From students organizing delegations at school board meetings to parents building audio libraries in 28 languages, this episode reveals the simple and profound ways that schools act as social infrastructure. In this episode, we meet Quinn, a high school student co-leading a local Gender Sexuality Alliance who knows that community can literally save lives, and Taarini, a parent who helped to create a program for connecting newcomer families across cultural and linguistic barriers at her children’s school. Through powerful conversations with education expert Laura Mae Lindo, we discover that schools aren't just buildings where learning happens—they're landing places where young people and families are creating havens of belonging, one story, one connection, one act of care at a time.
THANKS TO OUR GUESTS
Laura Mae Lindo, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of Black Studies at the University of Waterloo
Quinn Palmer, Student leader in the GSA at Waterloo Collegiate Institute
Taarini Chopra, Parent at King Edward Public School
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
CREDITS
Jay Harrison, Host/Producer/Editor
Karyn Atkins, Writer/Reporter
Deren Atkins, Editor
David Harmes, Executive Producer/Engineer
MUSIC
courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Main theme music - Rocket Jr: High Tech
Transition music - Par Hagstrom: Snakes and Fire (Instrumental Version), and Loyae: Level Up
This show was made possible by the support of the Waterloo Region Community Foundation.
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