Our special column, Two Minutes with T2, introduces you to the members of the KIPP Texas leadership team – also called Team Texas and T2. In this installment, you’ll meet Justin Scott, regional superintendent of the KIPP Texas-Austin region.
As regional superintendent of KIPP Texas-Austin, Justin Scott’s main focus is to ensure children from educationally under-resourced communities in the Austin area have access to great schools. Justin has proudly been an educator for more than 20 years, 12 for KIPP Texas-Austin, where he started as a fifth-grade reading interventionist at KIPP Austin College Prep. He is a proud LatinX leader and the first in his family to attend and graduate from college. He holds a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Santa Clara University, and a master’s degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin. Justin views his most important role as father to 5-year-old Simone and 3-year-old Georgia and as partner to wife, Kelly Mullin.
What gets you out of bed every morning?
The promise of a morning walk gets me out of bed every morning… that and my kids!
How would you describe your job to a person you meet in the community?
I lead a team of schools that are proving what is possible when passionate and purpose-driven people lock arms around and with kids and families.
Which of the KIPP Texas Core Values resonates most with you? Rise Together
What are your biggest achievements — personally and professionally?
Raising two small humans with my amazing wife while leading a team making an enormous societal impact is a daily achievement. Being the first person in my family to walk across the college graduation stage while my grandparents looked on was big for me as well.
It’s just you and your favorite streaming service. What are you binging on?
The last thing I binge-watched was the last season of Queer Eye on Netflix. I’m also a huge fan of podcasts: a few favorites are Finding Mastery, Super Soul, 8 Black Hands, and The Daily.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I feel zero guilt for things that are pleasurable. Life’s short!
What book are you reading?
How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
What is one movie you can watch over and over again?
The Big Lebowski
What advice do you have for Big KIPPsters?
Lean into and learn from missteps and setbacks. The greatest gems for growth and development are found in it, not avoiding it. I subscribe to the concept that “the obstacle is the way.”
What advice do you have for Little KIPPsters?
Everything you need is already inside.
Do you have a hidden talent?
In a past life I was a percussionist.
What is one fact about you we would never guess?
I find a lot of joy in riding my bike really long distances.
If you are interested in joining the KIPP Texas Public Schools Team & Family, please view our openings here.
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