This episode will take a look at the Transitional Mentoring Program. This is a pilot program that just wrapped its first year at the Martin Luther King High School in the East Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. This program is a collaborative effort between the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and The Office of School Safety. 

This program works in collaboration with the student, family, and transitional team. The goal of this program is to "ensure that we are making our best effort to ensure that the student transitions into a safe, welcoming environment where his or her academic, behavioral, and social skills thrive. We will work to ensure that the student is given high expectations, coping skills, and the ability to succeed in accomplishing all goals."

To get some foundational understanding about the program we talk to Tiko Gilliam a case manager for the Transitional Program, as well as Dr. Bond, Director of Operations for the Student Transition Center and Principal Wilkins, the Principal of Martin Luther King High. 

The music is "Mr. Loopside" by Jim and Aiden from Rock to the Future- Rock to the Future equips Philadelphia youth with life skills to support current and lifelong wellbeing through free, student-driven music programs. Through music, we disrupt cycles of poverty.

Equity Is is a podcast from the School District of Philadelphia's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This podcast is about cultivating prosperity and liberation for students and staff. We do this by showcasing and debriefing on  the great equity work that is being done throughout The School District of Philadelphia community. With each episode, we hope to cover topics that will create pathways for marginalized populations in our District, by removing barriers, increasing access and inclusion, building trust, and creating a shared culture of social responsibility and organizational accountability.

Equity Is will be back in the fall when school is back in session. 

We are relaunching the Equity Is podcast. For this first episode back we are looking at one of the ways that equity is restorative, by looking at the Relationships First Program. This is a restorative justice-practices philosophy that emphasizes the importance of positive, authentic human connection and its link to both academic success and social-emotional learning. In the first part of the episode we talk to Abby Gray and Josh Staub who implemented the program here at the district. We also look into what this program looks like at one of its schools, Taylor Elementary. We interviewed their principal David Laver, Nicole Molino an RF coach, and Mason a student at the school. 

To learn more about Relationships First follow the link here: https://www.philasd.org/schoolclimate/programs-services/relationshipsfirst/

To learn more about Taylor Elementary follow the link here: https://taylor.philasd.org/

To learn more about the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion follow the link here: https://www.philasd.org/dei/

To get updates from the Office of DEI follow the link here: https://philasd.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=fec1a58d7683e2e09fb2bad38&id=5f8c915957

Interview with Executive Director of Equity, Estelle Acquah.

Interview with Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Dr. Sabriya Jubilee

Interview with School District of Philadelphia Superintendent, Dr. William Hite