In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, the Children's Institute communications team records a longform story by CI Guest Contributor, Adriane Blackman. Blackman's story, "An Ecosystem of Care and Community," delves into the transformation of early childhood education in Yoncalla, Oregon, documenting the impact of CI's Early Works initiative in partnership with incredible folks from across the community. Through collaborative efforts and a commitment to responsive teaching, integrated health care access, and enhanced family engagement, the town of Yoncalla has created a holistic approach to ..read more

For our final episode in collaboration with Oregon Humanities: The Detour's series on belonging, we talked with students at Fern Hill Elementary School in Forest Grove and Crestview Heights Elementary in Waldport about where they feel they belong and how to help others feel like they belong. You'll also hear from a few adults who work at these schools about how they create a welcoming community inside and outside of the classroom. Thank you to everyone at Fern Hill Elementary School and Crestview Heights Elementary for welcoming us into their schools ..read more

In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto sits down with Liane Chappell, at the Hillsboro Early Childhood Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, to talk about Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education. Chappell is the principal at the Early Childhood Center, located at the Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD). The goal of the Early Childhood Center is to serve kids who have delays and disabilities, and to help them make progress in the areas where they need support. Notably, their aim is to serve every child in an inclusive, natural environment – whethe ..read more

On this episode of the Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto sits down with JaNay Brown-Wood, an award-winning children’s author, poet, educator and scholar. She writes about stories that celebrate diversity, inclusivity, self-esteem, and learning. JaNay’s first children’s book, “Imani’s Moon,” was published in 2014 and won the NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award, and was featured on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” and Storytime with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During this episode, JaNay shares how her personal experiences and passion for child development and supporting children, le ..read more

On this episode of the Early Link Podcast, Rafael Otto speaks with Judy Jablon, founder and executive director of Leading for Children. Judy discusses her initial leap into the early learning field after working with young children at Bank Street College in New York City, an experience that piqued her curiosity and led her to a career in teaching. She shares her experiences working with educators, being a curious learner, and the importance of being leaders for children. She also talks about her book, The Five Commitments of Optimistic Leaders, and shares how early childhood educators can embr ..read more

Welcome to The Early Link Podcast. This is a special production created with our colleagues at the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership (OPIP). OPIP is a public private partnership seeking to create a meaningful, long-term collaboration of stakeholders invested in child health care quality, with the common purpose of improving the health of all children and youth in Oregon. This episode explores recent developments in the health sector here in Oregon meant to improve the care for children ages zero to five. One of those developments is a social emotional health metric. This is a tool desig ..read more

In this episode of the Early Link podcast, Rafael Otto joins Abby Couture and Sunny Bennett, the principal and preschool teacher at Philomath Elementary School. Abby and Sunny discuss their stories of getting started in education as well as the moments they began to realize many children were missing out on early learning experiences. They go on to describe the educational environment in Philomath, where they partner with LBCC and Strengthening Rural Families to provide more opportunities for toddlers and pre-k students. Their preschool program incorporates a unique placement within the primar ..read more

In partnership with Oregon Humanities, we interviewed students in second, fifth, and sixth grades from Vose Elementary and Yoncalla Elementary to see what they think about success and where their ideas of success come from. In this episode of The Detour, we captured wit, wisdom, jokes, and meaningful conversation with some incredible young peopls. Their messages are clear, thought-provoking, and chock-full of wisdom and wit. "You don't have to be the best at it to do it, but as long as you like it, you should probably keep doing it." More about The Detour Each month, host Adam Davis and guests ..read more

In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, Rafael Otto talks to Ulcca Joshi Hansen, interim executive director and chief program officer at Grantmakers for Education, about the need for transformational change in the education system. They discuss the importance of equity and access, the role of philanthropy in creating long-term infrastructure investment, and rethinking traditional assumptions about the public school system. Joshi Hansen also shares her thoughts on the cultural discontent and dominant worldview in education, and how returning to our humanity can lead to positive change for al ..read more

Kali Thorne Ladd, Children's Institute's chief executive officer was interviewed recently on The Jefferson Exchange, Jefferson Public Radio's daily talk show focused on news and interests across Southern Oregon and Northern California. She talks about CI's priorities for kids and public policy, what it takes to build resilience in young children, Governor Kotek's budget and the latest early childhood developments in the Oregon legislature, and more. Tune in! Learn more about the episode and The Jefferson Exchange here: https://www.ijpr.org/show/the-jefferson-exchange/2023-02-06/tue-9-am-child ..read more