No doubt, Barbie will always hold a special place in almost every girl's heart, but what happens when she's curious about what's happening on Saturn...or the sun? That's where GIRL IN SPACE CLUB comes in.

GIRL IN SPACE CLUB was created by a real-life Rocket Scientist, Sabrina Thompson. In this episode, Sabrina talks about her courageous journey to becoming an Engineer at NASA, why it's important to know what's happening in space, why she founded GIRL IN SPACE CLUB to empower all children, especially girls, and more!

Website: https://girlinspaceclub.com/ 

Instagram: @girlinspaceclub

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

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To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast or request marketing services visit: www.edgapevolution.com

Mental health diagnoses are still considered “taboo” among a large portion of the African American community, so many children and adults remain untreated for mental illnesses that hold people back from living their best lives! That’s why in this episode we take a closer look at the benefits of mental health therapy and common reasons why the prospect of receiving a diagnosis causes some to shy away from prioritizing mental health therapy altogether.

We flow through this conversation with Dr. Andrea Boudreaux.

She is a committed healthcare executive, medical psychologist and currently serves as Executive Director for Children’s School Services, a subsidiary of Children's National Hospital where she oversees 200 school-based clinics, addresses the needs, and improves health outcomes and access for 90,000 children across the District of Columbia. 

Providing access to quality academic experiences is only one amazing part of helping children reach their full potential. Another essential component is helping children, and the communities that raise them, prioritize mental health. Poor mental health can make it extremely difficult to apply academic and life knowledge.

Tune in and learn ways to help children reach their fullest potential, as well as tips for navigating health systems as a person of color. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Children’s National Hospital https://childrensnational.org/ 

National Alliance on Mental Illness https://www.nami.org/Home 

The Association of Black Psychologists Inc.https://abpsi.org/ 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast or request marketing services visit: www.edgapevolution.com

Old habits are tough to break! Especially when that habit is poor posture. Physical Therapist, Researcher and Children’s Book Author, Shweta Kapur joins us on the show to discuss her new book, POSTURE TOWN, because children are the future and we must ensure that they are equipped with skills and behavior patterns that help their bodies support their great minds.

We discuss:

• How posture affects physical and mental health

Purchase POSTURE TOWN here: http://amazon.com/author/shweta-kapur 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast or request marketing services visit: www.edgapevolution.com

At 7.3%, African Americans make up but a slither of America's $23B conservation industry. Not to mention, African Americans are less likely to go outdoors and enjoy outdoor recreation because of historic discrimination. This is harmful because as humans, we are nature, so it’s important for our mental health, well being and survival that all people have the awareness and tools to participate in protecting and preserving our earth.

Today’s guest, Charles Johnson III teaches physical, biological, and informational sciences to help communities realize the benefits of a healthy environment at the James River Association.

In 2021, his team was awarded a grant to educate students from three counties across the James River Watershed. All 7th-grade students from Amherst, Hopewell, and Surry County, for three years starting in 2021-2024. As a result, every 7th-grade student in the county will experience a meaningful watershed educational experience with his team.

In this episode, Charles helps us explore the importance of preserving local bodies of water because they are sources of life for human beings and creatures that we coexist with. He also unpacks education equity in the environmental arena, his story as an African American male discovering his passion for the outdoors, and the transformative work happening at the James River Association.

James River Association website: https://thejamesriver.org/ 

Get in touch with Charles on all social platforms: @benny_johnson_iii 

Charles’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-johnson-a79333112/ 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast or request marketing services visit: www.edgapevolution.com

Across America, 40% of college students fail Organic Chemistry on their first attempt. A huge majority never pass it at all. For students who have always dreamed of becoming a doctor, this is a big deal because if you don’t pass organic chemistry, you don’t get into medical school … and right now, students of color make up the majority of hopefuls who are forced to suppress their dream of becoming a doctor. Instead, they must settle for a different career path because of so many alarming reasons that Dr. Colleen Kelley helps us explore in this episode. 

In this episode, Dr. Kelley reveals reasons students have historically hated Chemistry, and how her new comic series Kids Chemical Solutions is transforming their sentiments for the better and helping children understand (and enjoy) college level chemistry before they finish elementary school.

Kids Chemical Solutions website: https://kidschemicalsolutions.com/  

Get in touch with Dr. Kelley: [email protected]

Comic Book Chemistry: https://youtu.be/wDmkJzcm4Pc 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast visit: www.edgapevolution.com

This episode is also a 40th-anniversary celebration! Utilizing acts of service to create inclusion and community is an ideal that the National Youth Leadership Council was founded upon 40 years ago.

On March 16, 1983, Dr. James Kielsmeier founded the Minnesota-based organization. Since then, youth from around the country are empowered to become leaders in their lives and communities. 

In this episode, you will hear from NYLC’s CEO, Amy Meuers and Board Member, Zahra Ali. Zahra is also an undergraduate student at Oxford University, and has served in leadership capacities with NYLC since the 11th grade in high school. 

We discuss tips for busy parents who want to help their child get involved in improving their local community, as well as topics like:

• The real reasons why elected officials in America are afraid of today’s youth and their ability to influence systemic changes that America’s leadership rarely wants to face head-on. 

• A service-learning case-study where students successfully investigated and changed legislation that will continue to improve the lives of youth and their families for years to come.

