Ep 124 | Do clothes make the student?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

They walk different, they talk different, they walk around with a sense of pride, you know, self-worth, it's empowerment to them, you know, build a self-esteem up. So if I can get them to do all these things in the classroom, it's gonna be easy. It definitely is gonna be easy on the football field.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Have you ever had a case of the Mondays? Has your child have they ever tried to go to school in the clothes they slept in? My next guest is changing both those things with what his students have called Standing on Business Mondays, where his football players proudly sport suits and ties on Monday mornings. He's the SOAR Academy Director and football coach at Pine Forest High School who has led his team in two state championships and one national championship. Today he's going to share how elevating the outer has transformed the inner for his football players and beyond. Dressing sharp and shaping futures, old school and Pensacola proud, Coach Marquette Oliver. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

You know, some would consider getting high schoolers just like to school on time, a miracle in itself. But getting them to school on time on a Monday and dress like they're going to a job interview is pretty next level. What's the origin story of how this started?

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Well, it started with a football team. Um, we wanted to go in a different route direction and try to do something for the freshmen to instill discipline. But the freshmen are always walking around, you know, they're saying this from rap songs. They were like, Well, we standing on business, we standing on business. So I took that concept and say, okay, well, we're standing on business. Let's dress up on Mondays. And we start our week out by standing on business. So we prepare ourselves on Mondays for the rest of the week. We started dressing up. We wanted them to dress up, be different, feel good about themselves. It took the uh look from sports about look good, feel good, play good. So, okay, we're gonna take that from the athletic field to the classroom. So we're gonna look good, feel good about the way we walk around school, and we're gonna carry this to the classroom and we're gonna stand on business.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

And so initially, what was their reaction to your uh uh suggestion from this rap song lyric to now you're gonna come to school on Monday and you're gonna be dressed?

SPEAKER_00 2:57

A lot of them hated it.

unknown 2:59

I bet.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

They actually sound crazy. Like, well, a lot of them try to get out of and make an excuse as well. We don't have shirts and ties. That's not an issue. We're gonna provide those things for you, which we did provide shirts, ties. A lot of guys didn't know how to tie ties, but we showed them how to tie ties and you know, just showed them how to redress and be neat. And they bought into it. And once they bought into it, and they started doing it, and they started getting compliments from the little classmates and the girls and the teachers, and they just started feeling good about themselves. And it went from there, not just with the football team, it started permeating out through the school. We had other students started dressing up. We had staff members started dressing up.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

What? Even the staff members?

SPEAKER_00 3:48

We had plenty of staff members. I I mean, actually, now it's to the point on Mondays, staff members call me and like, where you have, we gotta take our pictures. Come on, we gotta take our pictures. It's been a good thing for the school as a whole. Everybody's buying into it and we enjoy it and we have a good time with it.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Wow. Okay, so for the students who didn't own dress-up clothes, you said we got them dress-up clothes. Did you personally end up paying for their dress-up clothes?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

I purchased a couple of items along with our navigator at the school. We got some items for them, shirts, ties, or maybe some slacks or belts or whatever. And uh, you know, for my boys, I tell them I love them. So the only way to prove it to them is showing them that I love them. So that money that I spent means nothing to me to see the smiles on their face and see how happy they are when they're walking around dressed up.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

It really changes the way they see themselves.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Oh, yes, absolutely. They walk different, they talk different, they walk around with a sense of pride, you know, it's self-worth, it's empowerment to them, you know, build a self-esteem up. So if I can get them to do all these things in the classroom, it's gonna be easy. It definitely is gonna be easy on the football field.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

