We recently connected with Shani Adebayo and have shared our conversation below.
Shani, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?
The main thing I would change about the educational system are the standards and tests. Being an educator myself, I get to see firsthand what we require our students to learn in order to graduate. The standards the states deem as important are not part of life skills students need to know. For example, in elementary students learn money/financial literacy. That lesson is no more than 5-8 days. The concept of money is something kids, adults and the government struggles with. How more beneficial would it be if we spent a huge amount of time truly teaching the concept of money instead of something like angles.
In addition, a school’s rating and student’s capability relies highly on their performance on the state test. The test is a one-day snapshot of how a student performs. What happens if the student is not a good test taker? What happens if the student is having a bad day because he/she just lost a loved one? What happens if the school just got flooded and teachers and students lost everything? We rate that school and student off that one day. Why not create a portfolio to see how the student has performed from the beginning of the year to the end of the year? That would be a better way to see the growth the student has made. That would be a realistic way to judge the school and teacher…not just off a test they took on one day.
Shani, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Order My Steps was officially founded in 2017; however, the program truly began in 2014. After moving to Texas in 2013 and teaching for a year, I noticed the students at my school weren’t participating in extracurricular activities. They went home and came to school every day. I could tell they needed an outlet. Therefore, I created a step team program for the 3rd-5th grade students at my school. My students were required to have good grades and good behavior (and I checked it weekly). We mentored and tutored students and completed community service projects. Not only that, but my students also performed at various events. They became the “celebrities” of the school and LOVED it! They finally felt they belonged. After having three successful years, which included us being on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, I felt God call me to turn the step team program into a nonprofit organization to reach more students. That’s where the journey really began.
Order My Steps is a 501(c)3 youth development nonprofit organization designed for students in grades 3-12 to inspire, empower, and motivate them through the art of stepping. Through the teachings of step, we also invest in the development of our students that expands outside of the art. The cornerstone of our program is to provide and teach valuable life lessons to instill and build upon the students’ self-confidence, perseverance, faith, and intrinsic self-affirmations. Centered around the enhancement of our students’ self-image and self-determination, by participating in our program, our students are provided with the foundation needed to increase their autonomy and success for the future.
The thing we are most proud of is our results have shown that when students start to believe in themselves and are systematically taught self-motivation through our program, this also positively impacts their academics as well. With this program, 100% of our students have ended the school year with passing grades in both math and reading classes. While schools will continue to focus on teaching students academics, Order My Steps will reinforce academics through developmental skills, enhancing the student as both an individual and teammate.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As a small nonprofit, it is really hard to get funding. We compete with a lot of other big nonprofits who have been established. Over the past five years, I have applied for countless local grants and have been denied more than I can count. One grant I actually won but never received because COVID came. However, I have not given up. I have continued and will continue to apply to the same grants that denied me as well as new ones I find. I know God has a purpose of this organization. I also know it will take a lot of no’s before I can hear that one yes. In this industry, resilience is the only way to survive and I plan on doing better than surviving…I plan to thrive!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
For me, the best source of new clients has been word of mouth and Facebook ads. I’m very thankful to the parents of my students because they share our organization with family and friends. They invite people out to see the performances. In addition, our marketing through Facebook has allowed us to connect with a lot of people. It has really opened doors for us and allowed us to build up our clientele. It took a lot of time and money to get it right but now, I feel like we finally are in the swing of things.
Contact Info:
- Website: ordermystepstx.com
- Instagram: @ordermystepstx
- Facebook: @ordermystepstx
- Twitter: @ordermystepstx
- Youtube: @ordermystepstx