Podcasts about american graduate

116. Stephen Ritz - The Power of a Plant  “The one thing that we have to do is continue to be courageous. And the opposite of courage is not cowardice. The opposite of courage is conformity, because even a dead fish can go with the flow. And here in the South Bronx, we are not dead fish.” - Stephen Ritz “I am not willing to accept the things I cannot change. I am going to change what I cannot accept.” - Stephen Ritz Stephen Ritz Guest Bio: Stephen Ritz is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning educator, author of best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant and Founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as America's favorite teacher and 2015 Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world. He and his students have grown more than 165,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, were celebrated at the Obama White House three times, have been featured on the cover of TIME for KIDS, and are the subject of a new, full-feature documentary, Generation Growth. A replica of his classroom was installed in the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC and his curriculum is being used in hundreds of schools across the United States, and internationally from Colombia to Dubai, from Canada to Cairo, to Doha, and beyond.  To date, Stephen's work has been featured by Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TNT, Disney, Discovery TV, NPR, Teach Middle East, The Gulf National, and countless others. His TED talk boasts more than 1 million views, ranks in the Top 10 Food/Education TED Talks of all time, and is used for teacher training/workforce development globally. Stephen was featured in the film adaptation of Michael Pollan's best-selling book, In Defense of Food and appeared on ABC's The Chew, The Rockefeller Foundation's Food for Thought, NPR's 50 Great Teachers, All Things Considered, and American Graduate. The State University of New York uses his curriculum to train teachers in all content areas. His recent appearance on PBS' Growing A Greener World (Episode 808) won an Emmy Award, the first ever in the ten-year history of the show.  Stephen serves as a Senior Fellow in Social Innovation at Babson College and as a Board Member for the NYC Nutrition Education Network. Stephen is now appearing in the new PBS educational series Let's Learn with Mister Ritz, was named the 2020 Change-Maker Award by NYC Food Policy Center for his response to COVID, named a 2021 Food Hero by TMZ Live, testified for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ending Hunger in America, and was awarded the 2021 Artemis CEA Disruptor Award for his work, advocacy, and impact in public schools across NYC and America. Stephen was just named to the Food Transition Team for NYC Mayor, Eric Adams. R.O.G. Takeaway Tips: Wherever you go, there you are.  Put your best two feet on the ground and stand up straight.  Seek the sun. Seek the light, and seek to nourish yourself in the best way possible.  In a world where you can be anything to be kind, to be kind to yourself, to each other, to the planet.  Put the phones down. Put the social media down. Find some time to be in love, to be still, to be quiet.  Realize that every drop fills the cup.  Lots of people can do great big things.  It's the small stuff daily that really adds up. Showing up is very powerful. Being consistent in what you do and what you say is very powerful. No one will go broke giving love. So, give love freely and you know, you're always going to get it back.  Stephen Ritz in the Green Bronx Machine Resources: www.stephenritz.com www.greenbronxmachine.org The Power of a Plant by Stephen Ritz Make It Happen by Stephen Ritz Food Tank Article About the Green Bronx Machine Anthem Awards Article about the Green Bronx Machine Whole Kids Foundation: The Green Bronx Machine Green Bronx Machine Foster Care Farm in Appalachia Green Bronx Machine Farm at Yankee Stadium Green Bronx Machine Housing Innovation Article on the Green Bronx Machine Working with Trotwood Elementary Article from Daytona Daily News about the Green Bronx Machine and Trotwood Elementary Network Diversity Index Quiz Video Resources: 2021 Social Innovation Award Short Video Featuring NY State Education and Agriculture Commissioners Green Bronx Machine - We Grow Happy Mini-Documentary with NYC Mayor Adams: The Green Bronx Machine: a Film by Food Inspiration Coming Next: Episode 117, Building Bridges Coaching Tips for Generous Leaders with Shannon Cassidy. Topic: Pura Vida.  Credits: Stephen Ritz, Sheep Jam Productions, Host Shannon Cassidy, Bridge Between, Inc.

