Episode 4: Growing your passion into a project with Lucy Filppu
Join your host Betsy Bush as she speaks with English Teacher Lucy Filppu. They discuss how Lucy started the Palo Alto Writing Academy rooted in her passion for writing, how she makes her students feel welcomed and engaged in a virtual classroom, and fulfilling her purpose through her impactful teaching career and side hustles.
Resources:
Transcript:
Betsy Bush (00:54):
I am so excited to have Lucy Filppu on the podcast today. Lucy embodies the spirit of the latest version because she combines her passion for writing and language, with creativity and entrepreneurship in a way that is inspiring. And frankly gets my sparks. Flying. Lucy is an English teacher at Palo Alto high school where she is taught since 2008. She's a leader in her department and on the school campus. And in 2020, she was named a US presidential scholars program, distinguished teacher. When one of her students was one of just 161, graduating seniors in the entire country to win this award. And we'll talk to her about how she's taken her passion for teaching to the next level. When she founded the Palo Alto writing academy as a summer side gig, that is blossoming in this age of COVID Lucy, Filppu I'm
Betsy Bush (01:57):
So happy to have you on the latest version today. And I should say we met many decades ago when you are a California girl, but you came to New York city to seek your fortune as do so many young people. We are actually second cousins and I'll get that out right now. And this is how we know each other. So well, our mothers were first cousins and we might get to that later. Right? You were always hustling for jobs writing jobs, writing gigs, all sorts of things. Just kind of fill us in on some of the stuff you were doing. I mean, it's kind of amazing, right? Art foundation law firm, right? The corporate newsletter world. Those sorts of things.
Lucy Filppu (02:42):
It's so great to be here for the latest version. I am so excited for what you're doing and I feel like we're always developing the latest version of ourselves. So when you speak about my time in New York, while it seems like a long time ago, that was a version of a 20 something out of college, trying to figure out the romantic life of a writer in New York, which is not so romantic. Right, right. It's called freelancing and not making enough money and getting your B job at a law firm. So you can maybe write on the side. But it was a great place to be, to kind of feel the energy of people who hustled. They had more than one job often. They understood what it meant to have a day job and a night job an A job and a B job. So those were really blossoming years for me.
Betsy Bush (03:32):
Yeah. And you did it well enough that you had your own apartment. You, you made enough money. No, listen, not everybody can do that.
Lucy Filppu (03:42):
We won't tell anyone how big it was. But yes, I have my own apartment. If you lay horizontal and were over six feet tall, it might get cramped, but we don't have to discuss that. I did, I had my own apartment and I like to think that young people today still have opportunities. And I do believe they do, especially in a beautiful city, like New York with so many chances to, to get involved. I wrote for newspapers, I worked at law firms. I worked at gosh, alumni groups. If you were open and willing to work, there was a lot of work available. This was the eighties. And I want to believe that's always true. So those foundations of hard work were absolutely there.
Betsy Bush (04:23):
I guess your last job in New York, you were actually at Time magazine.
Lucy Filppu (04:28):
I yeah, it didn't start very glamorous. It's, it's very competitive at Time and there's some brilliant people there, but I had a really unique opportunity that I think launched my interest in teaching, Time magazine and a younger version called Time for Kids were launched not time magazine itself, but a teaching guide to help teachers bring the news to, to children everywhere from elementary school kids up through high school kids. And I was part of all those endeavors and it made the news relevant for young people. And that captured my attention. I really enjoyed the work of extending current events to our rising generations. And I think without me even knowing it, I always wanted to be a quote writer. But I thank Time Inc for giving me my early exposure to the idea that teaching would eventually become very interesting for me.
Betsy Bush (05:21):
So after about 10 years in New York, you went back to California.
Lucy Filppu (05:27):
I did. I went back to California and for our listeners today or for anyone, the latest version often means you move, you change, you start over. So I joined a startup like everybody else in 1996 in the internet world. And of course even today as a content person, I was in a really good fit. I came from the content world. I went into a startup for kids. And those were really exciting years until I got disrupted to use the Silicon valley term by pregnancy and marriage. And so then I found that latest version of being a working mom. And that led me of course to saying, what am I really doing here? And for me raising children, wasn't like I dropped out of the work world or some version of myself. I actually got more contemplative about what it is. So I really want to be doing to balance everything. And that actually launched my interest in teaching.
