In the latest episode of the Early Link Podcast, the Children's Institute communications team records a long-form story by CI Guest Contributor, Adriane Blackman. Blackman's story, "An Ecosystem of Care and Community," delves into the transformation of early childhood education in Yoncalla, Oregon, documenting the impact of CI's Early Works initiative in partnership with incredible folks from across the community.
Our most recent episode is a co-production of the Oregon Humanities podcast, The Detour. The theme of this segment is belonging, and we talked with students at Fern Hill Elementary School in Forest Grove and Crestview Heights Elementary in Waldport about where they feel they belong and how to help others feel like they belong.
In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Imani Muhammad, a longtime youth advocate and community organizer in Portland, Oregon. She is the founder and executive director of Y.O.U.TH, which stands for Youth Organized and United to Help.
In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto sits down with Liane Chappell, at the Hillsboro Early Childhood Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, to talk about Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education.
On this episode of the Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto sits down with JaNay Brown-Wood, an award-winning children’s author, poet, educator and scholar. She writes about stories that celebrate diversity, inclusivity, self-esteem, and learning.
On this episode of the Early Link Podcast, Rafael Otto speaks with Judy Jablon, founder and executive director of Leading for Children. Judy discusses her initial leap into the early learning field after working with young children at Bank Street College in New York City, an experience that piqued her curiosity and led her to a career in teaching. She shares her experiences working with educators, being a curious learner, and the importance of being leaders for children. She also talks about her book, The Five Commitments of Optimistic Leaders, and shares how early childhood educators can embrace optimistic leadership. Finally, Judy talks about how an intentional focus on equity is vital in working with adults and educators.
This is a special production created with our colleagues at the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership (OPIP). OPIP is a public private partnership seeking to create a meaningful, long-term collaboration of stakeholders invested in child health care quality, with the common purpose of improving the health of all children and youth in Oregon. This episode explores recent developments in the health sector here in Oregon meant to improve the care for children ages zero to five.
In this episode of the Early Link podcast, Rafael Otto joins Abby Couture and Sunny Bennett, the principal and preschool teacher at Philomath Elementary School. Abby and Sunny discuss their stories of getting started in education as well as the moments they began to realize many children were missing out on early learning experiences. They go on to describe the educational environment in Philomath, where they partner with LBCC and Strengthening Rural Families to provide more opportunities for toddlers and pre-k students. They also share their positive experience as part of Children's Institute's Early Learning Academy, highlighting the inspiring sense of community, information sharing, and resource recommendations it provided.
In partnership with Oregon Humanities, we interviewed students in second, fifth, and sixth grades from Vose Elementary and Yoncalla Elementary to see what they think about success and where their ideas of success come from. In this episode of The Detour, we captured wit, wisdom, jokes, and meaningful conversation with some incredible young people. Their messages are clear, thought-provoking, and chock-full of wisdom and wit.
In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, our host Rafael Otto speaks with Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen, interim executive director and chief program officer at Grantmakers for Education, about the need for transformational change in the education system.