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 22 Leviticus 22 says that priests must be holy when they are offering sacrifices to the Lord. Those who are not holy can't offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor can they eat the sacred offerings dedicated to Him.  For example, verses 12-13 says, “If a priest's daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions.  But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father's household as in her youth, she may eat her father's food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.”  How can we interpret the meaning of these verses? Our Bible studies are not a word for word explanation of the chapter we are reading because we can't do this in just one or two hours.  The focus of each of our Bible studies is to follow the leading and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Our fellowship is often closely related to our life and work from the past week. As we have mentioned many times, our Bible study's goal is to have the Word of God speak to us and change us by giving us a fresh perspective and insight.  Knowledge without being moved by the Spirit means the study wasn't as effective as it should be.  In other words, we may have understood the words being said, but we didn't understand the Spirit behind the words. II Corinthians 3:6 tells us, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  In today's study, we'll share the inspirations that the Holy Spirit encouraged us with, and hopefully, it will help you also. In this week's meeting, a lady shared an experience that she had recently. She made a negative comment to a colleague.  On the one hand, as a Christian, she felt she shouldn't have said it.  On the other hand, the Lord showed her that this comment exposed her real spiritual state, which wasn't very good.  She felt awful about it and couldn't find any inner peace during prayer.  She brought this situation to our study in hopes of getting help from others. The members of the study encouraged her not to be too hard on herself and realize that Christians are human beings who say and do things in the flesh.  They encouraged her to confess to God, apologize to the offended person, and receive God's grace. The story looks like it has nothing to do with this chapter of the Bible, but it ties into this chapter deeply.  Through experience, we recognize that when members of our study have problems in life or at work, sharing their stories often leads the Holy Spirit to show us how these experiences tie into the chapter we are reading, which helps us to go deeper.   What makes this woman sad is her lack of intimacy with the Lord.  She's often with her atheist colleagues who influence the flesh rather than the Spirit.  She also feels bad about her Christian testimony.  On the other hand, she felt like she prayed, and God didn't listen, so she didn't have inner peace. As a Christian who is seeking a deeper inner spiritual life, the feelings she was experiencing are normal.  Nominal Christians or unbelievers may feel like you are causing your own problems.  A principle in the spiritual realm is that the closer we are to the Lord, the more sensitive we are.  The Lord's expectations are higher for those who are closer to Him.  For example, let's look at the temple in the Old Testament.  Many ordinary Israelis could come to the outer courtyard to offer cattle and sheep sacrifices, but only the Levites could serve in the Holy Place.  Only people who were descendants of Zadok could serve priests in the Holy Place. The other Levites could not serve as priests (Ezekiel 44:13).  Taking it a step further, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year. Leviticus chapter 22 is a case where the priest offers sacrifices to God and eats the sacred offerings knowing what to do to avoid defiling himself.  You can't just casually go inside God's sanctuary and offer sacrifices. You must be holy.  After being defiled, you need to be cleansed first before you can enter the sanctuary again to offer sacrifices. This woman's experience is closely related to what we mentioned earlier in chapter 22:12-13.  These two verses say: “If a priest's daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions.  But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father's household as in her youth, she may eat her father's food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.” Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “The Lord your God has chosen the Israelites out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (Deuteronomy 7:6, NIV). They were called to bear witness to the Gentiles and attract the nations to God.  The law required that the Israelites not inter-marry with Gentiles.  This meant that they shouldn't imitate the degenerated customs of the Gentiles.  But I don't believe this was asking the Israelites to not associate with the Gentiles. Would that make sense?  It wouldn't be possible for the Israelites to testify to the Gentiles without forming a relationship with them. As Christians, we are spiritual Israelites.  We live in the world, just as fish live in the sea.  Although they live in saltwater, they are not salty. If a fish is salty, it is probably dead because it is infused with seawater.  Although Christians live in the world, we do not live according to the system of the world.  We are like the salt on the ground and the light in the city.  We're the light that illuminates the whole world.  If we conform to the world's way of living, we lose our ability to influence or salt our environment rendering us useless as a witness for Christ.  Or if we hide our light or Christian testimony, our influence for Christ will be lost. In Leviticus 22:12-13, if a priest's daughter married anyone other than a priest, it was like us being conformed to the world and losing our authority.  Romans, chapter 7 likens our carnal nature to the first husband and our new nature in Christ as the second husband.  Paul said that if a husband dies, his wife is no longer bound to that first husband, meaning that when we are born again, and our old nature is crucified with Christ, we are free from the law of sin and death.  Our new born again nature lives by the law of the Spirit in Christ. Can you see the difference here?  When a priest's daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. (Leviticus 22:10, NIV). But in verse 11, it says that “If a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food.” What is the difference?  The difference is whether God and the priest have a dominant position.  If the priest bought a slave or the slave was born in his household, they could eat the sacred offerings.  They represent the people who were reborn and purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.  If you marry a gentile husband, the husband usually has the final say at home. The husband here represents your old man or the Gentiles who don't believe in God. In this case, you can't eat the sacred offerings. Why?  You are not strong enough to go against the world's influence and could be carried away by it. The Israelites were not forbidden to make contact with the Gentiles.  Christians are also not forbidden to make contact with the unbelievers.  Instead, we need to have enough influence to impact them to lead them to God.  God will bless us for making the contacts.  For example, if your atheist friends drag you to the casino, you could be faced with the temptation to gamble, even to the point of bankruptcy.  In this situation, God may not be with you or won't allow you to go.  If you insist on going, you are on your own.  But if you're the type of person who is not tempted by gambling, and a good friend of yours is immersed in gambling, God may encourage you to go and help him break free from his addiction.  The daughter of a priest was married to an outsider. As she fell away from God more and more, she even gave birth to a child and was cut off from eating the sacred offerings to God. We won't talk about offering sacrifices here because she's not even qualified to eat the sacred offerings. The qualifications for offering a sacrifice are now higher.  In the Old Testament, only the priests could offer sacrifices.  But in the New Testament, every saved Christian is a spiritual priest.  We can offer sacrifices to God. What is our sacrifice?  Christ is our sacrifice, and we offer sacrifices to God through confession and repentance as David did or through praise and thanksgiving as in Hebrews 13:15. The Lord Jesus said that He is the bread from heaven, and we must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life.  He is our spiritual sacrifice. South African pastor Andrew Murray said that prayer is offering the Christ that is dwelling in us to Christ in heaven, or you can say that prayer is the Christ that is living in us praying to the Christ in heaven.  When we conform ourselves to the world, we are deprived of the right to enjoy the sacrifice.  So, how can we even talk about the sacrifices that we are going to offer to God? I told the woman who's story we shared earlier that it was very normal for her to feel weak when she prayed to the Lord and wasn't able to please Him and have peace.  When a person lives according to the flesh's desires for some time, they lose strength, feel isolated, and cannot enjoy God's sacrifices. This weakness is due to a lack of intimacy with God, and it makes sense that they feel weak and powerless even after praying.   Another pleasing sacrifice that we have is repentance.  When we repent, God accepts our sacrifices and restores our communication with Him.  Then, we can continue to eat God's sacrifices and will slowly gain strength and have the ability in prayer to please Him.  So, I shared with this woman that if her prayer doesn't feel acceptable to God, and she doesn't have inner peace, it may be that repentance is needed. We often make mistakes, but when the Spirit of God encourages us to repent, we often give excuses. This was the case with Saul in the Old Testament.  Samuel asked Saul to wait for him to come before offering sacrifices, but Samuel came late, and Saul had offered up a burnt offering because of his fear of the masses.  Samuel was furious and blamed Saul for not waiting for him. Saul argued that the masses would not wait. Samuel spoke a very famous line here. In 1 Samuel 15:22-23, he said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice,   and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” On the contrary, when David sinned, the prophet Nathan blamed him.  His first reaction was to say that he was wrong. He recognized that he offended God.  David repented and wrote the famous repentance poem, Psalm 51.  He didn't argue or make excuses. This woman shared that she was still asking why God didn't stop her from saying those inappropriate words but instead let her get exposed.  On the one hand, she felt that she wouldn't have been in that situation if she lived in the Spirit.  On the other hand, she also thinks that the Holy Spirit is keeping watch over her at all times, not allowing her to follow worldly ways, and intervening at the right moment.  Our experience can be like this.  Why, after the priest's daughter married the outsider, did her husband die, and she was left barren?  This is not an exception.  Naomi's husband and two sons died in the Gentile land of Moab.  She returned to Israel with her daughter-in-law Ruth and was able to eat the sacred offerings and inherit her husband's property.  Ruth had a child named Obed by her husband, Boaz.  This child was even considered to be Naomi's son as Ruth 4:14 says, “The women living there said, Naomi has a son!”  This is God's discipline in our circumstances.  He wants us to have a share of His sacrifice so certain things are allowed in our lives.  He allows our Husband (which represents our old man or carnal nature) to die for a day so we will return to our father's house (representing the House of God).  This way, we can continue to enjoy the sacrifice God has given us. The story of Naomi seems to have little to do with the woman in our study's situation, but it lines up perfectly by showing us that Christians need to be in the world but not of the world participating in the ungodly affairs going on around us.  We need to be in intimate fellowship with Christ enjoying and delighting in him as the sacrifice given to us by God.  Often when everything is going well in our lives, we haphazardly read the Bible, but hearts are closed and there is no deep revelation of the word.  When life gets difficult, we find that the truths of the Bible come alive and are empowering. Another person in our meeting had a similar experience.  She had a big fight with her husband.  She felt that she couldn't keep their marriage going anymore.  After their fight, she was moved by a chapter she read from the book of Job, and hope began to rise inside of her again. The more we stay away from the Lord, the less we enjoy the sacrifice of God.  But when we are forced to return to our father's house due to circumstances, we will find that God's sacrifice is really sweet. When we finished this topic, another woman asked a question about verses 26-28. “Chapter 22:26-28 says: The Lord said to Moses, “When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the Lord. Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.” So why not kill the mother and its young on the same day? One of the men who took the lead in this bible study said that he saw many discussions on the Internet but didn't see an explanation that impacted him. I shared an explanation that I felt was inspired by the Holy Spirit.  I think this verse says that when a person is still living in the flesh or the soul, they are very attached to the world's affairs and don't need to pretend to be spiritual. Why?  First of all, God hates hypocrites.  When Jesus was on earth, he hated the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Jesus teaches us that yes is yes and no is no.  If you say more, it's from the evil one.  In Acts 5, Ananias bought land and donated half of it, but he made a pretense of donating it all.  In the end, he offended the Holy Spirit. Peter said: Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?  Why do you have to pretend and lie to the Holy Spirit?  Ananias immediately dropped to the floor dead, verifying God's feelings on hypocrites. Some of us are living according to the desires of the flesh.  We can liken it to the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt then drifted through the wilderness, unable to enter the Promised Land. God knows that saving a person from Egypt, and watching them journey through the wilderness before entering the Promised Land is a process. We need faith to win the battle, and God's grace is provided for us throughout the different stages of our journey. For example, when the Israelites were in Egypt, God appointed Joseph to look after them.  When the new king (who did not know Joseph) took over, God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and leave the wilderness.  After the first generation of the Israelites had fallen in the wilderness due to rebellion and disobedience, God raised Joshua and led them to experience victory and enter the Promised Land. God has different leading in every stage. If you haven't reached the next stage of spiritual maturity, God won't always correct you immediately.  He isn't pleased when we live in sin or act according to the flesh, but he hates hypocrisy. I'll give you another example that may help you understand better.  We know that chicks are hatched from eggs. Eggs have eggshells, egg whites, and egg yolks. A chicks' life originates from egg yolk, but the eggshell protects the egg. It preserves the chick's life in the egg.  Egg whites provide nutrition to the developing chick, allowing it to get nutrients to help it hatch.  When the chick matures, it naturally breaks out of the shell.  Eggshells and egg whites represent a mother's nurture allowing the chick's life to grow and expand.   Imagine if the eggshell was broken into pieces or if there was no egg white. How could the chick survive? Paul explicitly mentions in the Bible that we needed to be held in custody under the law when we were young because we needed a guardian. Galatians 3:23-25 says, “Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.  Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.“ You can argue that this only refers to the time before the coming of Jesus Christ, but I think the spiritual principle still applies today. We can liken the guardian's role in the law here to the role of the “mother” in Leviticus 22:26-28.  We are all born from the flesh and have gone through a weaning process, but we can't kill our mother as we are undergoing this process.  In other words, before the new life in our Spirit is mature enough to offer sacrifices to God, we cannot kill our mother. The spiritual meaning here is that before we can live the victorious life in Christ, we still need the “mother” jurisdiction, such as the law and the rules. There has been a big debate among Christians in recent years, especially for those who have been hurt by legalism.  In the Hyper-Grace Gospel teaching, the role of God's grace has gone too far, and all laws and regulations seem to be abandoned.  I will not deny that these Christians have been hurt by legalism and dogmatism, but you can't completely abandon the church's law and rules.  Even the Lord Jesus said that He came not to abolish the law, and not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the Law.  He came to fulfill the law. For example, I am Chinese.  Before the Chinese accepted the Gospel, Confucius's teachings helped us maintain a clear conscience and morality.  It's not right to say that all the teachings of Confucius are wrong and must be tossed out.  A Christian needs to be disciplined before he can get freedom in the law of the Spirit in Jesus Christ. He needs to be taught by his parents. He needs to persevere in reading the Bible every day. Unfortunately, many people hang on to legalism's negative effects, thinking they are pursuing freedom by abandoning submission to any authority.  But, in reality, they are entering the stage of rebellion against God. God does give leaders authority, not to rule over His children but to help discipline them to become mature in Him.  We need to be disciplined. This is the current situation of our society and the church.  Many people are using the banner of Grace against legalism, but they are actually opposing God.  They oppose any rules and laws, saying that they are in pursuit of the freedom of the Holy Spirit. But instead, they are entering a lawless state.  This is one of the greatest difficulties in American churches.  The pastors are afraid to ask the congregation to do anything.  If they ask for more, they may be convicted of legalism. They are fearful of weak believers who easily stumble. Slowly, believers become weaker and more frivolous and undisciplined. Let's not have a pretense of spirituality when we are living in sin.  An honest evaluation of our lives is essential not only to us but to God. God is Holy and is not pleased with sin, but an attitude of repentance pleases Him.  An example of this is David's sin.  Although his sin didn't please God when he had a repentant heart and soft Spirit, it delighted God.  Saul made fewer mistakes than David, in my opinion, but his resistance to God and his Spirit of pride didn't please God. God also knows that we still love the world and the affairs of this world.  In this case, we must be honest and strive to grow more, expanding the life of God in us.  We should learn a lesson from Ananias, who donated half of his property but said he donated all.  If we kept something in reserve, we should be honest about it. If we don't love God wholeheartedly, we shouldn't pretend to be sold out to Him. One of the most significant difficulties of the church today is spiritual pretense or false spirituality.  The churches are now full of this spiritual pretense.  They are clearly sinning but are pretending to be holy priests.  They are doing it for the sake of their own interests but say it's for the Lord.  This is the most fundamental reason why the church has become weak today.  These situations are like what the previous verses have said: it is impossible to kill the mother and its young on the same day.  Because your life has not yet achieved the state of freedom in the law of the Spirit of Christ, you need the discipline of the Holy Spirit (although not the level of following the law in the Old Testament) to help you grow mature in life. Can people be self-taught?  Paul blessed Timothy and said, don't forget where you learned these from (2 Timothy 3:14).  All of us need to learn from other people.  The habit of disrespecting older people in American society and churches does not come from God but is influenced by the world's rebellious culture.  We must respect the elders in the church and accept their training in spiritual life and spiritual discipline to achieve maturity in life. In a sense, these older men and women are the spiritual fathers and mothers we cannot kill.  If you kill them, and your life is not mature enough, both die the same day. We can't completely abandon the elders or abandon the law or rules.  But our goal is not to obey the law, rather, to be more mature in character and life through various disciplines.  In all things, God works for the good of those who love him. (NIV, Romans 8:28).  We shouldn't treat all difficulties as an attack from evil spirits. We must bear our cross daily to follow the Lord.  These daily difficulties we may experience could be the mother to foster our spiritual life further.  If you disregard these disciplines, “kill” them, ignore them, or attribute them to evil attacks every time, you may miss the chance of being “nurtured” to spiritual maturity. Our physical and soulish lives provide a shelter for our spiritual lives to grow in, just like how eggshells and egg whites helped the chicken grow.  Likewise, the pain of life living in this world and our souls' agonies are the eggshells and egg whites to supply growth in our spiritual lives.  The pain in our physical or soulish lives will eventually mature our spiritual lives. In the OT, God mentioned that he would not drive out all the Israelites' enemies in one day, or the beasts in the land would increase dramatically. Rather, God left some enemies in the good land and waited for the Israelites to take them out gradually.  This matches the principle we are talking about here.  When we are not mature in Spirit, we will often have constant struggles with sin or the world.  You should face them and solve these problems.  But you can't cover issues up and pretend you don't have them by just reading the Bible, going to church, or staying busy with Christian service or ministry. That won't solve the problem.  You can't offer a good sacrifice to God since you are not mature yet. You haven't completed your eight days yet and are not weaned before God.  That is the significance of why Samuel asked Saul to wait for him to offer sacrifices to God because Samuel knew Saul's offering was not pleasing to God.  So Saul first needed to wait for the prophet who represents God to come.  A Prophet represents God's message and acceptance. Sacrifices and what a priest does represent something we are offering to God. We are not discouraging anyone from offering repentance to God as Jesus became our sacrifice. But we are talking about offering our service to the Lord.  Don't hastily offer your sacrifices like Saul or burn the strange fire like the sons of Aaron.  Instead, we should take care of the issues in our lives first. If you apply to an American Graduate school, you need to take an entrance test called GRE.  This computer-based test works to give you a set of questions that will change to more difficult questions when answered correctly.  The score you get will be higher as well since these questions are more complicated. But if you didn't answer the questions correctly, the computer-based test will give you more questions in the same difficulty level. It seems like you are still answering the same amount of questions in the same time period, but your score will be lower since you never answered the more difficult levels correctly. It's like the test of obedience and faith for the Israelites in the wilderness.  When they failed again and again, they wandered in the wilderness for their whole lives.  The Bible tells us we are pots made of clay, and the Lord God is the potter.  And a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without the permission of our heavenly father.  That means we are put into a furnace to mold us, and all of the circumstances around us can be equated to the furnace molding us. For example, if you feel a particular temptation of sin in your life, it doesn't necessarily mean that evil spirits are attacking you.  It could be, but it also means that God is testing you to help you overcome this particular sin.  If you succeed, you may face different obstacles, but your victory over this sin will become your sacrifice or offering to God, and He will be pleased.  Suppose you don't deal with sin properly, and you think spending more time in prayer, reading the Bible, going to a Bible study, or participating more in ministry will offer better sacrifice to the Lord.  In that case, you are just killing the mother and the baby at the same time.  God isn't pleased with any of that. I don't mean that you shouldn't read the Bible, go to Bible study, or participate in Christian ministries. I'm saying there is a better way to do that.  Obeying the Lord's dealing in your circumstances is always a better service than mere spiritual endeavor because it builds character in the inner man. No wonder many Christians haven't achieved much spiritual growth after many years of struggle.  It is simply because they overlooked God's dealing in the womb of the mother, whether this is a difficult husband/wife or a mean boss.  They often try to escape God's plan and do things their way.  We must learn from Saul and his failure.  We also must learn from Cain and his failures.  Sometimes we need to wait for God's timing, and we should not be hasty to make the sacrifice.  We also need to know that God is delightful and offer the right sacrifices; otherwise, we may miss the opportunities and displease God. This is my explanation of what it means to not kill the mother and its young on the same day.  It means you shouldn't hurry to offer the young, which represents your spiritual sacrifices to the Lord, while the Lord intends you to stay in the womb of the mother longer to make you more mature.      

