Colorful Conversations

A colorful conversation with Cimaje Best, Project Manager at the Op-Ed Project

A colorful conversation with Jad Abumrad, creator and host of the Radiolab podcast.

A conversation with the former Wesley Prep students who started The Common Ground Experiment.

A colorful conversation with Rebecca Bruff, the award winning author of              Trouble the Water,  a beautifully written piece of historical fiction about the life of Robert Smalls, a former slave and civil war hero.

Our guest on this episode is Daniel Roby, CEO of Austin Street Center, an emergency shelter in Dallas.  Have you ever wanted to learn more about how you can help those experiencing homelessness in our community?  Then this is the episode for you.  Daniel has had a deep compassion for those experiencing homelessness since he was a child.  He shares the story of how his calling grew over the years as he chats with Jack, John Mark and Joshua.  Along with their discussion on issues surrounding housing insecurity, Daniel gives the boys wonderful advice for other areas of life as well.  We are so grateful for his time and his example of leadership in the community. Thank you, Daniel!  To learn more about Austin Street Center, click HERE.

On today’s episode we are honored to have a very special guest,  Chairman Morgan Meyer.  He was nice enough to schedule a Zoom meeting with our entire class, and it was great!  Chairman Meyer is serving in his 4th term as a state representative.  He is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for the 87th legislature regular session. He authored many bills that focus on protecting children and support financing for education.  He is a graduate of SMU and lives in University Park, and he is a partner at Wick Phillips law firm. He loves representing district 108 because it is home.  We learned so much from this colorful conversation with Chairman Meyer, and think you will, too! To learn more about Chairman Morgan Meyer, click HERE.

We are honored to have Mr. Beto O’Rourke on this episode! Listen in as he shares about everything from where to find the best fried pies in Texas to how he handles life's challenges. He takes the time to authentically connect with my students during our chat, and it makes them feel so special.  Mr. O'Rourke is a native of El Paso and  has served on the city council there. He continues to support his neighbors by volunteering locally in a variety of ways with his family.  Mr. O'Rourke served as a Texas Representative for the United States Congress from 2013 - 2018, and he is currently enjoying working from home, teaching a class at Texas State University and volunteering with his non-profit organization, Powered by People. We are so grateful for the time and care Mr. O’Rourke invested in this conversation. It is one we will not forget!  Thank you, Mr. O Rourke!
Click HERE to learn more about Powered by People.

This is a sweet episode because  my students had the honor of chatting with Ms. Eryn Bird.  Eryn is the amazing producer/audio engineer who edits every single episode of Colorful Conversations.  She does incredible work, she is always professional, and I have always gotten the edited episodes back in two days or less.  She is always happy to make any adjustments or revisions (which are rarely needed), and with every episode, her work becomes more and more intuitive.  If you are looking for a sound editor, please reach out to Eryn. She is an up and coming professional who has managed to birth what is now a thriving business during the pandemic, when there were not job opportunities in her field upon graduating from college.

Beyond Eryn's professionalism, I am so moved by the personal attention she pays to my students.  Each time she returns an edited episode, she takes the time to write a personal note to my students telling them what she enjoyed about the episode.  They look forward to her notes each time!  When I told the class we were going to visit with Eryn and learn more about her, they were so excited.  This episode feels so sweet because it shows the beautiful power of connection we have all experienced through the process of creating this podcast.  I was quite emotional listening to my students reflect on what they've learned along the way! Eryn is such an inspiration. My students left this conversation with so many reminders of the things that matter most. We are so grateful to you, Eryn Bird, for finding common ground with us, for making our podcasts presentable, and for keeping it colorful.  If you need an amazing audio engineer or know someone who does, HERE is the link to Eryn's information. Thanks for tuning in!




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On this episode, Dr. Michael Horne,  CEO of the Parkland Foundation and Ms. Sandra Godina,  Director of Program and Organizing for Leadership for Educational Equity, discuss their common work for equity in the areas of healthcare and education.  In addition, they share wonderful leadership strategies and stories about the importance of family and friends.  Mia, Charlie, Liam and Ava do a wonderful job sparking this colorful and important conversation!  To learn more about the Parkland Foundation,  click HERE.  To find out more about Leadership for Educational Equity, click HERE.