The Early Link Podcast

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Danielle Thompson, who is the president on the board of directors for the Oregon branch of the International Dyslexia Association. She has been an educator for more than two decades. And as a dyslexia screener and tutor, she has been on a journey to understand the impact of dyslexia on students and how educators can do more to help.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Andrew Yoshihara, who is a member of Black Child Development PDX and founder and executive director of Bustin’ Barriers, a nonprofit organization that serves kids with disabilities. He is also a parent advocate and has been involved with legislative advocacy in 2021.

In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with guest Dalia Avello. Dalia serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Montessori Association, trained as a psychologist, is a certified Montessori teacher, and has expertise in the Education and International Development fields.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with three guests about the latest legislative session here in Oregon. They talk about highs and lows, what passed and did not in the interest of children and families, and what it was like to move through the session virtually.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Jenifer Wagley and Chris Coughlin from Our Children Oregon about their advocacy work, and what the data is telling us about children and families in Oregon and across the country.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Elliot Haspel, an early childhood policy expert and author of the book “Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It.”

Guests:

Elliot Haspel is a nationally-recognized early childhood policy expert and author of the book “Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It.” Elliot’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among other mediums. Elliot is a program officer at a philanthropic foundation in Richmond, Virginia.

Summary:

Elliot describes what the child care crisis looks like today and talks about what has (and has not) changed since his book was released in 2019. He discusses the impact of COVID19 on an already fragile system and provides historical background on the constellation of issues facing a functioning child care system. Elliot also breaks down the economic return on investing in free, universal child care and describes the goal of Child Care NEXT, a grant program to support transformational change in five states’ child-care systems. Finally, Elliot emphasizes the importance of focusing on racial equity when working towards an effective child care system for all.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto talks with Miriam Calderon, the early learning system director at the Early Learning Division in Oregon’s Department of Education. Miriam has been a long time advocate for early childhood and is leaving Oregon for a new position in the Biden-Harris admiration.

Guest:

Miriam Calderon has been the early learning system director overseeing the Early Learning Division in Oregon for the last 4 years. Previously, Calderon has worked on policy at the BUILD initiative and served as a political appointee in the Obama Administration. She also served as the director of early childhood education at DC Public Schools, where she oversaw Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs, including helping to implement universal pre-kindergarten in DC.

Summary:

Miriam discusses her role as early learning system director and the vision she has for Oregon’s early childhood system. She also shares the negative impact of undervaluing child care providers and describes the access vs quality tension that exists when trying to solve problems in the early childhood field. Looking forward, Miriam explains how we can continue to build the early childhood education system to support children and their families, and the importance of making big, institutional changes over small, program adjustments. Finally, Mariam shares what she is hoping to accomplish at the federal level in her new role as deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of Education.

In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with professor John Nimmo about the film he co-produced, Reflecting On Anti-Bias Education in Action: The Early Years. They are joined by one of the teachers featured in the film, Veronica Reynoso, who shares her insight on the value of anti-bias education.

Guests:

John Nimmo, EdD is Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education, in the College of Education at Portland State University. John is a co-producer of an international video documentary on children’s rights and also a 2021 film on anti-bias early education. He holds a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was previously an early childhood and elementary teacher in his first home of Australia and in the United States.

Veronica Reynoso is an Early Childhood Educator and Mentor Teacher at Epiphany Early Learning Preschool in Seattle, Washington. Life experience and her experiences at Epiphany Early Learning helped shape her strong commitment to anti-bias and anti-racist education with young children. She is featured in the film, Reflecting On Anti-Bias Education in Action: The Early Years.

Summary:

John talks with Rafael and Veronica about the origins of the film and its intended audience. He also discusses why its important to have anti-bias education for young children even if it means having hard conversations about disability, race, or gender. Additionally, as one of the teachers in the film, Veronica reflects on her experience, and shares her insight on how to incorporate anti-bias education in the classroom.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto talks with Brian Berry, the superintendent at the Yoncalla School District, about how the district is empowering community members to become local educators, and shares the ways in which this strategy is paying off.

Guest:

Brian Berry has been the Superintendent of Yoncalla School District for almost four years and an educator in the district for over 20. He started as a special education teacher at Yoncalla high school and eventually took over as high school principal in 2003. Eight years later, he was offered the position of district superintendent.

Summary:

Brian discusses the “grow your own” strategy that the Yoncalla school district has adopted in order to help community members with an interest in education become local teachers. He shares a few stories about parents who have become instructional assistants and, through utilizing district resources and trainings, have moved on with the goal of getting their bachelor’s degree so they can continue to teach in their community. Finally, Brian lays out the benefits of the “grow your own” strategy and describes how this strategy meets the needs of the district, the students, and the Yoncalla community.

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with podcaster and educator Evelyn Lauer about the struggles of teaching during a global pandemic.

Guest:

Evelyn Lauer has taught high school English in the Chicago area for 20 years. She is the host of Beyond the Bell, a weekly podcast in which she interviews other educators about teaching during the pandemic. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University and an MAT in secondary English education from the University of Iowa.

Summary:

Evelyn describes some of the difficulties of teaching virtually and explains why hybrid is actually the hardest form of teaching. She also shares stories she’s heard from educators about the blurred lines between work and home and what life has been like for teachers who are also parents. Finally, she discusses the social emotional impact of distance learning on kids and how our education system will be dealing with the effects of the pandemic for years to come.