Today on the show I have Monty Bruell. Monty has a fascinating story as he guides me through his life during this podcast. He was raised in Alton Park by his single mother. He became the first African-American to graduate from Baylor high school. He graduated Harvard with a degree in Economics and came back to Chattanooga to work with the Lupton family in Coca-Cola. He started working in a manager training program and moved all the way up to being the Assistant to the vice-president of Marketing for Coca-Cola in Texas. From there he became the Consumer Marketing Manager for Florida Coke where he experienced racism and discrimination even as he was one of the most important people at the plant. His list of accomplishments do not end there as his resume and life experiences are staggering. Now he aims to become the next Mayor of Chattanooga. We talk about the shrinking middle class, the growth of our city, our schools and much more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Monty Bruell.

Infectious positivity, inspirational curiousity, humor, and you Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator who believes that students should not have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one. An internationally acclaimed award-winning educator, Stephen is the author of the best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant, and founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as “America's Favorite Teacher,” Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world, which he has evolved into the National Health, Wellness and Learning Center. He and his students have grown more than 100,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, and in the process, Stephen has moved school attendance from 40% to 93% daily and helped provide 2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx. Stephen was a Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, named Global Humanitarian, Food Tank Hero, TEDx Prize Winner and a Global Food Educator, and has presented at the Obama White House three times. A replica of his classroom was installed in the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC. His curriculum is being used in hundreds of schools across the United States, and internationally from Colombia to Dubai, from Canada to Cairo, to Doha, and beyond. He has even met the Pope! To date, Stephen's work has been featured by Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TNT, Disney, Discovery TV, NPR, Teach Middle East, The Gulf National, and countless others. His TED talk boasts more than 1 million views, ranks in the Top 10 Food/Education TED Talks of all time, and is used for teacher training/workforce development globally. Stephen was featured in the film adaptation of Michael Pollan's best-selling book, In Defense of Food and appeared on ABC's The Chew, The Rockefeller Foundation's Food for Thought, NPR's 50 Great Teachers, All Things Considered, and American Graduate. The State University of New York uses his curriculum to train teachers in all content areas. His recent appearance on PBS' Growing A Greener World (Episode 808) won an Emmy Award, and he and his students were recently featured on the covers of TIME for KIDS and Scholastic Magazine. Stephen splits his time between his home in the Bronx and his residence in The Sustainable City in Dubai, UAE, where he serves as Director of Health, Wellness and Innovation for Esol Education at Fairgreen International School. Currently, Stephen is working with Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield to bring Green Bronx Machine programming to 22 American cities across 19 states. He holds advanced degrees in special education, administration and school leadership, and an honorary Ph.D. from the State University of New York for his award-winning curriculum. Affectionately known as America's Favorite Teacher, Stephen has taught extensively in elementary, middle, and high school settings has served as a school leader in a variety of capacities and has lectured at colleges and universities around the globe. Additionally, he has created workforce development programs for people of determination, disconnected youth, and second opportunity adults that have resulted in over 2,200 jobs. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Why he wears a cheese hat How he lost 100 lbs Social determinants of health from inequities Food deserts and food swamps how he created the first edible classroom How he is transforming the Bronx why plants are the lynchpin to changing the world Listen Now   Resources Green Bronx Machine Website Stephen Ritz TED Talk Books Mentioned Stephen Ritz's book: The Power of a Plant 2 Ways to Give Back to the Show     ________________________________________________   Don't Miss an Episode: Subscribe!              

