Talking About Kids

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Public opinion of school boards is low, and that is understandable. When school boards are not making headlines for banning books, enacting discriminatory policies, or arming teachers, videos of brawls erupting at school board meetings are blowing up social media. So when the award winning educator, AJ Crabill, comes out with a brand new book that proports to outline how school boards can improve so that student outcomes can improve, I jumped at the chance to talk with him. The book is called, Great on Their Behalf:  Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective. I think it is smart, accessible, and right. More information about AJ and his new book can be found at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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When Bessel van der Kolk – famed researcher and author of The New York Times best seller, The Body Keeps the Score – says that neurofeedback has the potential to help kids reshape their brains to be more regulated and more open to new experiences, one takes notice. After all, helping kids stay regulated is the first thing that we, as people who care about kids, need to do to ensure their success. Consequently, I was excited to talk with Dianne Kosto, the CEO and Founder of SYMMETRY Neuro-Pathway Training because she is a self-described “mom on a mission” to bring neurofeedback services to everyone. The story of Dianne’s passion, what neurofeedback did for her kid, and what it potentially can do for the kids in your life, are the topics of this episode. More information about Dianne and SYMMETRY Neuro-Pathway Training can be at TalkingAboutKids.com.

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The introduction of the U.S. Department of Education’s webpage on STEM states, “In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever that our nation's youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information, and know how to gather and evaluate evidence to make decisions. These are the kinds of skills that students develop in science, technology, engineering, and math, including computer science—disciplines collectively known as STEM/CS.” While this is an excellent summary of the need, getting kids interested in STEM can be tricky, especially when they are very young.  To help explain early childhood STEM, I reached out to Karen Martinson.  Karen is the founder of Early STEM Ed, an organization that supports parents, teachers, and out of school time professionals in establishing and maintaining early STEM education programs. She also happens to be the teacher that turned my kid into a chemistry junkie. More information about Karen can be found at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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In this Spring Holiday episode, I discuss the ways that expectations affect kids and how we, as adults who care about them, can adjust our expectations to help them succeed. Links to the research I cite are at www.TalkingAboutKids.com. Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week.

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Cyndi Coon is an Applied Futurist and a self-described “time traveler and rule-bender.” I first collaborated with Cyndi on an Emerge: A Festival of Futures event at Arizona State University. Since then, I have followed the work of her and her colleagues as they futurcast for government agencies and high-tech private sector companies.  What is “futurcasting”? Well, I am going to let Cyndi explain it, but I think you will find that it directly applies to kids and education. More information about Cyndi is at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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This is the final episode in Talking About Kids series using the history of HomeBase Youth Services to examine the lifecycle of a nonprofit from founding, through hardships, and into maturity. To conclude the series, I thought it would be important to hear from some of HomeBase’s clients. Several years ago, three young adult residents offered to - anonymously and with the support of the clinical staff - share their stories to help professionals better understand the lasting effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the importance of programs like HomeBase. As mentioned, there are three anonymous, yet distinct, voices in this podcast. Each is generous and courageous. More information about HomeBase Youth Services is at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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This is the third episode in Talking About Kids’ series using the history of HomeBase Youth Services to examine the lifecycle of nonprofits from founding, through hardships, and into maturity. My guest this episode to discuss managing a large, complex and community-embedded nonprofit is Dede Yazzie Devine. Dede is the CEO of Native American Connections, a position she has held for over 40 years. Some nonprofit administrators embody the mission of an organization. Others are masters of the technical logistics of the work. Somehow, Dede is both. More information about Dede, Native American Connections, and HomeBase Youth Services is at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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This is the second episodes in the series that uses my experience with HomeBase Youth Services to examine what it is like to found a nonprofit, the role of a nonprofit Board of Directors, and how mature nonprofits grow and embed themselves in communities. My guest for this episode is Neil Sutton. Neil is an entrepreneur and serial community servant. He was on one of the first Boards of Directors for HomeBase and its Chair through the through the roughest time in its history. We discuss how he led HomeBase through those trials and, more importantly, why he did. More information about Neil and HomeBase can be found at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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There are over 1.8 million nonprofits in the United States. Tens of thousands of new nonprofits are launched every year, and tens of thousands fail. With 10% of the U.S. workforce employed in nonprofits, I thought I would use my experience with HomeBase Youth Services to examine what it is like to found a nonprofit, the role of a nonprofit Board of Directors, and how mature nonprofits grow and embed themselves in communities. My guest for this first episode in the series is Dan Minton. Dan was the first Executive Director of HomeBase, a position that came with very little pay and a lot of heartache. Today, Dan is the Associate Vice President of The Steier Group, a national firm that assists nonprofits with fundraising and capital campaigns. More information about Dan, The Steier group, and HomeBase Youth Services, is available at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

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Protecting kids from the cyberbullying can be, to say the least, frustrating. Parental controls and gatekeeper apps can be easily bypassed, other restrictions might be incompatible with assigned schoolwork, and all oversight seems, at least, a step behind how young people are engaging in the digital world. But there is hope! My guests for this episode, Yasin Silva, Director of the Data Science Graduate Program at Loyola University Chicago, and Deborah Hall, Associate Professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University, share what we know about cyberbullying and discuss the technology they are developing to promote a positive relationship-based approach to cyberbullying prevention and cessation. More information about Yasin, Deborah, and the BullyBlocker project is at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.