Dr. Errick L. Greene is Superintendent of Jackson (MS) Public Schools. My conversation with him on 11 August 2020 afforded the rich opportunity to produce three episodes in one: a look at some of the complications of starting the school year in the time of COVID-19; select reflections on public leadership in Mississippi at a moment of increasing awareness of systemic racism in the U.S.; and a masterclass in team leadership. Beginning his second quarter-century in education, Dr. Greene held leadership roles in Washington, DC and Tulsa, Oklahoma before becoming JPS Superintendent in 2018. Check out today’s show for the ways a supportive community can bring kids along.

And collaborative approaches to make any kind of leading better for everyone. Here’s that 8-minute segment, developed with fresh animation by Roy Chambers. Grateful to my Patreon supporters for making this possible! (Learn more about supporting Point of Learning through Patreon at the bottom of the page.)

Plus a soundtrack featuring Gil Scott Chapman. As the kids say, it’s everything.

Check the description section of the YouTube video edition for subdivisions of the episode, in case you’d like to rewatch or share a particular segment.

Here’s the video letter to the JPS community that we discuss during the episode. Dr. Greene sent it the week after George Floyd was murdered.

Internationally acclaimed artist Gil Scott Chapman returns to Point of Learning to lend some Mississippi-inflected keys to today’s mix. The soundscape he created derives from Mose Allison, a blues pianist and composer born in Tippo, Mississippi in 1927.

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