Betsy Bush (06:28):
So you had to get a teaching certificate and had to commute to grad school with two little kids at home, not easy getting to that next version of yourself. Do you remember what that was like?
Lucy Filppu (06:43):
Barely and again, I think some of us can relate to this and I do want to say if you're lucky as I am to have a partner my husband without that kind of help, I think going to night school with babies, I mean, God bless these people. So it is a blur of driving my mommy warrior minivan into the tiny garage next to the beat up student cars and having falling apart in my classes at 10:00 PM. Cause I had to go home and clean up and take care of kids. And I had a professor and I want to give a shout out to all our professors in higher education. I had a lovely woman professor who also had kids at home and was flying from Southern California to Northern California for her job because this was the teaching job she had.
Lucy Filppu (07:32):
And I said, I don't know if I can do it. I'm just too tired. I'm teaching at the high school, I'm taking care of my kids. I'm lesson planning, I'm getting six hours of sleep a night and she pulled me aside and she said, you're going to do it. There is no way you're dropping out. I'm doing it. You're going to do it. And I think as on behalf of working women or anyone, but that was my journey. I needed another woman to tell me, no, you are not stopping. And of course, in order to be a teacher, you must have a teaching credential. If you want to teach in the public sector as I do. So kind of finessing your way in is not an option. You have to have the credentials. So I'm so grateful for those role models.
Betsy Bush (08:16):
That's amazing. So you were very lucky you happened to be living in the neighborhood that you're teaching in. So you don't have the long commute. A lot of teachers do or so you live in the same community that you teach in. And that must be an interesting experience
Lucy Filppu (08:33):
Well, of course, we're in the pandemic now, so my students can't see me anyway, but if they did they'd think, well, there's my funky crazy teacher. And you know, it's actually one of the greatest things in my whole life. I absolutely love seeing the kids, whether they like seeing me or not depends on the, on the kid, seeing your weird middle-aged teacher, probably isn't the high of your weekend, if you're a normal 15 year old, but it is a gift to be able to be involved in my community. And I must say not until I became a public teacher in my own community did I have the feeling of connection and purposeful work that I have now? And that's pretty special. So I'm really grateful for that.
Betsy Bush (09:16):
Your school, the high school, where you teach is right across the street from Stanford university, which is no pressure, you know, the hardest university, the most selective university the place. Well, you have parents who teach at the university whose kids are in your high school and lots of kids who want to go to that university. So it's, it sounds like it's kind of a pressure cooker environment for kids, especially in the areas I would imagine of math and science. And here you are teaching English. What do you think those kids are getting from a, an English curriculum? The kind of things that you put together, because what you're asking them to do is, is not what maybe they think is going to get them into Stanford, but maybe they're wrong about that too.
Lucy Filppu (10:10):
Right? Well, there's kind of, there's two things there, right? So first Stanford, you know, all hail Stanford, blessed Stanford. I don't know what a good analogy to this, but to simply say, you know, if your parent is the king, you probably get used to that. And they're just your parent at the end of the day. And Stanford places, it has a place in our community, but I think what I really try to focus on is the fact that it's just a neighbor and the truth is every kid out there today needs to understand that higher education is a ticket. We know this through employment numbers. We know through life outcomes, we know through the poverty level, but Stanford has only one avenue. And quite honestly, it's such a tiny, tiny little avenue for a very small number of students, including ours.
Lucy Filppu (11:01):
So we kind of laugh about it. Humor is a great office to the elephant in the room. Yes, I have Stanford professor kids. Yes. We have kids who go to Stanford, mostly through legacy. Let's be clear they have a leg up, but I try not to let that become a dominating factor nor do I pretend I'm a professor. I'm quite grateful. I'm not a professor. I love being a high school teacher and a public high school teacher. So we don't have a pre-selection. I'm not teaching kids all at some high level. I teach anything that can show our district. You have a legal zip code. You are welcome at our school. You do not have to be a legal citizen. We don't care anything about you. As long as you can show you live within our school boundaries, you have a seat in my classroom. So for me, that is the greatest thing ever.