Research says that when students are engaged in service-learning, their immune system, heart rate and sense of well-being improves dramatically. Children are happiest when they feel a sense of purpose. Here are ten tips to help kids experience these positive benefits -- even while stuck at home. www.coolcatteacher.com/e654  Disclosure: Note that today's guest is an advisor for today's sponsor. All content and opinions are my own and that of the author. Sponsor: The WE Schools Program, made possible by the Allstate Foundation, is kicking off National Volunteer Week with Let's Volunteer Now! Join this free online event to help discover how virtual volunteering can help your students build SEL skills. It will be hosted on Friday, April 17 at 1pm EST on the @Wemovement Facebook channel with special guests SEL expert Dr. Amy Cranston and her brother award-winner actor Bryan Cranston, and joined by remarkable students and WE Volunteer Now campaign participants, Tyler and Jameson. Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl  - Bio as Submitted Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl is an expert advisor for the WE organization’s WE Schools program, which is accessed by over 18,000 schools across North America – with a special emphasis on social and emotional learning and mental wellbeing. Dr. Kim is known as a world-renowned, American expert in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL) and sits on CASEL’s Board of Directors.   Within the realm of SEL, Dr. Kim’s studies have covered the following topic areas:  The correlation between social and emotional competence (SEC) and academic achievement in early adolescence (click here for 2018 research)  The identification of the processes and mechanisms that foster positive human qualities such as empathy, compassion, altruism and resiliency in children and adolescents  How volunteer action helps develop caring, altruistic behaviors and promotes emotional and physical well-being (click here for 2018 research)   The use of mindfulness in the classroom to foster a stress-free environment (click here for 2016 research)  Projects that examine the effectiveness of classroom-based universal SEL programs (i.e. Roots to Empathy, MindUp)  Dr. Kim has over 100 publications in scholarly journals, book chapters, and reports and has edited two books on mindfulness in education, including a co-edited book (with Dr. Robert W. Roeser) published by Springer Press in 2016 titled “Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research Into Practice.” She has presented her research at over 200 scholarly conferences and has given over 300 presentations on the topic of children’s social and emotional development and social emotional learning.   Dr. Kim’s research has been highlighted in several magazines and newspapers across the US, and internationally, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Scientific American Mind, Neurology Now, The Huffington Post, The Telegraph, The Atlantic and many more. Her research on the Roots of Empathy was profiled on the PBS Newshour special, the American Graduate. 

