Teach Your OWN Kid! Podcast

In this final encore episode, Arianne recounts the incident that led to her making the decision to leave the traditional classroom for good. This incident clearly confirmed for her that she was caught up in the web of a school system that did not value what she valued and was not designed to make the kind of meaningful impact she intended to make. 

In this episode, Arianne offers an uninhibited and transparent view into some of her struggles as an early teacher. At one point, "for the sake of the team", she was placed in a classroom setting for which she was not qualified and received minimal support from school leaders. This caused Arianne to make a critical decision only five years into her career as teacher. 

Arianne has wanted to be a teacher since she walked into Mrs. Flora Weber's 4th grade classroom. She vowed that she would impact kids just as Mrs. Weber had impacted her. In part one of this encore episode, Arianne shares her own story in hopes that it will inspire others to stay the course.

In this final installment of a two-part episode, Earnest Salsberry (the youngest Chaplain to serve at Dillard University) shares how he almost failed to get his college degree because he had become distracted by the lucrative jobs he held during college. When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans in 2005, it served as somewhat of a wake-up call for Earnest, who then decided it was time to get his degree. Here is the rest of Earnest's story.

Earnest grew up in the small town of Port Arthur, Texas. He had no way of knowing that the same university he called home as a student- Dillard University- would eventually become his home base as its youngest Chaplain to ever serve. Although it was music that lured Earnest to the city of New Orleans, it is mission that has compelled him to return and remain. Here is Earnest's story.

Don't let your kids "lose it in the pool"! Arianne offers 5 ways to beat the summer brain drain in this short, sweet and hard-to-beat episode.

Alexander is a children's author who grew up in the city of New Orleans. A product of a family of educators, "Alex" has made it a part of his life's work to expose young people to possibility through writing. Alex has traveled to over a dozen countries speaking to young people and credits his ability to make life-altering decisions on a whim to feeling safe in his school and home environments. This is Alex's story.

Gerod grew up in Warrenton, North Carolina. Having moved in with his grandmother at an early age as a result of his parents' divorce, Gerod considered himself an average student. It wasn't until representatives from a local radio station visited his 7th grade class that he considered the possibilities for his future career. Gerod became a volunteer at that radio station and continues to contribute to the New Orleans community in both radio and television today. Here's Gerod's story.

Cyndi Nguyen, born Xuan Thi, and her family escaped from Vietnam on a boat in 1975. Cyndi struggled to adjust to American culture while still being expected to behave like a traditional Vietnamese girl. Cyndi's parents shipped her to several boarding schools in an attempt to save her from herself. In the end, a school shooting and a host family in Iowa helped to steer Cyndi in the right direction. In 2018, Cyndi became the first Vietnamese American to serve on the City Council for the City of New Orleans. Check out Cyndi's story.

As a kid growing up in her hometown of Selma, Alabama, Krystal often got into trouble with teachers who complained that she "talked too much" and "asked too many questions". Today, Krystal uses that same gift of voice to champion the cause of educational equity in school systems across the country and abroad. Krystal's experiences in an Alabama boarding school led her to the dorms of Notre Dame for her undergraduate degree and currently has her working toward her Doctorate degree in Education at Columbia University. Here's Krystal's story.