1. Both teachers and students wore professional attire. Was this an early expectation and how was this received?
Dave: Yes, it was an early expectation. We talked about how you present yourself in life and how people perceive you throughout the class. And so it was an expectation that I think Crystal and I as teachers had of ourselves and we told them this.
I think at the very beginning there might have been people worried about cost
as much as anything else. One time what Crystal and I did is we
took $20 and went to the Good Will there in Quincy and found ourselves
two lovely outfits that we wore the next day to class—for under
$20 for both of us to get complete outfits. And so that I think
helped drive home a point.
We also had several people from the community come in and speak. As we talked to the class [we said], "You know, these are potential employers that you might have. How do you want these people to see you?" And I think that helped a lot when they came in, because you wanted to give the right impression to these people from the community that could be your boss someday.
