Dr. Tim Tooten was no stranger to Baltimore citizens. The longtime education reporter at WBAL-TV and pastor of Harvest Christian Ministries joined us during the early days of COVID in June 2020 to tell us about his journey from the Suwannee River near Gainesville, Florida to Baltimore and what he has learned about people. A very compelling conversation with a Baltimore education reporting legend, who had just retired from his work as a local journalist. We lost a treasure with his passing.
Nestor Aparicio and Don Mohler discuss the challenges of remote learning during the pandemic, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of the situation. Tim Tooten, an education reporter and pastor, shares his experiences with distance learning and the emotional impact on educators and students. Tooten also reflects on his upbringing in the Deep South and the ongoing struggle against racism. The conversation touches on the importance of mutual respect and the role of education in addressing societal issues. Tooten promotes his book, “Leading by Example,” and highlights the need for comprehensive support for students and families beyond just educational resources.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
education challenges, remote learning, pandemic impact, racial inequality, police brutality, community support, family dynamics, media perception, ministry journey, faith education, Baltimore positive, local businesses, election chaos, distance learning, school inequities
SPEAKERS
Speaker 1, Tim Tooten, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back, W, N, S, T, toss of Baltimore and Baltimore positive. And we are positively into a weekend here Don Moeller, where, you know, chaos is sort of broken out all over the country, and I know we had had post election stuff, and we’re sort of in this nether world of maybe having election results. And we’ve been trying to get this guy on for a long time. So before I get any further, former Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler is our co host here on Baltimore positive. And he’s had faith these more recently than I and probably stay fair more recently. And I because you’re exploring the Mexican options over there in Catonsville, correct. I’m telling you, it stayed fair the other day for the double bacon cheeseburger, not good for the diet, good for the soul. I did get a sneak peek at the new Mexican restaurant that the State Fair group, Evan and Keith are going to open up across the street. So it’s going to be fantastic. So again, support all my local businesses, and you’ve got more and Gary really out there. Jeff more still working hard to sell houses. List houses during the pandemic. Give Jeff call for 107461547, and we’re going to have to ask our guest in a minute, Nestor, if he talk a little bit about our ice cream sponsor, because I think our guests may like somebody. Well, what happens here on the set is I’m having more and more empty containers because we’re eating it here. So the pistachio, you can’t have it because it’s gone. And you know that my favorite flavors are the ones that are here because they’re gone. Honey Graham is here. And then I have sort of the old school chocolate love and this is when you get it hand packed. This is the way they do it for you. So we appreciate our friends at the Harca made in Baltimore. We’ll be telling you more about them and actually having lots and lots of their employees and the people to make this delicious ice cream because they are children of Baltimore. They employ Baltimore city folks. And I tell you what, no one has done more with the children of Baltimore and trying to uplift children and talk about education than our next guest. Now, you know, I’m not gonna insult our next guest, but when I think of Tim tuten, I think of the guy I run into in the Chick fil A who’s always very polite to me and very nice to me. I think him is the other one. And he said, No, that’s my dad on TV. And I said, you know, all this time I’ve been seeing a DR tootin and, you know, finding out about the ministry and all the other stuff in the educational TV, I run into your son a whole lot more than I run into you. Tim, well,
Tim Tooten 02:23
he’s a pretty popular guy.
Nestor Aparicio 02:26
As are you, as are you, how are you and how you holding up through all this, like I would think through an election in a news cycle, and just where we are in schools being where they are. Don and I have talked so much about education last couple months, this has been an unprecedented time, even for a grizzled vet like you who feels like you’ve talked about everything, about Kerwin and all the other basic education things, this whole thing where kids are at home, and we have to figure this out. This is a new one, right?
Tim Tooten 02:51
It definitely is. I think that when you when you consider news, it’s always changing every day. And first of all, let me just say that it’s great to hear your voice, and you’re a big star as well as Don Muller Rob, known for all of my education career. But I think when this first started out, we had to adapt, and we’re still adapting, and it’s unprecedented in terms of what we’re having to cover. And I said to someone, I said, I’m a grandparent. I said, I can’t say that. I know what it’s like to teach Ketchum home, but certainly it is very different. It’s going to be a very interesting summer and fall. As it relates to education. It won’t be the same,
Nestor Aparicio 03:35
Don you know, for you and thinking this thing through, if you’re a soup, if you’re a principal, if you’re a guidance counselor, like you were, for me in 1982 I can’t imagine how on fire your mind is, especially for your daughter right at this point, and what and the uncertainty for everything. Because the one thing you always represent in my life as a guidance counselor, as a principal or VP, wherever you were, there’s a level of certainty we’re all looking to from our teachers and our elders and our educators and the system right where we expect the system to work, right? Well, it is interesting, and actually, I should send to our guests. It’s interesting that you mentioned. Tim knows my daughter, the principal at Hillcrest Elementary School. She just prepared which principals were doing all over the country, she had to prepare a video farewell for her fifth graders, as opposed to the way they would typically celebrate, which would be a real wonderful celebration in the multi purpose room with parents and grandparents and the teachers hugging the kids and saying goodbye to the kids, and then going out for a picnic on the school grounds, she had to film a video farewell to them. And one of the things that I was struck by when I was talking to her about that particular. Her endeavor was, she said to me, Dad, I hope it’s not, excuse me, I hope it’s not too sad. And I thought, Wow, what a sign of the times that we even have to think about whether our message is too sad because you’re trying to acknowledge a pandemic, but at the same time paint a bright future, and it has to be challenging. I mean, Tim, going back to you, you have three children, two grandchildren, talk about the experience that you’ve had with them during this pandemic and and what your children and what your grandchildren have experienced and expressed to you.