Students can sense and even internalize the emotions their teachers are feeling, especially stress, depression and worry. Not only do we need to help kids stay physically healthy, we need to help them stay emotionally healthy. SEL expert Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl unpacks the concepts of stress contagion, the importance of routines, co-rumination and other SEL topics to help us better help today's students. Disclosure: Note that today's guest is an advisor for today's sponsor. All content and opinions are my own and that of the author. Sponsor: The WE Schools Program, made possible by the Allstate Foundation, is kicking off National Volunteer Week with Let's Volunteer Now! Join this free online event to help discover how virtual volunteering can help your students build SEL skills. It will be hosted on Friday, April 17 at 1pm EST on the @Wemovement Facebook channel with special guests SEL expert Dr. Amy Cranston and her brother award-winner actor Bryan Cranston, and joined by remarkable students and WE Volunteer Now campaign participants, Tyler and Jameson. Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl  - Bio as Submitted Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl is an expert advisor for the WE organization’s WE Schools program, which is accessed by over 18,000 schools across North America – with a special emphasis on social and emotional learning and mental wellbeing. Dr. Kim is known as a world-renowned, American expert in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL) and sits on CASEL’s Board of Directors.   Within the realm of SEL, Dr. Kim’s studies have covered the following topic areas:  The correlation between social and emotional competence (SEC) and academic achievement in early adolescence (click here for 2018 research)  The identification of the processes and mechanisms that foster positive human qualities such as empathy, compassion, altruism and resiliency in children and adolescents  How volunteer action helps develop caring, altruistic behaviors and promotes emotional and physical well-being (click here for 2018 research)   The use of mindfulness in the classroom to foster a stress-free environment (click here for 2016 research)  Projects that examine the effectiveness of classroom-based universal SEL programs (i.e. Roots to Empathy, MindUp)  Dr. Kim has over 100 publications in scholarly journals, book chapters, and reports and has edited two books on mindfulness in education, including a co-edited book (with Dr. Robert W. Roeser) published by Springer Press in 2016 titled “Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research Into Practice.” She has presented her research at over 200 scholarly conferences and has given over 300 presentations on the topic of children’s social and emotional development and social emotional learning.   Dr. Kim’s research has been highlighted in several magazines and newspapers across the US, and internationally, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Scientific American Mind, Neurology Now, The Huffington Post, The Telegraph, The Atlantic and many more. Her research on the Roots of Empathy was profiled on the PBS Newshour special, the American Graduate. 

As part of our American Graduate series, Cathy Lewis talks to experts about efforts to aid and teach women who are escaping domestic abuse, human trafficking and other dangers. Join us and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

HearSay continues its American Graduate series with a program about all the skilled careers in the maritime industry... and you're invited to the show! Cathy Lewis interviews experts on this field and take questions from people in the audience.

As part of our American Graduate 3 Initiative, HearSay explores the generation gap in the skilled trades industry. As college costs rise, young people are exploring these career fields and trying to convince parents to understand the new possibilities. Have you talked to your children about these types of jobs?

As part of the American Graduate initiative, Cathy Lewis discusses the Academies of Hampton and the ACT certified work ready initiative. Finally, we will find out what's happening in Mal's World.

When you hear stories about the desegregation of the University of Georgia the names mentioned are of the late Dr. Hamilton Holmes and Journalist Charlayne Hunter. The name you'd not heard belonged to Mary Frances Early. This music educator graduated from Atlanta's Turner High School and Clark College. She was awarded a scholarship to pursue her master's degree in education at the University of Michigan because it was more accepting of black students. But when she saw how her Turner High classmates were being treated at UGA in 1961, Early transferred to UGA to complete her post-graduate education and in 1962 became the first African American graduate of the country's oldest land grant university. UGA plans to name the college of education in her honor. She was a 'Hidden Figure.' Not anymore.

Sherry Kelley Marshall is joined by Gloria Skurski, Chief Education Officer for CET & ThinkTV and Jason Dennison, Manager of Learning Services for CET & ThinkTV, as they discuss the American Graduate initiative from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Discover how and why the SWORWIB got involved in a Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant for educational television, and how this partnership is offering opportunities and new options for young people to consider. 

As part of the American Graduate initiative, Cathy will talk to people who have risen into leadership positions in their companies. It promises to be a powerful and inspiring show about the recipe for career success.

Amy and I talk about engagement and content, Nine Network, favorite curse word, Jorge Riopedre of Casa de Salud, Public Commons Area, safe and sacred space, issues of Ferguson, spontaneous chanting, Whose Streets?, American Graduate, give voice, give life to stories, Jim Kirchherr, nickname Rolodex, Ruth Ezell, bad mortgage, it's your fault, wrong narrative, pathway to trusted help, big and juicy, Sue Livingston (Sue, where are you?!), highest need for highest impact, nobody's phoning it in, the opening of Six Flags, re-homed pets, hiding in the furnace room and Meeko.

