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LYNN DARBY: If you don’t have a diverse population of students, you allow pervasive biases to impact the student body community. And so it’s important, whenever you have a diverse student body, to have a diverse body of educators as well who are teaching that student body just because the students are more likely to A, see themselves in another teacher, but then B, they’ll probably be able to find a teacher that holds them to that high standard, that believes in them and that can push them and motivate them to succeed whenever they grow up.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Hello everybody, and welcome back to Inspiring Teachers: The Honored Podcast, where we shine a spotlight on life-changing teachers across the country. I’m Hannah, your podcast host, and our podcast is brought to you by Honored, which is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and elevating great teachers nationwide.

Our mission is to inspire and retain great teachers, keeping them in the classroom as long as possible. Every month at the school year at Honored, we select an exceptional educator in the United States to be the recipient of the Honored National Teaching Award. Each Honoree, as we call them, receives a $5,000 cash reward, and we then tell the story on our website and our social media platforms of how that teacher has impacted their students’ lives. To learn more about our organization, you can go to our website at honored.org. While you’re there, if you have a teacher you would like to recognize, you can nominate them at honored.org/nominate.

We are so excited to have you listening in on another spotlight podcast episode. Today, we are joined by Lynn Darby, a high school History teacher at MacArthur High School in Washington, DC, and the Founder of the Teacher’s Lounge. Lynn Darby was born and raised in South Central Pennsylvania. Coming from a small but tight-knit family, Lynn had the opportunity to watch both his mom and uncle serve as educators from a young age. 

This, along with a strong intrinsic desire to make a positive impact in the world, inspired Lynn to pursue a career in education. Graduating from Temple University in Fall ’21 and Relay Grad School of Education in Spring ’24, Lynn currently works as a high school history teacher at MacArthur High School, Washington, DC’s first new public high school in over 30 years. In his free time, Lynn enjoys watching Steelers football, cooking, working out, and spending time with friends. 

To start our episode off, Lynn reflects on his journey into teaching. Growing up in a family of educators, the power of education was instilled in him at a young age. Over time, this grew into a passion for teaching History, which led him to teaching at the first public high school in Washington, DC, in over 30 years. 

LYNN DARBY: I grew up in a family around educators. I had a mom who worked as a daycare teacher and later transitioned to working with individuals with special needs. I had an uncle who worked in a boys’ detention center and was also a teacher in a night school program. And so from an early age, I have memories of going to my mom’s daycare, and as I got older, hanging around my uncle’s night school program, just being in the environment and seeing them both as educators.

This made education a career that seemed accessible to me and something that was a possibility. My education and my desire to make a positive impact on the world only intensified as I got older. I remember at one point in middle school, we were working on quote integration, and we had to find quotes and data to use online. And I wrote a whole paper on inequities in inner city schools. 

And so that’s just one anecdote that kind of showed how, from a young age, it was always something I was connected to, and even if I didn’t see the picture then, all paths led to a career in education for me. And so fast forward, I ended up graduating from Temple University with a degree in secondary education and a concentration in History. 

During my time in Philadelphia at Temple, I developed a stronger passion for civic education and saw the importance of understanding how our government works and the importance of being able to be civically engaged citizens in society. And so I felt a passion to teach that information to the next generation, because I felt like that would be an anecdote to some of the things that we’re seeing in society today. 

And so after college, I was fortunate enough to be able to find a residency program with Friendship Public Charter Schools here in Washington, DC, where they assisted me in getting my master’s degree, and put me in a position where I was able to be in a cohort of other Black male educators and specifically get opportunities to have professional developments early on my educational career. 

And so that helped me to develop my craft early on. And then after a couple of years teaching middle school at Friendship, my passion for teaching civic engagement blossomed and intensified once again. And so I made the transition to high school. I was fortunate enough to be able to be connected with MacArthur High School, and it was fortunate they had an opening for a History teacher. It’s such an amazing environment to be in.  

The school community is awesome. And then also the fact that it’s the first new public high school in Washington, DC, in over 30 years. It’s such a unique opportunity to be able to be an educator there and help to build the culture of the school, while also watching the students contribute to that culture-building as well. It’s awesome to see students begin to take ownership of what they want the school to be like. 

I remember saying this to students early on, “The school is gonna be what you make of it. If you want to see a club, go about starting that club. If you want to see X, Y, and Z, go about advocating for it.” And at first, I remember whenever I was teaching freshmen last year, they gave me kind of puzzled looks, like, “What is this man talking about?” 