Tim Tooten 05:43
And don’t be surprised that my oldest daughter is an educator, and she and what a shot in the city of Indianapolis, one of the suburbs there. And I do have two grandsons, and so she did the distance learning with her students, and, of course, keeping the boys on point, but my youngest grandson said My wish was to have pop, pop to come see me. Oh, wow. And I just didn’t want to, you know, didn’t want to travel yet. But, yeah, it is certainly something. We used to just hop on the plane do southwest, spend some time with them, but face time is okay, but it’s not the real thing. And this is one of those times that you you really look to see them in the near future, but it’s different. And to see them, it’s going to mean probably an old school, you know, drive across the country, because I don’t think I’m ready to fly just yet. But yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 06:42
yeah, I think I think triple A, triple A, will be more popular than ever. Tim, I think because I think you are going to see folks jumping in cars. I know my wife was just talking about we’re scheduled in several months. I forget exactly when it is, but in a few months to head to Disney World with with with something with kids when it reopens and it’s safe to do so my wife said, you know, like you said, family roadster, baby, I see Chevy Chase. I see, I see south of the border with you,
Tim Tooten 07:18
the old school triptych. I remember that somebody when you had your little
Nestor Aparicio 07:29
Well, Tim, you know, it is so great to talk to you. And I have to say when Nestor and I, like so many others, been glued to the TV, been heartbroken by what happened to George Floyd, just sort of continuing a legacy of attacks on people of color, African Americans, by rogue police officers in the nation. And you and I, you’re right, and we’ve known each other now for 32 years. You actually probably have interviewed me, and each one of those 32 years, multiple times. You know, that makes you an expert molar. Tim put that microphone in his buddy. Yeah, they said it numerous times every year when we watch the horror of a young man basically being asphyxiated, and we then watch the heartbreak that leads to outrage. Nestor and I said, we have to do a series of interviews with people who are involved in the community, but also we have to, we have to have an honest conversation about race, and it’s it’s really difficult to have an honest conversation about race, and I can’t think of anyone better to really kick that series off with than you came you’re a minister, you’re an educator, You’re a reporter, and your dad and a granddad as an African American male, absolutely,
Tim Tooten 09:07
when I think about this, I have to go back and give you a bit of history. I grew up in what I call the Deep South. People think of Florida, you know, Disney World, but there’s other parts of Florida. I grew up in North Florida, very small community, famous for the Suwannee River. That’s my whole county, Suwannee. And growing up as an African American male during, you know, the early 70s, to where there were segregation still going on with pools, theaters, and my brother myself, both males, obviously, and two sisters, it was always just this sense of, let’s just say it’s kind of staying in your place. I mean, you you knew what could happen. I. And your parents will always tell you to make sure that you were careful about Black or White who you would associate with. But it was, it was some challenging times back then, but certainly when I think of the South, when I think of growing up and think of having to pass what they call the white pool to get to the black pool to be up into sixth grade in the segregated school system that basically you had to get the old books that we used, the old used school busses. And I never forget that in maybe 71 they said, Hey, you can go to the white school. So you mean the school this painted white. So certainly, growing up in that environment, but yet feeling the, you know, the sting of racism. It’s, it’s amazing, but you learn and you pray and you live above that.
