Episode 179

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Published on:

25th Feb 2026

Uvalde Sparked Real School Safety Action – Here's the Hope (Part 3)

Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley conclude with Paresa Noble on what gives hope. They cover her origin story after Uvalde, lightning round, what they learned, bipartisan school safety measures, Dave's takeaway on priorities and anger, shame on funding priorities, getting involved as a ministry, schools without locks, and closing.

Timestamps:

  1. (00:00) Paresa's Uvalde story shows one event can spark real change – from blame to action
  2. (04:39) Lightning Round – unfiltered answers cut through the noise
  3. (10:56) What we learned reveals clear bipartisan paths – if we choose to take them
  4. (11:02) Bipartisan school safety measures already exist – politics just gets in the way
  5. (12:06) Dave's takeaway – reorder priorities and drop manufactured anger
  6. (13:32) Our funding choices should shame us – national priorities are upside down
  7. (14:16) Getting involved feels like a ministry – this level of commitment works
  8. (14:36) Schools without basic locks still exist – unacceptable in any year
  9. (15:05) Closing – time to subscribe and actually get involved

Connect:

  1. Paresa Noble – Shield Our Schools | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Threads

🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X

🎧 Listen to Episodes → Here

Transcript
Alex:

The tone shifts—less tactics, more why.

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Jerremy asks Dave what keeps him hopeful,

and Dave goes straight at the machine:

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algorithms, incentives, division…

then flips it—“I helped build it.”

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And now he wants to help FIX it.

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Jerremy: Dave, what's, what gives

you real hope when you look at

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how divided the country feels?

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Dave: Well, so one of, one piece of

it is sort of like the, the white

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pill of like, well, what we see

online isn't a reflection of society

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and isn't a reflection of people.

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It's a reflection of algorithms and,

that that is not our reality and we

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are so much closer than we are, apart.

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And that that online and social media.

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Makes money.

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Everyone who's involved in that,

everyone who has stock in it, those

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make money by keeping us crazy.

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And I know this because I helped

build it, like I was there in 19

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96, 19 97, 19 98, building the bomb.

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And, and that's, that's on me, right?

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And I can spend the next, part

of my life helping fix that.

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So, like there's, there's a optimism

that I have is that, it isn't,

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it isn't as bad as you think.

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And on the other hand, so on the

other hand is sort of like the black

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pill of, of, we can't do anything.

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And, and like we, we

might as well give up.

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And I think that the reality is actually

in between sort of a gray, is yes, things.

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be more positive.

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Be like, say that things are better than

they aren't, and say it to everybody

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you know, and say it to your neighbor.

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Say it to your friends.

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Say it to your family, and

lift people up that way.

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Be the example.

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And rather than saying, we can't

do anything because of the powers

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that be and the politics and the

divisiveness and the left and the

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right, and the up and the down.

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reality is, is that.

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We are facing generational issues.

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Like you, you, both of you are the

first generation of being online

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and always connected, and your,

your kids are a product of that.

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And I think, they will and maybe

their kids will probably look back.

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Like I do on my parents, which

is like, you really drank and

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smoked, like all the time.

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like I look back at that

and like, that's crazy.

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I think, your kids and their kids will

kind of look back at this time and be

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like, well that was a little crazy.

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like, and this is what

we can learn from 'em.

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So like, I think there's an upward

trajectory there for, for being human.

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So I, because it's a generational thing.

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Just having this conversation

and highlighting things and

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saying, Hey, this is what works.

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giving, empowering you, the parents

today to make, just small changes in

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how they get engaged with schools,

how they engage with their kids.

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and pushing for reforms today

really pays dividends in the future.

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Jerremy: Parisa, what gives you real hope

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when you look at how divided

the country feels, especially

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on this particular topic?

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Paresa: Good question.

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I think for

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me it's been leaning into the

discomfort of this specific topic

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because I think before we started

this, we even were feeling that despair

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of why is everything So divided?

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But once we dug into this work, it

opened our eyes quite a bit just because.

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Yes.

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Our goal with Shield Schools is to

protect students, protect families,

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but it's also to unite people and

bring people together through our

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events, through our initiatives.

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And in doing that, it has

made us lean into more than

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just what's on our algorithm.

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It's made us lean into more than

just the typical news outlets

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that we get our information from.

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It's made us absorb information from

every angle about every topic, and when

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you do that, it, it shows one thing to

me that we honestly, we have more in

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common than we do apart, and we all want

the same things when you look at the

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media or how information is being shared.

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It's often the extremes that

make the headlines not the norm.

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the norm is more grounded than we are made

to believe, and we have, like I said, more

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in common than we are made to believe,

and I think leaning into the discomfort

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of hearing out the devil's advocate.

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Is what kind of opens your eyes to that.

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And I think that's what gives me hope at

least, is because I have felt that, and

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I've been on pursuit of that personally.

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and it,

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Dave: Can,

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Jerremy: Yeah, go ahead and Dave.

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Dave: can you talk a little

bit about your leadership?

