Interview: Kiara Walls: Dean of Students

New Dean of Students, Kiara Walls, has her work cut out for her this year. As the school transitions back to in-person learning, Walls is ready to engage with students and staff to overcome the inevitable rough spots. She wants to prioritize social-emotional health and community relationships, elements that we missed out on over the last year and a half, as well as strong communication and transparency.

Walls is also a graduate student at Portland State University and she hosts a weekly radio show, Black Box Conversations, on the University’s student radio station, KPSU.

What attracted you to Northwest Academy in particular, and how did you find yourself here?

Well, I’m an artist myself. And I’ve always wanted to work in a community or at a school where students are also artists, and that’s what they’re passionate about. So when I found Northwest Academy, and I saw that they had a dean of students position, I had already been doing some of that work in my prior position as an art teacher and content teacher leader at a charter school back in Dallas. It was also a small school, but not compared to the size of this school.

I was really intrigued by the work that was happening here. I’m also a graduate student in the art and social practice program at PSU. I do a lot of work with the program, and also bring some of what I’ve learned to whatever position I’m in. I felt like it would be a good match, to kind of bring some of my schooling into this position, too, and then also find ways to collaborate.

You know, when I ended up getting the position, I just felt so blessed because I’ve always wanted to work in this kind of environment. And just being here every single day just feels like a blessing. Because there’s so much creativity and just so care. It’s a really great place to be.

Can you tell us about some of the art you’ve made before, at work or outside of it?

I actually have two ongoing projects happening right now. The first project is called the Black Box Experience. It’s a tall Black Box. Basically, it’s like an installation that you walk into, and then there’s projections of different interviews that I’ve done with people along with different scenes from areas that the box has been placed. I’ve done a Black Box in Los Angeles and in Dallas.

The Black Box represents the subconscious mind of a Black person, and the theme is usually around reparations. But I feel like within my work, what I’ve learned is that reparations is not just a check, reparations is the opportunity to give myself and the Black community agency to repair whatever is happening within you.

When the pandemic first started, the project was put on hold. As a response to the pandemic, I created Black Box Conversations, which is a safe space where POC can hold meaningful conversations centered around the human experience. I talk about topics that are shied away from in the Black community, like anxiety, depression, trauma, creativity, religion, spirituality. Each guest is asked to leave something behind in the Black Box, like a piece of advice related to the topic. It’s been really powerful, because I feel like people have been able to watch it and it resonates with them.

You touched on this a little bit already, but Northwest Academy obviously is pretty different from most high schools. How does it compare to both where you went to school and where you’ve worked before?

I actually went to school at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet, and this was a school in downtown LA. So location wise, it’s very similar. But it was more so focused on medicine and like nurses and doctors and things like that, and I always really thought that I wanted to be a nurse. Then when I got to school, and I started taking organic chemistry, I was like, this is insane.

The fact that most of the teachers here have their own practice going on outside of school, I feel like that informs their own practice when they’re teaching. I think that’s really powerful because it’s such a strong real world connection–in the school that I went to, it wasn’t necessarily like that. I would say the teachers weren’t as passionate about the subjects that they were teaching compared to the teachers here. I feel like that really makes the learning experience different and more enriched.

What was it like to start working at a new school during this turbulent period, after we’re all coming back from a year and a half apart?

It feels almost like everyone’s had a new start. It’s like jumping right into a boiling pot. Yeah. You know, it was, it was a little intense, back at my school. We were already in person for the entire year, but we were socially distancing. So I had already been introduced to it a little bit. But I would say, when I got here and I attended the first meeting and I was in a room full of people, I felt like, oh, my goodness, I’m so used to meeting on Zoom

I feel like after that day, I was just like, okay, since the school is so small, it feels less intense because I feel it’s comfortable. It would be different if I was going to a school that had like, 1,000 kids or 2,000 kids– that would be a little overwhelming, but I feel like the way that we’ve been going about COVID guidelines, it feels like it’s been an easy transition into the community.

We’re so lucky because we were able to have a slow start to school. I feel like that really set the tone for the vibe of the year–easing back into it. Because I feel like expecting students to just go back to normal is hard. First of all, what is normal? Now? This is the new normal and we’re learning about it every single day.

So you’re pretty new to Portland, right? Do you have any favorite spots yet?

I really like Mount Tabor Park. Sometimes I’ll take my dog up there. He’s super hyper and has so much energy, so sometimes I need to just take him somewhere to work out.

Overall, I honestly love Portland. I feel like this is the first time I’ve felt this way because I’ve lived in different places before. This is like the third place I’ve lived in and it’s probably the most comfortable I have felt. And I want to say a big part of that is just the artists community that’s here. I feel like we are all on the same vibe.

What exactly is your role as the Dean of Students? How do you work with Dan Dunning and Chris Schuck?

We had a dean of students at my previous school, and I feel like whenever someone hears dean of students, to them, it just sounds very rigid and intense. But I would like to rework the definition, because I don’t subscribe to that.

For me, it’s more about cultivating relationships–positive relationships, healthy, foundational relationships among students and staff, and making sure that the community is operating in a way that’s conducive to our core values. I feel like the way you do that is really socially. Because of the fact that students have had such a long time off from school, I feel my role is to help with that transition back into normal, or the new normal.

The definition of Dean of Students is just so tough, but to me, I feel like it’s Peacemaker, vibe checker, trying to cultivate the vibe, and honestly, that’s what I feel.

How I work with students is pretty much just checking in with students and being a resource for whenever they are feeling like they need someone to talk to, or you know, something is going on in class. I also can provide support around addressing social dynamics. As far as teachers, I would say it’s very similar, working with students in the classroom and really trying to cultivate positive relationships. With Chris and Dan and Rachael, it’s those two things combined–since I am so new to the position and the school, they support me through navigating the situations that I may not know right away how to handle and more so like guidance. It’s very collaborative across the board, and it’s a lot of horizontal collaboration. And I feel like that’s what really cultivates a strong community, because we’re all working together.

So yeah, that’s my definition of the future. That’s what I’m hoping to bring to the position.

We know you’ve only been here a few weeks, but what kind of changes do you envision for Northwest Academy? How would you like to impact the school?

What I envision for the Northwest Academy community is–after being here for two weeks–I feel like we could use more transparency around how everyone is actually doing, and I think we should be allowing that to inform the pace of the work that’s being done in the community. I’d also like to recognize that we are operating in a new normal, and that’s okay. Things that may have worked in the past don’t really have that space right now, and that’s okay, too. I think it’s about being vulnerable enough to allow that change to happen. That’s what I envision–slow changes that are more informed by the climate of what’s going on.

Interview by Aaron Drummond and Asher Wolfsmith