NYLC’s website:https://www.nylc.org/ . 

Amy Meuers’ email:  [email protected] 

Sponsor NYLC: https://www.nylc.org/page/sponsors 

Partner with NYLC: https://www.nylc.org/page/partners 

The Power of Young People To Change The World podcast: https://www.nylc.org/page/podcast 

Listen up and enjoy!

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and feedback help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast visit: www.edgapevolution.com

America hasn’t taken the time to get to know Black boys for centuries, and it shows. Black boys make up the majority percentage of children in America who attempt childhood suicide, and in this episode, you’ll gain a better understanding of the work that needs to be done on a personal, familial and societal level to help Black boys reclaim their humanity and define their own masculinity in a healthy manner.

Topics discussed include:

1. How Black people “do feelings differently”

Through the episode I speak with Dr. Rabiatu Barrie. She is an assistant professor in the Family Science department in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland College Park. She is a community-based intervention and prevention scientist whose work aims to reduce negative mental health outcomes among Black boys and to develop family and community-based interventions that support healthy development.

This episode is Part 2 of the series Suicide Awareness and Generational Healing for Black Children and families. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the phone number (988). It's a FREE Crisis Lifeline. A trained specialist will be on the line ready to talk to you and help you ease your emotional distress: https://988lifeline.org/

Mental health resource Dr. Barrie shares

Our Mental Health Minute: https://www.rianaelyse.com/ourmhm 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and reviews help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast visit www.edgapevolution.com 

Whether you are looking for help for yourself or a family member who is experiencing suicidal thoughts, one of the first things you can do to get immediate help from people who want to help you, not judge you, is by using your telephone to call the number “988”. That number will put you in touch with someone from a FREE Crisis Lifeline. You can call this number 24/7. If you feel like you need to call this number right now, please do not listen to this podcast episode. Instead, give 988 a call because you can reach someone who is waiting to help you or your loved one right now.

In this episode, we explore what happens somewhat behind the scenes at the 988 Crisis Lifeline with Garry O’Neal, Jr.

Garry volunteers at the 988 Crisis Lifeline and speaks with people as young at 8 years old who need someone to talk to when life gets heavy and they need a listening ear, or when they are experiencing suicidal thoughts.

This episode is Part 1 of a series we've committed to on the show call Suicide Awareness and Generational Healing for Black Children and Families. 

I also open about about why I decided to create a podcast series that addresses suicide among Black children, and why the Ed Gap Evolution podcast now produces episodes about mental health for the entire family in addition to episodes where we discuss innovative education for K-12 students.

Links to resources Garry O’Neal Jr. shares on the show:

Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/ 

The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ 

The See Plan Do Show: https://www.seeplandoshow.com/about-see-plan-do-show 

Joel Pulliam's nonprofit First and Fifteenth Foundation: https://firstandfifteenthfoundation.com/ 

A self-therapy app that I personally love to use: https://www.enjoybloom.com/ 

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and reviews help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast visit www.edgapevolution.com

During this episode, we're talking about our campaign to save lives through child suicide awareness and prevention. September is National Suicide Awareness month in the United States and, unfortunately, children as young as five years old are deciding that life is not worth living.

More specifically, since 1991 suicidal attempts by Black children have increased by 80% ... and from the looks of things ... this number will continue to increase if we don’t do something about it. 

We believe that every child deserves to feel secure in themselves and in their ability to live a happy, fulfilled life, and every parent, guardian and loved one should know warning signs, preventative measures, and solutions for suicidal tendencies in children. 

If you want to support research and production for our upcoming series on Child Suicide Prevention, and help the most ignored and most effected population of children dying by suicide, please donate here: https://gofund.me/9e5df569 

You can also donate by going to GoFundMe and typing “Podcast Series To Help End Child Suicide” in the search bar.

If you want a better idea of why our series focuses on suicide prevention for Black children, and why we are asking for your financial support, please listen to this episode or check out the description on GoFundMe. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the podcast, you can!

• Simply subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and download your favorite episodes.

• If you listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and review make it easier for more people to discover the podcast.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/podcas-series-to-end-child-suicide 

Is a high-dollar monetary investment in my child's education worth it or am I in over my head? In this episode, you will hear from Baltimore, MD native and racial equity advisor, Alexis Seth. Alexis makes up a super small population of African American Baltimoreans who attended independent schools throughout the span of her childhood education. She is passionate about Black and brown children not just existing in diverse educational spaces, but thriving in these spaces, and thriving throughout life.

Alexis is a mother, daughter, sister,  auntie, friend, trusted advisor, and thought partner in racial equity, as well as an advisor with the Racial Equity Asset Lab. If you have more questions on independent education for brown children or want to talk about your experience as a brown student who attended an independent school, Alexis invites you to reach out to her at: [email protected] 

Website: https://racialequityassetlab.org/ 

During her interview, Alexis tells it like it is for families of color who are entering the world of private education. 

We talk about topics like:

• How to select the right school for your child

Please listen closely and enjoy!

If you listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, please rate us and leave a review. Your positive rating and reviews help other people who care about closing America’s education gap find the podcast.

Remember to subscribe to the show on your podcast app so that you get notified when new episodes are released!

To learn more about the Ed Gap Evolution Podcast visit www.edgapevolution.com