So tell me more about your students. Who are they? What are they like?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Well, we got football players from all different walks. You know, some are less fortunate than others, some of them defeated, been defeated. I mean, they they're going through some things. So as a coach, I have to be that person to try to help them get through these obstacles in life, make them stronger people, make them do better, make them want better. With standing on business was a great start for us. It brought us closer because we all look alike. We all walk wearing the same thing. We walking around. So we it's a family. So, and it's just more things that I added into it. It's like with the kids, a lot of our kids got away from respect. And the art, I go over certain things with them adequate, business adequate. You know, a lot of them say they want to be business owners. So if you want to be a business owner, let's look like a business person. Let's walk like a business person, let's talk like a business person, let's dress up. Even the art of handshaking. I explained to them how a lot of deals I see it with a handshake, you know, the respect, how you look shakes a person's hand firmly, look in their eyes. All these things are well, that they don't need in life. So it's good that I have an opportunity to work with them like that. And uh, they learn it and they apply it every day. They know they can't walk by me and not speak. I don't care how many times they walk by me a day, they gotta come shake my hand.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

I love that. So many programs, so many teachers can teach whatever, you know, it's it's just information. But something you said about I make them want better, like this has made them want it. That I think is the missing ingredients that so many parents wish that they could just wave a magic wand over their teenager and go, I just want them to want it.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yes. And you know, even me as a parent, some of the things that I wanted for my kids and what I wanted them to do, I couldn't get it across to them.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Both of my sons played football at Pine Forest as well. Fortunately, I was one of them, position coach. Yeah. And he had to hear it doing football practice. He had to hear it on the way home. But the things I tell him, he wouldn't listen to me. But I can go tell another coach, hey, tell Marquise this. And he'll act like it was the first time he heard it. Wasn't that crazy? It was like he just got Christmas presents or something. You know, he was happy. He was doing it and it worked. So I just learned like a lot of times as parents, we're not gonna be able to get across to our kids. Somebody else is gonna need. We always say it takes a village. So more people that we have working together, we can save our kids.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

It's so true. And I think that's an important but often forgotten aspect of the extra effort that does come along with having your kid be involved in extracurricular anything, right? But I also have observed that football at obviously the high school level and beyond, they as a culture seem to be more advanced and keyed in to the personal development side than other sports. I hear more stuff about football coaches talking about wellness as a person and visualizing success than I do golf, really just golf and football at my house. And do I know anything about either? No, sir, I do not. But I love the personal development side. And so my ear always perks up when I hear it. And I always hear it, you know, on Saturdays about how it's important to develop as a person and how each player talks about it. It's not just like Marty and McGee talking about it on the commentary. I mean, it is like the players, it's like part of that culture. And so for a parent who's like, oh, I'm not driving any of these extra things, I think what can be lost is the extra value that they're getting out of it. And so I wanted to ask you, since your history goes like you and Pine Forest are like peanut butter and jelly at this point. Was there someone or something in that football program for you that put you on this path of being personal development mindset?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

I want to say Coach Carl Madison played a major impact in my life, as well as Coach Jerry Pollard. In 1987, I had some problems with with my own life. And these coaches were there for me. I could have easily went to the streets, I could have done other things, but because the men they were and the lessons that we learned in football made me tough. It made me strong, made me a better person, built character. And they wouldn't let me because they cared for me to go do these other things that I shouldn't uh could have been doing that was wrong. They stuck by me all through my life. I've been thankful for some of the things they taught me and the way that they showed me. When I moved back to Pensacola back in 2000, the first place I went was to Pine Forest to see Coach Pollard. He was the head football coach at Pine Forest, and Coach Madison had moved on to a different program. And I started volunteering just to give back. And before I knew it, Coach Pollard had me coaching. It's just been a passion of mine ever since. So the lessons that I've learned and the things that I've seen other people do, along with other coaches out here, my little league coaches, and I seen a lot of blue-collar coaches, you know, like baseball, football, little league football, coaches getting off work, still got the uniforms on, just coming out, giving back. And that's that's just made a major impact in my life. So I wanted to be that person. Those were my role models.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Do your kids know your story?

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Uh not necessarily. I just told them, you know, sometimes I could have done something different. You know, I just want them to be better than what I was in school, and I'm gonna push you to your max potential. I want you to be great. I want you to be the best thing. And I always teach them, if I'm not the best, I'm gonna be one of the best. And if you live by that concept, whatever you do, you're gonna have to work. So while you're sleeping, somebody's up working. And you just we got one rule, do the right thing. If you do the right thing and you work get work ethic and you listen and you be respectful, they can carry you a long way in life. And my coaches, they had a blueprint for success. And the majority of us that played for them, we appreciate and love, and we appreciate that blueprint. And I just try to keep that blueprint going on that plant forest.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Have you ever met a player on your team that makes you think of yourself at that age?