And then you fast-forward to today. I’m seeing some of those freshmen who are now sophomores, coming into their own, starting clubs, advocating for certain things. And then even to the juniors and seniors that I teach now, they’re doing the same thing. So it’s really awesome to see the students be able to have this opportunity to build a school culture, even if they don’t realize it. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: For Lynn, ensuring students’ social-emotional needs are met is just as important as meeting their academic needs. He builds an intentional classroom environment grounded in flexibility and understanding. He creates a space where students advocate for themselves and ask for support when needed, fostering an environment where students feel safe to make mistakes and develop personally and academically. 

LYNN DARBY: When thinking about being a teacher, when thinking about working with students, I think it’s Dr. Maria Montessori who said it that “You have to teach the whole child,” and in teaching the whole child, that includes making sure that A, their academic needs are met, but then B, also their social, emotional needs are met. And so when thinking about being flexible, being understanding, modeling what it looks like to be forgiving in some aspects, it’s important because the kids see that. 

When looking at these students and who they are, it’s important that we allow them the opportunity to make these mistakes, but then also be able to learn from them. And so some of my philosophies are, for example, if a student advocates for themselves, saying, “I need more time. I have X, Y, and Z going on. I’m stressed out,” 9.9 times out of 10, I’m going to give them that extension and give them that grace just because they’re advocating for themselves, they’re doing the work of learning how to be someone who has agency over their own actions and agency to advocate for themselves. 

And so I want to be able to be supportive of them, so they’re encouraged to do so in the future. And then also looking at myself as a teacher, like I said, it’s important for me to teach the content. I find that extremely important for me to teach the content and teach the content well, for that matter, but it’s also important for me to cultivate an environment where students feel they can develop as human beings, so they can make mistakes, they can maybe miss a deadline, and then learn from that mistake. 

And so I try to have that be one of my driving philosophies in the classroom, which is that if a student makes a mistake, I’m going to forgive them. Or if the student makes a mistake and they learn from learn from their mistake, they’re rewarded for doing that. And so that’s something that’s really big for me. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Another philosophy that guides Lynn’s teaching is building positive relationships. As the foundation of his teaching practice, he is passionate about bringing his authentic self into the classroom. In our conversation, he shares how his teaching evolved over time as he realized that students value connecting with a teacher who they feel is relatable and real.

LYNN DARBY: I’m a huge believer that students learn from teachers that they like, or at least they can relate to. While I don’t think teaching should be a popularity contest, I do believe that in education, you should be cognizant that the relationships you build and the connections that you make should be the bedrock of your practice. 

And a big part of that is being true to who you are as a teacher. I’ve come to find out over my five years in education that students value authenticity and that they have a keen eye for teachers whenever they’re being inauthentic in any capacity. And so the first few years of my teaching career, I would really try to be a quote, unquote professional. 

And what I thought I should be like, as far as acting a certain way, not really talking about things like sports or things that I enjoy with students, because we’re here for the work. It wasn’t until I began showing my more authentic version of myself that I began to notice these relationships strengthen. And so nowadays, you can find me in my classroom talking about my own personal passions, talking about maybe if I cooked something over the weekend, doing that. 

But really trying to give students a piece of who I am because they really do value that. I remember it was last year, there was a student who, they and I did not have the best relationship for whatever reason, where we just couldn’t connect. It wasn’t until they saw me walk into a Chick-fil-A with a friend that they ran up to me. “Mr. Darby, what are you doing here? You’re in Chick-fil-A?” 

And I kind of had that aha moment that I remember this whenever I was a student. And kids definitely do this to this day, where you think teachers are these robotic, like we come to work, we teach, maybe we sleep in the school, maybe we go home, who knows. But students just see teachers in the confines of the classroom. And so seeing you outside of the classroom and seeing you in authentic, real spaces allows students to see you in a different light. 

And so I try to bring that into the classroom very intentionally, of being who I am, showing components of my personality, talking about my passions, talking about a cool movie I like, talking about shows with the kids. And I try to do that as soon as possible because I feel like if you build those strong relationships from day one by the time you get to November, December, January, February, whatever it may be when it’s the colder months outside, students may not be as motivated, you can lean on those relationships where I know if I mentioned The Walking Dead, this student’s going to laugh, or I know if I mentioned this music artist, their ears are going to perk up. 

