Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn is the executive director of Pilot Light, a nonprofit that helps educators incorporate food education into their lessons. She joined the organization in 2014, hired personally by its founders as its first staff member, and since then, she has proudly worked in partnership with many educators, chefs and community members to grow the reach of their food education programs from one school to 79 impacting over 20,000 students nationwide.

Alexandra and I get into her work history, starting with her days at a stroke center where she used hip hop to teach stroke prevention. We also dive deep into Pilot Light and the group’s involvement in developing food education’s seven standards. Alexandra’s story is a testament to the need for vision in the worlds of education and social work.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode157.

Dr. Scott Pickle is superintendent of the Sequoia Union Elementary School District in Woodlake, California. He is also a public speaker and best-selling author who uses his platform to champion the belief that all students can achieve at high levels. Scott used his 30 years of experience to write two published books, Upright and Impact Mentoring: 200 Ways to Make an Impact, and his third book, Impact Artificial Intelligence, will be published soon.

Scott and I start off with his long history in public education and working his way up to superintendent. We then dive deep into his beliefs about mentoring, which we agree is lacking for teachers. We also discuss AI’s potential impact on teaching and why it needs to be regulated, as well as utilized.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode156.

Holly Britton is a handwriting instruction specialist with teaching experience in grades K through eight. She educated her own four now-adult children, has taught in private and public school classrooms, served as a curriculum director and founded Squiggle Squad, a unique approach to handwriting instruction for children, pre K to second grade.

In this episode we go in depth into strategies for teaching writing, with emphasis on early transcription skills and letter formation. If you’re helping kids teach writing, you’ll want to take notes.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode155.