As part of our American Graduate 3 programming, Cathy will be talking to people in schools and industries about all the career paths involved in homebuilding.

As part of our continued work with the American Graduate 3 Initiative, we are talking to women in different skilled careers. We will discuss the career pathways women can pursue in trucking, funeral service or the maritime industry.

WHRO Public Media is proud to be part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's American Graduate series. Today, we'll highlight the shortfalls in Virginia's job economy and explore how programs, like the Denbigh Aviation Academy in Newport News, can help strengthen the workforce. Join us today at noon on 89.5 WHRV-FM.

Veteran producer Mike Kostel fills us in on the 2015 seven hour marathon broadcast of “American Graduate Day” originating from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. The post American Graduate Day with Mike Kostel appeared first on THIRTEEN - New York Public Media.

Our continuing support of the American Graduate initiative brings three diverse perspectives in the goal of helping students on the road to a high school diploma. Our guests will be 100 Black Men board president James Duke; Jennifer Burk, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Central Indiana; and Lauren Hall, co-founder of Indy Pulse, a slam-poetry project aimed at students.

On Fronteras: The final stories in KERA’s American Graduate series, Generation One.

No Limits highlights the third annual American Graduate Day, coming up on Saturday 9/27. "American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen" is a national public media initiative that leverages the power and reach of public television and radio to help communities across America address the high school dropout crisis.

The snowstorm prevented our guests from Black Women for Positive Change to come to Hampton Roads on Friday, January 31, so instead we held a mini town-hall discussion on how the community can participate in efforts to prevent kids from dropping out of high school. Our guests included Kelly Jackson, Director, Center for Regional Citizenship, and lead person for WHRO/WHRV's American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen Initiative; Lisa Godley, Documentary Producer and Producer of Another View; Quintin Brown, Executive Director, Communities in Schools Hampton Roads; and Sarah Peoples-Perry, Director, Systematic Tutoring Expecting Progress or STEP. Below you will find community resources that were discussed on the show. Please download the podcast for additional information.

A new mountain byway showcases the beautiful scenery in Yancey County. The Quilt Square Girls are stitching up big business in NC & beyond. And Dr. Nina Browner & Jim Simons talk about Parkinson's Disease & national efforts to raise awareness & funds for the disease.

We continue our series on NC 's community colleges with Sampson Community College. NC teachers share their thoughts on the national dropout crisis. Miss North Carolina USA 2013 Ashley Love-Mills talks about her anti-bullying program. And we celebrate Halloween with a radio performance of "Dracula."

We continue our series on NC 's community colleges with Brunswick Community College. NC high school teachers share their thoughts on how to keep kids engaged & in school. We get a preview of the 2013 NC State Fair. And a visit to the Aurora Fossil Museum.

The subject of extended learning...ahead of American Graduate day with guests Erik Peterson with Indiana's Afterschool Network, Dan Diehl with Diehl Evaluation and Consulting and Bob Abrams with EcO15.

In this American Graduate special, State of the Re:Union takes a closer look at school, community, and the dropout crisis in this country. With reporting from both urban and rural schools, and interviews with education experts, SOTRU goes “back to basics,” looking at strategies that get to the heart of what makes students want to learn. VIEW MORE

How the national revolution in STEM education is engaging students in science education in our state. The new Investigate Labs at the NC Museum of Nat. Sciences gives visitors a hands-on science experience. The NC A&T/UNC-G Nanotech Ctr offers custom opportunities for higher education science programs. Two ECU researchers put their science background to use studying how the human brain sees art.

We continue our series on NC 's community colleges with Haywood Community College. New Hanover High's Principal Finn helps his students stay in school & earn a diploma. And we mark the anniversary of D-Day with author Rick Atkinson.

Early last year, The Virginia Association of School Superintendents crafted a blueprint for educational reform in Virginia. The document provides a comprehensive analysis of the direction the Commonwealth's educational system is headed in and, more importantly, what it will take to get there. One of the largest components of that plan is technology, more specifically mobile connectivity and distance based learning. Today on HearSay we examine how one local school division's utilization of cutting edge technology is drawing nationwide attention.

As part of our ongoing American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen initiative, we've examined the myriad of issues depressing graduation rates and talked with the educators and administrators who are fighting to take their students to graduation day. Today on HearSay, we'll turn our attention from the people raising graduation rates to the places where they have to make it happen. Journalist Ron Berler joins host Cathy Lewis for an examination of America's public school system as he shares the story of a year spent in one of America's 45,000 failing schools.

Throughout the past year, as part of our ongoing American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen initiative, we've spoken with educators, administrators and innovators who are manning the front lines of the fight to see every student make it to graduation day. Today we bring you a selection of those 2012 conversations, featuring discussions about the importance of ongoing science and math education, the role of "graduation coaches" in local schools and an examination of the factors most responsible for rising dropout rates.

Open positions in science, mathematics and engineering related careers are appearing faster than our country is producing graduates trained in those fields. As part of our ongoing American Graduate series, we'll explore the dire need to engage and prepare our region's students for careers in a high tech field. We're joined by educators and administrators from across Hampton Roads to discuss ongoing local STEAM and STEM initiatives.

Every day in America, more than 7,000 students drop out of school. In a State of the Re:Union first, this episode combines radio drama and docum… READ MORE

What are students doing after a summer workshop on bullying at Butler University? We go to an Indianapolis high school to see how students are implementing the plans they made.

Students who get the opportunity to study outside do better on tests and are more interested in learning. This segment of American Graduate looks at the annual trip that a Shelbyville middle school science class takes to the Smokey Mountain National Park.

