163. Teaching Early Literacy Skills Through Music & Storytelling with Emily Cadiz of Prelude Early Learning
Emily Cadiz is a teacher, musician, mom of three, and founder of Prelude Early Learning, home of Finnegan the Dragon. After a traumatic brain injury left her needing to relearn how to talk and walk, she rebuilt her skills through music and singing—an experience that inspired Prelude’s music-based approach to teaching language and pre-reading. With 20+ years in education and master’s degrees in education, special education, and music, Emily has created an NIH-supported program that’s shown up to 250% growth in early literacy skills. In our talk, Emily dives deep into her accident and her history as an educator. She emphasizes why she advocates for inclusive music in classrooms, rather than traditional speech therapy. She also has some great advice for those transitioning from education to entrepreneurship.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode163.
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162. Teaching Entrepreneurship with Leah Ellis of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs
Leah Ellis is a mom of four, writer, wedding officiant, Girl Scout leader, and founder of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs. Through SoCE, Nerdy Nuptials ICT, and Girl Scouts, she creates spaces where kids, couples, and communities are empowered to lead with authenticity. Leah believes in making room for both the mess and the magic of becoming.Leah, a “serial entrepreneur,” shares with me how her daughter's interest in selling paintings led to hosting children's business fairs. She also explains why she hopes more parents help their children start their own businesses. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode162.
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161. Building Literacy Through Storytelling with S. Hughie Lassiter
Stephen Hughie Lasseter is the author of Kingston To The Rescue. He is also a special education teacher in Philadelphia, where he teaches reading and math to elementary school students. He designed an educational program called Educate to Skate. Educate to Skate combines the metrics of learning, physical exercise and independence with skateboarding to teach math, geometry and science to elementary and middle school students.In our talk, Hughie and discuss how his son’s skateboarding career influenced his work in special education. He also details how he intended his book to also teach reading and how storytelling can be a wonderful teaching tool. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode161.
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160. Cultivating Connection with Marcus Deveso of C3 Community
Dr. Marcus Deveso is the co-founder and Chief Program Officer at C3 Community. He is a lifelong educator with nearly 30 years of experience in fostering inclusive, equitable educational environments. Throughout his career, Marcus has held a variety of roles, from classroom teacher to Chief Program Officer in the nonprofit sector.Marcus and I discuss his teacher journey, which he sees as “accidental” despite his mother and grandmother having been teachers. He dives into the C3 framework — care, capability, and connection — which he applies to education and corporate spaces. Also, we discuss the importance of inclusive, joyful learning spaces, which is such an important topic to me.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode160.
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159. Teaching Homeschoolers with Jean Lee of the Academy of Chaos
Jean Lee is a neuroscientist and homeschooling parent of three who founded the Academy of Chaos, which provides classes for homeschoolers. She’s also the director of the Midwest Homeschool Expo, one of the largest secular homeschool conferences in the United States. Jean’s career is defined by scaling operations, leading diverse teams, and building high-impact partnerships. Today, she brings that expertise to reimagine education, bridging the gap between homeschool, higher education, and the business world.In our conversation, Jean and I discuss why she homeschooled her children, how she started the Academy of Chaos and how it lead to starting the Midwest Homeschool Expo. She also drops some great advice for budding entrepreneurs working in the field of education.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode159.
There’s a lot that needs to change in education. But there are inspiring movements going on too! At Educator Forever, we believe teachers need to be at the forefront of education reform and be empowered to create career pathways that work for them.
Do you ever think about leaving the classroom but have absolutely no idea what else you could do? You may not realize it yet, but you have acquired highly valuable skills throughout your teaching journey, and there is unlimited potential for you to use them. Tune in each week to hear about career opportunities that will help you achieve the income, impact, and freedom you’ve always dreamed of. The best part? You can do all of this without having to leave the world of education entirely.
In addition to showing you the many ways you can expand your impact beyond the classroom, we’ll introduce you to inspiring leaders in education. Want to learn about new research? Looking to get familiar with innovative approaches to teaching and learning? We’ve got you covered.
Your host, Lily Jones, is a former kindergarten and first-grade teacher who transitioned out of the classroom to work in curriculum design, writing content for ed tech companies and even launching her own educational product-based business. After quadrupling her teaching income, she realized she could help other teachers do the same. Now Lily runs Educator Forever, where she empowers teachers to expand their impact beyond the classroom, and Educator Forever Agency, where she works with a team of educators to create inspiring curricula.
For more helpful resources, head to www.educatorforever.com.
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