Welcome to swampED — a new education podcast
swampED is an education podcast hosted by former Obama staffers, Eric Waldo, Stephanie Sprow Owens, and Kyle Lierman. swampED brings you new education stories from the DC swamp and across the country every Thursday on iTunes.
For eight years, President Obama made the White House a place that brought people together. And after January 2017, we no longer had a place to share the inspiring stories we heard or introduce the incredible people we met along the way to the rest of the country.
That’s why Stephanie Sprow Owens, Kyle Lierman and I launched a new podcast, swampED, which focuses on all things education. This podcast will be a space for folks across the country to hear what’s working, learn how they can get involved, and be inspired along the way.
Working at the White House, we heard from students, parents, counselors, principals, business leaders and more, all of whom shared best practices and pushed for opportunity and equity in education. They constantly reminded us that it’s people on the ground who are making a difference every day in education. Education is the ultimate bedrock of our society — what Horace Mann called “the great balance wheel of the social machinery” — and people are passionately fighting to make it better — people like Kirsten Perry, a school counselor at Lawndale Community Academy in Chicago, Illinois, and the 2018 School Counselor of the Year.
In our third episode of swampED, we sat down with Kirsten to talk about the essential role school counselors play in education. We talked about Kirsten’s journey becoming a school counselor, her decision to work in an underserved community, and how she’s taking new approaches to keep kids engaged in school. We want to keep elevating stories like Kirsten’s. Because if we want things to improve, we need education to have as big a seat at the table as our politics.
You can stay tuned for new episodes every Thursday, where we will bring in policy experts, practitioners, and opinion makers to talk about the most pressing topics in education.
Are you ready? Head to iTunes to also check out episode one with former Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr., and episode two with Nicole Hurd, the CEO of College Advising Corps.
Subscribe, write a review, share your thoughts, and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram tagging @swampEDpod and #swampED.
Welcome to swampED!
