Introducing Kate Mishara
In this month’s Talk Shop, Our Culture & Style Editor ANNIE BLOJ interviews Kate Mishara, Cherry Creek Resident, the Executive Director of Wyatt Academy and Co-Founder of the charity Amigas In Action. Kate was photographed at her home in Cherry Creek.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ESTHER LEE LEACH
KATE’S HAIR STYLIST: JESSICA LUTHER FOR HIGDON’S HAIR STUDIO
Annie Bloj: Hello Kate! I am so glad that we got to meet (virtually) so that I could get to know about some of the extraordinary work that you’ve been doing, especially during this time. Esther has raved about the mission you have taken on through your role at Wyatt Academy and then by starting your nonprofit, Amigas in Action. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me!
Kate, through my research for this interview, I found that you went to elementary school at P.S. 58 in Brooklyn, not far from where I lived before we moved to Colorado! It’s rare to meet someone born in NY, could you shed some light on your experiences growing up there?
Kate Mishara: Though I didn’t recognize it at the time, I think that my experience at P.S. 58 opened my eyes to the beauty and power of public education. My mother and grandmother were both teachers, and I believe that education was in my blood from a young age. My favorite childhood game was playing “school,” and I would spend hours teaching lessons to my brother, and then when he lost interest, to my stuffed animals. Growing up in New York has shaped my personality and character in many ways. The old cliche is undoubtedly true here - you can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the girl! For better or worse, I will fight for what I believe in. I have found that using my voice as an ally and an advocate for others is the most powerful thing I can do. And that sense of fighting for humanity, for equity, for your neighbor - that is the crux of what makes New York so unique. And those are the things that I am committed to fighting for today.
AB: Growing up in an urban environment lends itself to seeing your community through many different lenses. How did that shape how you saw your future?
KM: One of the most powerful characteristics of New York is its ability to take people from all over the world and turn them into “New Yorkers.” People from hundreds of countries who speak over 800 languages feel pride in being New Yorkers. This communal pride is beautifully interwoven with personal pride in being unique and representing one’s own culture and heritage. Growing up in a place that not only values but embodies diversity, played a significant role in shaping my future. However, at the time, I didn’t realize it. This diversity is something that I didn’t realize was so special until I moved to Boulder, CO, in 2004. While I loved my time in Boulder, I longed for the diversity that reminded me of home.
AB: You received your undergraduate degree from the CU Boulder- what drew you to Colorado?
KM: I went to a tiny high school in New York, and I was anxious to spread my wings in a large university environment. I knew I wanted a big school, sunshine, and the chance to experience living away from home. During my sophomore year of high school, I saw a CU-Boulder poster in my guidance counselor’s office. In an instant, I became fixated on this beautiful place... the flatirons, the red-tile roofs, the blue sky. I know that the Colorado natives are rolling their eyes at another transplant right about now! What I didn’t anticipate was the stark difference I would feel moving from New York to Boulder, Colorado. While I loved my time at CU-Boulder, it was, in many ways, a bubble. Following graduation, I enrolled at Metropolitan State University in Denver to obtain my teaching license. At Metro, I felt reinvigorated to be back in an urban environment, meeting people with a variety of different lived experiences. I was placed at Wyatt Academy through my program, and eleven years later, I’m still there!
AB: You’ve said that empathy is one of your guiding principles, is that what led you to a career in education?
KM: 100%. As a little girl, and even as a teenager, I often felt overwhelmed with empathy but didn’t know how to label it. I took on the emotions of those around me, especially those going through hardship. My dad tells me that at my first Yankees game, I cried when the NY fans booed Cecil Fielder. It literally hurt my heart to watch this man booed by his own people. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to get a handle on the empathy that I feel and how to harness it for good.
My desire to help others definitely led me to a career in education. But during my time as a first-grade teacher, I began to feel certain constraints in the classroom. I knew that to impact the community on a broader scale; I would have to make the hard decision to leave the classroom.
In leadership, I have been taught for years to think about positions and not people. Though I’ve tried, it has become eternally clear that that way of thinking does not work for me. I love people. I love getting to know their stories, their hopes, their dreams. Thinking about people, rather than solely positions, is at the core of my leadership style. In her book, Moment of Lift, Melinda Gates says, “The starting point for human improvement is empathy. Everything flows from that. Empathy allows for listening, and listening leads to understanding. That's how we gain a common base of knowledge. When people can't agree, it's often because there is no empathy, no sense of shared experience. If you feel what others feel, you're more likely to see what they see. Then you can understand one another. Then you can move to the honest and respectful exchange of ideas that is the mark of a successful partnership. That's the source of progress.”
AB: While you were pursuing your teaching license at Metropolitan State in Denver, you were placed at Wyatt Academy for your teaching experience. What about Wyatt made you want to stay there to start your teaching career once you had graduated?
KM: From the moment that I first stepped foot into Wyatt, it was as close to love at first sight as I have ever experienced. Never before had I met such a tight-knit, strong, and loving community. The students and the families at Wyatt were proud of their stories and proud of their school. Many faced obstacles and hardships on a daily basis but arrived at school committed to their education and their futures. From day one, Wyatt was pure magic to me. I fell in love with the students and knew that I was meant to be a part of the Cole/Whittier community.
