Interview with Glennis Matthews, first Black Deaf Woman superintendent

Alex (Daily Moth): Hello, Glennis Matthews!

Glennis Matthews, TLC Superintendent: Hello!

Alex: Hello. It was just announced that you are the new superintendent of The Learning Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. This is marking history, as you are the first Black Deaf Woman superintendent of a deaf school in the U.S. in history. Wow, and congratulations.

Glennis: Thank you so much!

Alex: I read your bio, and you were born in Philadelphia and grew up in Michigan. Your father is from Grenada… I mean Trinidad, and your mom is from Grenada. Most of your college education and professional work was in Atlanta, and you’re the science chairperson at Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. Now, you will leave to move to Massachusetts, right?

Glennis: Yes, I will. I’m thrilled about that too. I’m moving soon. I’ve been here for ten years, at this school, and I’m sad and excited at the same time to be moving.

Alex: Can you explain how you immersed yourself into the field of education?

Glennis: Well, when I entered college I wanted to become a doctor. It’s funny, I grew up with that as my goal, and then I diverted my focus after one life-changing experience when one child inspired me deeply. I knew I needed to focus on education and that’s what I wanted, so I changed my major and from that point on I knew I wanted to work with deaf children. I am deaf myself, and I want to support deaf and hard of hearing children, so that’s the goal and I started focusing on that.

Alex: What does it mean to you to be the first Black Deaf Woman superintendent?

Glennis: Wow! It means a lot! Really, there are two things - I’m the first Black Deaf female to be the superintendent of a deaf school, and the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities graduate to become a superintendent at a deaf school, so both things are special to me. It’s inspiring for myself, and also for students. Four people really helped, including Akilah English, who works in District of Columbia Public Schools as a deaf and hard of hearing specialist. She introduced me to Shane Feldman, who is also deaf. He is the CEO of Innivee Strategies. He really helped me develop a profile, with my leadership skills, and how to present myself, and so on. He has really supported me through my journey. The third person is Kristi Merriweather, who works here in Georgia in DeKalb county. She is deaf and a learning specialist. She has always been supportive and helped design my presentations, and everything, to make sure that I present myself appropriately. The last person is my best friend from Michigan, Dr. Tanisha Brooks. She is an implementation specialist there for the school system. She has always been so supportive of me through everything, and these four people… I didn’t do this alone. They helped so much. For other BIPOC students, they need more representation. They need to have someone there who’s deaf to represent when it comes to policies, lawmaking decisions, platforms, and discussions, and everything. We need that.. Also, they need to have someone to look up to who inspires them, too. My students inspire me so much, and I’m hoping I inspire them back! As for my students, for them, I’m becoming the first Black Deaf Woman superintendent and the first HBCU graduate to become a superintendent of a deaf school… I hope that makes them proud.

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Alex: What were your upbringing and education experiences in school like? You grew up in Michigan. Where did you go to school, and how did that influence you as the current superintendent?

Glennis: Yes. I was raised in Michigan, and my experience was phenomenal. I was mainstreamed and am the last child of three siblings alongside my brother, who is hearing, my other brother who is hard of hearing, and me. I was born hard of hearing then my hearing worsened. (School) was phenomenal. I had so many great teachers who supported me, and my friends and family supported me through everything too, so my experience was awesome, and I want my students to have the same too. I want them to look back to their education journey and be inspired. I don’t want them to feel discouraged. Some of them haven’t had nice experiences and that’s sad. I hope I can give them the same experience.

Alex: That’s nice to see that you had a great experience growing up in Michigan. It’s interesting about your family and that you were mainstreamed, and now you’re bringing your new leadership in Massachusetts with your field in science. I think that's cool that you’re bringing that STEM perspective there.

Glennis: Oh yes, STEM is a big field now. I know… Most times, we don’t think about future jobs while teaching students. We realize what’s out there first, then plan for that. Most of us think about future jobs, yes, but the foundation of the curriculum doesn’t always match that. Most of the time what happens is teachers need to figure out how to integrate these things in the lesson plan today, but we need the curriculum to already be strongly supported with STEM fundamentals to prepare our students for future jobs in STEM too, so that’s another hope of mine, that I can make sure that The Learning Center team - awesome school and awesome team, I’m thrilled to join them - are preparing students for their future.

Alex: I wonder if you have any wisdom or words of advice you want to share with the audience?

Glennis: One thing I’ve been telling my students is that a popular phrase says “deaf can”... Yes. Deaf can, but I tell my students “Don’t emphasize the deaf aspect just yet”. Why? I want them to focus on “you can”. Don’t worry about others and what they say. YOU can. YOU have the skills to support everything you need to succeed. You CAN. Once you succeed, then you can say “Deaf did”.

Alex: That’s inspiring. YOU can, and then deaf did. That’s the wisdom you plan to bring to Massachusetts.

Glennis: Yes, I will!

Alex: I think that’s all the questions I have, I really appreciate your time. It’s nice to meet you, and good luck this fall when you start!

Glennis: Yes, soon. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here!

Bio: Glennis Matthews received her BA in Psychology from Spelman College, an Associate of Applied Science in Sign Language Interpreting from Georgia Perimeter College, and a Master of Arts degree in Middle Grade Math and Science from Clark Atlanta University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership at Clark Atlanta University. She will leave her job as a science educator and department chairperson at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf to become TLC’s superintendent.