 Fresno Unified is, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, it is the fourth largest school district in the state of California behind Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach. We're about 67% Hispanic, 11% Asian, and then 10% White and 9% African American. We are the launching pad for students to get up and out of poverty, and we take that quite seriously. Yellow duck, yellow duck, what do you see? When we first started working with the Early Learning Lab, they asked us, um, think about what you most need our help in. You know, really look at your data, look at your statistics, look and see what the needs are here. And the area that rose to the top immediately was our dual language learners. Bien, gracias. Y usted, y usted. Hola, Catí, buenos días. Early in the field, we were talking a lot about English language learners. That was the title they would use to describe children that came from homes where the home language was not English. Back then, they say that my daughter was behind because she had another second language that I had to teach her English at home. Some parents did not want to use their home language as often because they felt that maybe it will handle them from learning English. What has really changed over the years is the fact that we've come to learn how valuable it is to speak more than one language. So that the goal is that you're going to become a true dual language citizen of the world. And I think one thing that's really exciting about the dual language learner focus in Fresno is that I think that we and early childhood have spent far too little time on really cracking that nut. And if you really want to serve the kids of California and the country, we've got to figure this out. The Fresno Language Project is a project developed by community partners in Fresno to address the issues around dual language learners. Everyone in Fresno has talked about it. It was the most amazing example of cross-sector collaboration. We have the school district that runs programs for children birth to five. Then we have Head Start here in the Central Valley, which is run through the Economic Opportunity Commission. We're also working with Children's Services Network, which supports the childcare community here in Fresno. And then to think together about how we'd construct an experiment or an approach to trying something new. I just have enjoyed doing this with my kids and my kids are three. So teachers and providers are coming along together for the same reason. We were able to learn about what Head Start does and the role that they serve, which is very different than a school district. We were able to learn about what licensed home providers do and that role they serve and the asset they bring. It was liberating because they didn't have to have all the answers. Actually, I could learn from them. How are you? I learned that implementing their home language helps them develop English faster. I knew it was important, but I didn't have any tools of how to implement it in the classrooms. However, once I went to the training, I learned the importance of it. I began to use both languages in the bathroom. There's steps in Spanish and English for how to wash your hands. Also, there's labels in my class with English and Spanish. So I feel like it gave me empowerment because it made me a better teacher and I had another skill that I learned. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I had another idea about reading. You sit down and you read. Now it's just differently because you have to listen to the kids' conversation. You make face infractions and you talk about what you're reading and you connect with the book with the kids, with the children. If someone kicks you, what can you do? Say sorry. Uh-huh, kick it, hurts. I was so sad when they said, we're not going to see each other no more. That's the end. And then they say, no, we're going to be here. You know, still we're going to be here for you guys if you need help. Fresno is the mirror or microcosm for what California is going to look like 10 to 15 years downstream. That the rest of California will look more like Fresno in 15 years than Fresno will look like the rest of California today. Innovation isn't always about a brand new idea. Innovation can be about how do we make that ideal work in a specific community and we have to innovate. A key component of this is really making the teachers the agents of change and that they themselves are able to understand what they're trying, what's not working, and then to be architects. We have to work people and bring them up through the system who represent these communities. I think that is not just symbolic, but it is necessary.