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BALTIMORE — When the man in the teal hoodie mentioned that he had trained as a pharmacy technician, Lachelle Hill’s voice rose in excitement. “Why don’t I see that on here?” the state job counselor asked, pointing at the paperwork on the table between them. Hill was counseling Corey, a 30-year-old jobseeker who didn’t share his last name, at a federally funded job center here on the top floor of a shopping mall, an escalator ride away from a Forever 21 and a Cinnabon. Unemployment insurance...

Scott Barry Kaufman was placed in special education classes as a kid. He struggled with auditory information processing and with anxiety. But with the support of his mother, and some teachers who saw his creativity and intellectual curiosity, Kaufman ended up with degrees from Yale and Cambridge. Now he's a psychologist who cares passionately about a holistic approach to education, one that recognizes the capacity within each child. He recently edited a volume of experts writing about how to...

When Mario Martinez went to Liberty University, a private Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia, the affluence astonished him. A student’s car would break down and she’d have a new one within a couple of weeks. “It was mind blowing,” he said. “To see that people can have so much.” And Liberty – with a median family income of about $75,000 a year – isn’t even that rich compared to what you will find at America’s most prestigious private colleges, where incomes are closer to $200,000 a year...

When one of my four preschools celebrated Cinco de Mayo, they held a parade to kick off the fiesta. Since all of my students were marching in the parade, of course, I joined in the fun and provided extra support as we marched 60 students around several city blocks. I was the caboose at the very end of the parade line as we marched two by two in the neighborhood. My partner, 4-year-old Janielys (the name is changed), seemed very excited to be marching with the nurse! My students are primarily...

It was not until her third month of feeling unwell, in the fall of 2016, that Alicia thought to take an at-home pregnancy test. Until then, she assumed her fatigue and nausea were withdrawal symptoms from the Percocets she’d been dependent upon since the year before. “When some days you don’t get enough, you could definitely throw up or wake up feeling sick,” she told me. “It was easily confused with morning sickness.” Alicia, who asked that I use her nickname to protect her privacy, was 26...

It's no secret that America has an incarceration problem. And being "tough on crime" is something politicians proclaim in election years to prove that they care about safety. But a recent poll commissioned by the Vera Institute of Justice shows that the tide is turning when it comes to what people want for their communities. A majority of Americans—67 percent overall, including 61 percent in rural areas—agreed that building more jails and prisons does not reduce crime. While politicians make...

"You will be a principal one day and will be blogging about your journey." If I had heard these words early in my career I would have never believed it, but here I am! As the principal of Fall-Hamilton Elementary, a small urban school in Nashville where 70 percent of students come from underprivileged homes and 80 percent are minorities, I get the privilege of high fiving and hugging nearly 320 students in pre-k to 4 th grade, every single morning. I am fortunate to work with and learn from...

Under the beating sun on Mount Rainier, surrounded by waterfalls and meadows full of flowers, six-year-old Paulette Jordan used to listen to her uncles tell stories about her great-great-grandfathers and great-great-grandmothers. They were chiefs and leaders—one was the famous Chief Moses of the Sinkiuse-Columbia tribe. At the University of Washington, Jordan worked as a student activist, ensuring that students from different backgrounds had spaces to come together and develop a sense of...

On Thursday, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons rolled back a policy deemed by many to be “a discriminatory and destructive attack on access to literature and other reading and educational materials for thousands of people in prison,” that effectively shuts inmates “off from works that can reduce recidivism and better connect them to the outside world,” according to Summer Lopez, Senior Director of Free Expression Programs for PEN America. The controversial policy banned federal inmates from...

BEING POOR CAN BE hazardous to your health , but a new study shows building a better neighborhood may help blunt poverty's ill effects. According to the study by researchers at the University of California — San Francisco , low-income children were found to have less stress and be in better physical health if they lived in higher-opportunity neighborhoods. Researchers examined the impact of neighborhood quality and a family's socioeconomic status on the health of a group of kindergartners in...

As a district, we are dedicated to trauma-informed practices and teaching resilience in a manner that is supported by science. At this point, we need our state and national leaders to catch up to the classroom.” says Katie Paetz, Osborn Governing Board President.

Worried about seeking mental health care? Wonder how to feel better about asking for help? Get the full article here.