And so building those relationships allows students to A, feel seen by you and feel connected, and then B, also allows you to have a wealth of knowledge in your back pocket that you can use to try to motivate students in an unconventional way whenever they need that extra push. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Building on his passion for cultivating positive student relationships, Lynn shares that from the first day of class, he communicates that he will support and push his students beyond anything they think is possible. He also describes how he opens every class period with a social-emotional question and invites his students to share their thoughts with the group. Not only does this build trust between him and his students, but it also grows the classroom community.  

LYNN DARBY: The first day of school, I make sure I have a little spiel where I tell students, essentially, that I’m here primarily to see them win, and all my actions are going to be rooted in wanting to see them win. I tell them, there’s going to be some days where I give you all the shine and praise, and you get tired of Mr. Darby because he’s just over here telling you all these great things. 

And there are some days when I’m going to be nagging and pushing you, and you’re going to be annoyed with me. But I tell them, both of those actions and both ends of the spectrum are rooted in love and wanting to see you succeed. It’s really funny to hear or see their reactions whenever I tell them that, because it’s a mixed bag; some are like, “Oh man, this teacher is going to do all this,” and some are all in on it. 

But as the year goes on, they come to understand where I’m coming from, and I find that students do respect that. Another thing I’ve done, too, as far as relationship building goes. And this was a shift I made last year, and this is unconventional, but I replaced my “Do Now” with this social-emotional question. 

And in some senses, I’ll still have a “Do Now” or a question on the board, but every class I’m starting off with asking students, “How are you? What is the story that you have this weekend? What’s something that made you laugh?” And we’re just talking about that for the first five to ten minutes. 

And I’ve come to find that some students who, whenever I made this shift initially, and now to this day, some students who I may never hear from during class, were racing and fighting each other to be able to share out during this time, because that’s some way they could get in. That’s some way that they could fit into the classroom is by sharing a funny story, or by sharing the drama or the quote, unquote tea that they’re involved in. 

And so being able to invite everyone in the space by asking these social-emotional questions A, helps to build a sense of classroom culture, but then B, also helps these students to feel seen. And whenever these students feel seen, I’m able to make these connections with them that allow me to build a stronger bond and continue pushing them and continue trying to get as much growth from them as possible. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Lynn prides himself on being a positive Black male role model for his students. Research shows that having a Black educator during your education journey improves student outcomes, graduation rates, and suspension rates, and contributes to an inclusive environment where more students see themselves reflected in their teachers. He speaks about how these outcomes drive him to remember his impact and the importance of his work. He shows students that school is a place for them where they can be seen, find success, and have someone who believes in their potential. 

LYNN DARBY: Being a positive Black male role model for my students is one of the biggest reasons why I got into this profession. It’s definitely something I don’t take lightly, either. The data shows that Black male educators are important, and not just because it feels good to say that, but because there’s concrete data that has proven that. It’s often quoted with the UConn study that found that if the student has a Black male teacher between pre-K to third-grade, they’re 13% more likely to graduate. 

And then if you have two Black male teachers within the timeframe, it almost triples to 32%. The data is also there as far as suspension rates and students being able to see themselves and have a sense of intrinsic motivation for Black male educators. And so that speaks to the importance of having Black males in the classroom. While I don’t teach elementary or middle school. This data drives me to remember that this work matters and that this work is important. 

And so on a day where maybe I feel like I’m not making an impact, maybe I have a lesson that falls flat, maybe the kids aren’t listening. Whatever it may be, I use this data to remind me that I am making an impact and the work that I do is important and matters. 

One thing that I also take pride in is that when looking at history, historically speaking, the American school system has not been the kindest to individuals of color or individuals who are economically disadvantaged, and more often than not, these two demographics have some sense of overlap. Being able to be someone who grew up in the intersection of those two identities. 

I really take pride in being able to stand in front of students who may fall into one of those two categories and be someone who is able to be a positive male role model, able to show that school is a place for them. Malcolm X has a quote, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,” and to be able to embody that, where even though you may not like coming to school, even though you may not like waking up at 7 am, some sort of education, whether that’s school, vocational training, whatever it may be, is going to be your key to success. 

