A St. Petersburg native and lover of books, Rhianna is also a fervent advocate forequitable educational practices and policies. She currently serves as the Student Dataand Evaluation Manager at Cathedral Arts Project. Prior to accepting her current role,Rhianna was an ESE teacher for 3.5 years. During her time as an undergraduatestudent at the University of North Florida, Rhianna served as a Student Ambassador forthe College of Education and Human Services and was also awarded a two-yearscholarship from the Florida Funds Minority Teachers. She most recently presented atthe WJCT TEACH conference, where she provided insight on the intersection of equityand policy in education. In 2020 she was awarded the Minority Fellowship fromJacksonville University, where she will earn her master’s degree in Public Policy. Duringher time as a fellow, she has earned an internship and recognition from Duval CountySchool Board Chair, Darryl Willie. She was most recently recognized on the FloridaBlack Expo’s list of Top 20 Under 40 and received the Alumni Achievement Award fromUNF’s Black Alumni Association for her contributions to the field of education. Throughhands-on experience with students of varying exceptionalities, Rhianna has become anexpert on understanding the impact of empowering differences and how to measurevarying levels of success through assessment, data, and research. She has been aguest speaker for the 2021-22 Teach for America cohort and 2022 City Year LeadershipPanel. Rhianna is dedicated to improving her community through justice work, policydevelopment, and servant leadership. #diversity #equity #adoptedchild #criticalracetheory #educationpolicy #policymatters Follow Rhianna on Linked @Rhianna Scyster and Instagram @r_sscyster Resources Mentioned:Dr. Carissa McCray:Equitable Instruction, Empowered Students https://www.amazon.com/Equitable-Instruction-Empowered-Students-Culturally/dp/195281281X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=83KY5SEPXIW&keywords=carissa+mccray&qid=1662319198&sprefix=carissa+mccray%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1Zaretta Hammond: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brainhttps://www.amazon.com/Culturally-Responsive-Teaching-Brain-Linguistically/dp/1483308014/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3DSL7369300O4&keywords=zaretta+hammond+culturally+responsive+teaching+and+the+brain&qid=1662319254&sprefix=zarett%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSUVUT0g3NkZWQjdPJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjcxODYxMlRNQjNMTkpMRlUwSiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTUxMDk5MThQSjU1UkdHRkMyQSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=Venus Evans-Winters: Teaching Black Girls. Resistance in urban classrooms. https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Black-Girls-Resiliency-Counterpoints/dp/1433105934/ref=sr_1_1?crid=E1JAHX02GY9T&keywords=teaching+black+girls+venus+evans-winters&qid=1662319408&sprefix=teaching+black+girls+venus+evans-winters%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1Monique Morris: PUSHOUT; the criminalization of Black girlshttps://www.amazon.com/Pushout-Monique-W-Morris-audiobook/dp/B01M046D9X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24V8ZOS8WOFVA&keywords=pushout+the+criminalization+of+black+girls+in+school&qid=1662319443&sprefix=pushout%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1Kristin Henning: The Rage of Innocence. https://www.amazon.com/Rage-Innocence-America-Criminalizes-Black/dp/B096G7PX7X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZLICOEJR02MF&keywords=kristin+henning&qid=1662319499&s=audible&sprefix=kristin+henning%2Caudible%2C114&sr=1-1Jennifer Rippner: The American Education Policy Landscapehttps://www.amazon.com/American-Education-Policy-Landscape/dp/1138845205/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BXKSUBNSUE0I&keywords=jennifer+rippner&qid=1662319580&s=audible&sprefix=jennifer+rippner%2Caudible%2C109&sr=1-1Bettina Love: We Want to Do More Than Survivehttps://www.amazon.com/Want-More-Than-Survive-Abolitionist/dp/0807028347/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15I1AVWWFNI0Y&keywords=bettina+love+we+want+to+do+more+than+survive&qid=1662319672&s=audible&sprefix=bettina+lo%2Caudible%2C86&sr=1-1-catcorr--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whataword/messageSupport this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whataword/support