In the final episode of this season of 16:1, special guest Dr. Brandi De La Cruz, 2025–2026 Tennessee Teacher of the Year, joins us for an honest, grounded look at the teaching profession. Dr. De La Cruz’s nonlinear path into mathematics education has become a core part of her teaching identity, and she speaks candidly about trying new things, building community, and deepening connections between classroom learning and community impact. We also discuss graduation pressures, funding incentives, local workforce expectations, teacher retention, professional development, and the evolving realities of AI in the high school classroom.

16:1 returns January 2026 with a new season. Happy holidays!

00:30 Wrap up thoughts on teaching 1984

06:40 Dr. Brandi De La Cruz: An indirect path to the math classroom

11:20 Learning to connect with students through lived experience

20:00 Local industry and applied learning connections

24:00 Why teaching is worth choosing

27:30 Metrics, misaligned incentives, and honest accountability

36:30 Finding your people in your school

43:15 What makes for meaningful professional development?

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

This week, we’re looking through our history to ground ourselves in a turbulent present. Tune in for our discussion of Septima Poinsette Clark, the Charleston-born educator and activist Martin Luther King Jr. once called “the mother of the movement.” Her story bridges the segregated classrooms of the early 20th century and the civil rights movement’s front lines. Through the establishment of hundreds of citizenship schools across the U.S., she helped thousands of Black Americans gain the literacy skills necessary to vote, transforming communities. We also consider her complex legacy as a woman who challenged not only racism but also sexism within social movements that she helped to shape.

02:24 Septima Poinsette Clark: Family History & Educational Empowerment

06:00 Teaching in segregated South Carolina and the fight for equal pay

09:00 Adult Literacy & Citizenship

12:20 Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, and the Politics of Reconstruction

14:00 Workshops at the Highlander Folk School

16:00 Citizenship Schools and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

21:40 Septima Poinsette’s Civil Rights Activism: Legacy and Lessons

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

Two English teachers and a technologist come together for a lively discussion on George Orwell’s 1984 and teaching the text to high school students in the U.S. in 2025. Tackles complex topics (propaganda, surveillance, freedom of expression). Good for educators who are thinking of teaching the novel in their classrooms.

02:00 Framing & historical context, George Orwell

06:50 Making sense of Winston Smith

10:00 Misogyny and modernity

13:00 Memory, individuality, and the alteration of history

18:55 What is war in Oceania?

24:45 Newspeak, language, and narrative control

33:00 Art and entertainment in totalitarian Oceania

40:45 Student engagement with 1984

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.