Betsy Bush (11:53):
Because we think of Palo Alto as an extremely affluent community, but like a lot of zip codes or school district boundaries, there are lower income parts of Palo Alto. And those students are also part of your class.
Lucy Filppu (12:09):
That's right. And honestly, when a parent decides, and this isn't to debate public versus private schools, but because we do have a fair number of students whose parents are part of a Stanford community, we have the majority of our parents have master's degrees or higher. They have selected a public school because they understand the citizenry of what that means. And that's a beautiful thing we do have. It's not a huge amount, but we have our free and reduced lunch kids. We have students of who are first-generation who identify that way. So the answer is, Stanford's a neighbor. That's how I think of it regarding English. I think the language arts are going to be vital no matter where you're going. And I don't pay a whole lot of attention to colleges in general because I'm not talking to kids about English at college. They can do that. Then I'm trying to reach them in those foundational years of high school, when critical thinking and the foundations of cause and effect, reasoning, extensive vocabulary, nuance, all the things we want, our young people to be able to know and learn are what I'm worrying about. So hello, Stanford - next! Don't I sound like a good Palo Alto snob?
Betsy Bush (13:26):
You know a lot of us as parents, we might have teens who, you know, are teens for in high school for four years. Then they go off to college and we don't really…. and because of our teen parent relationships, there are certain things that are kept at arm's length. I don't think any of us really get to know our kids as well as maybe our teachers know our kids. And yet there's all that energy and the newness and that sort of thing. What sort of thing are you getting from your students or what are you learning from your students about learning and, you know, being in the moment and, and living in this digital age, when most of us, you know, might've graduated 30, 40 years ago and are kind of, you know, their experience is not what our experience was. What are you getting from your kids?
Lucy Filppu (14:19):
Well, I get so much, you know, we do have a youth obsessed culture. One could argue in America, but if, and this is my bias, but I actually don't think we spend a lot of time listening to teenagers. I think we marginalize them. We have obviously full of social media where they may find their place, but I am thinking about the Parkland shootings. I'm thinking about the times when teenagers actually used agency and spoke truth to power. And I see that every day in my work. And so quite honestly, I think adults would do themselves a great service. It doesn't matter if you have children or not. I think they would do a great service to themselves if they, they took a listen through their church communities, through their parks and recs. You know, what are teenagers thinking about? They're thinking about all the things we think about, but they're also, and this of course is a sweeping generalization, but there is an idealism to the young that I will take any day over cynical, know-it-all adults.
Lucy Filppu (15:19):
And I find, for example, this summer things like the black lives matter movement, things like what is really safe choices around masking in the pandemic. The kids I'm working with, they're ready to have hard conversations. They are open to considering different points of view. I just find it very exciting. I say every day I spent half my career with adults --I'll spend the second half with minors and I'll take teenagers. Quite honestly. I find them really fun. They're enjoyable, they're witty, they're a mess. And so maybe it's their obvious vulnerabilities that have touched me so much because they haven't learned the tricks of the coverup.
Betsy Bush (16:06):
Thinking about keeping up with the latest, whatever, and that's what people, our age, whatever our age is. What are you learning from your students? Do they have life hacks that you've tuned into?
Lucy Filppu (16:21):
I love it. Life hacks. You have all the good titles. You know, they do. I mean, I think it's kind of funny. Always I, this is flattering myself, but I'm like, I'll be the Bernie Sanders teacher. If the people want me, they will come. And so I don't try
Betsy Bush (16:37):
But you need the Bernie Sanders mittens.
