Full circle outreach

“It would have been really easy to say this is the lot I’ve been given in my life, and this is just what I’m going to do. I am going to follow in the footsteps of other people in my community,” said Bryant, noting how, while a child there in the ‘80s, he could have easily given in to a future of farmwork.

Bryant was being raised by his loving grandparents; his parents were in the military, and he wouldn’t meet his mother in person until age 15. His grandparents barely had a third-grade education and weren’t given the needed opportunities to read well. The home Bryant lived in didn’t have air conditioning, yet “we didn’t know how poor we were … In the moment, it was great for us. We did not go without.”

Bryant said that at the time he thought everyone had a similar experience. But when he began his schooling, he and his twin brother were placed into reading remediation through what was then known as Chapter I, now Title I, “because we did not grow up with the books that so many other of our classmates had, and it was important that we received extra services to help overcome our reading deficiency.”

Today, though, Bryant looks back on it all through tears of gratitude to his immediate and extended family — that of his grandparents for pushing the importance of his classroom schooling and that of his many teachers who opened the door of opportunity. For you see, today, that child from Webb, Alabama, is now known as Dr. Bryant.

Bryant earned his doctorate degree in Administration of Elementary and Secondary Education from Auburn in 2015, and he’s a clinical professor in Auburn University’s College of Education. For the past four years, and most fittingly, he has also been the director of the College of Education’s Truman Pierce Institute, which aims to help students of rural areas just like Webb.

“Working on the doctorate for me here at Auburn gave me the opportunity to really come full circle,” Bryant said, adding that the support he received from such professors as Fran Kochan and Lisa Kensler was vital in his efforts to join the world of academia.

Long before Auburn and back in Webb, Bryant was already eyeing a brighter future at a very early age.

“The joke is I was born a teacher,” he said with a laugh. “I can remember as a nine-year-old, 10-year-old, after school, I was that kid going to my room and playing school because I adored the teachers I had.”

That desire to teach led him to a unique approach to babysitting his cousins during the summer. To keep them busy, he said he would “take them to school,” putting them through math and reading lessons.

“We joke now that it was great practice because that’s where I learned classroom management,” he said.

Ultimately, Bryant not only led summer babysitting classes but proved his capabilities at school, finishing fourth in his graduating class.

Along the way, he said, many teachers looked beyond his circumstances and did all they could to support him.

“There are so many,” he said when asked if he had a favorite teacher. “And that’s when the tears would start because it wasn’t easy, and most people knew our family. I think every teacher had an impact.”

After graduating high school, Bryant went to Troy University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in general science secondary education and his education specialist degree in instructional leadership.

He landed a job as a science teacher at Opelika High School and eventually became one of the school’s assistant principals for seven years. He was then ready for his next step, becoming a principal at South Girard School in Phenix City, Alabama, a school solely for eighth graders. After four years there, he moved to the principal position at Sylacauga High School, during which time he completed his doctorate degree through Auburn. That’s when Bryant was told Auburn had an open position in its education leadership program that was clinically based — “which was my skillset, working in the field with teachers.”

He said he knew the role was perfect for him as it would allow him to have an even greater impact. Bryant began working at Auburn in January 2016, “and we’ve been rocking and rolling ever since,” he said.

In 2020, he was named the director of the Truman Pierce Institute, which he says furthered his platform of giving back to students in need and supporting teachers in rural areas.

“I’m in a unique position between TPI and educational leadership to work with teachers and teacher leaders and administrators in the state of Alabama as we think about professional development and just supporting their needs as educators but then also working with their students,” he said.

Bryant said the work he oversees through TPI is “birth to career,” noting that TPI works with the youngest of learners as well as the professionals who work in childcare/daycare centers and teachers/administrators. That work involves providing them with professional development.

“We remind them they’re the first teacher for many of these kids,” he said of daycare workers.

Since taking the helm as the TPI director, Bryant has sought to grow the reach of the TPI, most recently with his collaborative work in securing a seven-year, $18.4 million grant received from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education. That grant funds Auburn’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Achieve initiative. The effort, started in 2023, is being led by the College of Education’s TPI and University Outreach to provide greater access and opportunities to more than 6,500 middle school students in seven regions of Alabama, including the Black Belt as well as urban areas of Birmingham and Montgomery and into the northeast portion of the state.

The grant will follow the GEAR UP students for seven years through high school and into their first year of postsecondary education to help ensure greater post-secondary access and success. GEAR UP Achieve is designed to improve access to high-quality literacy and mathematics instruction; leverage state-level data to monitor students’ academic progress; support school counselors, career coaches and academic advisors in guiding students toward higher education opportunities; assist students and their families in navigating the college admissions process and preparing to meet Alabama’s workforce needs; and increase awareness of the costs of higher education and provide technical assistance to students and their families in completing the requirements to receive financial aid.

“At the end of the day, we want contributing members of society, and the only way they can contribute is to give them that opportunity to engage and interact and think about the future,” Bryant said.

Tessie Williams, the deputy superintendent of the Tallassee City Schools System, said the efforts of Bryant and the GEAR UP program have already had an impact on their students.

“Tallassee City Schools System sincerely appreciates Dr. Jason Bryant for including Southside Middle School in the GEAR Up Achieve grant application,” she said. “As a testament to Dr. Bryant’s vision for success, choosing the right fit for our students is paramount. The school liaison, Imma Sanders, has proved to be a wealth of resources for our students.

She added that “Leadership is action, and it is clear that Dr. Jason Bryant has set the foundation for the actions required (personnel, programs, and partnership) for GEAR UP Achieve to be a successful program for years to come.”

Bryant said many of the students in the program are dealing with issues of access to needed technology and other resources vital to learning.

“It’s real easy to think it’s 2024, and people have access to everything they need. We take so much for granted. We can’t take anything for granted because we don’t know where these kids are coming from, and I’m the perfect example of that.”

For Bryant, it’s heartwarming to know his efforts and those of the TPI and GEAR UP are making a difference.

“The full circle moment is providing those opportunities,” he said. “At the end of the day, we want contributing members of society, and the only way they can contribute is to give them that opportunity to engage and interact and think about the future.”

Bryant said that while he wants students to focus on their future, he also doesn’t want their past overlooked.

“It’s great to remember the good stuff, but we can’t forget the hard stuff either because it’s the hard stuff that really helps define who we are,” he said.

He also trains teachers to truly learn about each of their students’ backgrounds.

“As an educator, it’s our responsibility to find out what their story is,” he said.

Students, he noted, should see school as a buffet with opportunities galore, and teachers should make the classroom like Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth.

“The school day is your opportunity to give them the world because we don’t know what they’re going to go to when they leave,” he said, adding that’s why engaging with a student’s community is just as crucial.

Bryant strongly believes that learning is at the heart of all progress.

“Regardless of where you come from, regardless of what obstacles are in your way, education is truly the way for people to move upward,” he said. “And I’m a testament to that.”

Bryant said that if he could go back in time and speak to his third-grade self, he would say that it’s all going to be OK and that “you’ve got people in your path (to help you). You just keep pushing forward.”

And with his sights set on leaving a legacy, he said his goal is to offer that same encouragement and help to others who share a similar story.

“That’s really my why — I want to make a difference because somebody made a difference for me.”