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Author: Daren Howard

An Open Letter to Pandemic Educators

For educators in a pandemic, our greatest priority is not academic progress, but social and emotional well-being. You have likely spent the last year under intense pressure trying to do anything you can to make a difference. Have your efforts closed the achievement gap? Should they be expected to? No, of course not. In everything you do, you have shown kids that they belong, that someone cares for...

On the Frontlines of Pandemic Education

While many schools cannot provide in-person classes, afterschool programs are delivering in-person enrichment on school campuses – and all is not quiet on the education front. The coronavirus pandemic continues to have devastating effects across the world and has become a divisive political issue in the United States. This virus has laid bare our society’s injustices, including inequity in p...

Leadership in Times of Crisis

Leadership in times of crisis reminds us how challenging it is to manage your own stress while supporting others. While much of the world is sheltering in place or physically distancing themselves from others to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many people are finding themselves unemployed or facing incredible uncertainty. How we lead in moments like this can significantly impact the lives of other...

A Short Story of Optimism and Generosity

I recently had the opportunity to spend time with some students from our after school program on a field trip and they truly impressed me with their generosity. We were walking to our bus in San Francisco’s financial district – where we had just finished our visit to one of our corporate partners. On the way to the bus, I learned that the students in our group had arranged among themselves t...

Are We Modeling Social Emotional Skills?

Social-emotional learning requires the same kind of intentionality as academic learning and as adults, we have to model the social-emotional skills we hope to build in our students. Here is a painfully ironic example: Joshua Trump is an 11-year-old who was one of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump’s guests at the State of the Union. He is not related to the President but has been bullied...