Lucy Filppu (16:40):
That would be so contrived. So I've got to have my, I have scars now, but I find with teenagers trying to be like them is not the game at all. They can smell a hypocrite a mile away, which is why it's a wonderful career to go into in middle-age or wherever I am. I feel very confident I can age in place as an English teacher and be as funky and weird and quote Shakespeare as much as I want. And the kids will be into it. In terms of life hacks. I think teenagers may not have any, I can report to you, but they sure need room to experiment to find them. Uwe have a beautiful time right now. I believe in our culture. We have lots of kids as examples. I think we have far more dialogue around mental health than we had when I was growing up.
Lucy Filppu (17:24):
We have far more dialogue around kids who are questioning sexuality, trans kids, bi-kids, whatever their space and place is in, in their coming of age. I think I learned from them what, what you need to give them are words you need to give them ways to express what is going on. So we have a vocabulary around mental health and sexuality and racial justice and social justice. That was a foreign entity to me. And I love that. So at least they have the language for a life hack. If you will, a way to define themselves
Betsy Bush (18:03):
It's so good to see the shame that we knew in our generation dissipating, somewhat, let's hope, right? We knew so many kids who were, who were ashamed of what they thought they were and felt inside and had to hide from the rest of the world, from their parents, especially in their family.
Lucy Filppu (18:22):
I do want to say, though, I do think we have a dark cloud while I have any audience at all. I recommend everyone see [the movie] The Social Dilemma. I think this generation is facing the new quarters of shame are probably on social media and the capitalization of the human and their affinities and their addictions. And I think that has, has hurt our young people. And I think corporate America needs to take some responsibility for that. So we're reading 1984 right now, and we're talking about systems of mind oppression and mind ownership. And I want young people to have vocabulary to understand the capitalism involved in owning their mind. Amazing. And that's very, very
Betsy Bush (19:13):
All current and future podcast creators tandem is a new podcasting hosting platform built by podcasters for podcasters. They offer hosting advanced analytics, editing services, and a new way to connect to your fellow podcasting community. Tandem knows that podcasters are connectors. We want to start conversations there. Real-Time member chat, lets you tell your friends, you loved their latest episodes or you can invite a fellow host onto your show. I think we all know posts make the best guests for all you veteran podcasters tandem can seamlessly transfer your show and carry over your subscribers and download analytics. Visit tandem podcasting.com today to learn more that's tandem podcasting.com.
Betsy Bush (20:08):
I want to talk now about the thing that has so impressed me, well everything about you and you are amazing, but a few years ago you made use of your summer vacations by turning it into well, you tapped into an entrepreneurial streak that you have and you started something called the Palo Alto writing academy. So I want you to tell me about that idea and how you started that.
Lucy Filppu (20:40):
And I can also say like maybe some people here I have college tuition to pay and we're always thinking about whatever latest version you take. What, you know, I get a lot of requests for tutoring. And what I decided to is many people are familiar with all these tutoring businesses that are all over neighborhoods, especially afluent neighborhoods. But I was bothered by this idea that one Stanford student can teach a ninth grader how to write, because that is not my practice. That is not how kids learn to use language arts. So I started an academy and it runs during the summer Palo Alto writing academy. People can look it up. I'm doing it virtually now, which is a hit. And I am grateful to say, I, you know, I've kept up with all the tricks and tools. I use all the online programs, but good teaching isn't about technology.
Lucy Filppu (21:33):
It never has been. It's about strong pedagogy, great connections with students, meaningful literature. I know how to pick a good story and deliver on that story to help kids learn, to think critically and write about what they read and what they think. So and it's, it's satisfied my entrepreneurial side because public school teaching will not satisfy that. I try, but being a tenured teacher within a archaic system can be very frustrating. Honestly, I'm self-driven but the entrepreneurial side of my business has really allowed me to play with learning and it's my own school. So in the summer I run my own schools. So that's very rewarding. I do whatever I want.
Betsy Bush (22:19):
So when you started this, you were renting classrooms in a school building and recruiting. Now you started, and maybe you've changed this a bit. You started with middle school students who were transitioning into
Lucy Filppu (22:35):
To high school. So I started that and that's a vulnerable year. Eighth to ninth grade is a very vulnerable year and I still specialize. If you will, I teach it in my classroom. I rent my classroom out from the school and that's been very enjoyable and fun. And it's like my own school. I have had more business than I know what to do with, but what happened with the pandemic, which I think is interesting. When we talk about versions of ourselves, versions of business, where people are going, I didn't know what would happen. I knew I wasn't going back to school. So I went a hundred percent online and what I found out, I've taped a lot of my lessons. I've, I've doubled myself. So I have videos of myself. I can also teach in person I'm out on Google docs. I'm all over the place with my students.