New models of teacher assessment are being rolled out in schools across Indiana because of changes to state law. This segment of American Graduate looks at how schools are responding as the school year gets rolling.

School test scores are lower for non-white students. Lawrence Township is making progress in a several year initiative to eradicate the racial achievement gap. This segment of American Graduate looks at what they're doing to make a difference.

A good start is very important in education. In fact, quality pre-school experiences can be linked to better educational outcomes. This American Graduate segment looks at Indiana's Paths to Quality program that helps child care centers provide the best care possible.

Indianapolis high school graduates with developmental disabilities are getting innovative job and life skill training through Project Search. This American Graduate segment follows them for part of their journey.

The data is clear: when parents are involved in schools, children do better.

Education students at Butler University are working with teens across the city to address bullying. Students will take plans they've developed and work to make a difference in their schools.

Missing school will lead to poor performance in the classroom. A new state-wide study is calling for changes in the law about how absenteeism is tracked in Indiana.

As the conversation about improving graduation rates continues, students and teachers weigh in with their ideas about what's working and what's not.

Indiana school counselors who help students and families plan for college are getting trained to be even better advocates.

Project based learning may use traditional tools including lectures, textbooks and tests but the focus is on relevancy, inquiry and hands on learning organized around a central question.

A special American Graduate edition of No Limits features Indianapolis teachers and students. They'll take time from their summer breaks to talk to guest host Jo Ann Klooz. They'll share their views on what contributes to classroom success and what challenges they face. Find out about their hopes and dreams for the future and what parents and the community can do to help.

A new free tool through Easter Seals Crossroads will help parents know if their child is developing on schedule.

Student teaching will face changes as assessments on classroom teachers and tests for students increase the stakes.

Foster Youth face big challenges that spill over into the classroom. American Graduate talks about the challenges and one student shares her story.

In our continuing partnership with the American Graduate program, HearSay will periodically address key issues that hinder some students from successfully graduating from high school. On today's installment, Cathy Lewis is joined by local educators who are engaging area students in an attempt to halt what is known as the "summer slide," a term used to describe students forgetting what they learned the previous year over the course of summer vacation. We learn what techniques they're employing to keep students learning all year long.

Smart boards are quickly becoming standard in classrooms. This segment looks at the ways in which technology changes education.

Strengths based intervention is being used to work with difficult students as well as get more from high performing students.

Students are taking more tests and there are questions about whether or not it will lead to better outcomes.

In conjunction with WFYI's American Graduate work, No Limits will look at the school drop out issue in Indianapolis and what's being done to entice young people back to class. Our guests will include Indiana Youth Institute President and CEO Bill Stanczykiewicz, Christel House Drop Out Recovery School Principal Emily Masengale with students Martese Graves and Alexis Taylor...and Excel Center Principal Betsy Delgado with student Brandon Quirk.

Students who get involved and engaged at school are much more likely to graduate. American Graduate examines the story of one senior who graduates this month who says it could easily have gone another direction.

Interdisciplinary teaching lets students learn math, science, English and economics during the same lesson. American Graduate explores how it’s used in Indianapolis classrooms and what teachers have to say about it.

After school activities and summer break aren't just for fun. Real learning is happening American Graduate explores several options in Indianapolis.

Butler Basketball player Ron Nored graduates in May and he’ll stay in the area to coach and influence high school students. He is also an advocate for the American Graduate initiative.

Indianapolis is home to thousands of Burmese refugees who came to the U.S. to escape religious persecution. American Graduate takes a look at what tools Perry Township schools using to help children who are the first in their families to learn English.

Thousands of adults in Marion County aren't functionally literate. Indy Reads, Central Indiana's largest program to help them is on the front lines of an effort that may well boost our high school graduation rates as well.

Most high school dropouts follow a predictable path with key points for intervention. One critical point is middle school. Today's American graduate segment focuses on a middle school recognized as a school to watch.

Teachers are on the frontlines of the high school dropout crisis. Their influence and potential to guide the students they see daily can't be underestimated. American Graduate talks to a teacher and coach who fights to keep kids in school.

American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen The decision to drop out of school can leave former students facing a bleak economic future. Their communities are adversely affected too, as dropouts often lack the preparation needed to be productive citizens. On today's broadcast, we'll examine the challenges schools face in engaging at-risk students, and the innovative practices their deploying to reduce the drop-out rate.

Gay students are frequently targeted for harassment and bullying. Pike High School has is one of a handful in the city that has a Gay Straight Alliance for students. The group is modeled after others around the country and promotes tolerance. American Graduate asks; does it really make a difference?

Hope Academy Principal Gail Stone explains that those in recovery need special care.

Hope Academy English Teacher Patrick Soltice says students can get bored and he works to prevent that.

Hope Academy Senior Caitlin says she would try to help other teens struggling with addiction by telling her story.

Hope Academy Junior Brynden says he got in with the wrong crowd.

How do students with drug and alcohol problems stay clean and graduate? Indianapolis has a school specifically for them. American Graduate talks to students and staff at Hope Academy.

This segment looks at how emergency planning saved lives at Henryville schools when tornadoes struck last week. School officials will look at lessons learned and what comes from that will keep all schools safer.

This segment looks at the work being done with the community's help at Francis Parker, IPS school 56. The school has seen better academic performance as the adults have begun bonding with the students. Additional information can be found at: www.100BlackMenIndy.org, www.uwci.org, and www.mentoring.org.

Many organizations here in Indy want to help improve high school graduation rates and engage teens along the way. This segment is about one effort using a media contest.

If you're off to college next year or preparing to enter your senior year, you should know that important deadlines are coming up for financial aid. WFYI's Jo Ann Klooz reports for the American Graduate initiative.

We begin a brand new series of reports here on WFYI. Over the next several months, you'll hear weekly American Graduate segments focusing on education. The purpose is to amplify the conversation in Indianapolis about low high school graduation rates and