Nestor Aparicio 10:57
I would think, there you called it the sting. I mean, I would think it’s even more that when, when you were talking about your parents, you would think the law won’t have your back. Tim, you know, in 1971 if something goes down, you know, the lawyers only gonna be able to do so much for you. And, you know, and and I sat with my wife and I watched To Kill a Mockingbird about eight months ago on a football trip. It just happened to be on my wife around a hotel room in Seattle, or whatever. She put it on. It was raining outside, and it’s her favorite movie, and I watched it, and I hadn’t seen in 30 years, and I wanted to just shake the TV, you know? I mean literally, a Gregory Peck 50 years later, and now six months later, here we are. We went from talking about Kerwin and all of this aspirational, incredible stuff to me and my wife looking out the window, and I tears my eyes to two nights ago, we heard protesters coming through. Were right in front of Governor Schafer. Okay, so you know where I am. I’ve seen your truck down there shooting. It’s right in front of my house. Used to be called Hooters. It used to be called capital city. It used to be called Phillips. Now it’s called closed, but you know, Governor Schaefer is there wearing his mask. And it was, it was just about dark. It was about eight o’clock, and I heard the noise. I looked out the window. I looked down, and there were about 300 I got my binoculars out, which I don’t do much, and I got out, I looked down just to see who was out there. It was very, very clear that this was 300 people in a neighborhood or a church group or a ministry that got together, there were six year old little girls holding hands with mothers and aunts and uncles and and young people, people on bikes, be a lot of people with mask, a lot of people social distancing. So I know these people were enlightened folks, and as I watched them march up light street out my window, I couldn’t contain myself to think the power in that and the fact that it’s come to this Tim,
Tim Tooten 12:48
you know it is, I tell you, but what I’ve always been blessed by is a mutual respect. You talk about Don Mohler. I mean, certainly here’s someone who is an encourager, here’s someone who I have great respect for, and that goes beyond race, but just you learn to respect people if they respect you. You talked about my son earlier. I always say to him, because I’m a father of a black male, that if you get pulled over, here’s what you ought to do. And I could tell you nothing against the Baltimore County Police Department, but they’ve been incidents where I’ve been profiled. That’s, that’s, that’s not unusual for me. When I say that, I mean that just because I’m not, you know, I’m not Tim too the news guy, I’m not Tim tooton wearing some kind of memorabilia from WB Al, but I’m still bigger than that. But it’s reality. It is like a sting. Racism is what it is, but you learn, you pray to live above that and connect with like minded people. And when I say like minded, I’m talking to two like minded people now who just love people, who fear God, who are people who, you know, look for solutions.
Nestor Aparicio 14:01
Tim. Tim, I am when you you talk about that. So honestly, I remember that you and I had to be it couldn’t have been a week after I forget. Who knows why you were interviewing me. Maybe it was American Education Week. I don’t remember. It was a week or two after President Obama was elected, and you and I, if you can’t interview me, we gave each other a big hug, which we typically do, and I said to you, did you ever think in your lifetime, and before I could finish you say, Never doctor. Voice, never, never thought. So there’s no doubt we’ve made progress in a lot of areas. And. But yet, we haven’t made progress. You just mentioned and you sort of glossed over it, and it’s one thing that I’m always struck by. You said, you know, I teach my children, my grandchild, we all do how to behave. I’ve been taught when you’re stopped by the police. I’ve had African American friends say to me, oh yeah, call. But talk talk, prayer listeners, and again, we’re with long time. Paul W Bal, TV, Education reporter Tim tuten, Doctor of Ministry, harvest, Christian ministries. We’re going to have him talk about that a little while. But Tim, for those listening, share with us what it means to have the talk with your son. Nestor, talk about your son. So tell us what that means to have the talk. You know,
Tim Tooten 15:52
one of the humbling experiences every mother the King holiday, I would pull the kids downstairs, this is tradition. And I pull out what was the VHS? And there was a half hour documentary on the Civil Rights Movement. And I went, I was mandatory before distance learning, you had to watch that whole video and to see Dr King, the progress, the water hose, the dogs, etc. And now my daughter does that for her sons, so they can watch that. Because when you live in a predominant community, when I say predominant, I mean you, you maybe you’re the only black family or two in the neighborhood, you want them to realize that you are African American, and, by the way, very proud, but you also know that there are persons who may have a certain mindset, even to this day done, I’ll go out walking now and certain places, and you just have to be in your mind. I don’t think it’s an illusion that, yes, I’m a black male, and I try to give a smile, but there is a certain mindset, and that may go another way, but I have learned just to be respectful. And that’s what the students taught me. That’s what Doris and James student taught me, is to be respectful in this house. And Mom will always say, Don’t let me come get you out of jail. That was her, her thing, because she represents the student house, as I’m sure both of you, you represent that family name, so it is something that we we learn to not complain about. You just have to live above that. I recall radio, and I don’t know if you know this Nestor, my beginnings were in radio.
Nestor Aparicio 17:35
Well, that’s why you turned out so good, right?
