited these young people were made my week! Parents were also overjoyed!

Thank you again to my incredible TEAM!

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Listening to them share their college acceptances! They will look back on these moments and understand the magnitude of this accomplishment!

I’ve come to really appreciate these intimate celebrations! We’re probably closer to 50 kids with acceptances w 1+ colleges (in December)! That’s almost half the class!

We don’t celebrate young people enough!

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We’ve had a Wait List for two years! This year, we are granting acceptance to all students on the Wait List! We always have kids who don’t come! Last night, a few families just showed up!  

It was a YES for me!!! If you can advocate for yourself and your parent sees value in what we are doing that’s a winning formula! I’m actually blown away!

We certainly have growth areas, but these moments affirm the hard work!

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I’m always anxious when I’m the lead planner! Tonight was no different! We expected 200 people at Open House! People were EARLY and we had a beyond packed house!

When I tell you my Team EXECUTES, they do it ALL! I cannot thank them enough! Tonight was a huge success! Our families were so happy!

We had a BINGO game and there were questions that each table answered! The yard signs were a huge hit!

It’s so rewarding when kids are excited to tell me they follow me on IG! We are a REAL VIBE! Families are choosing us!!!

50/125 spots for Summer Bridge are taken! Shadow Day is next up!

Beyond proud!

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Yesterday, we hosted a principal meeting and I was so proud to have our work on display! You should be able to walk into a school, FEEL, SEE, and HEAR the culture! Much of what we do is grounded in the academic culture that we’re working on!

Hard work is paying off!!!!

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When I said I wanted 30 college tours, people thought I was out of my mind! We’re at 27!!!! I won’t share what we’ve spent on buses, worth every cent! We’ve done less “fun” trips and increased our college tours!

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HARVARD Acceptance Letter Received!

Look who is rocking his Harvard swag! If you want to contribute (let me know) to his MacBook fund that’s at the top of his list!

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Tonight, I met grandparents and parents! The pride, excitement and love was just overflowing! I’m in AWE of this community and what an HONOR it is to lead!

CONTINUED SUCCESS TO YOU

DR. YETUNDE REEVES AND DUNBAR HS

IN BALTIMORE, MD!