In this episode we sit down and connect with Dr. Monica McHale-Small. Monica shares with us her experience as a Superintendent and how that has impacted her lens on the larger educational system. She highlights the importance of supporting the whole child; especially when thinking about students with specific learning disabilities. Monica also talks us through the challenges that come with navigating the special education realm as a parent.

In this episode we are joined by Chris Barfield. Chris is such a great story teller and shares with us how using sports helps the students he and his team work with at their school. He highlights the importance of dosing the stress appropriately to match the developmental level of the students; knowing students show up in different places. Chris also reminds us that we need to remember for many of our students, school has been a place of negative experiences and it’s our job to help rewrite their scripts.

In today’s episode we sit down and connect with Tu David Phu. Chef Tu shares his personal story about why understanding the connection between schools and food matters. When you have consistent access to food that provides nourishment it’s easy to minimize just how important it is for learning. Chef Tu reminds us that the playing field is not equal and we must advocate for free access to healthy foods for all students at school.

Welcome to season three of Education Suspended! We kick off this season with Justin Toomer. Justin dives into the role curriculum should play in opening doors and uncovering new content. He highlights the reality that the better school experience students have, the more likely they are to consider becoming educators. Justin reminds us to use data in a way that doesn’t just tell the story that has already been written for so many of our students.

In our last episode of Season Two we connect with William Tucker, who challenges all of us to stop, and ask ourselves, why do we educate? William focuses on shifting our archaic system away from memorization and aims to provide students an educational system that promotes understanding. He specifically specializes in literacy and shares why equipping students with a solid foundation of literacy and comprehension is vitally important to all future disciplines.

In today’s episode we sit down and connect with Malika Ali, the Chief Innovation Officer at the Highlander Institute. Malika’s transgenerational story is rooted in the pursuit of education, and she shares with us how the passion of past generations drives her own desire to empower students. She connects that curriculums need to provide both, windows and mirrors, for students so they can see themselves and better understand how they fit into the world.

In this episode we sit down and dialog with Tiffani Lennon, the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida. Tiffani highlights how important it is to stand together to change systems and fight for equality. She also shares the impact that living in areas that do not emulate belonging and safety have on our students. Tiffany says that letting teachers be teachers is so important and holds such power.

In today’s episode we connect with my favorite guest, ever. My mom. (Yes, I’m biased). Oma, began teaching in 1958 and she sits down with us and shares some of her biggest lessons learned as an educator. She talks about the importance of having a holistic lens and reflects on how she leaned into her teaching community for creativity and inspiration.