I Teach, Therefore...

Myca Lopez is a founding Special Education Lead Teacher at The Gathering Place in San Antonio, Texas. In this episode, we get to follow up with Myca after our previous conversation on Miss Education to hear more about her experiences as a founding member of a new school! Even though she wears many hats - SPED teacher, founding school member, teacher advocate, and mother - our conversation revolves so much around the 'heart-work' that encompasses her 'unlearning' as she grows as an educator and human being.

Lisa Barry is a 5th grade teacher in San Antonio, Texas and nominee for 2019-2020 Texas Teacher of the year! In this episode, we discuss her additional role in education policy - borne of the need she saw with her own students to promote tolerance in the classroom by studying history - specifically, the Holocaust. Her advocacy for Holocaust education to be mandatory all Texas public schools was instrumental in getting Senate Bill 1828 enacted into law.

Marvin Walker and Eric Cruz are high school math and English teachers, respectively. They came together with colleagues over the summer in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to create the 'Hearts Wide Open' book club in order to create a space for open conversations around race and equity in their district. This episode is in collaboration with "Miss Education", and is therefore co-hosted by the lovely Jen Maestas! Interested in the San Antonio education landscape? Give the "Miss Education" podcast a listen!

Jeff Wheatcraft is a middle school Science Technology Engineering and Math teacher in San Antonio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from Arizona State University. His journey to teaching is not a traditional one, but that didn't stop him from being named Texas Teacher of the Year in 2018! In this episode, we discuss his multiple roles as a teacher and storm-chaser, and how he marries the two in his classroom to his students' success.

Alexis is a third grade teacher in Lewisville, Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of North Texas and a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Recently named Lewisville ISD's Teacher of the Year, her teaching philosophy "supports the mission to create an optimal and high energy learning environment through engagement and real-life application". In this episode, we discuss her relationship to education and the roles she takes on as she cultivates relationships and classroom culture by advocating for student and community voice.

Melissa is a third grade teacher in a New York City public school with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and Language and Literacy from Vanderbilt University and a Master's in Education in Language and Literacy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this episode, we talk about school closure this past spring (2020) due to COVID-19 and the numerous roles teachers took on (and continue to take on!) during that time.

Hosts Kristen and Suzannah of the new education podcast introduce the who/what/why of "I Teach, Therefore...". In this mini-episode, the two educators discuss their education journeys, what brought them to creating this podcast, and give a little tease of what's to come!