And so it’s important to be able to find your niche. And so being able to embody those things and be in front of students and be someone that they can rely on, be someone to hold them accountable, be someone to be there to support them whenever they need it, is something I take a lot of pride in. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Diversity in education creates inclusive environments where everyone feels welcome. Learning alongside a group of diverse individuals sets students up for greater success. Lynn reflects on how this came to be a value in his teaching and how he celebrates diversity in the classroom. He also acknowledges the role bias plays in education and how diverse faculty and student bodies help counteract inequities and improve student success. 

LYNN DARBY: I was fortunate enough to be a part of a nonprofit whenever I was growing up called the LEAF Project. And LEAF, essentially, its mission statement is to cultivate youth leaders from diverse backgrounds through meaningful work in the food system. 

When looking back at my time with LEAF, one of the things that impacted me the most was the quote, unquote, from diverse backgrounds portion where I was able to work with people who didn’t look like me, they were from different towns than I was, they spoke differently than me, they had different values than me. 

But being able to learn from them, being able to work alongside them, being able to have and celebrate our differences of opinion, differences of identity markers, whatever it may be, to come together for a common goal, is something that I deeply value, and something that impacted me whenever I was with LEAF. And now I try to translate into my classroom, where I’m looking for opportunities to intentionally pair students who maybe come from two different walks of life.

I’m looking for opportunities for students to share their different thoughts and opinions, because that diversity of opinion, that diversity of people in general, really helps to make an enriching environment. And just as factors of a student’s intrinsic motivation and home environment influence their ability to succeed, so does the teacher’s perception of them. And so, for example, whenever you have a teacher who believes a student’s capable of going to college, they’ll hold them to that high expectation. 

Conversely to that, when you have a teacher who believes a student isn’t, quote, unquote, college material or isn’t capable of going to college, they don’t hold them to high expectations. And in return, the student who isn’t held to a high standard or high expectations is less likely to get the same quality of education as a student who is held to that high standard. And so when thinking about that, it made me pause for a second and realize the importance of having a diverse group of teachers in the profession. 

Bias is something that is held by everyone. Jane Elliott is famous for saying that if you grew up in the American school system, you have some level of bias. So it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like; you hold some level of bias. Our brains are hardwired for shortcuts, and so it makes sense that everyone will have some sense of bias. 

And so it’s important to understand that, and understand that it’s not a bad thing to hold a bias, it’s a bad thing to hold a bias and then not actively try to unlearn it or be cognizant of it. And so the real work begins once you accept the fact that biases are something that everyone has, that we all have, and then also understanding that they impact your everyday decisions, and then working to be able to figure out how you can unlearn some of these biases so that they do not negatively influence those around you. 

I find that extremely important for me to teach the content and teach the content well, for that matter, but it’s also important for me to cultivate an environment where students feel they can develop as human beings, so they can make mistakes, they can maybe miss a deadline, and then learn from that mistake. 

And so if you don’t have a diverse population of students, you allow pervasive biases to impact the student body community. And so it’s important, whenever you have a diverse student body, to have a diverse body of educators as well who are teaching that student body because the students are more likely to A, see themselves in another teacher, but then B, they’ll probably be able to find a teacher that holds them to that high standard, that believes in them, and that can push them and motivate them to succeed whenever they grow up. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: As the research around education shows a teacher pipeline shortage and a teacher burnout increase, Lynn was inspired to create a place where teachers can build meaningful community. He is the founder of the Teacher’s Lounge, which provides networking and fellowship opportunities for educators in DC.  Through the Teacher’s Lounge, he hosts networking events for teachers to connect with like-minded individuals, and he recently launched a podcast that aims to shine a light on the real stories of educators.

LYNN DARBY: Enrollment in teacher preparation programs is at an all-time low, and then we have burnout amongst teachers at an all-time high. And so whenever you look at those things and put them together, it almost spells a recipe for disaster. And so one thing that I was motivated to do this summer is try to do something to combat that. And so it first started off with the podcast of I’m going to have a platform where educators can come on and share their stories. 

They can have a conversation and give a real-world insight into what education is like. And then in addition to that, I was fortunate enough to be able to be connected with someone who has a restaurant in Washington, DC, and this has always been a thought child of mine, but never really was able to come into fruition until the summer. 

But being able to curate a space, it’s essentially a social teacher networking and fellowship event, but curate a space where teachers can come together, they can fellowship, they can talk about the joys, the highs and lows of being in the classroom together in person, and it’s something that’s reliable, they can count on every month. 