SPEAKER_00 12:52

It's one every year or multiple every year. And it's like I have to explain to them like I'm hard on you because I care. I see something in you that I see in myself. And if it wasn't somebody pushing me, I don't know where I would be. So it's not that I hate you, it's because I love you. And I see the full potential of you that you don't see right now. And the things that you're doing are not gonna get you where you need to be.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

What kind of before and after have you seen in the students? What kind of transformation have you seen in the students after implementing the Stand on Business Mondays as far as you know measurable academic success, measurable trajectory of their lives?

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Well, with one thing I see a sense of pride. We have more school pride around the school. With the academics, I can say for our freshman football team, we always tell them like the importance of staying ahead with your freshman with your GPA because you get behind, you're gonna struggle all your high school career. And I use an example of the freshman basketball team. I say normally the freshman basketball coach have maybe 15 to 20 guys on a basketball team. And I say, well, normally five can play, but it's a reason why you got 15 kids or 20 kids on the team because most of y'all are gonna be ineligible when you get your four cards. And it looked in me, and I was like, hey, it's true. It happens every year. I see it, but we're not gonna fall into that trap anymore. So they just have freshman basketball trials, and Coach McKenzie told me to say, Coach, I can't believe how many kids are on an A honor roll or A B honor roll as freshmen, especially the football players. And I was like, wow, so we're doing something right.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

That is amazing. It must also help with attendance, right? Why would they miss the day to show up to school where all of the girls are complimenting them?

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yeah, most part they're gonna show up on Mondays anyway, because freshman football players play on Monday.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

So you don't show up, you're not gonna play in the game anyway. So if you miss school, you're not gonna play. If you're not dressed up, you're not gonna play. So it's a lot of things that they have to abide by in order to touch the field. And if your grades are not right, you're not gonna play. First and foremost, you're a student athlete. So we push, we punish them for when we're weekly grade checks, C's, that might be good for somebody else, but that's not good enough for us. Anything you see or below, you gotta run. We're not trying to be average. We want all our kids to be above average, and that's what we teach them. You from above average people, you work, your teachers are above average, so we want you to be above average. So we don't accept C's. I mean, that's good for your GPA, but we're pushing you to be a little better than average.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

More reasons to be proud of themselves, because no one's like, oh, look at me, I'm average. I feel so great about it. You know, but when you excel, you feel great about it. And I love that you're giving them more opportunities to excel than just it's more than just the clothes.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yes. It's the clothes is just a a part that helps motivators, you know. Like I say, anything I can do to help them feel better about themselves, have a sense of self-worth, build their self-esteem or hey, let's do it. I mean, the clothing part is minor. When I see the success in the classroom, them developing to young men, respectful young men, that's what does my heart. That's why I get my gratification. I can care less how well you play on the football team. Because the ultimate goal is to graduate from high school. And to see them walk across that stage, that's gonna be what does my heart well. And that's standing on business to me. That's what standing on business means to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

So I guess the final question is do clothes make the man?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Man make the clothes. It helps with the man's ego and it helps with the head.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

It puts those shoulders back.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Right. But it's all about the man. It's not necessarily the clothes. I can have raggedy clothes but be a good man. And I can have good clothes but be a bad man. So it's about the man.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

It sounds like it's also about the men around the man.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Yes. Yes. And we we have great men, great role models around our kids. We only want what on our coaching staff. That's a certain kind of male that we want around our kids. So if that person is not in one accord with us, might not be a good fit for us.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Yeah. Well, thank you. On behalf of all of Pensacola, everyone who has a a son who knows somebody with a son, and down the road will work someone who is a son. I think we we all are very grateful for the investment that you're making in those kids.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Well, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to be here today.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Scandi County Public Schools.