Pathways to Purpose: Donielle’s Story
Welcome to Ford NGL “Full Circle” — a series where we delve into the inspiring journeys of former students who have become thriving professionals in their respective fields. In each installment, we explore the paths these individuals have taken, from their formative years to their current careers, highlighting the pivotal moments, influential relationships, and values that have shaped their trajectories. Join us as we uncover the stories of resilience, growth, and impact that exemplify the transformative power of the Ford NGL movement. Welcome to “Full Circle.”
“What You Are Is Where You Were When.” Say what? For those who might be unfamiliar with that title, from the early seventies to the mid-nineties, professor, and sociologist Dr. Morris Massey created and presented training programs and books that explored the whys of human behavior, values, and generational differences. The work referenced here is among his best-known and talks about how our values are shaped in three phases of our early years and in particular by our personal relationships. While this article is not meant to endorse or detail Dr. Massey’s works, it is a story about how the values and the career of one young professional in Coachella Valley, California was shaped. It is about how relationships and experiences at home, school, and community influenced the future of work for a woman by the name of Donnie Gerrell Papp. She tells her story this way.
“ I grew up in a rural town called Thousand Palms. It is located in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California. The population now is around 8,000, but it was even smaller when I was a child living on our family ranch. My family and most of the community are working class. My mom is a teacher for Coachella Valley Unified School District. She teaches in special ed, and along the way, I often had the opportunity to go to her elementary classroom. I got to see her work and admired how she interacted with her students. I even had opportunities to help out now and then. I believe the relationship with my mother was one of the main reasons why I wanted to be in education when I grew up. I knew I wanted to help other people through education, but I just did not know in exactly what capacity. One thing I did know is that my mom taught me to take advantage of every moment and every opportunity, and that lesson stuck with me.
Until 2011 when it was time for me to go to high school, I did not have access to the internet or anything like that. There at Cathedral City High, I joined a tech program just because it was cool to have access to computers — something my family could not really afford. The possibility of sitting in front of an iMac all day sounded pretty cool to me. In fact, when I arrived at Cathedral City High Cathedral, I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer! During those days too, like many teenagers, I was going through some other personal stuff. Despite that, I was actually a high-achieving student, because for me, my safe place was school. Following my mother’s advice, I just said yes to whatever opportunities came my way. I loved my pathway, and by the time I was a junior and senior, I won honorable mentions for my work at the White House Student Film Festival.
That said, my academy years were more about the relationships I built with the people around me. There is a special thing you experience when you connect with an academy and a pathway teacher that makes you feel safe in that space. It is something that is part of the culture of career and technical education (CTE) that you usually do not find in other programs. It helped me to cope emotionally, to understand, and to keep going. It gave me grit. It gave me perseverance.
Along the way, I was fortunate to meet people like Kim McNulty the Vice President of Regional Strategy for OneFuture Coachella Valley. She helped connect me with Ford Next Generation Learning. In my senior year, I submitted a video that earned me an invitation to their national conference in Kentucky. Then when administrators said I could not go without a chaperone, my principal stepped up and went with me. I remember being there on stage in front of hundreds of people in the room including superintendents, principals, administrators, and leadership from Ford Motor Company and Ford NGL. I remember having breakfast with the Vice President of Ford Labor Affairs. I will never forget sitting there and thinking, ‘Wow! They are here to listen to us. They are here to support us, our students, and our future.’
Kim McNulty was not a full-time teacher, but she would volunteer in our classrooms and CTE programs. She would host different industry meetings and would invite me to be a student voice. And then there was Debbie Applebaum, my high school counselor, who would help connect me with conferences and pathway-related experiences outside the classroom. The cool thing is that you build these lifelong relationships with people who care so much about their community and the people around them. It creates a sense of unity and purpose. We believe in our students. We believe in our educators. We need industry partners. We need this for the future of our students and the community.