Tim Tooten 17:39
I’ll make this. This is very short. My desire at an early age, this is all along the lines of race. Done is I used to imitate the announcers at the little old radio station, W, N, E, R, 1000, water. And I would imitate these guys at 910, 12 years old. And my mother did domestic work where she was would clean. That radio station was one of her places she would stop and clean, even though she was valedictorian. But when I told her I wanted to do radio, she took me out to that building at 14 and said, This is my son, and he wants to be on the radio. And they said, Well, he’s not old enough yet, but there was a guy named Bill Savitz who never forgot that, and said, Timmy, you’ve got a great voice. Let’s work on you, man and and to this day, I’m certainly thankful for people, not not kind white people, but kind people who say, Yeah, you know, you may have a speech impediment, which I did at the time, but you can overcome this. And so there’s good in all of this, the good people look at the people, and not necessarily all the time the larger picture. But there’s so many good examples of people getting along, expecting each other, and that’s so
Nestor Aparicio 18:56
key. Don Tim is our guest. He’s the Education reporter pastor, of course, at the harvest Christian ministries. But you know him from the television from the television and you know, to inject a little levity into this, you know, Mueller was my high school guidance counselor in 1982 and I’m gonna share this with you, and I’m gonna share it with Jane Miller, because it’ll mean something to her as well. He told me I was gonna be the next Chris Thomas, oh, boy, that that’s true. Tim, I mean, that’s larger than that. I was even going to find that golden sombrero. And I have the earth say, dummy. So, I mean, at least I have that, you know, Tim, I can’t help but look at Swanny on the map. And, you know, know the old song, and I had never really looked up. There you go. And, you know, just west of Gainesville, where I think a Leonard Skinner and Tom Petty and rock and roll and Florida Gators and all that stuff, I know you are. I know you are. You are almost, you almost got it honestly, you were almost equidistant between Gainesville and Italian. You’re not too far from either one. But the incident of the young man run. And I think of you, and I think of you in the south, and I think in 1971 and what your parents told you, I can only imagine what you know, which was an execution in the street. You know, a white execution in the street in Brunswick. And I think of Brunswick. I think a Brunswick stew. Because I’m, you know, my mother was from Abbeville, South Carolina. So I think of southern things. I can’t, I can’t get that out of my mind. And certainly that horrific image set the stage for the next thing with George Lloyd, which is literally in the last three weeks. But, you know, I go back to the south, and what that represented for seeing that, thinking of To Kill a Mockingbird and all of that, and thinking this is 2020, how can this still be going on?
Tim Tooten 20:42
It really is amazing. And I can tell you also, there was a certain there was a certain fear, because I’ll say this, because way down as part of Suwannee River, we all knew that. But there was an incident that took place in my mother’s life, and she would have been about 90. Now she was still living and it was one of her good friends, it’s documented, who worked at a local store, and a white female came in and he said to her, let me write you a song. And some of the people of that town came to his house, and there were so many hangings that took place in the Suwannee River. I could count the times on one hand that I’ve gone to the Suwannee River, because mother would say that to let you know that you know when it comes to interracial relationships with a female. Just be careful, because she would tell the George Howard story, her friend, she would tell the Ruby McCollum story, which is very historical, of a woman who was having an affair with a white legislator and she killed him. And so, I mean, there’s so much embedded in that community, but you would hear the stories, and just to be aware of where you go, what you say, where you are, but it’s just was a sign of the times, and you look as done. Said 2020 you still just continue to pray, and you continue to embrace relationships that mean so much to you and to your family, your community.
Nestor Aparicio 22:23
Tim again, looking looking at the current situation. A lot of folks last week watched in horror, and certainly journalists like you and Nestor and others watched in horror as CNN journalist Omar Jimenez was arrested for simply reporting the news in Minneapolis. Well, that was just the beginning, right? Like literally that that was the beginning. But a lot of people don’t know Nestor that Omar really began his broadcasting career at W, B, A, L, T, V, as a young reporter, Tim, I know you knew Omar. What were your thoughts as a journalist when you saw that? And I’m curious if you have communicated with Omar since that event, you
Tim Tooten 23:10
won’t find a nicer young man. And I would say this, because when you become seasoned, everybody’s a young man.
Nestor Aparicio 23:18
We’re not also nice when we get older,
Tim Tooten 23:22
and I recall his coming. He had done intern work at CNN when he got there. It reminded me much better than a 28 year old Tim tooton, but you talking, it was, let me just give you the rundown. Now on the end was Omar, and then there was Rob Roblin, and there’s Jennifer, and then me. So that was quite some role we called all that’s an all star, yeah, that’s an all star role. And he was in his nothing was, is the nicest person and the person who could handle that, you know? I mean, he said, What? What can I do? What do you want me to stand and I’ve never seen Omar get to that level. I’m not sure how I would have reacted done. I’m not sure how I would have reacted in that moment, but a level headed but it’s one of those things that when you are the media, people don’t think that you have a real life, you think you’re just the media? No, my name is Tim. I happen to work in the industry that I enjoy, that I love, that support of my family, but I’m also aware there’s certain attitudes about the media, and people assume that you’re the media. You must be a left wing liberal. No, isn’t it
Nestor Aparicio 24:40
amazing that they think we all get in a room together, like Maxwell Smart, and the cones come down, and we take some order from some ways. And that’s the amazing part. I’m thinking, are you that dumb, really? I mean that we, we’ve all, we’re all in this together, right? We have meetings in the middle of the night, right?
