Worth Checking Out: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris on the Affects of Childhood Stress

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

As we learn more about how children learn and what kinds of learning is needed, there is a growing number of radio, television, and film specials that address these issues. We will periodically pass these on to our readers to support their growing knowledge. 

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is a pediatrician who serves families in the Bayview district of San Francisco. She is also founder and CEO of Center for Youth Wellness (CYW). She has earned international attention for her innovative approach to addressing adverse childhood experiences as a risk factor for adult disease such as heart disease and cancer. Her work has demonstrated that it’s time to reassess the relationship between poverty, child development and health. More recently, she has spoken about "Toxic Stress" and its affect on child development. 

 Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
Photo courtesy of makers.com

Dr. Burke Harris has given fascinating interviews on this topic to KQED. Below are audio and video links to hear and view her interviews. 

Study Links Childhood Trauma to Adult Depression, Physical Ailments (November 2014) 

S.F. Pediatrician on How ‘Toxic Stress’ Affects Children’s Health, Education (February 2014)

First Person: Dr. Nadine Burke (February 2011) 

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Join us at How Kids Learn IV
www.howkidslearn.org

How Kids Learn IV: Character Building, Social Emotional Learning, and Educational Equity

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We are excited to see our many afterschool and summer program colleagues at the upcoming How Kids Learn IV conference. We are also excited about our many presenters and workshop leaders who will focus on character building, social emotional learning, and educational equity. 

We are pleased to announce two new speaker sessions: 

• Kwame Jerry Williams is a group facilitator, drummer, and storyteller at Alchemy, Inc. in Ohio. Jerry and Alchemy, Inc. are featured in a new documentary, Finding the Gold Within, which had its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Kwame Jerry Williams in Finding the Gold Within
Photo courtesy of Karina Films

• Blanca Burciaga and Benjamin Gonzalez, Jr., youth from Oakland Leaf Foundation, will offer their perspective on our topics. They will be supported by Alex Vila. 

Left: Benjamin Gonzalez, Jr. | Right: Blanca Burciaga

This conference will be attended by youth program leaders, afterschool funders, 10 of California's 11 Regional Leads, 18 staff members from the After School Division at the California Department of Education, and many more. A few tickets are still available. Visit www.howkidslearn.org to see a full list of speakers and to register for the conference. 

A Long History of Afterschool in America: Who Knew?

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

Last month, many participated in a national campaign to raise awareness among outsiders of the valuable contribution of afterschool programs in the Lights On celebration. However, it is important that insiders - aftereschool leaders and workers -  know that afterschool has deep and colorful roots in American history. It is a unique institution and every afterschool leader and worker should be literate on its history. 

Robert Halpern

For more than two decades, I have been creating and delivering PowerPoint presentations to afterschool stakeholders across the country. The most popular presentation, regardless of attendees, was a history of afterschool inspired by a book, Making Play Work by Robert Halpern. 

After every presentation, youth workers and program leaders came up to me to say things like, "That was great! It's good to know that I belong to something larger than just an afterschool program - I am participating in continuing the long history that we learned about. Who knew?". The people who were most energized were young afterschool workers!  

I recently placed these History of Afterschool slides on the web-based Slideshare, which have attracted over 500 views (see 3 of the slides above). You can also access the narrative here. 

I urge you all to read Robert Halpern's book and to share these slides and narrative with program staff and other afterschool stakeholders.