And what I envision this doing is allowing other teachers to organically create their own networks of other like-minded educators, educators that, for lack of a better term, educators that they vibe with and be able to connect with them and build their own communities. 

I view the Teacher’s Lounge event as a community in and of itself, but I also view it as a channel, a platform, and an ability for teachers to come build their own communities by being connected with educators who aren’t necessarily in their own schools, and then that will evidently have a positive impact on education. Because I know for a fact that with me, if I didn’t have my teacher community, I don’t know how I’d be able to get through some of the days of teaching. 

And so whenever you have a strong community, it helps you to get through some of the tougher days of teaching. And so I want this to be able to be a space where educators can come, they can continue to build their community here, and then be able to lean on these folks outside of the networking event to continue on and do this very important work. 

Teaching is such a unique profession where we’re all living these very individual, very unique experiences as it pertains to our own classes, our own demographic of students, whatever it may be. But in that same light, it’s also so similar to the things that we’re going through, and so it’s cool to be able to hear the perspective of other educators as you think about your own perspective, and use it to inform your practice, or inform yourself in general. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: During our conversation, Lynn reflects on a moment that has stuck with him from his last year teaching middle school. At the end of the year, he had taken down a world map flag from his walls and invited the students to sign it as a keepsake. He didn’t expect many students to sign, but he was surprised by how many students left meaningful messages about the impact he made. This moment reminds him how invaluable his work is as he is shaping the minds of the future. 

LYNN DARBY: After my three years of teaching, as you can imagine, teaching middle school is a beast in and of itself, and so I spent three years teaching middle school. Loved it, loved my students. But it’s harder to use the students to gage if you’re doing a good job, if the work that you’re doing matters, if you’re making an impact because middle schoolers are developing, they’re at that very unique stage where the wind can blow and their whole day is ruined, or the wind can blow and they go from being mad to being happy. 

And so it was a unique time whenever I was teaching middle school because there was a lot going on. That being said, at the end of my tenure, I had a flag that I had in my classroom, and I took the flag down. It was a map of the world, but it was a cartoon, essentially. And I remember taking it down and giving the students an option: if anyone wants to sign this, you’re more than welcome to, and I thought maybe a couple of students would sign it, but all the students were trying to sign it. 

And students who maybe I never felt like I built a deep enough connection with, were like, “Oh, I can’t wait to sign this. I’m going to sign this,” and writing the messages saying, “Mr. Darby, thank you so much, thank you for this. Mr. Darby, I know I was doing X, Y, and Z, but I appreciate you so much.” 

And so in doing that, it was heartwarming and made me realize even on the days that I don’t feel like I’m making an impact, even on the days where maybe it feels like the work I’m doing here doesn’t really matter, it’s not really amounting to anything, the kids are always listening, the kids are always watching. They know that this profession is difficult. 

They’re not going to take it easy on you, but they know that this profession is difficult, but they appreciate it, and they realize the work matters, and so that made it full circle. I had it hanging up in my classroom last year. This year, I still have it beside my desk, and it’s something whenever I’m feeling down, or whenever I’m feeling like I need a little extra motivation, I always look at that because those messages help me to carry through. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: To close out our episode, Lynn shares about the vitality of education and the importance of societal recognition. Educators are the building blocks of our future, shaping the academic minds and personal characters of every student they interact with. In his words, an investment in education is an investment in our future. 

LYNN DARBY: I think the most important thing that matters is understanding that an investment in education is an investment in our future, and not just speaking in a small sense, it’s an investment in our country’s future. 

I think one of the biggest things that we need to realize about our education system is that the better that we educate our youth, the more and better that we invest in our youth, the more that we invest in the people who are teaching our youth, the better society will be down the line. And that should be our ultimate goal is to build a better society, a better future, and that starts with education. 

I know I referenced it earlier, but Malcolm X has a saying, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,” and that’s so applicable when thinking about how we want to use the tool of education to benefit not just our society, but the world around us. And so my parting message is that education is extremely important. We can never do enough to invest in education, and I hope to be able to see folks putting more energy and more investment into education because it’s such an important thing. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Thank you so much for listening and joining us today to hear more about Lynn Darby. To learn more about the Teacher’s Lounge, you can visit the links in the episode description. If you enjoyed today’s episode, you can follow us and leave us a review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening in from. Thanks again for listening, and make sure to tune in again next month, where we will hear the incredible story of the recipient of our January Honored National Teaching Award.