Tim Tooten 24:56
And that’s what’s so amazing, because people have to realize that you. You are a person, Don you know this, you are a person. And then you have a profession, and they line up. And so I can very easily when I leave in the evening, I’m still Tim tooton, and I’ll always be that media guy, but just to know that there are people like Omar, a lot of us who are respectful of the parameters and the boundaries, because we don’t want to make the news. And so if someone asks you to get back, then you get back. And so, and we taught that within the news organization, you want to cover the news, you have the right to do it. But I didn’t see any rhyme or reason to that. I just don’t know if it was a media bias, if it was, you know, race, but all I know is that we know Omar. And knowing Omar, you certainly know the kind of person he is. And I shared with my brother in Florida. Man, that’s Omar. You will have a nicer person and a more respectable person
Nestor Aparicio 25:59
he was, as you said, Tim, one of the young lady, and you got to know her a little bit as well, but the creative director and communication specialist in for W for Baltimore County Government still there. Young lady named Lauren Watley immediately texted me when she saw it because Omar did a series at Bal called he was sort of mimicking the mike road thing, the dirtiest jobs you may remember.
Tim Tooten 26:28
Oh, yeah, and that was for a job as a you go for it, man. But it was well done
Nestor Aparicio 26:36
to go out to Baltimore County’s recycling centers and be one of the workers. And Lauren took you now and set all that up, and she said she just could not have been easier to work with and find more polite. So it really was a shot. I said to my wife, same thing you said to your brother. I said, Linda, you don’t you don’t understand. He’s one of the next young man I’ve encountered. You know about
Tim Tooten 27:01
people in general. And I
Nestor Aparicio 27:05
said, Man, hang in there. You did a great, great job. Tim, we like to talk on Baltimore positive about personal journeys, and yours fascinates me. You are an incredibly successful journalist. You didn’t really have to do anything else. I mean, you’re sort of an icon in the Baltimore region, across the state, really. And then you decide to enter the ministry, and you decide to pursue a doctorate, talk a little bit about that journey and what led you down that spiritual path.
Tim Tooten 27:40
It’s amazing that you would, you would say that, because when I first moved to the Baltimore area from West Virginia, well, last job before getting here, and I said, God, if I’d known that you were going to have me to pastor and be I would have stayed on the beltway. I would never gotten off, because life is like that. But growing up in a religious and a faith filled home, and in my new book, I kind of refer to that called leading by example. And so that was one thing that we lived next door to, the church. If you were tooting, you had to go to if you were tooting, I played, you know, Joseph wise men for every play. My mom was over all the plays, and we had to recite speeches. So even then, I was getting a training for broadcasting, but it was just something that I never desired. I don’t think people run after ministry or calling it usually runs after you and so when I got to Baltimore, and after some years of being involved with a church, I wanted to go out and just speak, but not preach, you know. I just, I’d rather preach, you know. And so what happened is, over time, I talked with you and many others, I got my master’s degree at St Mary’s ecumenical Institute, and then I remember saying, I’m gonna try for my doctorate, and you gave me the best advice that anyone could give you. Said doctor, it is a marathon you can’t just like overnight. And that was the greatest help that you gave me. But it really is a great calling. I’m passionate about helping people, and it was like I was destined to be one who encouraged, but getting the background and getting, you know, the credentials, was so important. And now during this pandemic, I get to preach every Sunday from my basement. So we’ve set up a little studio, a monitor, and so my family is a production team. But I tell you, it is a love for God, and I’m never, as Paul said, never ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I’m just so excited to be used, and so excited to be able to encourage someone be it, you know, at the local store in the community. So it. It was a journey. It is a journey. I never thought in a million years I would preach 2 million that I would pastor a church, harvest Christian ministry. That’s a mouthful, but that I had no plans. It was God’s plan.
Nestor Aparicio 30:12
It’s amazing. And Tim, I’m I’m the proud owner of a signed copy of leading by example. I want you to talk a little bit about the main themes of that book. But first of all, people are listening. They’re saying, Man, I think I’d like to read a book by this guy. Where can they get the book? Tim? What the only
Tim Tooten 30:30
of the Tim tooton way go to Tim tooton tv.com, I just
Nestor Aparicio 30:35
pulled it up. It’s right here. It’s on Amazon. It’s everywhere. You know, you gave there’s video you and Jen sitting to talking about it for a little while.
