“I’ve endured a lot of challenges and adversities throughout life,” Dr. Shree Walker told the Los Angeles Sentinel. “I’m resilient. I’m a resilient woman. And that’s how Resilient Walker clicked.”
Resilient Walker is the title of all things – Dr. Shree Walker’s book, the name of her company, as well as the word’s the educator, motivational speaker, and CEO lives by.
To be a Resilient Walker is to walk through pain and heartbreak into joy and comfort, to proceed through trials and tears, to stop to smile and play, to withstand torment, to sing loudly, to be present, to show empathy, to withstand the evil in order to do the greater good. To be a Resilient Walker is to realize the world is full of monster with friendly faces and angels full of scars. To be a Resilient Walker means never to be only resilient or only walking, but to marry the two so they can hold hands with one who knows the difference.
Dr. Shree Walker is a Los Angeles native who is changing lives through her dynamic work in diversity and inclusion with education systems. By emphasizing the theme of “school connectedness” (the sense of being care for, supported, and belonged at school), she has spent years trying to ensure that students get an education that can accelerate and support the rocket-launch of their lives.
“When I was younger, school was a refuge for me.” Dr. Walker grew up attending Los Angeles schools such as Ninety-Second Elementary and Charles Drew Middle School. “I was a transient student, living a life with a lot of traumas, but I’d always known I wanted to be a teacher.”
She continued with, “To be a teacher, you start off with being connected with yourself, but you also have to connect to the people that you serve. You have to navigate these worlds with the mindset of what drew you to become an educator, but then when you’re in the classroom how do you connect with students who don’t look like you? How do you connect with students who don’t speak the same language as you? How do you connect with students who you know have the same invisible scars you have, however, there’s some type of barrier?”
Walker’s own experiences growing up and dealing with adversities is what led her to understand what works in schools and what doesn’t. She quotes the infamous Maya Angelou, mentioning, “people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”
“People want to be seen, and it starts with the way [educators] connect with students in the short period of times that they’re in our classrooms, or with parents in the short period of time we speak with them on the phone. How do we deal with these people as they’re navigating the adversities of life?” said Walker, “As a teacher, as an administrator, we have to look at perceptions and how we see people.”
With the differences that makes us our own unique individuals, one thing that we’ll always have in common is our resiliency. Walker explains this in her professional workshops, where she’s able to educate teachers, faculties, and staff on how to properly cater to the needs of diverse learners. She believes that it’s extremely vital for those within education systems to take note in how they look at the world around them—your attitudes, mindsets, and dispositions—because it affects one’s attitudes and performances towards their students.
Dr. Walker also discussed how a lack of school connectedness directly affects the mental health of students—especially those of color. With mental health often looked down on amongst some in the black community, it is important that school is a place where black students can get and seek help.
“We are free to heal ourselves, and we’re free to heal others,” explained the CEO. “Having the ability to empower others to know and understand their truths is the only way to inspire change.”
This ability to aspire change is Dr. Shree Walker’s favorite part of her job.
“I’m a hope injector,” she said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
With time, Dr. Walker hopes to see school systems do what they’re structured to do. She doesn’t plan to stop until her mission is accomplished.
“[School systems] are meant to challenge students, teach them how to critically think, teach them to be a vital part of the community, give them a voice and educate the whole child—mind, body, and soul. This starts with how we make people feel. We need to make sure [as educators] that we’re actually teaching students to be the best version of themselves, and have high expectations based on each individualized student.”
For information on Dr. Shree Walker, and her services, you can visit her website: https://www.resilientwalker.com. There, you can also get information on her book “Resilient Walker”, also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible, IBooks, and Walmart.