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Like, like one of our very first

interviews on school safety was

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with, Lori, whose daughter Alyssa.

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Passed in, it was, well, I shouldn't

say passed, was killed in Parkland.

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And I know you've, you've

spoken about Valdi.

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when did things stop being news for

you and became a a, when you became

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a leader in this?

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What

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Paresa: Hmm.

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Dave: I mean, what was that?

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What, when did things

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flip for you?

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Paresa: I think it was a couple things.

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I have two kids, they're young.

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and my son was getting ready to go

into kindergarten when UDI happened.

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And it's up to that point.

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You have incident after incident

after incident, and it's that cycle.

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It's, oh my gosh, I can't

believe this is happening.

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And then a few weeks pass and

everybody kind of moves on from

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it and then another one happens.

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And that has been the

cycle up to that point.

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And it just, at first it was just

heavy on the heart as a parent, right?

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It wasn't until the shooting at

Uvalde, Texas that really, inspired

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us to get involved with this

conversation, because I'll never forget.

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We were at dinner, my husband and

I, we went out to to dinner, about

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three or four days after what

happened at Rob Elementary School,

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and they had TVs on at the restaurant.

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Every single TV was on a

different news station.

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you had M-S-N-B-C, you had

Fox, you had CNN every side.

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and they were all talking

about the same thing.

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They were talking about Rob Elementary

School and every single one.

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Instead of talking about.

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The details of it or things that

are actually information they were

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talking about, the opinions of it, and

pointing fingers at it's their fault.

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It's the other side's fault.

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It's because of this, it's because

of that, and it's that moment for

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both my husband and I was infuriating

because we have a situation

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where, I think it was 19 children.

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Have been killed and we're

talking about the politics of it.

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And I remember asking him, how can

somebody even access a, school like this?

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Like how could somebody just walk in?

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I remember when I was young

and I was in, in school, it was

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hard to get into the school.

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you can just walk through the back door.

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So we looked it up and it was

because the door lock was broken.

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And then a couple weeks later, we

actually ended up registering the.

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A foundation that night as

an entity with the state of

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Colorado at, on our dinner date.

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We've had more romantic dinner dates

than that very productive evening.

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but a couple weeks, or I don't know how

long after, a little while after the

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shooting at the Covenant in Nashville

happened and that person shot through

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the window and it's like, okay, this?

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keeps happening.

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Where it's things that.

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Could be fixed or solved for

that they're even entering

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the school in the first place.

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If there's ballistic window film on

there, it's not to say that it's gonna

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be a hundred percent bulletproof that

the bullets won't even enter the school.

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It's to say that it's gonna

take ammo away from the shooter

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and it's gonna slow them down.

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Those two things alone

could save a lot of lives.

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So that's why, I mean, we had, we started.

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The entity.

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and it sat there for probably like

six months because both my husband

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and I were thinking, we both already

have, work school, we, we are so

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busy, how are we going to do this?

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But it was one of those things

where, it just kept happening

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and it kept proving our point.

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And for us, we are just very,

we, we like to solve problems.

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So it's very much looking at.

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This is a very obvious solution

and nobody's talking about it

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and people who are talking about

it, it's in the government level

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worth, it moves like a snail, you?

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know?

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So it's just how could we, roll

something out that would serve the

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community and just pay the community

back, And it, it became kind of our.

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Almost like our ministry in a sense

where this is our helping hand

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to the community, to the country.

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And it's something that has proven

itself to to work many times.

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And a lot of people have come together

on it, which has been very inspiring.

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Yeah.

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Jerremy: Well, thank you.

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Thank you for embarking on

your is helping so many people.

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Let's do a lightning round with four

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you wish every parent believed about?

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School safety.

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Paresa: make a difference in.

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The school safety of both my kids

and the kids in our community

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Jerremy: That's right.

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That's right.

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What's the cheapest fix

with the biggest payoff?

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Paresa: enhanced locking mechanisms.

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So update your locks.

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Very simple.

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Jerremy: Yep.

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I love it.

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What's one question every

parent should ask their school

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and not accept a vague answer.

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Paresa: Ask them what the safety measures

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are in place today and what their

plan is in case of an emergency.

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Jerremy: Yeah, and listen

really closely to that answer.

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Yeah, that's a

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Great,

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Paresa: Mm-hmm.

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Jerremy: great question.

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what's one thing you've changed your

mind about since you started this

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Incredible, as you call it, ministry.

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Paresa: That there is an avenue

to build upon what we've done on

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school security, and that is to

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be a helping hand in the

conversation of mental health.

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That is something that we're excited

to open the door on And explore how

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we can further impact in that sense.

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Jerremy: Come on, legends.

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Come on.

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You and Josh are such great people.

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Thank you for doing what you are doing.

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Thank you for contributing in such a

powerful way, and thanks for being so

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remarkable and helping so many peoples.

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so many schools, so many students,

so many parents, teachers, you're a

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gift and a net positive to this world.

