Lee Roland led a school turnaround through relationships at Tulakes Elementary - starting with trust, adult culture, and the belief that families had already sent the best children they had.
He says the school's final two years under his leadership saw one student suspended, stronger achievement, and teachers waiting for openings.
Lee sits down with Jed to trace the roots of that leadership model: growing up in Spencer during the 1960s and 1970s, watching national violence and the civil-rights struggle through a child's eyes, and learning from a father who pastored and a mother who taught. Those experiences shaped his conviction that children who are marginalized economically or socially deserve adults who see their full worth.
At Tulakes, Lee says progress began when the adults stopped treating relationships as a side issue. Teachers needed to trust one another and their principal. Parents needed to feel respected. Students needed to hear that expectations existed for their benefit, not simply for adult control. Lee also explains why he changed as little as possible in year one, how shared power allowed teachers to lead, and why a person can hold a leadership position while nobody is truly following.
The conversation closes by carrying the Tulakes model into churches, businesses, nonprofits, and public life: healthy organizations make it safe for quiet or overlooked people to bring their full selves, and justice is measured partly by the world adults leave to children.
What You'll Hear- How Lee's childhood in Spencer shaped his concern for marginalized children
- Why Tulakes started with teacher trust, parent respect, and student belonging
- The first-year decision to change almost nothing before changing the culture
- How the school moved toward stronger achievement, near-zero suspensions, and a teacher waiting list
- Why shared power, vulnerability, and listening matter in schools, churches, and organizations
- 00:00 - Meet Lee Roland
- 01:16 - Spencer, civil rights, and empathy
- 04:39 - Experience, purpose, and justice
- 07:54 - The Tulakes turnaround
- 10:36 - Relationships before curriculum
- 13:56 - Change almost nothing in year one
- 17:18 - One suspension in two years
- 20:30 - What school looks like in heaven
- 23:29 - Sharing power and building trust
- 25:00 - When leaders are out front but no one follows
- 31:39 - Voyage Consulting and healthy organizations
- 38:29 - Leaving children a better world
Lee Roland is a longtime Oklahoma educator, pastor, author, and leadership consultant with more than 35 years of professional experience. His career has included teaching, school administration, service as principal of Tulakes Elementary, and executive leadership roles. He founded Voyage Consulting to help schools, businesses, nonprofits, and churches strengthen leadership, trust, parent and community engagement, and organizational culture.
Guest & Resource Links- Voyage Consulting - https://voyageconsulting.co/ - Official site and service overview.
- Email - lee@voyageconsulting.co - Public contact listed by Voyage Consulting.
- Phone - Public contact listed by Voyage Consulting: 405-650-6553.
- Tulakes Elementary - https://academy.putnamcityschools.org/o/TE - Official Putnam City Schools campus page.
- Fantastic Voyage: A Story of School Turnaround and Achievement by Overcoming Poverty and Addressing Race - Author: Lee Roland Published: January 16, 2017 Official purchase link: Purchase on Amazon Publisher: Storied Publishing, under Gray Sparrow Books ISBN: 978-0-9973984-5-8
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