Tim Tooten 30:42
But if you go to Tim tooton TV calm, we’ll go around Amazon, I’ll send you an autographed copy to you. And you know, when you become a publisher, you you love Amazon, but you’ll cut the middle man out, but there are plenty still available. Would love to get one through. And the premise of that book done came out of my dish. I love the book. First of
Nestor Aparicio 31:01
all, Nestor, before Tim gets it from you need to order it. You need to go to Tim to get your autograph copy. I really enjoyed the book. I think I read it on a plane trip. Read the whole thing just on one leg of the trip. So yeah, given sort of the breakdown of the book, what led to it, and what you were trying to communicate there, Tim, when I started
Tim Tooten 31:19
the work here in Baltimore County, we harvest Christian ministries. And I thought, going in Don that, you know, you do a little project and you become a doctor. Well, that’s not the way it happens. If you’re a doctor, it’s a lot of work. It’s research. And I found within my own congregation of about 90 people, there were persons who would come to me and say, Reverend, you’re the reverend. Tell us. Tell Johnny about you know this in the Bible, because you know you’re the pastor. And I kept hearing parents say that. I said, Well, what if I equip you to teach your own child? What if I gave you the tools that you needed to to lay out a lesson plan. And here’s where having a Don Mueller and a Fallon Corona my daughter who said to me, Well, that means a lesson plan. So this is researched. It is a great at home tool. And you basically, you walk through it, there’s there’s age appropriate. And so that was so important to me, that it’s so important for you to share things like faith. I mean, don’t put the pressure on the pastor or the priest or the rabbi or the Imam, but you should be the person in your home that lays the foundation. Be an expert. You could talk about your own life’s journey, and that’s what this book does. It gives you an opportunity to become the teacher. And parents been doing a whole lot of that lately. You become the teacher. You share with them. They get to learn your experience. And it’s really kind of a handbook. It’s a workbook. Tim
Nestor Aparicio 32:54
tooton is our guest, leading by examples the book, the parental guide to teaching and modeling Christian faith on molar, of course, here is part of Baltimore positive. Tim, I can’t I want to go back that. If we were, there were no pandemic, and there were no riots and none of this, we’d be talking about Kerwin right now, right? We’d be talking about educating our kids. Be talking about kids going to pools and getting ready for the summer. And we’d be talking about next year everything stopped right around, you know, March, 12, 13th, 15th, wherever it is. Rolled me back a little bit 10 weeks to Kerwin, because we spent so much time over the better part of the first year, whether it was Nancy Grasmick or whether it was a doctor, Sonia San Elise’s or, you know, any number of educators, this is what you do for a living. I know b, a, l doesn’t give you two three hours on a weekend to sit around and talk about Kerwin. It happens in 30 and 62nd sound bites, and it’s down in Annapolis, and there’s talking heads like Don that come your way for 15 seconds, or we’ve really tried to stretch it out. I’d love to hear your thoughts on where it was, where it is, and where it might be.
Tim Tooten 33:54
Let me say first of all, and this is not being a media person, that Rick Kerwin is one of the nicest people that you’ll ever find, and I follow his career from University of Maryland, and very passionate about what he believed and what so many others believe is important for our children across the state, but that was something worth covering and something worth putting out there, because there are inequities. Let’s face it, there are inequities, and it’s so important that people get a shot. Get a chance. I mentioned to you earlier about growing up in a school district that we got all used books, all used busses, all old buildings. And so I think Kerwin is one of those things, and one of those attempts to really try, and this is such a worn out saying, you know, leveling the playing field, but not even leveling, but bringing it to a point where it looks level. And so covering that, I think, was key. There’s certainly different opinions across the state, depending on the. From districts, but I think that people are in education, if you’re Don Moeller, if you’re his daughter, Lynch, Dr Lynch is certainly something that you want every kid to get a chance. And I think Kerwin spoke to that in so many ways, not perfect, but it spoke to that. Well, I was going
Nestor Aparicio 35:17
to ask you, we’re going to have a new mayor here at some point in November we’re hopefully going to get through Coronavirus and everything that’s going on. Hopefully, I think we all could agree we hope we have a new president, and have to believe that work toward that between now and November 3. But the thought of, you know, where the educational system in the city, we’re gonna have a mayor, they’re gonna have a crime plan and a transportation plan, education plan from the educational side. If I made you the education czar of Baltimore City, and I know you’ve been covering this for four decades. Tim, Help us, Lord, you’re in charge now, fundamentally other than money. And I’ll give you that. I’ll give you that. I’ll give you unlimited resources, unlimited money. What foundationally, needs to happen here, as you’ve witnessed it in your four decades. And