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Paresa: I so appreciate it.

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Thank you guys so much for having

me on and having the conversation.

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I appreciate you guys.

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Jerremy: likewise.

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Dave: All right, my brother.

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What'd you learn?

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What did you learn from our dear guest?

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Jerremy: What did I learn?

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Well, I learned that very simple measures.

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love the word bipartisan.

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I didn't even know what that meant

until probably like four years ago.

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This is not a politic discussion.

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This is, this is,

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Dave: Now.

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Jerremy: to do with right,

left, right, center.

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is, can we keep our kids more

safe and are there measures?

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That's the very first and it's,

she mentioned we're not talking

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about second amendment, we're

not talking about politic.

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We can, we make our school safer with

some pretty easy measures that don't

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really cost that much money, that are

pretty effective and pretty cheap.

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Dave: Yeah.

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Jerremy: Right.

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That was the conversation and the

answer and my, my whole belief for so

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long has been, yes, we can do that.

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That actually is legitimately

doable and quite available to

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us as a nation where we can go.

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measures can simply be

instilled quickly, pretty cost

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effectively, pretty efficiently.

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What about you, man?

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What do you think?

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What?

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What do you feel you learned on that one?

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Dave: I think part of this still makes

me so angry, to kind of go back to, your,

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your, your center of the universe, which

is, about, it's, so much of this is about

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education and we, when we talk about the,

the center of our kids' education, we see.

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I, and I'm talking two, at least

two of them, one of them is, is the

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parents and how the parents are pulled,

a billion different directions and

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like they, they're relying on the,

on the phones and the, the other, the

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other aspects in order to help them.

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Do what they need to do.

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it's about their priorities and

ensuring that as a, as a community

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and as a society, we're giving

parents everything that they need

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in order to, to raise awesome kids.

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And then it's the schools

and the, the schools.

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I mean, nobody starts a school or, or

is running a school district or is a

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principal or a teacher in a school saying,

oh, I don't wanna keep the kids safe.

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Right?

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Like every single one of them in the

back of their heads is like, of course,

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of course we're keeping the kids safe.

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Yet there is a priority somewhere

that says we need to do this.

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buy books or pens or pencils or

chalk or, or whatever, whatever.

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Right?

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We need to do that first.

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And we can't have good locks on the doors.

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Come on.

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I mean, like that, that, that we've put

schools in this position a shame on us.

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That's what makes me so angry is it's

like, you said it early on, it's like,

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this is a rounding, this is, this money is

in the couch of, of the Department of War.

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Right?

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Like, like, like if somebody

just, picked, picked up a.

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Picked up a pillow on a couch

in the Pentagon, they'd be like,

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oh, here's all the money we need.

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That's, I keep learning this lesson

and maybe it'll get through my head,

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which is, it's, it's about priorities.

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It's about a, a shift in

a little bit of money.

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It's about engaging our politicians,

engaging the people who have

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power and demanding more.

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I love that she said that this

is a ministry because it is, we

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have to make this a part of us.

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it has to be deep down inside

of us and like, what's the plan?

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Get involved.

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It's about mental health.

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It's about all these things.

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that's, that's kind of

what I learned What?

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Jerremy: it's a great way to put it, man.

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Just kind of infuriating that

we've even got to this point.

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Dave: Right?

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Jerremy: wait a minute.

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There's some schools in this

country that don't have locks on the

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Dave: Locks,

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Jerremy: correctly.

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Dave: locks,

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Jerremy: Good old, good old locks.

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Don't have 'em.

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We haven't upgraded our

schools in, you know,

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Dave: come.

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Jerremy: 30 decades.

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'cause we haven't upgraded the outside.

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We haven't upgraded the inside.

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Dave: Yeah.

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Jerremy: the truth, man.

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We haven't changed the educational

system in this country at all.

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Dave: No.

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Jerremy: the point?

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No, there's no point.

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Just don't do it.

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Dave: Oh, boo

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Jerremy: Boo.

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Dave: boo.

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Jerremy: Big

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Dave: down.

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All right, my friend.

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Wrap us up.

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Jerremy: It's been an honor and

privilege and pleasure as well

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for all of us who are here.

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Everyone who is listening, thank you.

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Please subscribe to

solving America's Problems.

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Drop a five star review

and share this episode.

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Tag us.

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been an honor to pour into

every single listener out there.

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Thank you so much for tuning

in, and until next time.

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About the Podcast

Solving America's Problems
Solving America’s Problems isn’t just a podcast—it’s a journey. Co-host Jerremy Newsome, a successful entrepreneur and educator, is pursuing his lifelong dream of running for president. Along the way, he and co-host Dave Conley bring together experts, advocates, and everyday Americans to explore the real, actionable solutions our country needs.

With dynamic formats—one-on-one interviews, panel discussions, and more—we cut through the noise of divisive rhetoric to uncover practical ideas that unite instead of divide. If you’re ready to think differently, act boldly, and join a movement for meaningful change, subscribe now.