Lucy Filppu (23:22):
And I found this version, if you will, this kind of online version, this virtual version of my work gave me more opportunity to give writing feedback than in person. So I think the pandemic, in my opinion, is disrupting best practices for teaching because student interruptions, the same kid coming up to the teacher over and over again. I don't think we can quantify that until we're not allowed to have it, how much that can take away from giving to other students, but in the virtual world, I'm very intentional about my feedback in time and I have much more control and I give every kid a lot of feedback. So I love it. I love it in that way. And I know there's been talk about the kids. Don't get socialization. They're not making friends. I'm kind of changing my view. I feel for a one-week workshop, your kid is probably not going to make a best friend there. And a lot of kids resent the camp. They're tired. They don't want to be there. They parents don't want to deal with getting them there. So I'm probably going to stick with this for awhile because I think it's giving, it's giving families and students some flexibility and frankly, probably more feedback for me. Wow.
Betsy Bush (24:34):
That's incredible. And if it's online, you can have students from anywhere in the --
Lucy Filppu (24:39):
I get lots of requests from other parts of the country. I get a lot of requests from Asia, my cup runneth over. I, you know, I don't, I'm not looking for more work right now, but I am interested in reaching kids. It's my passion.
Betsy Bush (24:55):
Amazing. You know, we're cousins as we've said and our mothers were cousins. First cousins were second cousins and our mothers shared a, who have both passed away. Now my mom four years ago, your mom, a couple years ago, they were good friends. There's something about your writer. I've kind of dabble. There's something that happens when your parents are gone. That can really kind of release something inside of the creative parts of us that make us want to explore what was going on then in a way that is harder. If your parent is still alive, even if she's in another state or, you know, there's something that might be inhibiting about just that, you know, worried that, oh, I can't say that because what would my mother think? And, and once the sadly, once that person has passed, it kind of opens up something inside of some of us. And I'm wondering you are exploring some new creative avenues around your family history. And I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about something you're doing something that you've never done before.
Lucy Filppu (26:16):
That's right. It's you know, I have, I have a master's degree from NYU in creative writing and literature. So I've written short stories. I've had some poems published, but I've certainly had more journalism published. And lately with my teaching, I haven't really been actively trying to publish. But I think in thinking about the spirit of this program, I think the beauty of recreating ourselves is following those instincts. So yeah, I'm in a very exciting part of my I'm writing a novel which is why my summer business. I can hardly keep up with all this. I'm learning that putting time into one's art needs to be treated as carefully as any other way of spending time with ourselves. So I am writing a novel that takes place in Kentucky, where our mothers come from Betsy and I'm in a writing workshop. And I'm I find at this age and stage in my life, I've written a lot, but my voice, my clarity, my commitment is at a new level. I'm finding the creativity is on, there is no limit. We know lots of writers who find their voice in later in life. So I'm, I'm excited. That's pretty much the main thing right now, but I've so many other side projects and I have a full-time job, but I'm trying to,
Betsy Bush (27:30):
And, and you still have a kid at home who goes off to college fingers crossed next year.
Lucy Filppu (27:36):
Yes. We have a very present senior in high school. Who's really mad that she doesn't get to be at school and is stuck home with her incredibly boring parents and her loud Yippy dog. And isn't it a hard life. So it's been, I think a lot of people can relate to that. And our son in college talks to us when he feels like it. But I think the beauty of these projects for ourselves is I don't want to be left holding the bag when my daughter goes to school. And I know I'm going to have a breakdown, of course, because it's going to be a huge change for us. But I think I, if we listened to that drive, we keep doing things and it's it's a wonderful coping mechanism, but it's also our agency. It's, it's appropriate timing. Our kids get to a point, at least mine. They're not asking to be over parented. You know, at, maybe over parenting becomes a way to not face what we might be doing with our time. I don't know.