Tim Tooten 36:08
I think that I watched a video on yesterday. I can’t think of the name of it, but it talked about the inequities, and it talked about communities. And I live in Baltimore County, proud Baltimore County resident, but when I crossed the line, I know that there are many more challenges that I never forget than you know. You know Charles Dunn, a longtime photographer, now Chief Operations Manager,
Speaker 1 36:32
and he’s the big man. We
Tim Tooten 36:35
went over, and I’m getting back to your we went over to Cherry Hill Elementary School to do a story. We walked in the office. Charles is a Howard County guy, and we see a young man in the office, and we begin to recite our suburban speech, young man, here’s what you ought to be doing. And, well, why are you in the office? And we walked around the corner. The principal says, Listen, he just witnessed his mom, you know, shoot herself a couple days ago. And, and, and all of a sudden, then that narrative of one size does not fit all. And I did not know, and had no idea, of what these kids were bringing to school with them. Is, I think, when it comes to, you know, psychological services, social services, that many things that have to happen before that young man or woman gets to school and people can say, oh, but the per pupil was, yeah, but you can’t put a price on that. There are many challenging issues that students and families bring with them not to say they aren’t existing in other places, but I think if I was bizarre, I would certainly look at relationships and trying to build up the family.
Nestor Aparicio 37:42
Well, Doctor too. We’ve really enjoyed this visit. It’s been too long. I mean, here’s the problem. We’re year and a half into this now, and there’s still folks like you sort of linger. We’re gonna catch Jane Miller at some point too. We we caught Rodricks last week, you know. So we’re finding people around town, all stars, aren’t they? Hey, Nestor, before we run, let me tell you real quick while we have Tim, as I said, he’s probably interviewed me 32 years. He’s probably interviewed me 100
Tim Tooten 38:09
times. So there are 101
Nestor Aparicio 38:13
well, you got even with him today. There are two Tim two moments that stand out. I’ll start with one again, my neighbor, uh, Mindy Becerra, who seems like she’s been here forever now, but Ken’s giggling because he remembers this. It was probably her, I don’t remember what year Mindy came to town, but it was her, probably her first year, and it was before a Board of Education meeting, or her first week, rather, for you know, early in her career, the Board of Education meeting, and I forget what the issue was. It was controversial, and I was the assistant superintendent for communications, and Mindy wanted me to comment, and I had made a decision early in the day that we were simply going to say no comment and just not have anything to add to the situation. We weren’t going to do any media. So I go down and Mindy says, Donna, let’s get a comment. And I go, Mindy, I’m sorry, we’re just not going to comment on that. And I go into the meeting, and five minutes later, my phone rings. It’s Dr Kim, come on. Now, first week in Baltimore, she needs an interview. Well, you would have been real popular me with a no comment that day. I go back out, I grab Mindy, and I say, All right, you owe two.
Tim Tooten 39:38
I knew that she was a quality person. And I knew that you were to and also and Mindy. She’s your cadence book girl, she she’s a wonderful lady. And I knew that she
39:49
wouldn’t, she was my neighbor,
Tim Tooten 39:54
yeah, and I knew that she wouldn’t try to go for a gotcha moment, Doctor, you know, he came. That’s
Nestor Aparicio 40:00
exactly what he said. Then come on, doctor, give her some fans and the other one. Nestor, Nestor, you will love this. And and my, my former boss, is smiling up in heaven right now. Famous day, Tim knows what I’m going to say, the famous day where my where there were protesters. We were breaking ground for a new school out in May’s chapel, and the protesters didn’t want it. They didn’t want to school, even though the Board of Ed owned this land forever. They didn’t want to school taking away their open space in the neighborhood. And a bunch of older protesters there, and the children were were trying to sing and speak, and the protesters were screaming and shouting. The kids, they were getting scared, and it pushed my former but my boss, and it led to the famous it’s my turn to talk. It’s your listen right up Nestor Valley, which he would see. Nestor loves that in the public Kevin had had enough, and he said, knock it off. You’re acting like jerks. It’s my turn to talk. It’s your turn to listen. And right away, as the Communications Director and Chief of Staff, I’m going, Oh my Lord of mercy, and I go back. You don’t think I would be confrontational as a public figure, back to the office. Tim wasn’t covered. There was a reporter there. Tim wasn’t there and and literally, I’m not in the office for an hour. My assistant says, Don. Tim’s on the phone, and I’m going, oh God. And all I do when I get on the phone, all I hear is this? Peli there, Tim is just some of the best TV.
Tim Tooten 41:49
Don’t, don’t repeat this.