It became important to me to immerse myself in the community, and learn to see it through the eyes of my students and their families. Even with the best intentions, leaders make dangerous mistakes when they presume to know what a community needs. The community knows what the community needs. As I worked to understand the Wyatt community better, I was greeted with open arms. People invited me into their homes, their places of worship, and their workplaces. With my family so far away, I was fortunate to find a family in my students and their families. As my relationships strengthened, I began to understand better what my community saw as triumphs and what they saw as struggles. I became committed to empowering them to rise up against the struggles. Over a decade later, and I am humbled and grateful to be a part of this dynamic community.
AB: Your first position at Wyatt Academy was teaching first grade. You quickly moved into a leadership role, first as Elementary School Dean and now with the incoming school year this fall, Executive Director. Were you always interested in taking on a leadership role? What did you learn through that transition?
KM: I never saw myself taking on a leadership role. I loved teaching so profoundly, and believe that teachers have the hardest and most honorable jobs on earth. But as I began to learn more about the needs of the community, I knew that I would need to be in a leadership role to impart transformational change.
Through the transition, I have learned a lot about myself and the type of leader I want to be. Some leaders lead from the front and others from the back. I find solace in leading from the middle, to ensure that I am always in touch with the people I’m serving. I’m so grateful to my staff, who have supported my transition and helped me learn so much about what it means to be a leader. The most important thing I have learned is to look at people as human beings. Not dollar signs, not positions, but human beings. This doesn’t always jive with the leadership counsel I’m given, but it certainly resonates with me and my leadership values.
AB: Wyatt has gone from a Red School (the lowest rating on the School Performance Framework system) to a Green School- even having the highest combined growth in Math and ELA of any school in DPS. Can you speak to the empowerment center that you and your team started and how addressing the needs of the whole child can lead to academic success?
KM: Yes! The Family Empowerment Center is my favorite thing to talk about. We launched the Empowerment Center in 2018, and it has genuinely changed the way we function as a school community. We believe in supporting the whole child, which means meeting their social, emotional, and academic needs. A huge part of this is supporting their basic needs, including those of their families. We know that if students are hungry or don’t have clean clothes to wear, they likely won’t be able to focus on achieving their highest potential.
The empowerment center is home to a laundromat, a clothing boutique, a grocery and computer lab, all at no cost for families. Through partnerships with local organizations like We don’t Waste and Conscious Alliance, the Family Empowerment Center has changed the way that we provide wraparound services to our families.
Within months, we began to see positive differences in our academic data. Not only that, but our attendance data drastically improved. When students and families felt supported, there was a tangible shift in our community culture. Our school is a community hub, one where students and families feel supported to thrive. Moving forward, we’re excited to expand on the mental health services that we provide to students, and extend them to families in the empowerment center.
AB: As we spoke, you said that your nonprofit, Amigas in Action, was launched due to seeing that the needs of students extended beyond what you were able to provide in a school setting. How did you get started, and how has Amigas grown?
KM: Together with my dear friend and inspiration, Maria Estrada, we created Amigas as a platform to inspire and empower families in need. Day in and day out, we saw that our students were facing realities that interfered with their ability to focus their attention on academics. As teachers, we knew we wanted to do something - and that it would need to be outside of the conventional school setting. Our first year, we started an Adopt A Family program that sponsored 10 families during the holidays. We hoped to alleviate the stress that so many people feel each year come December. With increased community support, this holiday season, we sponsored 190 children through our Adopt A Family program. Perhaps most important is our general fund, which supports families with needs, including groceries, mental health, rent, utilities, and more.
AB: Leadership has never been more critical than during these unprecedented times. How have you been managing with Wyatt Academy and Amigas in Action?
KM: Now more than ever, I am driven to support those who are impacted by our current reality. From one lens, it might be overwhelming: the sheer statistics around unemployment and hunger, to name a few. But from another perspective, I find it to be invigorating. Mother Teresa said, "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." This quote serves as a reminder that change does not happen overnight- but it has to start somewhere. I have also been truly blown away by the community support that we have received. There are so many people who want to help but simply aren’t sure how. A girlfriend of mine offered to send a pizza dinner to a family who had been impacted by COVID-19. We were able to launch a program called Slice of Happiness through the Amigas platform, and we have since delivered hundreds of dinners.
AB: How can the Cherry Creek Fashion readers support your work, especially as we move into the summer- which can be particularly tough for families?
KM: Annie, thank you for asking! You are absolutely right - for families who depend on school for their hot meals, the summer can be particularly challenging. Particularly now, as COVID-19 has so many people out of consistent work. For readers who are interested in supporting our work, I encourage them to visit both the Wyatt and Amigas websites! There is truly something for everyone. From volunteering to making a cash donation, everything helps. Plus, I would bet that many of the CCF readers have used this quarantine to do some serious spring cleaning. The Wyatt family empowerment center is accepting donations of all types, including clothing, shoes, and home goods. For those interested in making a monetary donation to directly support a family in need, the Amigas website is a great place to do that.
AB: Kate, thank you so much for your work within the Denver community. I know that so many of us are looking for everyday heroes to support and celebrate; you are certainly one of them. I can’t wait until we can meet in person!
KM: Thank you, Annie! There are so many everyday heroes around us, and I am so humbled to be included amongst them.
Kate Mishara: @kmishara // Jessica Luther : @jeslutherhair