After graduating from the Digital Arts Technology Academy, DATA, at Cathedral City High School, I attended California State University of San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus as a Communications major. On campus, I was part of the Student Ambassadors program and off campus, I worked for DIGICOM Learning Institute assigned to Palm Springs Unified School District as an Instructor and Elementary School Coordinator. DIGICOM was a nonprofit I had volunteered with in high school and where I had completed an internship. Eventually, when I completed college, I came to a crossroads. Do I stay with this nonprofit or do I go into education? It was important to me to continue learning, so I decided to finish off the necessary schooling and start looking for a teaching opportunity. That led me to my current role as the Film Pathway Teacher & Technology Lead at Palm Springs High School.
When it came to finding that teaching position, there were several options, but, I was born and raised in Coachella Valley. For me, it was really exciting, because I saw the pathway at Palm Springs as needing the love and leadership that I knew I could provide. I wanted to see the students have access to a quality program and know there is more beyond just the walls of their classroom. For me, I guess you can say I have come full circle. I go back to my roots and the understanding I gained as a high schooler about how much bigger CTE really is and how impactful it can be for students and their future.
What’s most important is not so much the temporary impact but the long-term effects. It is not about just reaching a standard, accomplishing an immediate goal, or meeting a test score. It is about the student’s long-term success. How are they connecting in their community, and how are they connected to needed industries? Do they have the leadership and soft skills required to succeed? Do they know how to be collaborative and kind to each other? Are they prepared to present themselves as a professionals? Because of our efforts, even our industry partners have a greater appreciation for our students. They see that the young people from our pathways are not just silly high school kids doing in-class projects. The students are exposed to so much more in terms of real-life and work experiences. Over time, creating that exposure, that access, and that trust and understanding becomes more relevant and valued for the students and for the business community.
My goal is to equip our students with the skills they need to be successful in whatever direction they go. When it comes to communication and technology, those are things they are going to use in any field they choose. I have had students who have gone into law. I have had students go into the medical field. So, in those fields, are they prepared to apply technology effectively? It is really cool to see my students grow beyond what they thought was possible coming into our program. They realize that their self-worth is greater and that they are capable of more in life.
I challenge my students. In fact I actually have a keynote speech I give to my students every year, and it is one my film teacher did for me in high school. It is based on Apple’s ‘Think Differently’ campaign that salutes ‘the crazy ones’ that first aired in 1997. It’s about saying, that although others may see you as crazy, it is often the crazy ones that change the world. So, when we are crazy enough to think we can change the world, we really can. Be crazy enough to be different from the norm. Be crazy enough to go beyond what the norm might be in your class. I know when I was perceived as a ‘teacher’s pet’ and always ‘wanting to be with the adults,’ I was called crazy. I thought, ‘I may be crazy, but I am here, and I can figure it all out.’ The truth is, I am still a bit crazy, but I consider thinking outside the box and acting with determination key to being where I am today.”
This full-circle account of Donnie’s journey suggests that Dr. Massey was on point. Donnie Gerrell Papp, “is what she was when.” Her values have been shaped by relationships and experiences with family, teachers, counselors, and mentors, and her love of community brought her back to the district where it all started. Donnie’s dedication to making the future of work and fulfillment in life better for her students is inspiring. When you add to that a healthy dose of “good crazy,” it is clear the future looks brighter for her, for those she teaches, and for the community she serves.
What is even more inspiring is the fact that thousands of students, like Donnie, benefited from the working relationship between Coachella Valley and Ford Next Generation Learning. The relationship between Ford NGL and Coachella Valley (which includes schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District, Desert Sands Unified School District, and Coachella Valley Unified School District) dates all the way back to 2006. Today, Coachella Valley brings over 16 years of experience as a regional intermediary, facilitating a multi-district, multi-partner, inter-segmental education and economic workforce development initiative to the Ford NGL Network. Its experience as the neutral convener; its partnership with OneFuture Coachella Valley; and its deep experience with Ford NGL Strand 3: Transforming Partnerships Between Schools and Community, serves as a resource to the entire Ford NGL Network. Innovations specific to Strand 3 include developing, aligning, and sustaining regional business, education and civic-partner engagement, and outcomes-driven collaboration for K-20 college and career pipeline programs.
To learn more about the Ford NGL Community Connected Movement email Info@FordNGL.com.