41:56
Not running this.
Tim Tooten 41:59
There is a person, I’m sworn to silence, who was a photographer at shadow 11, and that person used to have it their ringtone was Kevin, it’s my turn to be in big trouble. Did you ever say
Nestor Aparicio 42:20
that as a school principal, Don did he pick that up from you? But here’s, here’s the footnote to that story. And I know we’ve helped him way too long, but it was the best part. The best part of Kevin cabinet was when he did something like that and he realized it probably didn’t go well, he could immediately shift gears and get over it. And it happened as we’re walking to the car, Kevin to me, and he says, I guess you would have preferred that I handled that different. I just looked at him.
Tim Tooten 42:58
That was classic.
Nestor Aparicio 43:00
Has been part of my life for a long time, and I will just say to everybody, go out, check out his book, Leading by example, watch him on W, B, A, L, T, V. Tend not to blow smoke at you with good luck with your ministry. But Nestor, there’s just not a finer guy in Baltimore media than Kim Tim. Tell me about Sunday mornings and what you do there. So you do there, so you can invite people to your ministry. You know, aside from the book and the website, and everybody knows you from TV, and I know your son better than I know you, and you know, tell him, I say hello, I
Tim Tooten 43:30
will do, in fact, the website again. You find all this. It’s Tim tooton TV, okay. But if you want to look at our ministry, we stream, etc. It’s come the number two. Harvest.org come the number two. Harvest.org we do a daily devotional, we do video, we do encouragement, we do a prayer wall. Visit, and we will certainly respond to you. I have it right here.
Nestor Aparicio 43:57
Harvest. Christian ministries. Come to harvest, to the number.org really good to see you. Visit you Don’s disappointed can’t hug you on the way out, and Mindy’s if I don’t plug Delaware for Mindy, she’ll be upset with me. So give Mindy a blue hen hug.
Tim Tooten 44:14
I certainly appreciate your your time now that phase two is in. I gotta go get a haircut, and I do need one badly. But
Speaker 1 44:25
8before you run, talk to us about how the hack thing became a thing.
Tim Tooten 44:29
Oh, boy. Okay, so this is the deal. The different schools. We were, me and Tony and were doing the blizzard. It may be 96 and we run out of things to do. They said, just stay on the air. And I was like, and do what? So I start grabbing caps from under my desk. And so then I said, if you have a cap, send me one. And so basically, over many administrations at Channel 11, I’m the hat man. And so I just start saying, you send me one. I’ll wear it, but it. Kept me inside for a good portion of time and so but what’s going to change, Don is, with distance learning will be anymore snow days anymore,
Nestor Aparicio 45:09
not even in the Hereford zone, as I’ve pointed out, right? Hey, Tim, appreciate you, Doctor, Doctor, Reverend and TV guy, an education reporter, and our path, you know, you shouldn’t wear somebody hats. You got nice hair? Tim, you know, hanging there
Tim Tooten 45:25
nice and great to the finest people I know. Thank you for this opportunity. Have a great day. You got
Nestor Aparicio 45:29
it. Don Muller, on behalf of all of us at Baltimore positive we’re doing incredible conversations. We’re talking about, obviously, race and challenges in urban situations and crime and policing, all of this on the backdrop of an election that happened here this week as well. Big appreciation for all of our sponsor, ice cream. I’m gonna hold the wake and bake up here, coffee ice cream with a fudge swirl and chunks of fudge brownies. If you’re listening for breakfast, that sounds perfect to hearka made here in Baltimore. Also, our friends at State Fair in Catonsville stop by. I did last week. I got chicken and waffles to go, but the raspberry sauce was just perfect. I don’t know what he puts on those fried chicken strips, but it’s just pure love. There’s no doubt about it, state fair or curbside socially, distance got a big, big tent open space, and they’re opening the Mexican restaurant across the street. Cheers to Evan Brown and our friends at State Fair, also faith Lee’s. I curbsided two crab cakes, a bowl of crab soup and mac and cheese a few weeks ago. I’m overdue. I got some french fries and coleslaw with that too, but I ate those real quick on Lexington. Get down to Lexington market, see our friends at Fauci. You can ship those crab cakes anywhere in the world. Last but never least, Mueller and Gary Realty and our dear friend Jeff Moeller Don Sun, who is buying and selling homes and taking care of yours and listing your home from six feet away with a mask on, showing things virtually and getting deals done. That’s what they’re doing at molar and Gary what we’re doing here at W nst.net, and am 1570 talking to leaders, intelligent folks all throughout our community about ways to make Baltimore better, raising the level of our conversation. He is Don Moeller. I am Nestor Aparicio. We are wnst.net, am 1570 calm, local Baltimore, positive. You.