Betsy Bush (28:43):
You know, I, I think that, you know, some people do reach you know, when the last kid goes off to college, it's, you know, it's empty. And, and I, I encourage everyone to, you know, keep a hand in something, some, some kind of adult activity, cause you're going to need it. When the, when the shock of the, oh my gosh, all the bedrooms upstairs are empty. You know, all the kids' rooms are, are kind of have turned into, you know, kid museums of, and
Lucy Filppu (29:14):
this is my be unlucky cause I'm a teacher and I feel very much a public service commitment. And I'm involved in that regard in my work. But I do think we raise kids. We're givers. We give, give, give to our children. And I, I think we have a large part of the population with tremendous energy to give back. So I always thought, you know, I would always want to be reading to young children. I'd want to bring the things I, to be good at. And we all have our lists because there's plenty of things I'm not good at, but the things I, I do know how to do. And I enjoy go out there and read to kids who are lacking vocabulary, who are not starting kindergarten with enough words. That's like one of the single biggest issues with the achievement gap between kids. So I just think that purposeful time spent can help everybody. That's why we're on the planet, right? Throw yourself into something.
Betsy Bush (30:10):
That is such a great idea, Lucy. And, and not to forget, our mothers lived to be into their early nineties, which means that we have several decades of productive living to do, right. That's something we should be intentional about and not just allow to happen to us or kind of like pass by, or, you know, I'm going to ask you which I do for all my guests. Do you have three pieces of advice you would want to pass on to, to our listener who is contemplating what is going to be her next version? Sure.
Lucy Filppu (30:55):
My first piece of advice is pick your people without my husband's support, I could not have become a teacher. I, there is no way I could have done it emotionally, spiritually, but also helping wise. So wherever you are, whether you have a full family or you're a person who lives on your own, find your people, find that, find the people who actually will sit and have coffee with you and hold you accountable and ask you how you're doing with whatever that thing is. So my first piece of advice is find your people and also let all naysayers go, like, just let them go because they're negative. So just let them go. I've I've had those and let them go. The second piece of advice, I guess, would be financial. This is new for me, cause I was like you in New York, running around figure out how much money you need to be financially comfortable.
Lucy Filppu (31:48):
But if you're in an, a position later in life to figure out your next version and you have some financial security try to get very honest about what you want to do and not make that the main focus. There's lots of ways to give you. It may not be that you're going to make money doing your next thing. Maybe you're going to become the main person that starts the reading initiative at the library, or really works hard to reach the very frail seniors in your community. So I just think service doesn't have to be about money, even though I have a business and I'm a public school teacher, but so find your people get clear about the economics. Is that good enough? And then ask yourself what you really like to do when you're a little kid.
Betsy Bush (32:37):
And did you like to write?
Lucy Filppu (32:40):
I spent hours and hours in the tree making up stories like ours and this is pre screens, but what did you like to do? Like what gave you your quiet little kid high? And that, I don't know. That's always been really a clue for me. I follow a program called the artist's way, Julia Cameron. And I recommend that to everybody. It's a book it's been out a long time, but what did the little kid in you enjoy? Honor that it's been a long time.
Betsy Bush (33:10):
That's incredible, Lucy. That is absolutely fabulous. And you know what? I think we're going to leave it right there because I can't think of a better way to round out the show. Great. Three tips. And you know, just as we, you know, what you were talking about, the finances, I think it's always for women. It's always a question of, is it a legitimate way to spend your life if you're not making money? And for a lot of us, it's the service, it's the contribution to the wider world. That's more important. If we are fortunate enough to, to have some sort of financial security that our worth is not dependent on the amount of money we make and, and that's just so important, Lucy, Phil pu thank you so much for joining me on the latest version, please. If you're interested in the Palo Alto writing academy, it's on the web and you can look for more information on the latest version podcast.com. Lucy. Love you. Thank you
Lucy Filppu (34:17):
So much. Thank you, Betsy.